UNI and Indiana State have played the most Q1+Q2 games in the MVC so far, as each has five total games against the top two quadrants in the NET. The Panthers non-conference strength of schedule (86) is the highest in the MVC. Notably, league-wide the MVC (non-conference schedule strength, on average for all 12 teams) is 37 spots better than last year. Bradley’s nine opponents have given the Braves one of the nation’s toughest starts, as BU’s nine foes have a combined 55-20 W-L record.
Indiana State (per Ken Pom) ranks No. 5 in the NCAA in three-point field goal percentage and No. 6 in the NCAA in two-point field goal percentage. The Sycamores are the only team in the nation to rank in the Top 10 of both statistical categories.
Xavier Johnson of Southern Illinois ranks No. 2 in the NCAA in points per game, as the Saluki guard is averaging 24.2 points through SIU’s eight games. He trails only Purdue All-American Zach Edey (24.8 ppg). Doug McDermott of Creighton (2012-13) was the last MVC player to average better than 23 points for an entire season (23.2).
Six first-year MVC players find themselves among the league’s Top 13 scoring leaders, led by Indiana State’s Isaiah Swope, who averages 19.67 points per game for the Sycamores to rank No. 2 in the Conference.
Since 2010, all but three teams that have led the MVC in FG percentage defense have played in the NCAA Tournament. UIC’s current 37.4 figure leads the MVC and ranks 13th nationally.
Notably, MVC teams are 12-3 in their first game in the NCAA Tournament dating back to 2012. The league has now combined for 20 wins in the NCAA Tournament in the past 10 NCAA championships and has earned multiple bids 16 times since 1994. Since 2013, The Valley has had two Final Four appearances, and an MVC team has reached a Sweet 16 a total of 12 times since 1985.
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 continued his fine play with another memorable week, averaging 18.5 points, 3.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.5 steals per game on 65 percent shooting as Belmont defeated Lipscomb and Middle Tennessee to improve to 8-3. Gillespie had a team-high 23 points on 9-for-12 shooting and added four steals, three rebounds and three assists as Belmont defeated Middle Tennessee Dec. 9. Gillespie was named CBS Sports Network player of the game. Gillespie had 14 points and the game-winning conventional 3-point play with 6.2 seconds left as Belmont defeated Lipscomb Dec. 6. Gillespie ranks among MVC leaders in five statistical categories, including first in steals.
- Belmont defeated Lipscomb and Middle Tennessee this past week; the Bruins have won 18 of the last 21 meetings with Lipscomb and 11 of the last 15 meetings with Middle Tennessee.
- Isaiah Walker had a career-high 11 points and six rebounds at Middle Tennessee.
- Belmont leads the MVC in steals, and it ranks second in effective field goal percentage, assists, 3-point field goals and tempo.
BRADLEY BRAVES
- The Braves played their last game (at Akron) without starting guard Connor Hickman. Duke Deen was 2-for-3 from beyond the arc with 14 points to lead the way The senior was 6-for-9 from the field. Darius Hannah recorded 11 points, five rebounds, two assists, a block and two steals. Malevy Leons ended his night with six rebounds to lead the Braves.
- Since that game, Bradley had a break in its schedule until Dec. 15. On that Friday, the Braves return to Carver Arena to face Cleveland State at 7 PM.
- They go back to Akron, Ohio, to play Duquesne at LeBron James Arena at St. Vincent-St. Mary's High School on Dec. 18.
DRAKE BULLDOGS
- Atin Wright averaged 17.0 points, 2.0 rebounds, 1.5 assists and 2.0 steals across two wins last week. Wright put together his third 20-plus scoring performance of the season leading Drake with 22 points (10-for-11 at the FT line) and 4 rebounds in the 75-69 win against Saint Louis on Wednesday. He delivered 12 points, two assists and a season-best four steals in the 72-53 victory over Nevada in the Jack Jones Classic on Saturday.
- Tucker DeVries averaged 17.5 points, 8.5 rebounds, 5.0 assists and 2.0 steals over two wins last week. DeVries put together his second career double-double in a 75-69 win over Saint Louis with 10 points, 10 rebounds and three steals. He followed that up with a 25-point (16 in the second half) performance along with seven rebounds in a 72-53 win over Nevada in the Jack Jones Classic on Saturday. DeVries has distributed five assists in back-to-back games.
- STRENGTH OF THE PACK -- Drake surrendered its fewest total points (53) and points in a half (19) of the season against Nevada on Saturday, when the Wolf Pack entered the game ranked No. 30 in the NET rankings. The Bulldogs picked up a season-best 11 steals in Saturday’s victory.
- BATTLIN’ BACK -- The Drake men’s basketball team erased a 19-point second half deficit to defeat Saint Louis on Wednesday. It was the largest comeback for Drake in the Darian DeVries coaching era and Drake’s largest deficit overcame since the Bulldogs erased a 17-point deficit against Missouri State on Jan. 26, 2021.
EVANSVILLE PURPLE ACES
- Evansville is off to a nice 7-2 start to the 2023-24 campaign. The Purple Aces have already eclipsed their entire win total from each of the last two seasons. This marks just the sixth time UE has opened the season with a 7-2 mark or better since the 1995-96 season. The Aces hope the start is a sign of things to come as the last five such starts have seen the team average 18.8 wins.
- Homecoming – Last week, Evansville traveled to Provo, Utah, to face the undefeated 14th-ranked BYU squad. It was a homecoming for junior Tanner Cuff, who grew up just minutes away from Provo in American Fork, Utah. A large contingent of supporters were in attendance as Cuff saw 20 minutes of floor time and posted four rebounds, two assists and two points.
- Ben Humrichous posted a solid 8-point, 6-rebound effort. In 29 minutes on the floor, Humrichous hit three out of eight attempts along with a pair of 3-pointers. He recorded two assists to go along with his six caroms. Yacine Toumi came close to a double-double. Connecting on five of his nine shot attempts, Toumi scored 13 points while adding seven rebounds. He also posted a steal and block. Toumi drew five fouls and hit three out of four free throw tries.
UIC FLAMES
- Isaiah Rivera scored a game-high 14 points, including four key free throws in the final 30 seconds, to help UIC to a 55-49 road win at Jacksonville State last Friday night. Rivera also knocked down 4-of-6 shots (including one of his two three-point attempts) in the victory to help the Flames improve to 6-3 this season and pick up their fourth win in six outings away from home this season.
- In last Friday’s win, UIC held Jacksonville State to 1-of-11 (.091) shooting from three-point range, vaulting the Flames back to No. 1 in the nation in three-point percentage defense this season (.216).
- Three-point percentage defense is just one of four defensive categories in which the Flames lead the MVC and rank among the top 15 nationally, along with scoring defense (12th – 61.1 ppg.), blocks (13th – 6.0 bpg.) and field-goal percentage defense (14th - .374). In addition, senior guard Toby Okani ranks 10th in the nation with a conference-best 2.56 blocks per game.
- Jacksonville State’s one made three-pointer was the fewest allowed by the Flames on an opponent's home court since Feb. 21, 2012, when Butler went 1-for-11 from distance in a matchup at Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. It was the first time UIC had held any opponent to a single three-pointer in a game since Jan. 15, 2021, when Robert Morris went 1-of-14 from beyond the arc in a 67-53 UIC win at Credit Union 1 Arena.
- UIC is 2-0 this season against Conference USA opponents, having also defeated C-USA preseason co-favorite Middle Tennessee on Nov. 24.
- Toby Okani picked up his third double-digit rebounding game of the season (ninth of his career) and first since the Nov. 10 home-opening win over Little Rock, when he also had 10 boards.
ILLINOIS STATE REDBIRDS
- ISU freshman Johnny Kinziger scored a team-high 13 points for the Redbirds, leading four players in double-figure scoring by making 4-of-7 three-point field goals. The four three-point baskets are tied for the 11th-most by a freshman in a game in school history.
- Against Norfolk State, Dalton Banks scored in double-figures for the third time in his last four games, for the sixth time this season and the 18th time in his career. He led the team in assists for the eighth time this season and for the third consecutive game, and he tied a season-high with six rebounds.
INDIANA STATE SYCAMORES
- Isaiah Swope recorded over 39 minutes of action in ISU’s win at Northern Illinois and set personal records in the game. Swope led with 27 points in the game, a season high, knocking down four more three-pointers. Swope has made four-plus threes in the previous four games and has made four-plus in seven-of-nine games this year. The Sophomore also recorded a career-high 10 rebounds, leading to his first career Division 1 double-double. In the victory, Swope recorded one steal and has at least one steal in eight-of-nine games in the 2023-24 season.
- Jaden Daughtry entered into his sixth game on Saturday and in only 14 minutes of action recorded the game’s only double-double with 15 points and 11 rebounds, both career highs for Daughtry. Daughtry helped ISU to tie their largest margin of victory (44 points) over an opponent since 2021 in the team’s win over Southern Indiana. The freshman finished shooting 60% from the floor (6-for-10), raising his average to nearly 58% for the season. Daughtry was a nightmare on the glass in the action, grabbing five of his 11 boards on the offensive end.
MISSOURI STATE BEARS
- This week, Donovan Clay posted back-to-back 20-point games for the first time in his career, logging a career-high 24 points at Middle Tennessee before notching a game-high 20 points in MSU's win over Sam Houston. He posted 24 points, 7 rebounds and a career-best 4 three-pointers at Middle Tennessee as the Bears erased a 14-point second-half deficit on the road to force overtime, including a personal 8-0 run. He followed that effort with a game-high 20 points in a wire-to-wire win over Sam Houston that saw him dish out a game-high 4 assists and go 11-of-14 at the foul line. For the week, Clay averaged 22.0 points, 6.5 rebounds 2.5 three-pointers and 2.5 assists, while delivering on 15-of-19 free throw opportunities.
- N.J. Benson matched a Missouri State single-game record with 7 blocked shots against Sam Houston, making him the fourth Bear to do so (and first since Gaige Prim in 2020). Benson's effort was also instrumental in the Bears tying their team record for blocked shots in a game (14), providing half the rejections against the Bearkats. The effort catapulted Benson to 16th nationally in blocks per game (2.40) and his total of 9 blocks for the week was the fourth-highest in the nation and tops in the MVC
- Missouri State has jumped to No. 8 nationally in defensive rebounds per game (31.6), tops in The Valley, thanks in part to holding its opponents to a combined .381 field goal percentage on the year, which also ranks 22nd among all DI programs.
Murray State RACERS
- Last week, The Battle of the Border was played for the 137th time between the Racers and Austin Peay Governors. The win for APSU snapped the Racers three-game win streak since APSU's 74-70 win in Clarksville in 2021. MSU has won 16 of the 21 meetings since 2013.
- JaCobi Wood scored five points in that game and has 990 for his career and is closing on becoming a member of the 1000-point club.
- The Racers head to Starkville Wednesday for their 10th meeting with the Mississippi State Bulldogs. Murray State played the Bulldogs in 2007 in a 78-61 loss under Coach Billy Kennedy.
UNI PANTHERS
- Bowen Born put on his best performance of the young season this week by tying his season-best with 17 points in a home win against Richmond before scoring his fourth career 30-point game on Saturday with a 31-point outing at Toledo, the second-most points scored in a game by a player in the league this week. Scoring a career-high six three-pointers against the Rockets, Born joins Xavier Johnson (SIU) and Tucker DeVries (Drake) as the only players in the MVC this season with a 30+ point performance. The MVC Preseason First Team guard also moved up to 23rd on UNI’s all-time scoring list in the past week, as well as seventh in program history in career three-pointers made.
- Northern Iowa has made at least nine three-point shots in each of its last three games, shooting 43% from beyond the arc.
- The Panthers are five wins shy of reaching 700 victories as a Division I program, UNI will host Prairie View A&M and Alcorn State in their final two home games of the non-conference schedule this week. The Panthers are 6-0 all-time against opponents from the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
- Born in eight points shy of becoming the 23rd player in UNI history to reach 1,200 career points.
- Tytan Anderson has scored at least one point in 42 consecutive games, the longest streak among active Panthers.
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS SALUKIS
- Southern Illinois extended its program-record nonconference home winning streak to 24 games when the Salukis defeated Oklahoma State last time out. SIU entered the year (19-straight) tied for the longest nonconference home winning streak which happened under the direction of head coaches Bruce Weber and Matt Painter from 1999-2003.
VALPARAISO BEACONS
- Valpo's Isaiah Stafford averaged 18.5 points per game to go along with 3.0 rebounds per game and 3.0 assists per game in this week's road tests at Central Michigan and Virginia Tech. He also played a key role on the defensive end, notching five steals and two blocks this week. Stafford paced the team in scoring in both games including 23 on Wednesday at Central Michigan, leading a spirited Valpo rally from 22 down that fell just shy in a four-point setback.
- Valpo's Kaspar Sepp burst onto the scene this week, averaging 8.0 points and 8.5 rebounds over two road games against Central Michigan and Virginia Tech. He became just the third different Valpo player with a double-figure rebounding effort this season when he hauled in 12 boards in 22 minutes of action. Sepp entered this week with eight total points for the season and none against Division-I opponents. He had six total rebounds this season before notching 17 over two games this week. Sepp scored six points on 3-of-5 shooting on Wednesday at Central Michigan before following with his first double-figure scoring effort with 10 points on 5-of-7 shooting in the game at Virginia Tech. Before this week, Sepp had not scored in any of the team's previous seven games, three where he played and did not score and four where he did not play (coach's decision).
- A Tale of Two Halves -- In the Dec. 6 game at Central Michigan, Valpo outscored the hosts 45-34 after halftime but trailed 37-22 at the break. In the first half, Valpo was outrebounded 27-14 including a 12-2 differential on the offensive glass. In the second half, Valpo flipped that to a 22-17 rebounding edge including a 10-6 advantage on the offensive glass. Valpo uncharacteristically committed 11 first-half turnovers before making only three after halftime. Valpo did not attempt a free throw in the first half before going 10-of-12 at the line after the break.
- Edwards Back in Double Figures -- Jaxon Edwards started the season with three straight double-figure games, but Saturday at Virginia Tech marked his first double-figure scoring output in the last seven games as he produced 13 points. He returned to double figures for the fourth time this season and the first time since Nov. 14 vs. Green Bay. He hauled in five rebounds and went 6-of-10 shooting. Edwards has scored eight points or more in four straight games.