ESPN has selected the Valparaiso at Loyola men’s basketball game for distribution on ESPNU on Sunday, February 9. The game will air at 3 p.m. CT. And CBS Sports has selected the Evansville at Bradley men’s basketball game for distribution on CBS Sports Network on that same day. That game airs at 1 p.m. CT. The networks and game times were previously listed as TBD on the MVC schedule.
The Valpo-Loyola contests features two of the best players in the country as pre-season MVC Player of the Year Cameron Krutwig headlines Loyola's squad, while Javon Freeman-Liberty tops the MVC in scoring this year. Krutwig is aiming to become the first player in MVC history to rank in the Top 5 in the league in scoring, rebounding, assists and field goal percentage. He enters this week 6th in scoring, second in rebounding, third in assists and fifth in field goal percentage. He's also seventh in steals and eighth in blocks. Freeman-Liberty is coming off a week in which he averaged 26.5 points and eight rebounds per game. Freeman-Liberty has had 19 consecutive double-figure scoring games. Saturday (with 25 points against Indiana State) marked the highest home scoring output of his career, and it allowed him to become the 11th player in the nation to cross the 400-point mark this season.
Evansville enters the week without a league win, but the Aces had perhaps the biggest signature win in league history with its victory at No. 1 Kentucky in the non-conference schedule. One of the league's most dynamic talents (DeAndre Williams) has missed the past four games for UE with a back injury but he he leads the Aces in scoring at 16.9 points per game. His shooting percentage of 70.3 is one of the nation's best and would establish an all-time MVC single-season record. Three other Aces average in double figures, including KJ Riley, Sam Cunliffe, and Artur Labinowicz. Bradley is the league's defending tournament champion and enters this week just a game back from league co-leaders Loyola and UNI. Elijah Childs and Darrell Brown both average 14.2 points per game (although Childs is currently out with a hand injury). Brown, meanwhile, is the league's active career scoring leader with 1,634 points. Senior Nate Kennell also averages double-digit points for the Braves.
Using the Wildcard model, the Missouri Valley Conference -- in conjunction with its television partners -- reserves clearance windows for select dates throughout the season and waits until three weeks before the contest(s) to determine network clearances.