The 2018-19 Missouri Valley Conference schedule begins with five games Wednesday, Jan. 2. Illinois State enters this season with the longest active winning streak among MVC schools with three-straight wins in conference-opening play. Last year’s regular-season and tournament champ Loyola has the longest losing streak in MVC openers, having lost three in a row.
MVC Weekly Notebook (PDF)
MVC Player of the Week
Wyatt Lohaus, UNI
6-2, 192, Sr., G, North Liberty (Iowa) Iowa City West
Lohaus scored 23 points in the Panthers only game last week. Lohaus made a season high nine field goals on 15 attempts while shooting five of nine from beyond the three point arc. The fifth year senior ended with two assists, one rebound and one steal in the Panthers loss to Stony Brook.
MVC Newcomer of the Week
Ryan Fazekas, Valparaiso
6-7, 200, Jr., G/F, Chesterton (Ind.) Marquette Catholic [Providence]
Fazekas led all players in scoring in Valpo’s lone game last week, finishing with 19 points in the Crusaders’ victory over Purdue Northwest while adding five rebounds. Fazekas, who ranks among the MVC leaders in 3-pointers/game, went 5-of-9 from behind the 3-point line in the win over the Pride and is hitting at a 41.3% clip from deep this season.
Tough Schedules
In 2018-19, MVC men’s basketball had 20 games against Power opponents (the five FBS leagues and the Big East). The league also played 49 games against top opponents from non-Power leagues (teams picked 1-4 in their conference’s pre-season rankings). Only 10 of the league’s total 57 non-league losses weren’t against either a Power conference team or a team not picked in the top four of their pre-season conference polls. The MVC has 22 total wins against that collection of foes.
Winning the First One a Key
Since 1993-94, only two teams (UNI, a 2008-09 co-champ, and Loyola last year) have won at least a share of the MVC regular-season title without winning the league opener. In fact, 23 of the last 26 regular-season champs (or co-champs) have opened 2-0 or better in MVC play, with UNI (2008-09), WSU (2011-12) and Loyola (2017-18) the exceptions.
0-2 Starts in Conference Play
The league has not had a regular-season champ (or co-champ) start an MVC season with two-straight losses since the 1992-93 season when Illinois State started 0-2 in league play before winning the league race with a 13-5 MVC mark. No team in 110 previous MVC men’s basketball seasons has started league play 0-3 and gone on to win the title.
Title Town
The MVC has had eight different regular-season champs in the past 12 seasons (Creighton-2009, 2013; Drake-2008, Illinois St.-2017; Loyola-2018; Missouri St.-2011; UNI-2009, 2010; Southern Illinois-2007; Wichita State-2012, 2014, 2015, 2017).
Drake: Best Start Since 2008
Drake finished the non-conference season with an 11-2 record for its most wins prior to the start of non-conference play in program history. Additionally, the Bulldogs’ non-conference season featured two separate five-game win streaks and a perfect 6-0 record at home.
Tourney Fun
On Dec. 23, Drake earned the Continental Tire Las Vegas Classic championship after defeating San Diego in the title game. Indiana State also reached the title game of its in-season tourney, falling to TCU in the championship game of the Hawaiian Airlines Diamond Head Classic. Earlier in the season, Bradley claimed its first regular-season tournament championship in 35 years (1983 River City Shootout) with their crown at the Cancun Challenge. League schools combined for a 26-14 record in MTEs this year.
1,000-Point Club
Five Valley players (SIU’s Armon Fletcher, Bradley’s Darrell Brown, Missouri State’s Jarred Dixon and Loyola’s Clayton Custer and Marques Townes) have eclipsed the 1,000-point plateau in their careers. Three players are in position to reach the milestone in the opening week of league play (Jordan Barnes of Indiana State, Phil Fayne of Illinois State and Nick Norton of Drake).
Bears Knock Down 17 3s
Missouri State set JQH Arena records for total points (110), 3-pointers (17), 3-point attempts (38) and total rebounds (56) in its Sunday blowout against William Woods. MSU’s 3-point attempts also matched a school high-water mark for a game. The league record is 20, accomplished three separate times.
Making an Impact
Several newcomers to the league are making an impact in various statistical categories. Valpo’s Deion Lavender is technically not a newcomer having played as a freshman at Southern Illinois, and SIU’s Eric McGill is also listed among the newcomers despite participating in 10 games last year (he was awarded a medical hardship and didn’t lose a year of eligibility). Notably, the top three in the league in assist average are all new to their programs. Five of the league’s top 15 scorers are first-year MVC players. Over the last three games, MSU’s Josh Webster has 28 assists with 1 turnover. He ranks 8th nationally -- and first in the MVC -- with a 4.05 assist-to-turnover ratio.
Centurions
Missouri State scored 110 points in its 110-56 victory against William Woods on Sunday, Dec. 30. In the past five seasons, an MVC team has reached the century mark in a game 14 times, including three times this year.
Approaching 200 Treys
Jordan Barnes of Indiana State is just six three-pointers away from hitting 200 for his career. The league record holder is Creighton’s Kyle Korver (371), but only 15 players in MVC history have reached 250 in a career. Barnes hit 117 treys as a sophomore last year.
Nothing Green About Green
UNI’s AJ Green is the league’s top scoring freshman, averaging 15.2 points per game to rank 6th overall in the MVC. The last MVC freshman to average 15.0 points per game was Illinois State’s Tarise Bryson, 15.5 in 1998-99.