(St. Louis, MO) – Opening night wasn’t perfect for our two conferences, but there were some big wins and personal achievements. Missouri Valley Conference teams won five of six games and Ohio Valley Conference squads dropped four of seven.
While there will be several MVC/OVC battles this season, none occured last night.
Loyola Leads the Way
Final Four participant Loyola Chicago raised a banner and spanked UMKC 76-45. Newcomer Cooper Kaifes connected on five of seven three-point shots, leading the Ramblers with 19 points. Fellow freshman Franklin Agunanne grabbed nine rebounds in 10 minutes of play.
Phil Fayne – Harry Schroeder
Illinois State had three, 17-point scorers (Phil Fayne, Milik Yarbrough and Josh Jefferson) while edging Florida Gulf Coast 74-66.
Dana Ford’s coaching debut was successful as Missouri State handled Oral Roberts 84-50. Four Bears reached double figures, led by Jarred Dixon’s 26 points and Texas Tech transfer Josh Webster handed out nine assists.
Only Indiana State went on the road and the Sycamores dropped an 86-69 decision at Ball State. Jordan Barnes and Tyreke Key each scored 16 points. ISU will play most of the non conference schedule without key transfers Cooper Neese and Christian Williams.
Northern Iowa and Valparaiso picked up lopsided wins over lower division teams.
Uneven OVC Beginning
OVC teams won three games, all against lower division teams. Morehead State, Austin Peay and UT-Martin were those victors.
Eastern Illinois, Tennessee Tech and Southeast Missouri went on the road and played difficult, higher rated teams and all lost.
EIU battled Texas dropping a 12-point decision to the Longhorns. Rade Kukobat scored 12 points and grabbed seven rebounds.
Micaiah Henry scored 23 points and hauled in 13 rebounds in a Tennessee Tech loss at Memphis. It was the coaching debut of the Tigers’ Penny Hardaway.
SEMO struggled in a first half at Saint Louis and trailed by 22 points early in the second half. The Redhawks battled back and lost 75-65. Ledarrius Brewer led SEMO with 18 points and seven rebounds.
Southern Illinois Edwardsville dropped a home opener to Pacific 74-65.
Do Good
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As we near the closing of the portal window, we've reached 1900. Some of them never to play college basketball again, earn a college degree and some to play at a much lower level than they did last season.
I guess we'll be seeing this in a @RacersHoops uniform this year. Glad AJ is staying in the @ValleyHoops.
