A Dozen, Cousin
In the league’s 111 seasons, the MVC has had all teams reach 11 or more wins 10 times (including this year).  Only four times in the MVC’s previous 110 seasons have all league teams reached 12 wins. Only twice in the league’s first 110 years have all teams reached 13+ wins.  The MVC has not had a season in which every team reached 14 or more wins.

PLAYER OF THE WEEK:  Alize Johnson, Missouri State
NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK:  Kavion Pippen, Southern Illinois

MVC Weekly Notebook (PDF)

Magic Number = 9?
The MVC has used a 10-team format for the State Farm MVC Tournament in St. Louis since 1997 (21 previous events).  In those 21 tournaments, only two teams that went 9-9 in MVC games played in the opening session (Bradley in 1998 and Drake in 2012).  Both teams won their first game and played No. 2 seeded Creighton in the quarters.  Bradley became the only 7th-seeded team to reach the semis in 1998 with a 76-68 win over the Bluejays.  No team that has played in the opening round has ever reached the title game.

Is 8 Enough?
In addition, 11 teams with 8-10 conference records avoided the opening round, while only two teams that had 7-11 league marks did not play Thursday (Drake in 2004 and Missouri State in 2017).  Missouri State, as a 6 seed, beat UNI last year, 70-64. 

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 East, the Big 12 and the SEC as the only leagues this year with all teams 178 or better.  The MVC also has seven teams in the Top 150.  The last time the MVC had seven top-150 teams was also in 2013. 

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) 

UNI’s Streak of 9 or More Ends
UNI’s streak of 14 straight seasons with nine or more league wins has been snapped after the Panthers dropped their 10th MVC game of the season Saturday at Drake. The league’s current longest streak of nine or more wins is now Illinois State with four.  Notably, ISU’s Dan Muller’s career MVC record of 65-38 (.625) ranks as the 20th-highest career MVC winning percentage, tied with former Creighton head coach Tom Apke.

Dialing In From Long Distance
Indiana State’s Jordan Barnes is averaging 3.7 3-pointers per game and is tied for third nationally with 97 makes.  His 97 3-pointers made this season is an ISU single-season record (surpassing Michael Menser’s 92).  Only five times in MVC history has a player reached 100 treys in a season.  Kyle Korver’s 100 treys are the most in league history by a sophomore.

MVC All-Time Leaders, 3-Pointers in a Season
134 -- Troy Hudson, Southern Illinois, 1996-97 (Sr.)
129 -- Kyle Korver, Creighton, 2002-03 (Sr.)
118 -- Jeremy Crouch, Bradley, 2007-08 (Sr.)
103 -- Adam Leonard, Missouri St., 2009-10 (Jr.)
100 -- Kyle Korver, Creighton, 2000-01 (So.)
97 -- Jordan Barnes, Indiana State, 2017-18 (So.)

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.  Both Bradley and Missouri State rank in the Top 20 in the nation in both scoring defense and FG pct. defense.

Best Since Jan. 1
Loyola is tied for 5th-best in the NCAA during the calendar year, allowing just 61.0 points per game (in 12 games).

Braves are Best at Home
Bradley leads the nation in field goal percentage defense at home at 35.1.

Loyola Leads Nation
At .551, Loyola leads the NCAA in field goal percentage in home games.  At .512 overall, the Ramblers rank No. 4 in the NCAA for all games.  Loyola’s 51.3 mark is the best in the MVC since the advent of the 3-point line (10th-best all-time).

Home Cooking
The MVC has a 103-27 record in home games (inclusive of non-league and league games).  That ranks No. 3 in the nation.  Notably, the best MVC home win percentage in the past 22 seasons was in 2010 (126-37, .773).

Freshman Rebounders
UNI’s Tywhon Pickford - the nation’s leading rebounder for players 6’5” or shorter, established a UNI freshman rebounding record, and he moved into the MVC’s all-time Top 10 for single-season rebounds by a freshman.  Loyola’s Cameron Krutwig has 173 and is poised to join the Top 20 (Hersey Hawkins of Bradley had 182 in his freshman season there in 1984-85.)

Doubling Up
Alize Johnson of Missouri State has a league-leading 17 double-doubles, and he is tied for fourth in the NCAA.  Only five MVC players in the past two decades has had 15 or more double-doubles in a season.