Non-Conference Season Ends
MVC teams have a collective 77-48 non-conference record with just one non-league game remaining during the regular season (Toledo at Bradley on Dec. 28). The league was 72-60 against non-league teams last year, which included an 0-3 record in post-season play.
MVC Weekly Notebook (PDF)
Saturday, Dec. 28
Toledo at Bradley (NBCSCH/ESPN+) 1:00 p.m. CT
Monday, Dec. 30
*Southern Illinois at Indiana State (MVC TV) 7:00 p.m. CT
*Loyola at Valparaiso (ESPN+) 7:00 p.m. CT
Tuesday, Dec. 31
*UNI at Illinois State (NBCSCH+/ESPN+) 2:00 p.m. CT
*Evansville at Missouri State (ESPN+) 4:00 p.m. CT
*Drake at Bradley (ESPN+) 6:00 p.m. CT
*denotes MVC game
MVC Player of the Week
Cameron Krutwig, Loyola Chicago
6-9, 255, Jr., C, Algonquin (Ill.) Jacobs High
Krutwig had another solid week, averaging 15.0 points, 10.5 rebounds, 6.5 assists, 1.0 blocks and 1.5 assists, while shooting 55.6 percent (10-for-18) from the field. He became the first Valley post player since 1989 to record a triple-double when he notched 22 points, 10 rebounds and 10 assists in a 78-70 victory over Vanderbilt for Loyola’s third win over a SEC opponent in as many seasons. The triple-double is also believed to be the first in Loyola history. Krutwig then delivered eight points, 11 rebounds and three assists in a 59-56 loss to Davidson on Dec. 22.
MVC Newcomer of the Week
Roman Penn, Drake
5-11, 180, So., G, Calumet City (Ind.) Bishop Noll High [Siena]
Led Drake to a pair of wins with 38 total points on the week while shooting 12-of-17 from the field, 3-of-4 from the arc and 11-of-12 at the line … added 11 assists as well … in the road win at Air Force, he scored a career-high 22 points on 7-of-9 shooting and 3-of-3 at the arc and added a season-high nine assists… his three three-pointers were a career best as well … he scored 11 of his 22 points in the final minute to secure the victory including a three-point play with 42 seconds left to essentially seal the victory … that play was the start of him scoring the Bulldogs’ final seven points of the game to hold off Air Force … opened the week by scoring 16 points with seven rebounds against Mount Marty.
UNI With 11 Wins
UNI won 11 non-conference games in its regular-season schedule this year, joining just 14 other MVC teams who have done so in the past 30 years. All of the previous 14 won 22+ games, seven played in the NCAA Tournament, and four were MVC regular-season champions.
Winning the First One a Key
Since 1993-94, only three teams (UNI, a 2008-09 co-champ, Loyola in 2017-18, and Drake last year) have won at least a share of the MVC regular-season title without winning the league opener. In fact, 24 of the last 28 regular-season champs (or co-champs) have opened 2-0 or better in MVC play, with UNI (2008-09), Wichita State (2011-12), Loyola (2017-18) and Drake (2018-19) the exceptions. In 2018-19, Drake became the first regular-season champ since 1992-93 to start league play with back-to-back defeats.
0-2 Starts in Conference Play
Before Drake accomplished the feat last year, the league had 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 MVC history has started league play 0-3 and gone on to win or share the regular-season title.
Title Town
The MVC has had eight different regular-season champs in the past 13 seasons (Creighton-2009, 2013; Drake-2008, 2019, Illinois State-2017; Loyola-2018, 2019; Missouri State-2011; UNI-2009, 2010; Southern Illinois-2007; Wichita State-2012, 2014, 2015, 2017).
Only Five Have Done It
Just five MVC coaches have won or shared the league’s regular-season title after having won an MVC title as a player. Loyola’s Porter Moser is just the second to earn a league title as a player then in back-to-back seasons as a head coach. Of those five coaches, Craig Ruby (Missouri) has the most combined titles with two as a player and two as a coach (also at Mizzou).
Rookie Coaches
Last year, Darian DeVries of Drake became the 20th coach to win the league in his first MVC season. It’s only happened four times since 1980, however. A total of nine coaches in their first years with an MVC team won 24 or more games. Bill Hodges established the league record for wins by a rookie coach, winning 33 games with Indiana State’s 1979 Final Four team.
The Good Wins
MVC schools have posted 32 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).
Impressive Home Record
Five MVC teams remain perfect at home this year, and MVC teams have collectively won 35 of their past 36 home games vs. non-league teams. The league is 54-6 (.900) at home this year. That’s up from last year’s 47-16 (.746) non-MVC ledger and logs in as the best in The Valley this century.
Power Play
The MVC was 5-9 this season against Power Conferences (the five FBS football leagues, plus the Big East).
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).
Poll Reversal
The MVC began conducting a pre-season basketball poll in 1985-86. Drake, picked ninth in last year’s poll, and Missouri State (picked 8th) both finished in the Top 3 in the MVC standings. Here’s a look at teams picked in the lower division of the pre-season poll that eventually finished in the Top 3 in the standings. Last year’s Drake team was the third to be picked second to last in the pre-season poll and then win the league, joining Creighton (1989) and Drake (2008).
Rare Triple-Double
Cameron Krutwig had a triple-double (22p-10r-10a) in the Loyola win against Vanderbilt on 12/18/19. He’s the first center in the MVC with a triple-double since 12/12/89 (Sam Roark of Drake also had a point-rebound-assist triple double vs. Iowa State). The triple-double is believed to be the first in Loyola history. Nick Norton of Drake had a triple double against North Dakota State last season, recording 18 points, 13 rebounds and 17 assists.
Panthers in the Polls
UNI enters the final week of the calendar year rated No. 23 in the NET. The Panthers, who received 12 points in both the Associated Press and coaches polls on Dec. 16, notched 23 points in the AP poll this week and 24 points in the coaches poll. UNI is the second MVC school to receive votes this year (Evansville).
Streaking
After losing its first four games -- including the first two at current top-25 programs Dayton and Louisville, Indiana State has reeled off seven-straight wins to close out the 2019 calendar year. Entering this week, it’s tied for the sixth-best active streak in the nation.
Krutwig in Rare Space
Since 1992-93, no player in the NCAA has recorded a full-season stat line of 16.0 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 4.5 apg, and 61.0 FG shooting – fresh off the first triple-double by an MVC post player since 1989, Loyola’s Cameron Krutwig would be the first. He enters this week with averages of 16.2 ppg, 7.9 rpg, 4.7 apg, and a 61.9 FG percentage. Krutwig ranks in the Top 5 in the league in each category. Only seven previous times since 1980 (the first year assist leaders were tracked) has a player ranked in the MVC’s Top 10 in each.
Closing in on 1,000 Points
Indiana State’s Tyreke Key needs just 14 more points to join the Sycamore 1,000 point club and if he does it in the next game he will do it in 73 games, which would be the fourth-fastest in the history of the program. Key averaged 24.5 points in two Sycamore wins this past week.