MVC Rated No. 8
The Conference ranks No. 8 in the RPI. The MVC hasn’t been as high as No. 8 in a season-ending RPI since 2012-13. Notably, the MVC joins the Big 12 and the SEC as the only leagues this year with all teams 165 or better.
Weekly Notes - Click here for PDF
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Alize Johnson, Missouri State
NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK: Tywhon Pickford, UNI
Experience a Factor?
Here are the league’s top five ‘experienced’ teams, according to KenPom. The Top 5 MVC teams in experience are also at the top of the MVC standings. Six Bulldogs have appeared in 70 or more games in their careers for Drake. The Bulldogs’ most recent starting lineup of De’Antae McMurray, Reed Timmer, Ore Arogundade, C.J. Rivers and Nick McGlynn have appeared in a combined 448 games with 289 combined starts.
1. Missouri State
2. Drake
3. Southern Illinois
4. Indiana State
5. Loyola
KenPom’s experience calculation weights the experience of each player on the roster based on minutes played. Players that have played less than 10% of their team’s minutes are not included.
Youth Movement
Several league teams rely heavily on scoring production from their freshmen, led by Loyola and UNI, whose freshmen contribute 21.7 percent and 21.3 percent, respectively, of their team’s scoring.
Home Sweet Home
The MVC concluded its regular-season non-league slate with a 53-7 home record. Inclusive of all games (non-conference and conference), the MVC is a 75-15 at home this year, third-best in the nation.
Two Freshmen With 20 Points
For the first time since Jan. 28, 1987, UNI had a pair of freshmen each score 20 points in a game. Tywhon Pickford (23 points) and Austin Phyfe (20 points) each went for 20 points in UNI’s 81-76 win over Valparaiso on Saturday. Pickford and Phyfe are the first pair of Panther freshmen to both score 20 or more points in the same game since Maurice Newby (31 points) and Jason Reese (23 points) performed the feat in a 99-79 win over Northern Illinois in the UNI-Dome.
Sign of Things to Come?
At 14-4 overall, Loyola has its best record through 18 games since 1965-66, when that squad was 16-2. In fact, the last three times Loyola has won at least 14 of its first 18 games, it has reached the NCAA tourney (1963, 1964, 1966).
No. 9 in KenPom Ratings
The MVC’s No. 9 conference rating in KenPom is its best since the 2012-13 season (also No. 9). The last time the league was better than ninth in KenPom’s rankings was in 2008, when the league hit its high-water mark of No. 7 (also achieved in 2005, 2006, and in 2007).
Double-Digit Wins
In the league’s first 110 years, the league has had every team reach 10 or more wins 13 times. Only once have all league teams reached 10 total wins in a season prior to Feb. 11.
Doubling Up
Alize Johnson of Missouri State recorded his 13th double-double of the season on Sunday, and he is tied for fourth in the NCAA. Notably, Tywhon Pickford has four double-doubles already to lead all MVC freshmen. Only four MVC freshmen in the past two decades have had more.
MVC Freshman Leaders (last 20 seasons)
9 -- Doug McDermott, Creighton - 2010-11
6 -- Danny Granger, Bradley - 2001-02
6 -- Patrick O’Bryant, Bradley - 2004-05
5 -- Jamar Howard, Wichita State -- 2001-02
Rivers Runs Through It
Senior C.J. Rivers of Drake averages 5.7 points, 5.7 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. He is the only player in the Valley to lead his team in both rebounding and assists. In the win over Evansville, he nearly notched a triple-double with 11 points, 11 rebounds and seven assists. The double-double was the first of his career.
Winning with Defense
Since 2010, every team that has led the MVC in field goal percentage defense has earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament. In the past 20 years, nine MVC teams have led the league in both categories -- those teams averaged 25 wins and combined to win 10 NCAA tourney games. Missouri State’s 38.7 figure is tied for 4th best in the league since 1980.