MVC Ranks No. 9 -- The Missouri Valley Conference ranks No. 9 as a league in the NET rankings. Indiana State leads six MVC teams among the Top 125 as ISU sits at No. 30. The MVC finished 15th as a league in the Conference NET last year. (The Valley is also up six spots from 16 to 10 in the KenPom league rankings.)
Efficiency = NCAAs -- Indiana State is 31 in offensive efficiency in KenPom. 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).
Bradley - 6 Straight -- For the second time this season, Bradley has won six-straight games. The Braves carry the league’s longest active streak into Wednesday’s game at SIU. The 6-game active streak is tied for 13th-best in the nation.
30 Something -- The league has had 12 30-point performances this year, including Tucker DeVries’ 34-point outing at SIU.
Home Cookin’ -- The MVC has combined for a 20-16 record at home in league play (.556). Valley teams have won at a combined .600 clip or better at home in league play in 9 of the past 10 years with the COVID 2020-21 season the lone exception (.556). Since 2014, league regular-season champs (and co-champs) are a combined 102-7 in MVC games at home. Only one co-champ (Drake in 2019) lost more than 1 league home game (7-2 that year for DU).
Twice is Nice -- By Wednesday, four league series will be completed (UE-MOST; BEL-UNI; MUR-UIC; DU-ILS).
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.
At the Line -- Four league players rank among the national Top 50 in free throw percentage. Bowen Born ranks 2nd this season with a 96.1 free throw percentage accuracy. Xavier Johnson’s 127 FT makes also ranks second nationally. Johnson is on pace to reach the Top 10 in MVC history for single-season FT makes.
Sweet Shooting -- Indiana State leads the nation in effective field goal percentage (61.4), is 3rd in FG percentage (51.1) and 2nd in 3FG percentage (41.2). The Sycamores’ 51.1 is the second-best in the MVC during the shot-clock era.
National Honor -- Tucker DeVries of Drake was named the Lou Henson National Mid-Major Player of the Week -- in addition to his MVC Player of the Week honors this week.
Young Guns -- Valparaiso is one of the youngest teams in the nation (per KenPom), as the Beacons rank No. 356 (of 362) in experience.
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
- Belmont leads the Missouri Valley Conference in steals, with Ja'Kobi Gillespie leading the way.
- Belmont has defended without fouling this season, ranking second in the MVC and 44th nationally in defensive foul rate per noted statistician Ken Pomeroy.
BRADLEY BRAVES
- The Braves have won six-straight for the second time this season and play at Southern Illinois on Wedneday.
- Duke Deen had another high scoring and balanced week for the Braves as the 5-8 senior guard led BU with an average of 18.5 PPG, 4.5 ASP and 3.5 RPG in two outings vs Evansville and UIC. Against UIC, Deen put up 18 first half points and did the majority of his damage from the three point line finishing 6/9 from behind the arc.
- Demarion Burch averaged 9.5 PPG, 2.0 RPG, and a shade over 1.0 APG for the Braves this past week against Evansville and UIC while shooting 70% from the floor. Against Evansville, Burch led the Braves in scoring for the first time in his young career with 13 points on a perfect 5/5 shooting from the field.
DRAKE BULLDOGS
- Kevin Overton averaged 13.0 points, 1.5 assists and 1.5 steals over two wins last week. He helped Drake to an 89-78 victory over Indiana State on Wednesday with 16 points and two rebounds while finishing a perfect 5-for-5 from the free throw line. Overton added 10 points, two assists and two steals in a 76-58 road win against Southern Illinois.
- Tucker DeVries continues to climb the Drake men’s basketball all-time scoring list, now in 10th with 1,459 points, just 13 points away from passing Wayne Kreklow for ninth all-time at Drake. DeVries has recorded eight 20-plus scoring games this season (29 in his career) and three 30-plus scoring games in 2023-24 (five in his career).
- Atin Wright averaged 13.5 points and 2.0 assists over two wins last week. Wright added 17 points with two rebounds and two assists in an 89-78 victory over Indiana State. He contributed 10 points and dished out two more assists in the 76-58 road win at Southern Illinois on Saturday.
- All five of Drake’s Missouri Valley Conference wins this season have been by double figures.
- Drake is 7-0 this season and 61-1 under head coach Darian DeVries when scoring 80 points or more.
EVANSVILLE PURPLE ACES
- Josh Hughes had the best game of his career against Missouri State on Saturday. He went an unbelievable 7-of-10 from 3-point range on his way to his top tally of 22 points. Included in his final tally was a 4-point play. His 7 triples was the most by a freshman in the MVC this season and was the second-highest total overall in the conference in 2023-24.
- Against Missouri State, Yacine Toumi and Kenny Strawbridge Jr. both approached double-doubles. Strawbridge recorded 9 points and 10 rebounds while Toumi posted 8 points and 12 caroms.
UIC FLAMES
- Against Bradley, CJ Jones' 25 points topped his previous career high of 22 points against George Washington on Nov. 25 in a semifinal victory at the Baha Mar Hoops Nassau Championship in the Bahamas. Jones also tied for the most points by a UIC player this season, matching the total by senior guard Isaiah Rivera (Geneseo, Ill./Geneseo/Colorado State) against Little Rock in the Flames' home-opening win on Nov. 10.
- Marquise Kennedy's seven rebounds were one off his season high of eight boards on Jan. 6 against Valparaiso.
- Toby Okani's six assists were a season-high and tied his career-best that he set twice last year against Prairie View A&M (Dec. 13, 2022) and equaled against Indiana State (Feb. 15, 2023).
ILLINOIS STATE REDBIRDS
- In the Sunday game against Valparaiso, Illinois State had a positive assist-to-turnover ratio (13-to-7) for the eighth time this season; the team's seven turnovers are tied for the second-fewest in a game this season for ISU.
- The Redbirds out-rebounded a third consecutive opponent, and out-rebounded its foe for the 13th time this season
- Jordan Davis made his first start as a Redbird against Valpo, and for the second consecutive game set a career-high in steals with four against the Beacons
INDIANA STATE SYCAMORES
- ISU is off to the best overall record under Coach Josh Schertz. In Valley play, though, the Sycamores began the 2022-23 season 6-0. ISU is currently 5-1 this season.
- Indiana State is undefeated at home this season, a perfect 7-0. The last time Indiana State lost at home was against Missouri State last season on Senior Night, 66-62. Missouri State swept ISU last year.
- In the recent mid-major poll, ISU found itself at the No. 5 spot. This ties Indiana State's highest ranking from earlier this season (12/26/23).
MISSOURI STATE BEARS
- The Bears are 7-0 this season when shooting 45 percent or better from the field and are coming off a 46.4-percent effort in Saturday’s win at Evansville (the team’s best shooting effort since Dec. 19 vs. Lindenwood). Likewise, MoState is 8-0 when it fires at a 32-percent clip or better from beyond the arc.
- N.J. Benson (So., Mt. Vernon, Ill.) is coming off a memorable game against Evansville, posting a career-high 22 points on 10-of-14 field goals with 13 rebounds and 3 blocks in the win. It marked his 4th double-double of the season, which matches ISU’s Jayson Kent for The Valley lead. Benson is also 2nd in the MVC in blocks (36) and blocks per game (2.12), which rank 19th and 23rd, respectively, in the NCAA rankings. He is also the conference leader in offensive rebounding per game (2.88). He needs 10 rebounds to reach 200 and 3 blocks for 50 in his career (44g).
- The Bears are 8-3 this season and 77-31 under coach Dana Ford when matching or out-rebounding their opponents. MoState leads The Valley in rebounds per game (38.59), rebound margin (+4.2) and defensive rebounds per game (29.53).
Murray State RACERS
- Another big crowd watched the Racers' game Sunday against UNI (5,507). The Racers lead The Valley in attendance at 5,059 in nine games this season.
- Brian Moore, Jr. was honored before the game for reaching the 1500-career mark in scoring between Murray State and NE Oklahoma JC.
- MSU is at UIC Wednesday, the Racers will be looking for their third-straight road win. The Racers won the first meeting at home (Jan. 2) 85-73. The game Wednesday at Credit Union 1 Arena, MSU's first visit since they played a BracketBuster return game in 2006 under coach Billy Kennedy.
- Quincy Anderson's free throw streak ended at 18 against UNI; while JaCobi Wood extended his free throw to 20 in a row, the longest this season for the Racers.
UNI PANTHERS
- Nate Heise played a key role in helping the Panthers even their MVC record at 3-3 and push UNI past the .500 mark overall for the first time this seaso with wins over UIC and Murray State. Averaging 16.5 points in the last two games, Heise's standout performance of the week game with a 24-point, ten-rebounds performance to propel UNI to its first-ever road win against the Racers, registering his second double-double of the season and also tied a season-high with five assists. He also contributed nine points to the Panthers' winning effort against the Flames, surpassing 400 career points in the victory.
- Kyle Pock continued to impress off the bench for the Panthers, averaging 12.5 points on the week to help lift UNI to wins over UIC and Murray State. One of Northern Iowa's top three-point shooters this season, Pock knocked down three baskets from three-point range and shot 100% overall for a 13-point outing against the Flames, and scored 12 points in UNI's first-ever road win at Murray State. Pock was also a perfect six-for-six at the free throw line and recorded four steals and one block.
- The Panthers are also closing in on their 1,400th all-time win in their 121-year history, picking up their 1,395th win on Sunday at Murray State. Head coach Ben Jacobson can tie Henry P. Iba's record for league wins with his next victory. Jacobson has won 186 games against MVC opponents in his 18-year tenure at UNI, with Iba recording 187 league wins.
- Bowen Born's career free throw percentage (86.1%) ranks third highest in program history. Born has shot 49-of-51 (96.0%) from the charity stripe this year, and ranks second in the nation with the MVC's best shooting clip at the line, trailing only Lonnell Martin (Arkansas-Pine Bluff) at 98%. Born is less than 100 points away from cracking into UNI's top-ten all-time scoring list. The junior guard has tallied 1,306 during his four seasons with the Panthers and is currently 12th on the list.
SOUTHERN ILLINOIS SALUKIS
- The Salukis are among the league leaders in a host of defensive statistical categories. SIU leads the league in scoring defense, ranks fourth in field goal percentage defense, is first in 3FG percentage defense, and second in rebounding. No other MVC team ranks among the Top 6 in all four categories.
- Xavier Johnson continues to lead the league in scoring and ranks 2nd nationally in PPG (23.8). Johnson also leads the league in assists per game and in free throws made (he's second nationlly in FT made with 127 makes.
- The Salukis saw their season-best six-game win streak come to an end Saturday evening as Drake defeated SIU in Banterra Center.
VALPARAISO BEACONS
- Valpo's Darius DeAveiro averaged 13.5 points, 4.0 rebounds and 6.5 assists per game over two contests this week. He was one point shy of a personal best with 18 points to go along with five assists on Wednesday vs. Southern Illinois before his nine-point, eight-assist performance in Saturday's win at Illinois State. DeAveiro made his first eight free throws of the week before his streak of 15 consecutive makes finally came to an end with his ninth and final attempt of the week.
- The 59-50 win at Illinois State on Jan. 14 marked the program’s best statistical defensive performance in eight years based on points allowed, field goal percentage defense and 3-point field goal percentage defense. The Beacons limited the Redbirds to 50 points, the fewest points permitted by Valpo in a true road game since Feb. 16, 2016, a 66-43 win at Cleveland State.
- Valpo held Illinois State to 5.6 percent from 3-point distance (1-of-18) and 32.2 percent from the field. That marked Valpo’s best 3-point defense in a game since holding Cleveland State to 1-of-18 way back on Jan. 4, 2013. This was the first time Valpo limited an opponent to one made 3 or fewer in the opponent’s home gym since Cleveland State on Feb. 19, 2012.
- Cooper Schwieger notched the first double-double by a Valpo freshman since Javon Freeman-Liberty on Jan. 29, 2019 vs. Missouri State. He collected the most rebounds by a Valpo player in an MVC game since Donovan Clay had 14 on Feb. 7, 2021 vs. Drake.