Kansas City, MO – It’s been a post-season for the ages so far for the Missouri Valley Conference. Wichita State ‘shocked’ Gonzaga in the NCAA tournament to move on to the ‘Sweet 16’ and Bradley, Northern Iowa and Evansville all won their CollegeInsider.com Tournament contests.
MVC teams have now won nine of their 10 post season games. Like Wichita, those CIT teams have all won two games each and Creighton tries to join the Shockers in the round of 16 on Sunday. Only Indiana State (National Invitation Tournament) has lost this post-season.
The Ninth seeded Shockers defeated #1 Gonzaga 76 to 70 on the strength of a previously unheard of long range shooting attack. Wichita hit a season high 14 three-point baskets. Freshman Ron Baker and Junior Cleanthony Early led the way with four treys each.
Wichita State shoots for an ‘Elite Eight’ spot against the winner of Sunday’s game here in Kansas City, between Ole Miss and La Salle. Coach Gregg Marshall’s team is now 28 & 8 and gives the MVC their ninth ‘Sweet Sixteen’ team since 1994.
On the CIT front, Evansville got 25 points from Colt Ryan and defeated Eastern Kentucky 86-72. The Aces picked up their 20th win for the first time in the Coach Marty Simmons era.
Bradley had four double digit scorers, led by Will Egolf’s 20 points and knocked off Tulane 77-72. Tyshon Pickett (17), Dyricus Sims-Edwards (13) & Walt Lemon Junior (12) were big contributors. The Braves are now 18 & 16.
Northern Iowa took care of Illinois-Chicago (rumored to be one of the teams possibly replacing departing Creighton in the MVC) by the score of 63-51 and will take on Bradley on Tuesday night. The three MVC teams make up three of the eight teams left in this post-season tournament.
The Panthers were dominant from long range. UNI buried seven of 14 three-point tries. St. Louisian Anthony James (Normandy) led the way with 17 points. Seth Tuttle scored 15 and Senior Jake Koch’s all round game (11 points, eight rebounds & 6 assists) were key individual performances. Head Coach Ben Jacobson’s team is 20 & 14 marking the fifth straight season with 20 or more wins.
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Caleb Stone-Carrawell is in the portal. @SaintLouisMBB or some @ValleyHoops team ought to get this guy.
.@BustingBrackets gives a brief intro to the 5 new @ValleyHoops head coaches.
I don't blame players for leaving, but this wild fluctuation is going to kill fan interest. When the TV people's ratings go down and the attendance figures keep falling, maybe the 'Suits' will wake up and fix this.
I think I'm going to enter the portal.
