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 ACC, the Big 12 and the SEC as the only leagues this year with all teams 160 or better.
PLAYER OF THE WEEK: Donte Ingram, Loyola
NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK: Cameron Krutwig, Loyola
Weekly Notes (PDF)
Mid-Term Grades
Since 1991-92, all 36 MVC teams in the lead (or co-lead) at the break have reached post-season play. The last Valley mid-season leader to not reach the post-season was Tulsa, in 1992. Since then, mid-year leaders Bradley (1994 & 1999), Illinois State (1996 & 2017), Wichita State (2005), Creighton (2006), and Missouri State (2011) played in the NIT, while the other 29 mid-way leaders reached the NCAA Tournament. The winner of this Wednesday’s Loyola-Drake contest will be in sole possession of first place in the league at the midway point (9 games).
Drake Among Most Improved
Drake is tied for eighth in the NCAA among the list of “most-improved” teams, with a 10.0 improvement from last season, thru Sunday, Jan. 21.
MVC Active Leaders
Four active players have surpassed 1,000 career points while in the MVC, including Evansville’s Blake Simmons who joined that 1,000-point Club last week.
MVC Active Scoring Leaders
1. Reed Timmer, Drake (Sr.) 1735
2. Brenton Scott, Indiana State (Sr.) 1611
3. Donte Ingram, Loyola (Sr.) 1054
4. Blake Simmons, Evansville (Sr.) 1004
5. Bennett Koch, UNI (Sr.) 882
6. Donte Thomas, Bradley (Sr.) 822
7. Alize Johnson, Missouri State (Sr.) 807
MVC Active Rebounding Leaders
1. Donte Thomas, Bradley (Sr.) 625
2. Alize Johnson, Missouri State (Sr.) 600
3. Donte Ingram, Loyola (Sr.) 576
4. Brenton Scott, Indiana State (Sr.) 503
5. Obediah Church, Missouri State (Jr.) 472
6. Klint Carlson, UNI (Sr.) 391
Co-Leaders Meet Wednesday
Drake remained in first place in the MVC standings with a 61-58 win over preseason league favorite Missouri State on Saturday. The win was Drake’s eighth-straight home win, the Bulldogs’ longest home win streak since the program won 11-straight home games spanning the 2010-11 and 2011-12 seasons. Meanwhile, at 16-4 overall, Loyola is off to its best start through 20 games since the 1965-66 squad opened with an 18-2 record. In fact, the last two times Loyola has won at least 16 of its first 20 games, it has reached the NCAA Tournament (1963, 1966). This is also the first time Loyola has been 12 games over .500 since the end of the 1984-85 season, when it was 27-6 following a loss to Georgetown in the NCAA Sweet 16. The Ramblers’ 6-2 start is their best through eight games since joining the MVC in 2013-14. Drake’s 6-2 league start is its best after eight league contests since starting 13-0 in 2007-08.
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 83-17 at home this year, third-best in the nation.
Slow Starts
UNI started MVC play 0-5 this season. In the past 21 seasons (coinciding with the league’s 10-team tournament format), just 24 teams have started 0-5 or worse, and only Illinois State (0-6 start in 2013) and UNI (0-5 in 2017) avoided Thursday’s opening-round game. Illinois State finished as the No. 6 seed in 2013, while UNI was seeded No. 3 in 2017. Additionally, 54 teams were 2-6 or worse in their first 8 conference games of a season in those 21 years, and only four teams that started 2-6 rallied to avoid Thursday’s opening round game. Three league teams this year are 2-6 (Evansville, UNI and Valparaiso). Each team below won at least one game.
Year - Team (Final Record and Seed) [Tourney Results]
2005 – Missouri State (10-8 and was #5 seed) [2-1]
2013 – Illinois State (8-10 and was #6 seed) [1-1]
2014 – Southern Illinois (9-9 and was #6 seed) [1-1]
2016 – UNI (11-7 and was #4 seed) [3-0]
Double-Digit Wins
In the league’s 111 years, the league has had every team reach 10 or more wins 14 times, including this year. When Indiana State picked up win No. 10 on Jan. 20, it marked the second earliest date in which all league teams reached double-digit wins. In 110 previous seasons, the MVC has had all teams reach 11 or more wins nine times, but only once before Valentine’s Day.
Close Calls
Indiana State shares the national lead with the most losses of 3 points or less (5), and the Trees are also tied with the most overtime losses (3).
Most Losses (3 Points or Less), thru 1/21
5 - Cleveland State,
Indiana State, Marist, Monmouth
4 - Coastal Carolina, James Madison, La Tech, Liberty, Little Rock, Mercer, Norfolk State, Northern Kentucky, SMU, Towson, Troy
Most Overtime Losses, thru 1/21
3 - Chattanooga,
Indiana State, Illinois, FIU, Marist, North Dakota, Tennessee State, Saint Francis
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)
Where Points Come From
Illinois State leads the MVC and ranks 45th nationally with 37.4 percent of its total points coming from beyond the arc. Indiana State (37.0), UNI (35.5), Drake (35.1) also score more than 1/3 of their total points from three-point range.
Off the Bench
Valparaiso leads the MVC and ranks 26th nationally in bench scoring. The Crusaders have averaged 27.7 points per game from their non-starters.