A Better Start -- On this date last year (Nov. 20), the MVC had a collective 28-18 (.609) record in non-league play. This year the league enters Thanksgiving week with a 30-11 non-league slate (.732 win percentage).
MVC MTE Scorecard -- All 12 MVC teams are participating in Multi-Team Events (MTEs) this season. The league entered today (Monday) with a 5-1 mark so far.
Playing for a Title -- Missouri State has beaten Florida Gulf Coast and Kent State in the first two games of the Paradise Jam, and the Bears will play for the title Monday at 7 pm CT against Abilene Christian. Drake won the Paradise Jam last year. After the Paradise Jam event, the Bears return home on Saturday, Nov. 25 to battle South Carolina State at 1 p.m. Missouri State welcomes back coach Steve Alford and the 1999 Bears for that game, along with the jersey retirement ceremony of Bears’ great Danny Moore at halftime.
Home Sweet Home -- The MVC has combined for a 24-2 record at home in non-conference play. Last year The Valley was 46-10 at home during non-league play. Southern Illinois men’s basketball extended its nonconference win streak inside Banterra Center to 22 games after defeating Chicago State. Drake has a streak of 39-straight non-conference home victories.
Making Some Threes -- Through games of Sunday, Nov. 19, just nine NCAA Division I players had made three or more three-pointers in every game his team has played this season -- three of them are in the MVC: Baylor Scheierman (Creighton); Atin Wright (Drake), Christopher Mantis (Appalachian State), Cole Anderson (UC Santa Barbara), Hunter Cattoor (Virginia Tech), Isaiah Swope (Indiana State), Jayden Stone (Detroit), Trent Brown (Southern Illinois) and Tristan da Silva (Colorado).
Against the Top 25 -- MVC teams were 2-2 vs. Top 25 non-conference teams last season. Two league teams will play ranked teams this week, including Southern Illinois (vs. #22 James Madison) and UNI (vs. #14 North Carolina). Notably, of the league’s 11 losses in non-league play this year (through Sunday, Nov. 20), three of the 11 have come to ranked teams (that’s 27.3 percent of the total). Only 19 times in MVC history have top-25 teams accounted for more than 20 percent of the league’s non-conference defeats.
Raining Threes -- Bradley tied the program’s second-best three-point mark for a single game with 17 made triples vs Tarleton State. BU’s record is 20 coming against Florida A&M in 2006. The 17 treys are a league single-game best this season.
In March 2024, The Valley will conduct its 34th St. Louis-based postseason men’s basketball championship. With 34-straight years at the same neutral site, Arch Madness is the second-longest neutral site tenured collegiate tourney in the nation (following only the Big East in New York City).
Belmont BRUINS
- Ja'Kobi Gillespie tied the Curb Event Center single-game record with seven steals vs. Berry Nov. 14.
- Malik Dia has scored in double figures in three games this season, including 24 points in his debut and a game-high 21 points at [3/3] Arizona.
BRADLEY BRAVES
- Bradley tied the program's second best three point mark for a single game with 17 made triples vs Tarleton State. BU's record is 20 coming against Florida A&M in 2006.
- Bradley now looks to California for the tournament portion of the 2023 SoCal Challenge where the Braves will open with Tulane who was picked third in the American. Bradley already owns a road win against UAB who was picked 4th in the American preseason poll. BU will get the winner/loser of California and UTEP.
- Freshmen forward Almar Atlason led the Braves in scoring in just his third game at the division-one level with 18 points on 6/8 shooting from three-point land. Atlason's six three-pointers are the most ever by a Bradley freshman for a single game, passing former Bradley guard and current BU MBB staff member Darrell Brown Jr who had five vs Hofstra in 2016. His six three-point shots helped Bradley tie the program's second-best mark for single-game threes at 17.
- Christian Davis has made an impact of coming off the bench and playing big minutes for BU. Against Tarleton State Davis earned his first start of the season and didn't disappoint with career best 16 points, 6 rebounds and a solo steal. Davis's efforts helped Bradley earn their first win of the 2023 SoCal Challenge.
DRAKE BULLDOGS
- Atin Wright led Drake in scoring each game last week including a season-high 25-point output in an 87-67 win over SW Minnesota State on Tuesday and a 22-point burst to lift Drake over Oakland 85-77 on Sunday in the first round of the Cayman Islands Classic. Wright finished the week 14-29 from the field and 6-12 from 3-point range while dishing averaging 3.0 assists.
- Before losing to SFA on Monday, Nov. 20, Drake has amassed four straight 3-0 starts to a season under head coach Darian DeVries.
EVANSVILLE PURPLE ACES
- For the first time since the 2017-18 campaign, the Purple Aces have opened the season at 4-0. Following a 19-point road win at Southeast Missouri State on Wednesday, UE took down Ball State by a 74-50 final on Saturday at the Ford Center. The win was the largest margin of victory against a Division I opponent since Dec. 10, 2016 when the Aces defeated Murray State by a final of 78-46.
- Last Wednesday, Evansville earned a 76-57 road victory over defending Ohio Valley Conference Champion Southeast Missouri State. It was just the fourth road victory for the program since the start of the 2021 calendar year. Evansville’s margin of victory was the largest away from the Ford Center cine a 68-42 win over Indiana State at Arch Madness in 2016. The win was the highest margin in a true road game since Nov. 19, 2014 picked up a 69-50 road win at Miami Ohio.
- Averaging 14.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game, Yacine Toumi paced Evansville to a pair of impressive victories. Wednesday’s road win at defending OVC Champion Southeast Missouri State saw Toumi tie his career scoring mark with 20 points. He converted 10 of his 13 shot attempts while finishing with 5 caroms, 3 assists and a steal. Toumi had another nice outing in the 24-points home win over Ball State, tallying 8 points, 8 rebounds, 3 assists and a steal. For the week, he hit 12 of his 18 attempts while averaging 3.0 assists and 24.1 minutes.
- Continuing a stellar beginning to his Purple Aces career, Ben Humrichous led the team with 15.0 points per game in a pair of impressive victories. He opened the week with 18 points in the road triumph at Southeast Missouri State, hitting 7 of his 10 attempts. He was 5-of-6 inside the arc and converted 2 of his 4 attempts from long range. He added 4 rebounds and 2 blocks. Saturday’s 24-point home win over Ball State saw him post12 points and 5 rebounds while adding 3 assists and 3 blocks. He saw an average of 29.5 minutes per game over the week while averaging 4.5 boards and 2.5 blocks.
- Joshua Hughes continued a nice start to his collegiate career, averaging 8.0 points, 4.0 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game in Evansville’s victories over SEMO and Ball State. In the road win at SEMO, Hughes completed the night with 4 points, 3 rebounds and 2 blocks. He followed that up with a stellar effort in the home win vs. Ball State as he tallied 12 points, 5 boards, 2 blocks and an assist. Hughes connected on 5 of his 6 field goal tries.
UIC FLAMES
- UIC is off to its second 3-1 start in head coach Luke Yaklich’s four seasons in Chicago (also 2020-21). UIC earned its first win over Loyola since 2013 and its first road victory in the series since 2009. The Flames held Loyola to a .328 field-goal percentage, their best defensive outing against the Ramblers since Feb. 24, 2007 (.298, also in a road win over Loyola in Rogers Park).
- Defense was a recurring theme in both UIC wins last week, with the Flames holding their two opponents to a combined .287 field-goal percentage (35-of-122), including a .209 mark from three-point range (9-of-43). In fact, in its last three halves last week (second half at Loyola; full game vs. Aurora), UIC held its opponents to a .103 three-point percentage (3-of-29).
- Not to be overlooked, the UIC offense was sharp in Sunday’s win over Aurora, posting the program’s second-largest margin of victory (51 points) in its NCAA Division I era (1981-82 to present) and largest since Dec. 2, 1986 (a 115-53 win over Lake Forest).
- In Sunday’s victory, the Flames scored 99 points, dished out 28 assists on 38 field goals and knocked down 14-of-31 three-point attempts, all high-water marks for the four-year Yaklich era.
- This week, UIC heads to the Caribbean for the first time since the 2012 Paradise Jam when the Flames participate in the Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship at the Baha Mar Convention Center in Nassau, Bahamas. UIC will face Middle Tennessee in Friday’s tournament opener, with a Saturday contest against Ohio or George Washington to come before the tournament concludes Sunday.
ILLINOIS STATE REDBIRDS
- In the season opener against Lourdes, Darius Burford scored his 1,000th collegiate point, and he now ranks 220th in NCAA Division I among career scorers. Teammate Kendall Lewis scored his 1,000th career point on November 15 against Eastern Illinois, and he stands 225th among active players in career scoring.
- Standing 7-1, Brandon Lieb is the tallest player in Redbird basketball history, and is just the seventh player to stand 7-0 or taller.
- Johnny Kinziger scored 11 points in the Redbirds' lone game against Eastern Illinois last week.
INDIANA STATE SYCAMORES
- Indiana State recorded a 39-point victory against IUPUI on Tuesday, downing the Jaguars 96-57. Isaiah Swope and Robbie Avila led the offensive effort in the win – Swope finished 16-2-1 with five steals and Avila finished 16-4-5. The Sycamores are taking their 2-1 record to Las Vegas, Nev. for the Ball Dawgs Classic, held at the Dollar Loan Center from November 21-24.
- Isaiah Swope finished atop the scorebook for Sycamores for the third-straight time this season. in ISU’s lone contest in the week he scored 16 points, knocking down four triples for the third-straight game in a 39-point victory against IUPUI. In finishing 4-for-6 from behind the three-point line, Swope increased his three-point percentage to 59.1% on the season, good for a holding a spot in the top 5 in the MVC; his 13 three-pointers lead the conference. In only 19 minutes of action, Swope also recorded five steals.
MISSOURI STATE BEARS
- Donovan Clay had three double-figure scoring games and led the Bears to a 3-0 week, including a game-high 16 points in the Paradise Jam semifinals on Sunday night to send the Bears to Monday's championship game. Clay started the week with a 17-point effort in MSU's win over Oral Roberts as he went 7-for-13 from the field with 6 rebounds in the win over the 30-win team from a year ago. He followed that effort with 17 points in Friday's win over FGCU as he was 6-of-9 from the field with 6 rebounds, a pair of 3-pointers and 3 assists. Lastly, he came up just shy of a double-double against Kent State on Sunday, posting 16 points, 9 rebounds and 4 assists in the win. He also eclipsed both 1,300 career points and 300 assists in the Kent State win. For the week, he averaged team-bests 16.7 points and 7.0 rebounds to go with 3.0 assists while firing at a .514 clip from the field with five 3-pointers, 2 steals and a block.
- In a breakout week, Bears' point guard Matthew Lee (Sr., San Juan, Puerto Rico) erupted for his first career double-double in Sunday's win over Kent State in the Paradise Jam semifinals, scoring 13 points with 10 rebounds in the victory and collecting 3 free throws and a steal in the final 30 seconds to secure the win. He also made Sport Center's Top 10 plays after Friday's win over FGCU with his behind-the-back pass to N.J. Benson for a dunk that made #9 on the countdown. He had 17 points in the FGCU game with a career-best five 3-pointers. For the week, he averaged 13.0 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game.
- Missouri State's Alston Mason (Jr., Overland Park, Kan.) erupted for a career-high 28 points in the Bears' win over Oral Roberts last week, going 10-of-15 from the field and 5-of-7 from beyond the arc with 9 rebounds in a stellar effort. He followed that with another 20-point outburst against FGCU in the Virgin Islands with a team-high 20 points in the opening-round win over the Eagles to go with four more 3-pointers. He was 17-for-26 (.654) from the field and 9-of-13 (.692) from long range in those two games.
Murray State RACERS
- Through three games against Midway, Tennessee Tech and WKU, the Racers are shooting 47 percent from the field (87-134) and giving 47 percent (86-182).
- The Racers have an advantage of 52-24 in the first three games in made free throws.
- Brian Moore is shooting 92 percent in the early going from the free throw line on 12-13 and JaCobi Wood is 10-12 for 83 percent.
- The Racers are in their 99th season of collegiate basketball, their 26th in the CFSB Center and their second in the Missouri Valley Conference.
UNI PANTHERS
- UNI visits the Bahamas and the Bay Boy Mowers Battle 4 Atlantis for the third time in program history, taking on North Carolina in its opening game on Wednesday. The Panthers finished as tournament runners-up in their last appearance in 2017.
- Northern Iowa is 23-18 in MTE tournaments. The Panthers have won four MTE titles, most recently coming at the Cancun Challenge's Riveria division in 2019, as well as the 2010 iBN Las Vegas Classic, 2011 South Padre Island Tournament and the 2015 Cancun Challenge.
- The Panthers will attempt to knock off an ACC opponent for the first time since beating North Carolina State in their second game of the 2017 Battle 4 Atlantis. UNI has recorded 11 wins over AP top-25 opponent under head coach Ben Jacobson and 19 wins overall. Northern Iowa's last win over a ranked opponent came on Nov. 27, 2021 at #21 St. Bonaventure.
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS SALUKIS
- The Salukis are off to a 3-0 start. The last time SIU started 3-0 came during the 2020-21 season. SIU improved to 3-0 after defeating Chicago State in Carbondale to open the Cancun Challenge. AJ Ferguson scored a career-high 20 points in the win on 7-11 shooting to go with six rebounds. Xavier Johnson scored 18 points (14 2H) and dished out seven assists while picking up four steals. Johnson shot 10-10 from the charity stripe in the game, extending his streak to 21 straight free throws to open the season.
- A win over No. 22 James Madison would be the first win over a Top-25 team for the Salukis since 2013 when SIU defeated No. 22 Wichita State. SIU is 16-67 against Top-25 teams in program history.
- SIU has been strong defensively allowing just 60 points per game, ranking second in the MVC.
- Southern Illinois has 51 assists through three games. The 17 assists per game ranks 57th nationally. Xavier Johnson has a team-high 17 assists in three starts. Southern's 1.65 assist-to-turnover ratio is third in the MVC and 42nd nationally.
VALPARAISO BEACONS
- Freshman Cooper Schwieger averaged 10.0 points, 1.5 blocks, 1.5 steals, and 4.0 rebounds per game over two contests this week. He tallied eight points in Tuesday's win over Green Bay before tossing in 12 in Friday's game at No. 23 Illinois.