Opportunities Are Running Out – No Sharp for MSU
(St. Louis, MO) – Another weekend of MVC possibilities lies before Missouri Valley Conference teams. As the non-conference season is quickly passing away Valley schools have a dwindling number of opportunities to make a national impression.
Southern Illinois’ win over Colorado, Northern Iowa’s defeat of nationally ranked St. Bonaventure, Drake’s triumph over Richmond and Loyola’s win over Arizona State are the league’s best wins so far.
There are three significant ‘big win’ possibilities this weekend.
The Missouri Valley is ranked eleventh in the latest KenPom rankings. How fragile are those rankings? There are seven conferences represented among KenPom’s top eight rated teams.
Missouri State Hosts Brigham Young
Nationally ranked Brigham Young visits Springfield, Missouri for a Saturday date with the Bears. Dana Ford’s team (4-3) is looking to rebound from an overtime defeat at Illinois State and to put a major accomplishment stamp on the young season.
BYU is 12th in the AP Poll and 13th in the coaches’ poll and will be looking for a rebound of their own. The Cougars (6-1) sustained their first loss of the season on Wednesday. They too, were overtime losers on Wednesday. BYU carries a 26 KenPom rating and their West Coast Conference is rated seventh among NCAA’s 32 Division 1 basketball conferences.
There is even more irony in this game. When Missouri State lost in overtime to Illinois State on Wednesday, it was against a team that head coach Dana Ford had played and coached for. When BYU lost in overtime to Utah Valley on Wednesday it was against a team that head coach Mark Pope had previously coached.
Breaking: Per @WyattWheeler of the Springfield News Leader – Bears guard Demarcus Sharp will miss Saturday’s game. The Valley’s assist leader will miss the game due to the loss of a family member.
Alex Barcello is BYU’s best player and leading scorer. Last year he led the Cougars in scoring, assists, steals, three-point success and free-throw percentage. The 6’2 guard is currently averaging 18.3 points per game and converting 46% of his long distance attempts and 93% from the charity stripe.
Third year coach Pope has a 50-16 record at BYU and 127-72 overall.
Game time on CBS SN is set for 3:00 pm.
Loyola Has a Windy City Show Down
The Ramblers battle DePaul in the ‘Red-Line Rivalry’ game. This will be the first meeting of the two teams since 2012, but the 57th meeting overall. Saturday’s contest will be the first ‘true’ road game for Loyola (6-2) and provides some great theater.
Chicago bragging rights are at stake in more ways than one. Each team is coached by a first-year head coach and each team’s best player were urban Chicago, high school teammates.
Former Valparaiso guard Javon Freeman-Liberty and Rambler wing Lucas Williamson played together at Chicago’s historic Whitney Young High School. Williamson was a senior and JFL a junior on their 2017 State Championship team.
While 30-year-old Drew Valentine leads the Ramblers, 51-year-old Tony Stubblefield is in his first year at DePaul (6-0).
DePaul hasn’t left Wintrust Arena yet this season and has earned a 107 KenPom ranking. The Ramblers are 30th. The Big East is the fourth highest rated conference behind the Big 12, Big Ten and the Southeastern Conference.
An LUC victory Saturday would go a long way to aiding the Ramblers’ at-large or seeding hopes for March.
Game time on FS1 is set for 3:00 pm.
UNI Hosts Richmond on Sunday
Northern Iowa is coming off a heart-breaking loss at Bradley and faces an Atlantic Ten team on Sunday. The Richmond Spiders (4-4) lost by three points at Drake earlier in the season. Their 65 KenPom rating tells you they are better than their record indicates.
Head coach Chris Mooney is in his 17th season in Richmond and has won over 300 collegiate games. UNI’s Ben Jacobson is coaching his 16th season in Cedar Falls and has won over 300 games.
The Atlantic Ten is the conference directly in front of the Valley in the KenPom rankings, so the implications are obvious.
Game time Sunday is 1:00 pm on ESPN+
Other MVC Possibilities
Indiana State hosts a very difficult Miami of Ohio team on Saturday. Two MVC teams entertain Ohio Valley squads as Evansville entertains Tennessee Tech and Bradley hosts Southern Illinois Edwardsville.
Illinois State (Jackson State) and Southern Illinois (Southern Mississippi) play home games on Saturday and Drake (St. Thomas) does so on Sunday.
Valpo is the only other Valley team playing on the road this weekend. The Beacons travel to Western Michigan on Sunday.
MVC possibilities abound particularly during those high profile games. The league is five games under .500 in non-conference play. Turning that number around is crucial for a league hopeful for March opportunities.
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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.
