(St. Louis, MO) – Four teams are still standing at the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, and none of them are happy ‘just to be here’. Upstarts Southern Illinois and Missouri State have miracle finishes on their minds and the co-champion Wichita State and Illinois State don’t feel like they’ve accomplished anything yet.
SIU (17-15) has put together back-to-back winning seasons for the first time since 2008 and is in its second MVC Tournament semi-final in the last four years, but while head coach Barry Hinson is encouraged by progress, he wants more.
“So I’m hoping this is a knock down, drag out 12- rounder tomorrow. That’s what I anticipate. You know, Illinois State is playing on a lot of emotion right now, and Dan’s done a phenomenal job, and I was so proud of him yesterday and happy for him yesterday when I saw the emotion at the Coach of the Year awards. I really felt good for him,” said Hinson. “But I just — I think you’re going to see — I think you’re going to see one heck of a game tomorrow.”
Illinois State (26-5) knows they are fighting for their NCAA Tournament lives. MVC ‘Player of the Year‘ Paris Lee and head coach Dan Muller say they are excited about the growing depth on the ISU team, and they are trying to stay focused on the task at hand.
Missouri State (17-15) has put together its first winning season since 2014, when they too were last in the semi-finals of Arch Madness. It is the second time in Paul Lusk’s six years that they are above .500 this late in the season. In a abrupt post-game press conference, all Lusk wanted to do was discuss how hard his team played and then leave to get his players some rest.
Gregg Marshall’s Wichita State (28-4 and ranked 21st in the nation) team, is relentless and they too, know their NCAA Tournament destination isn’t assured. Reserve Shocker Rashard Kelly said, after the game, they ‘haven’t accomplished anything yet.’
Marshall says his bench and defense are the keys to the Shocker success. They’ve won 13 straight games and the last eight have all been by double digits.
It’s no secret that many believe both the Shockers and Redbirds need to reach Sunday’s championship game for the best chance to assure themselves a dancing card come March, but the Salukis and the Bears aren’t worried about what everyone else thinks.
They want to make their own history.
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