X-Factor Championship at Arch Madness

UIC versus UNI

(St. Louis, MO) – Sunday’s Missouri Valley Conference Tournament title game will be the ‘X-Factor Championship’. When fifth seeded Illinois Chicago faces sixth seeded Northern Iowa, the question will be which team’s X-Factor will win the day.

UIC struggled earlier this season prior to the return from injury by Elijah Crawford. His return sparked an energy and a success level that elevated the Flames into a three-way tie for third place in the Valley.

The Flames have won 16 of the twenty-one games Crawford has played in and lost nine of his twelve missing games.

Northern Iowa started strong, but slumped mid-season when forward Tristan Smith went down with an injury. His return helped UNI get rolling again. The Panthers have won twenty of the 26 games Smith has played significant minutes and dropped six of the eight he missed.

Crawford and Smith are the ‘X-Factor’ for their respective teams, and Sunday becomes the ‘X-Factor Championship at Arch Madness’.

Saturday’s Games

UIC took care of business against a tired and short-handed Drake team, defeating the Bulldogs 72-51. For the second game at Arch Madness, the Flames dominated the glass and road an amazingly balanced offensive attack to victory.

Thursday, five Flames scored in double figures, Saturday there were four. Rashund Washington tallied a career-high 23 points and Mekhi Lowery posted a 12-point/12-rebound double-double, while handing out five assists.

They have outscored their Arch Madness opponents by a total of 34 points. The Flames aggressive defensive style and relentless rebounding have been major factors in the wins, but don’t forget, Rob Ehsan’s team is making right at 50 percent of their shots.

During conference games, UIC maintained the best defensive field goal percentage in the Valley (.422). They’ve been even better in this tournament, holding Murray State to .365 and Drake to .321. UIC suffocates their opponents.

Northern Iowa’s first half against Bradley was an offensive clinic. The Panthers converted over 71 percent of their first half shots and scored 45 points prior to intermission.

Bradley came roaring back, but UNI won the semifinal game 73-69.

UNI won its third straight MVC Tournament game and twenty-second of the season. Leon Bond III scored 19 points on a seven for eight shooting night. Trey Campbell recorded his third double-digit scoring performance of the tournament (13 points) and added six assists and four steals.

Over the course of UNI’s three tournament games the Panthers have handed out 53 assists and held two of their opponents under 60 points.

X-Factor Championship

These two teams spit their regular season games. Northern Iowa defeated UIC in a December game in Chicago, when the Flames didn’t have Crawford. UIC knocked off UNI in Cedar Falls when the Panthers didn’t have Smith.

This is truly the ‘X-Factor Championship’ at Arch Madness.

Crawford and Smith each play with such intensity and competitiveness that their teammates feed off their energy as much as their play. While each contributes in that stat book, each is one of those players that make their teammates ‘play bigger’.

Crawford and Smith create courage, or confidence and an example of how to play beyond your capabilities. Smith is an undersized power forward that only scores around seven points-per game and grabs around four rebounds, but his presence, energy, defensive ability and knack for tipping balls, is infectous.

UIC’s Crawford is a 6’2 guard who leads the Flames in scoring and assists, but more than that, his competitive fire awakens coals in his teammates. Crawford was voted to the Valley’s second-team, all-conference squad and to the all-newcomer team.

He is a sophomore, but helps three freshmen starters know how to compete in big situations.

The winner heads off to the NCAA Tournament and the other has the potential to play postseason basketball, but the winner will also own the ‘X-Factor Championship’.

Do Good

Editor: Cover photo, courtesy of the Missouri Valley Conference.