Nothing But NET
The first installment of the NCAA Evaluation Tool (N.E.T.) was released today. At No. 28 in the NET, UNI is the league’s highest-rated team in several popular metrics, and the Panthers’ high-water mark in any metric is No. 20 in the RPI. Last year, the league leaders in the NET were co-champs Loyola (131) and Drake (132). MVC Tournament champ Bradley was 176 at season’s end and was given a 15 seed in the NCAA Tournament.
MVC Men's Basketball Notebook (PDF)
MVC Player of the Week
AJ Green, UNI
6-4, 175, So., G
Cedar Falls (Iowa) Cedar Falls High
Green averaged 22.5 points in two wins last week, including a 20-point game in leading the Panthers over #23/24 Colorado. Green finished the week shooting 48% from the field (13-of-27), hauled in eight rebounds, recorded five assists and added four steals. Green was 6-of-16 from the field against Colorado, knocking down five threes and recording four assists. Two days later Green helped the Panthers move to 10-1 on the season with a 25-point performance against Grand Canyon. Green was perfect from the free-throw line going 7-of-7 while going 7-of-11 from the field.
MVC Newcomer of the Week
DeAndre Williams, Evansville
6-9, 210, So., F
Houston (Texas) Klein Forest
In Evansville’s only game of the week, Williams notched his third double-double in the last four games while leading the Purple Aces to a 72-62 road victory at Green Bay. A week after going 17-of-18 against Miami, Williams posted a 7-of-8 contest from the field and hit 7 out of 8 free throws in the win over the Phoenix. He finished with 22 points, 12 rebounds, 3 assists along with a block and steal. Williams drew seven fouls and went 1-for-2 from outside. His efforts helped Evansville improve to a perfect 3-0 in road games in 2019.
Heating Up, Winding Down
MVC teams enter today’s action with a collective 66-41 non-conference record. (Notably, at a similar point last season, the MVC was only 11 games over .500 in non-league play.) Entering today, there are only 19 regular-season non-MVC games remaining on the slate. The Valley wraps up its non-league schedule on Dec. 28 (Toledo at Bradley) before starting the conference schedule on Dec. 30.
Impressive Home Record
Five MVC teams are perfect at home this year, including Bradley (7-0), UNI (6-0), Drake (6-0), Valparaiso (4-0) and Indiana State (2-0). MVC teams have collectively won 27-straight home games. The league is 46-5 (.902) at home this year. That’s up from last year’s 47-16 (.746) ledger and logs in as one of the best in the MVC this century.
Best Home Records Since 1996-97
2006-07 56-6 .903 2 NCAA, 2 NIT
2019-20 46-5 .902
2017-18 54-7 .885 1 NCAA (Final Four)
2004-05 55-8 .873 2 NCAA, 2 NIT
2005-06 53-8 .869 4 NCAA, 2 NIT
The Good Wins
MVC schools have posted 29 wins against teams picked in the top half of their league’s respective preseason polls. The MVC wins have included victories against the SEC pre-season favorite and No. 1 ranked Kentucky (Evansville), OVC pre-season favorite Belmont (Illinois State), the MAC pre-season favorite Toledo (Valparaiso), the Big South pre-season choice Radford (Bradley), the MEAC pre-season favorite North Carolina Central (Southern Illinois), the Summit pre-season pick North Dakota State (Indiana State), and the Horizon League favorite Wright State (Indiana State).
MVC vs. the Top 25
The MVC is 2-4 against Top-25 teams this season, with both wins true road games (Evansville won at top-ranked Kentucky and UNI beat Colorado.) The last time the MVC won two or more true road games vs. ranked foes was in 2006-07 (three wins that season).
Power Play
The MVC has recorded a 4-8 record this season against Power Conferences (the five FBS football leagues, plus the Big East). Two neutral-site games (Loyola vs. Vanderbilt and Valparaiso vs. Arkansas) against SEC competition remain this week. The league is 2-2 against teams from the SEC this year.
Hitting Their Shots
Loyola has ranked among the top 17 in the nation in FG percentage in each of the last three seasons. The Ramblers enter this week No. 5 in the NCAA. Loyola has led the Conference in field goal shooting in each of the last three seasons. Since the MVC began tracking team field goal percentage (1963-64), no league team has led the league for four-straight seasons.
Defense Keys the MVC
Led by UNI (62.2-48th), the MVC has six teams among the nation’s Top 100 in scoring defense. With the exception of UNI in 2017-18, the MVC leader in scoring defense has finished in the upper division of the league standings every year since 2010. Loyola was the MVC’s top team last year, surrendering just 60.8 points per game. The Ramblers shared the regular-season crown with Drake.
Hitting the Outside Shots
Indiana State ranks fourth in the NCAA in three-point field goal percentage at 42.4 percent. Trae Berhow of UNI has been the most proficient beyond the arc this year, ranking 4th in the NCAA by connecting on 53.1 percent of his tries. As a team, UNI leads the league and ranks 21st in the NCAA in 3FG/game (10.0).
Hitting the Boards
Three MVC teams rank among the NCAA’s top 50 for rebound margin, led by Missouri State (19th). Bradley (34) and UNI (50) also represent the MVC among the national leaders.