Jake is No. 1 - UNI’s Ben Jacobson has coached the Panthers to 188 league wins since taking over the helm at UNI in 2006. The 188 MVC wins surpassed Henry Iba (187 at Oklahoma State) for the league’s all-time record.
MVC in the NET -- Indiana State leads eight MVC teams among the Top 159 as ISU sits at No. 26. Drake is 44; and Bradley, 63. The MVC finished 15th as a league in the Conference NET last year and enters this week 10th as a league.
Road Warriors -- The MVC has combined for a 26-22 record at home in league play (.542). The road success (.458) in MVC play is the best on record (through at least 1977).
Bradley: 18 Threes -- Bradley made 18 three-point field goals in its win against Belmont. The 18 treys in a game matches a league season-best (SIU had 18 in its win against Saint Louis), and the total was only one shy of the all-time league mark of 19 treys in an MVC game (Indiana State had 19 in a win against Murray State on Feb. 4, 2023.)
Efficiency = NCAAs -- Indiana State is 23 in offensive efficiency in KenPom; and Drake is No. 44 in OE. Since 2012, 10 of 12 MVC teams in the Top 35 of KenPom’s OE have earned a spot in the NCAA Tourney (UNI, 2020 - COVID; MOST, 2022 - played in the NIT).
A Comeback -- The Braves’ 23-point comeback win at Southern Illinois last Wednesday is tied for the second-best comeback in MVC history, trailing only then-MVC member New Mexico State’s 1977 28-point comeback win at Bradley.
Non-Conf Success -- 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.
Streaking -- Bradley’s current eight-game win streak is tied for the fifth-best nationally (through games of Jan. 21).
Sweet Shooting -- Indiana State leads the nation in effective field goal percentage (61.4), is 3rd in FG percentage (51.1) and 1st in 3FG percentage (41.5). The Sycamores’ 51.1 is the second-best in the MVC during the shot-clock era.
Suits & Sneakers -- Suits And Sneakers Week, the signature annual initiative of the American Cancer Society and NABC’s Coaches vs. Cancer program, runs through Jan. 28.
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
- The Bruins rank Top 3 in the Missouri Valley Conference in seven statistical categories. Belmont ranks Top 40 nationally in effective field goal percentage and overall field goal percentage and leads the Missouri Valley Conference in steals per game.
- Cade Tyson has 13 double figure scoring games this season. Tyson ranks among league leaders in scoring, field goal percentage, free throw percentage and 3-point field goals. The Monroe, N.C., native scored a career-high 31 points Dec. 16 and has seven games of 20 or more points this season, including 52 points over his last two games.
- Malik Dia has recorded 14 consecutive double-figure scoring games, including 32 points vs. Drake. He posted his second career double-double of 18 points and 10 rebounds vs. Arkansas State. The Murfreesboro, Tenn., native ranks among league leaders in scoring, rebounding, and free throw rate. Dia is averaging 17.4 points per game this season.
BRADLEY BRAVES
- The Braves continue to roll, fueled in large part by the efforts of Duke Deen this past week. Deen averaged 20 PPG, 6.5 ASP, and 4.0 RPG with a single turnover in two games while shooting 71% from the floor and 67% from 3pt range. In the Braves road contest against SIU, Deen helped the Braves erase a 23 point road second half deficit which stands as the largest ever in Bradley history and it's tied for second largest in the history of the MVC while leading the Braves in every main statistical category on Wednesday night. In BU's home match with Belmont, he once again tied BU's 2nd best mark for single game threes with seven makes. That marks the third time in his Bradley career of reaching that mark.
- Red Hot - Bradley owns the nations 5th longest win streak (8 games) The Braves win streak stretches back to Dec. 21st of 2023.
- Wardle closing in on BU top 4 - Brian Wardle sits just three wins away from recording the fourth most MVC wins for a Bradley Head Coach, Wardle became the 5th winning coach in MVC play at Bradley earlier this year.
DRAKE BULLDOGS
- Darnell Brodie averaged a double-double of 14.5 points, 11.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.5 blocks while only missing one total shot attempt in two dominant wins last week. He put together a double-double of 11 points (5-6 FG) and 12 rebounds in the 77-56 win at Illinois State on Wednesday while dishing out five assists and knocking loose two steals. Brodie followed that up with another double-double of 18 points (9-9 FG) along with 10 rebounds and two blocked shots in a 97-48 rout of Evansville on Saturday. Brodie now has 10 career double-doubles.
- Atin Wright averaged 12.0 points, 4.5 assists and 2.0 rebounds in two convincing wins last week. Wright scored 12 points in each contest against Illinois State and Evansville. He dished out three assists on Wednesday and six (matching his career-high) on Saturday.
- Colby Garland averaged 5.5 points, 4.5 rebounds and 3.5 assists in two victories last week. Garland chipped in nine points with three rebounds and three assists in the 77-56 win at Illinois State on Wednesday. He helped Drake destroy Evansville 97-48 with six rebounds and four assists on Saturday.
- Drake’s 49-point victory over Evansville last Saturday is tied for its largest margin of victory in Missouri Valley Conference play (103-54 win vs. Creighton on Feb. 26, 1985). Six of Drake’s largest conference victory margins have come under the leadership of head coach Darian DeVries.
- Dating back to Jan. 24, Drake has won 15 consecutive games at home, which is tied for the sixth-longest active home winning streak in NCAA men’s Division I basketball.
- As of Jan. 22, Drake University is just one of 11 schools with its men’s and women’s basketball teams in first place in its respective conference.
EVANSVILLE PURPLE ACES
- Yacine Toumi has put together one of the best stretches of his collegiate career, recording double figures in 9 of his last 11 games while averaging 12.4 points over that time. His efficiency has been impressive as his season shooting mark of 56.6% is 5th in the league. Toumi has excelled in his rebounding efforts, hauling in an average of 7.8 over the last 8 games.
- Over the last six games, Antonio Thomas has quietly averaged 9.5 points, including a 15-point effort against Missouri State, He has recorded 7 or more points in 14 of the last 18 games including 27 in the win over UNI, his top Division I scoring effort.
UIC FLAMES
- Against Valpo .. UIC made 10 three-pointers in a game for the eighth time this season and first since Jan. 2 at Murray. State (12). The Flames have also made at least eight triples in four in a row and five of their last six games, as well as 14 of 19 games this season.
- The five turnovers at Valpo were the fewest by UIC in a single game in more than nine years (Dec. 30, 2014 – 2 vs. Judson).
- CJ Jones posted his third consecutive double-figure scoring game against Valpo and is averaging 18.3 ppg. in that span, including a career-high 25 points on Jan. 13 vs. Bradley. He recorded eight assists in a game for the sixth time this season and first since Dec. 21, when he had nine assists against Incarnate Word.
ILLINOIS STATE REDBIRDS
- Illinois State leads the MVC in offensive rebounding, pulling down an average of 10.84 offensive boards per contest.
- The Redbirds have an offensive rebounding allowed percentage of just 25.0, which is the 29th-lowest total in NCAA Division I basketball, and is the second-lowest of the KenPom (since 1998-99) era.
- Against Southern Illinois on January 6, Myles Foster became the first Redbird student-athlete since Milik Yarbrough on February 27, 2019, to lead the team (without sharing the team lead) in points, rebounds, and assists in a single game.
INDIANA STATE SYCAMORES
- Indiana State moved 16-3 and 7-1 in MVC action, tied for the league-best. This win marked Coach Schertz's best start in the MVC with a 7-1 record, beating least season's start of 6-1. The Sycamores' overall 16-3 record is the best start in the Coach Schertz era.
- The win at Murray State is Coach Schertz's 50th win as the head coach of the Sycamores. Following the game, his record at Indiana State stands at 50-36.
- Ryan Conwell tied his career-high in threes, knocking down five, and played all 40 minutes for the first time as a Sycamore.
MISSOURI STATE BEARS
- At halftime, Missouri State will recognize a record 281 student-athletes as honorees on the Athletic Director's Honor Roll for the fall 2023 semester, including six basketball Bears: N.J. Benson (So., Mt. Vernon, Ill.), Dawson Carper (Sr., Colorado Springs, Colo.), Kanon Gipson (RFr., Rogersville, Mo.), Nick Kramer (RFr., St. Louis, Mo.), Damien Mayo Jr. (So., St. Louis, Mo.) and Chance Moore (Jr., Brookhaven, Ga.)
- Donovan Clay (Sr., Alton, Ill.) needs 1 rebound for 800 in his collegiate career (146 games) and 2 steals for 100. His 905 points in 83 games at Missouri State ranks 37th on MSU's career list. He is 95 points shy of becoming the 32nd Bear to eclipse 1,000 points for the maroon and white. Among all active DI players, Clay ranks 17th in career games played (146), 34th in blocks (154), 35th in rebounds (799) and 79th in scoring (1,516). He is one of 40 active DI players with 1,500 career points and 600 rebounds.
- N.J. Benson (So., Mt. Vernon, Ill.) leads the MVC in offensive rebounding (2.95), which is 65th nationally. His 38 season blocks and 2.00 blocks per game are both 2nd in the MVC and rank 24th and 29th, respectively, in Division I.
Murray State RACERS
- The Racers had a split week with a road win at UIC and a home loss to Indiana State. MSU's road win in Chicago was their third-straight victory away from home as they head to Bradley this Wednesday.
- Nick Ellington was the top Racer in the 1-1 week with 29 points scored at UIC and 17 against the Sycamores. He shot an amazing 77 percent shooting (21-of-27) with 17 rebounds for an 8.5 per game average.
UNI PANTHERS
- Nate Heise sparked an impressive second half performance for UNI to help the Panthers secure their first-ever win over Belmont, coming up just short of the program's second-ever triple double-double with a 20-point, ten rebound and eight assist performance against the Bruins. The Lake City, Minnesota native also sank four three-point baskets in UNI's win at Belmont, a career-high against MVC opponents, posting his third double-double of the year. Draining 53.8% of his shot attempts during the week, Heise also posted a 15-point game to help Northern Iowa extend its win streak to four games following a four-point home win over Southern Illinois in a defensive battle
- UNI can record its 200th win inside the McLeod Center on Tuesday night as the Panthers host Evansville. UNI is 199-62 (.762) inside its home arena since the building opened in November 2006.
- The Panthers are also closing in on their 1,400th all-time win in their 121-year history, picking up their 1,397th win on Saturday against Southern Illinois.
- Tytan Anderson has scored at least one point in 51 consecutive games, the longest streak among active Panthers.
- Bowen Born is 65 points away from cracking into UNI's top-ten all-time scoring list. The junior guard has tallied 1,335 during his four seasons with the Panthers and is currently 11th on the list.
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS SALUKIS
- With two 3-pointers at Northern Iowa over the weekend, sharpshooter Trent Brown moved into a tie for 13th in school history with 146 career threes. The graduate guard is shooting a team-best 42.9 percent from distance this season, connecting on 42 of 98 from behind the arc.
- Clarence Rupert recorded his third double-double of the season on Saturday, picking up 10 points and 11 rebounds against the Panthers. Rupert has all of SIU's double-doubles this season and has surpassed the team total (2) from last year's squad 19 games into the year.
VALPARAISO BEACONS
- Valpo trailed by as many as 12 including an 11-point deficit with 7:47 remaining and still a four-point gap with 2:30 to go, but the Beacons rallied past UIC 84-77 on Jan. 20. This marked the team’s first double-figure comeback this season and the program’s biggest rally since overcoming a 12-point deficit on Nov. 20, 2021 vs. Tulane in the Bahamas. After UIC led 70-59 with 7:47 on the clock, the Beacons outscored the Flames 25-7 for the remainder of the game. Valpo had just a 5.4 percent win probability midway through the second half, according to KenPom.
- Valpo went 22-of-24 (91.7 percent) at the free-throw line in the Jan. 20 win over UIC, the team’s best day at the stripe this season in terms of both made free throws and free-throw percentage. This was Valpo’s highest made free-throw total since last season’s home game against UIC (23, Jan. 17, 2023). This was the team’s best percentage at the stripe (minimum seven attempts) since Feb. 12, 2022 at Missouri State (92.6 percent). Valpo went 19-of-21 (90.5 percent) at the free-throw line in the second half after having just three attempts in the first stanza. It was Valpo’s highest made free-throw total in a single half since the second half of a Feb. 7, 2021 win over Drake.