Sycamores Ranked -- The MVC has had at least one ranked men’s basketball team in the Associated Press poll in 15 of the past 21 seasons (including this year). Indiana State entered both the AP poll (23) and USA Today Coaches poll (24) this week after being ranked by CBS Sports last week. ISU is No. 19 in the CBS Top 25+1 poll this week.
MVC in the NET -- Indiana State leads eight MVC teams among the Top 149 as ISU sits at No. 20. Drake is 51; and Bradley, 60. The MVC finished 15th as a league in the Conference NET last year and enters this week No. 9 as a league. The league’s Top 3 NET-rated teams have combined for 12 Q1+Q2 wins this year.
Three in the Top 60 -- Only eight leagues (the P6, Mountain West and the MVC) have three or more Top 60 teams in the NET rankings.
Xavier is No. 2 -- SIU’s Xavier Johnson ranks 2nd nationally with 23.7 points per game and 4th with 180 made FTs. Hersey Hawkins of Bradley was the last MVC player to lead the nation in scoring (1987-88).
Streaking -- Drake’s current 18-game homecourt winning streak is tied for second-best nationally. Drake (13-0) and Indiana State (11-0) have not lost at home this year. Indiana State’s 9-game overall streak is tied for third-best among active streaks.
Road Warriors -- The MVC has combined for a 36-48 record on the road in league play (.429). The road success in MVC play is the second-best on record (through at least 1977) trailing only the COVID-impacted scheduling parameters implemented by The Valley in 2020-21 (.444 that year).
Winning Ways -- Drake and Belmont are two of the winningest programs in the NCAA since the start of the 2020-21 campaign. Drake is tied for fourth-best nationally in that span with 98 total wins, and Belmont ranks No. 21 (86 victories).
Charitable Cause -- Xavier Johnson of Southern Illinois leads the MVC and ranks fourth nationally with 180 made free throws on the season. Johnson is on pace to finish among the all-time leaders in MVC history for single-season FT makes.
Block Party -- UIC leads the MVC and ranks ninth in the nation in blocks per game (5.56). Only one MVC team since 1987 has recorded 5.0 blocks per game for an entire season.
The MVC finished the non-conference regular-season schedule with an 84-48 (.636) record. The +36 ledger (games over .500) is the best in MVC men’s hoops since the 2017-18 campaign, when the Valley was 87-46 (+41), which included post-season play that season.
Valley Runs Deep -- Notably, MVC men’s 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.
Nation’s 2nd Oldest -- Founded in 1907, the Missouri Valley Conference is the nation’s second-oldest Division I athletic conference (behind only the Big Ten). The MVC is celebrating its 117th season in 2023-24.
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). This year's tournament dates are March 7-10 (Thursday-Sunday) at Enterprise Center.
Belmont BRUINS
- Ja'Kobi Gillespie averaged 21.0 points, 6.0 rebounds, 5.5 assists and 2.0 steals per game as Belmont defeated Murray State and Valparaiso this past week. Gillespie shot 76 percent (16-for-21) from the field in the two games. The Greeneville, Tennessee native tied his career-high with 24 points, eight rebounds, five assists and two steals vs. Murray State - including the go-ahead basket with 48 seconds left and two free throws moments later to extend the margin to three points. Gillespie had 18 points, four rebounds, six assists and two steals at Valparaiso, as the Bruins delivered one of their most complete first half performances of the season. Gillespie ranks among league leaders in scoring, assists per game and steals per game.
- Belmont limited Murray State to 36 percent shooting in its 69-64 victory Feb. 7; marking the Bruins' best single-game field goal percentage defense performance of the season against an NCAA Division I opponent.
- All five Belmont starters scored in double figures in the Bruins' 96-78 victory at Valparaiso Feb. 10. Malik Dia, Ja'Kobi Gillespie, Cade Tyson, Jayce Willingham and Keishawn Davidson combined to score 84 points. The Bruins also had five double figure scorers in victory Nov. 14.
BRADLEY BRAVES
- On Saturday night, Bradley legend Hersey Hawkins returned to Peoria and was honored in the first half. Hawkins is still the all-time leader in points scored and is 11th all-time in NCAA history with 3,008 in his career. "The Hawk" spoke with the team before the game started.
- The Braves lead the MVC with 13.04 turnovers forced per game. Bradley is second in the MVC in steals per game (7.5).
- Darius Hannah is second in the MVC and sixth nationally in field goal percentage, connecting on 64.3 percent of his shots.
DRAKE BULLDOGS
- Tucker DeVries averaged 24.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 steals in two wins last week. He scored 27 points (five in overtime) with five rebounds and two steals while going 13-15 from the free throw line for a 92-88 win in OT over Southern Illinois on Wednesday. DeVries nearly had a double-double with 22 points, nine rebounds and three assists in the 74-67 victory at Bradley on Saturday.
- Atin Wright averaged 12.5 points, 3.5 rebounds, 2.0 assists and 1.5 steals in two wins last week. Wright scored 15 points with three rebounds, three assists and two steals in the 92-88 overtime win against SIU on Wednesday. On Saturday, he chipped in 10 points with four rebounds and a steal to help defeat Bradley on the road, 74-67.
- Drake men’s basketball has secured its sixth consecutive season of 20 or more wins. Six of Drake’s 11 all-time 20-plus win seasons have come under the direction of head coach Darian DeVries.
- Dating back to Jan. 24, 2023, Drake has won 18 consecutive games at home, which is tied for the second longest active home winning streak in NCAA men’s Division I basketball. The Bulldogs have won 90.1 percent (82-9 record) of their home games during the Darian DeVries era.
- As of Feb. 12, Darnell Brodie is three rebounds away from passing Melvin Mathis (1982-86, 854) for second all-time in career rebounds at Drake. Former teammate and current graduate manager Garrett Sturtz (2018-23) is Drake’s all-time leading rebounder (917).
- Tucker DeVries has scored 1,633 career points to shift into fifth all-time at Drake, surpassing All-American Willie McCarter (1966-69) who scored 1,626 points and has his number retired at the Knapp Center.
EVANSVILLE PURPLE ACES
- Ben Humrichous led the Purple Aces with 14.0 points, 2.5 assists and 1.5 steals per game over the last week. In Evansville’s big win over Bradley, Humrichous scored 14 points while adding 3 assists, 3 steals and 2 rebounds. He was a perfect 5-for-5 from the line in 27 minutes of work. He matched that effort at Murray State, recording 14 points and 2 assists while seeing 31:39 of floor time.
- Ending the Streak – On Wednesday, Evansville put an end to an 11-game losing streak to Bradley as the Purple Aces earned a 73-70 victory at the Ford Center. The win came less than a month after an 86-50 loss to the Braves in Peoria. Entering the game, Bradley defeated UE by an average of 35.8 points in the five previous meetings.
- Playing his Best? – Kenny Strawbridge Jr. has shown how good his all-around game is this season when he has not been depended on solely for his scoring. This came to the forefront at Murray State on Saturday as Strawbridge recorded 14 points, 10 rebounds, and six assists. It marked the 6th double-double of his career and first of the season.
UIC FLAMES
- Continuing to make a strong case as one of the Valley’s most improved players this year, CJ Jones averaged 18.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game with a .500 field-goal percentage and perfect percentages from the three-point line (2-2) and foul line (5-5) as UIC picked up a pair of MVC wins last week on the road at Illinois State and at home vs. UNI. Jones scored a team-high 13 points and grabbed five rebounds while handing out a team-high three assists in Wednesday’s road win at Illinois State, the Flames’ first in Normal since 2004. Jones then delivered a game-high 24 points (one off his career high) on 10-of-15 shooting and added three rebounds and three assists to pace UIC to its first win over UNI since 2008. Jones scored 13 of his 24 points in the second half, including a clutch floater in the lane with 1:53 left to give the Flames a two-possession lead.
- UIC picked up its first road win at Illinois State since Nov. 30, 2004, when the Flames defeated the Redbirds, 60-56. The Flames held Illinois State to a .346 field-goal percentage, the lowest by a UIC opponent in conference play this year and lowest by any Flames' opponent since Dec. 16, when UIC limited Western Michigan to .320 shooting (the Flames are 5-0 this year when holding the opposition below 35-percent shooting).
- UIC picked up its first win over Northern Iowa since Nov. 19, 2008, when the Flames defeated the Panthers, 84-77, also at Credit Union 1 Arena. UIC's .509 field-goal percentage vs. UNI was its best in Valley play this year and best against any opponent since Dec. 16, when the Flames connected at a .565 clip in a win over Western Michigan at Credit Union 1 Arena.
- UIC had two players score 20 points against UNI (CJ Jones – 24 points; junior forward Filip Skobalj – career-high 21 points) in a game for the first time since its Nov. 25 win over George Washington in the Bahamas, when senior guard Isaiah Rivera scored 23 points and Jones added 22 points. Skobalj's 21 points topped his previous career high of 18 points at Missouri State on Jan. 24, 2023. His 5-for-5 effort from three-point line was the best by a UIC player since Feb. 22, 2020, when Jamie Ahale also went 5-for-5 from distance against IUPUI.
- Senior guard Toby Okani moved into 10th place on the UIC single-season blocks list with 53 swats, passing Sherell Ford (52 in 1994-95).
ILLINOIS STATE REDBIRDS
- Indiana State comes into the game being nationally ranked for the first time since 1979. The Redbirds are 1-0 all-time against the Sycamores when Indiana State is ranked, winning 81-76 inside Horton Field House on January 21, 1978. Illinois State has 13 wins over Nationally-ranked opponents.
- Against UIC, Illinois State saw Myles Foster record an 18-point, 10-rebound double-double, with Kendall Lewis finishing the game with a 15-point, 10-rebound double-double. The two double-doubles in a game happened for the first time for ISU since DJ Horne (17 points, 10 assists) and Josiah Strong (13 points, 11 assists) had double-doubles against Greenville on December 2. The last time a Redbird duo had point/rebound double-doubles in the same game was against Drake on February 21, 2018 when Phil Fayne (16 points, 11 rebounds) and Milik Yarbrough (22 points, 10 rebounds) each had a double-double.
INDIANA STATE SYCAMORES
- Robbie Avila compiled another big week in MVC play as Indiana State went 2-0 and stayed atop the league standings. Avila averaged 18.5 PPG, 7.0 RPG, and 2.0 AST/G while shooting 56.5% (13-for-23) from the floor. In game one, Avila needed only 21 minutes to lead Indiana State in scoring and tie his career high of 27 points.
- Ryan Conwell used another consistent performance for ISU as the Sycamores went 2-0 in the week to remain as the league leader. Conwell averaged 18.0 PPG, 3.0 RPG, and 3.0 AST/G while shooting 58.3% (14-for-24) from the floor and 46.2% (6-for-13) from deep. Against Missouri State, the guard paced the offense with 24 points, shooting 9-for-15 and knocking down a career-high six three-pointers. Conwell played all 40 minutes in the win, also recording four rebounds and two assists while committing only one turnover. In the first half, it was Conwell that kept ISU in the game with 18 of his 24 points coming in the first 20 minutes, making 4-of-6 triples.
- Indiana State earned a No. 23 ranking in the Associated Press poll, a No. 24 spot in the coaches poll and a No. 19 position in the CBS Sports Top 25 and 1 poll. ISU last was ranked in the AP poll in 1979.
- Indiana State leads the nation in effective field goal percentage (60.7), is 2nd in FG percentage (50.8) and 9th in 3FG percentage (39.3). The Sycamores’ 50.8 is the second-best in the MVC during the shot-clock era.
- Indiana State’s Jayson Kent leads the MVC with eight double-doubles this season. Seven different MVC players have had at least four double-doubles this year.
MISSOURI STATE BEARS
- Alston Mason averaged 22.5 ppg including 26 vs. Indiana State despite being hampered with the flu.
- Missouri State is 18-13 all-time on Valentine’s Day, including a 1-0 ledger under coach Dana Ford.
- MSU has 121 blocks this season through 25 games, which ranks 37th nationally in blocks per game (4.84). The Bears are on pace to eclipse their season record for total blocks (140) and blocks per game (4.38), both set last season.
- Dana Ford's six seasons as Missouri State head coach, the Bears are 62-44 (.585) in Valley contests, which trails only Drake (74-32) for most conference wins in that span. MoState is also the only Valley program in without a losing conference record on its ledger since 2019.
Murray State RACERS
- The Murray State Racers scored a walk off win Saturday when JaCobi Wood hit a 3-point basket to defeat the Evansville Purple Aces 73-70 at the CFSB Center in Murray, Ky.
- Wood's big moment made him the No. 1 play on ESPN's nightly Top-10 Plays.
- The Racers had lost all eight games this season that were decided by 5 points or less. The win snapped the Racers' four-game home losing skid and also UE's four-game win streak overall.
- Quincy Anderson's 20-point game is his fourth of the season and his second in a row following the 21 points he scored at Belmont on Wednesday.
- The Racers now have 10 games this season of a player scoring 20 points: Quincy Anderson (4), Nick Ellington (2), Rob Perry (2), JaCobi Wood (1), Brian Moore Jr. (1).
UNI PANTHERS
- The Panthers are also closing in on their 1,400th all-time win in their 121-year history, picking up their 1,399th win last Wednesday at home against Missouri State
- Tytan Anderson has scored at least one point in 57 consecutive games, the longest streak among active Panthers.
- Bowen Born is 18 points away from cracking into UNI's top-ten all-time scoring list. The junior guard has tallied 1,382 during his four seasons with the Panthers and is currently 11th on the list. Born also ranks ninth in program history in career field goal attempts (1,112). Born is tied for the league-lead with a 90% shooting clip at the free throw line. His accuracy at the charity stripe is currently on pace to finish as the third-best single-season free throw percentage in program history.
- Trey Campbell sits 30 points shy of becoming the fourth active Panther to score at least 500 career points.
- Head coach Ben Jacobson is one win shy of his 350th career victory, currently leading all active MVC coaches in total wins.
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS SALUKIS
- Xavier Johnson avaeraged 26 points, seven assists, three rebounds and 1.5 steals per game as the Salukis finished the week 1-1. Johnson scored a game-high 35 points to go with five assists in an overtime loss on the road at Drake. The Germantown, Maryland native also had three steals against the Bulldogs. Johnson bounced back to lead the Salukis to a win over Illinois State on Saturday, finishing with 17 points and nine assists. Johnson protected the rock in two games, turning the ball over just three times in 84 minutes on the court. His 4.67 assist-to-turnover ratio is fourth in the MVC.
- After averaging just seven points a game a year ago, Xavier Johnson has dominated for the Salukis this season. The graduate guard has been dominant on both ends of the court for Southern, leading the team in scoring, assists, and steals. Johnson is second in the nation in scoring at 23.7 points per game while also dishing out a league-high 6.1 assists per game. An MVC All-Defensive selection a year ago, Johnson has a team-high 36 steals which ranks seventh in the MVC.
- Xavier Johnson leads the MVC and ranks fourth nationally with 180 made free throws on the season. Johnson is on pace to finish among the all-time leaders in MVC history for single-season FT makes.
VALPARAISO BEACONS
- DeAveiro Joins Top 20 -- Valpo’s Darius DeAveiro climbed into the top 20 in program history on Feb. 10 vs. Belmont. He dished out four assists in that contest. Entering Feb. 14 vs. UNI, DeAveiro has handed out 249 career helpers, surpassing Ron Howard’s total of 247 for 20th in program history. Daniel Sackey (2018-2021) is 19th at 269. In terms of single-season assists, DeAveiro is at 130 and needs to get to 146 to crack the all-time top 10.
- Hall Call -- Two former Valpo men’s basketball standouts were part of the Valpo Athletics Hall of Fame Class of 2024, which was inducted as part of Valpo’s All-Sports Reunion Weekend that took place on Feb. 9-10. 2003 graduate Raitis Grafs, a three-time all-conference performer, was part of the four-member class. He currently ranks second in program history in blocked shots (228), fourth in rebounds (841) and sixth in points (1,621). The class also featured 1964 alum Jon Robisch, who was a two-sport standout in baseball and basketball. He ranks fifth in program history in rebounds per game at 8.7 and his average of 10.3 rebounds per game as a senior still ranks eighth in program history. Jon is the brother of Dave Robisch, who played in the NBA from 1971-1984.