Wednesdays In the Valley (2/15)

Five Big Hump Day Games

(St. Louis, MO) – Southern Illinois stole a road win last night and there are five big hump day games tonight. Most of the Missouri Valley Conference teams have four games left in this historically tight conference race. Wednesdays in the Valley is our weekly overview of MVC happenings.

Southern Illinois Steals a Road Win

SIU (20-8, 12-5) earned a hard-fought road victory at Valparaiso. 66-62 was the final as Southern moved within a half game of the first place Drake and Bradley squads. SIU led early and late, but the Beacons fought back and took the lead with under six minutes to go. Neither team could make three pointers during the low scoring affair.

Clarence Rupert led SIU with 14 points and Marcus Domask added 13 to go along with  five rebounds and seven assists. Valpo’s ‘K-Squared Offense’ of Ben Krikke and Kobe King each racked up 24 points. Five of Valpo’s (11-17, 5-12) twelve conference losses have come by five points or less, or in overtime.

This is the first time the Salukis have reached 20 victories under head coach Bryan Mullins.

Wednesdays in the Valley – Main Events

Missouri State (14-12, 10-6) @ Bradley (19-8, 12-4) – 7 pm ESPN+

With four games left, this is a must win for Missouri State as they attempt to land in the top four of Valley standings. The Bears sit alone in sixth place, one game behind Belmont and Indiana State. Bradley has won six straight and own a stunning 13-and-1 home record.

This is a physical matchup of the league’s second and third ranked defenses and its top two rebounding teams, but neither of them shoot free throws well. They live on the offensive glass.

This will be a classic Valley blood bath.

The Bears lost a home decision to Bradley back in December.

Drake (221-6, 12-4) @ Northern Iowa (12-14, 8-8) – 8 pm MVC TV

These two played a double-overtime thriller two weeks ago. UNI’s Bowen Born hit two, buzzer beating three pointers to force both extra sessions. Drake prevailed in that contest and have won seven straight games. The preseason favorites have won each of their last two games by over 20 points.

UNI has dropped five straight and Ben Jacobson told me Monday that at times, his team feels a little stuck in the mud. The Panthers had won seven of eight games right before this five game skid.

Drake is an impressive 5-3 during Valley road games and the Panthers have been a below average 5-3 at home. Drake’s Tucker DeVries leads the league in scoring (19.46 ppg) and UNI’s Tytan Anderson is the Valley’s rebounding pace setter (9.12).

Wednesdays in the Valley Positioning Games

Evansville (5-22, 1-15) @ Belmont (18-9, 11-5) – 6:30 pm ESPN+

Belmont looks to keep pace with SIU, reaching the twelve win plateau and maintain a hold on a top four spot in the Valley race. The top four finishers, receive a first round bye at Arch Madness. The Bruins are 10-2 at home and Evansville is winless in seven Valley road games.

Belmont freshman Cade Tyson ranks in the top seven in all three shooting categories. He is seventh in field goal percentage (.485), second in long distance accuracy (.453) and first in free throw percentage (.873). Tyson’s teammate Drew Friberg leads the conference in three point percentage (.466) and in long distance connections (88).

Murray State (13-13, 8-8) @ Illinois State (10-17, 5-11) – 7 pm – Marquee

Both of these teams enter tonight’s contest on three game losing streaks. While Murray is only 2-10 on the road, Illinois State doesn’t dominate at home (7-6). Murray State has been uncharacteristically bad and making threes, but Illinois State is the Valley’s best free throw shooting team. ISU is fifth nationally in that department (.796).

Indiana State (18-9, 11-5) @ Illinois Chicago (10-17, 2-14) – 7 pm – ESPN+

Like Belmont the streaking Sycamores are trying to stay in reach of first place and nail down a top four spot. Indiana State’s season has been one of streaks. They opened the conference season with six straight wins, then lost five-in-a-row. The Valley’s highest scoring team (78.9 ppg) faces the conference’s top shot blocking team (4.74 per game). UIC has lost nine of its last ten games.

Three Flames players (Tre Anderson, Steven Clay and Jace Carter) are day-to-day with undisclosed injuries.

Courtside Chat with Mike Kern comes your way Friday. UIC announcer Jonathan Hood and Indiana State broadcaster Luke Martin are scheduled to join us.

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