Weekly Notebook (PDF)

MVC Player of the Week
Marcus Domask, Southern Illinois
6-6, 215, So., F, Waupun (Wis.) Waupun High
Domask averaged 21 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists and 2 blocks in leading SIU to a 2-0 week. He shot 57% from the field, 38% from the 3-point line and 88% from the free throw line. He played his best in the most crucial moment, scoring 14 of his game-high 24 points against SEMO in the game’s final 10 minutes, turning an 11-point deficit into an eight-point OT win. 
 
MVC Newcomer of the Week
Ben Harvey, Southern Illinois
6-5, 205, So., G, Jonesboro (Ark.) Eastern Illinois
Harvey averaged 19 points, 6 rebounds, and 2.5 assists for SIU in a 2-0 week. An Eastern Illinois transfer, Harvey scored 22 points in his SIU debut on Wednesday, an OT win over SEMO. He played his best in the biggest moments vs. SEMO, producing 8 points, 2 assists and a rebound in the game’s final 10 minutes, when SIU turned an 11-point deficit into an 8-point win.

OTHER NOTABLE PERFORMANCES

• Emon Washington, Illinois State, Fr. -- Averaged 16.5 points, 2.5 rebounds, and 4.0 assists per game during the week, while making 13-of-15 (86.7) shots from the field, half of his four three-point attempts, and 5-of-6 from the charity stripe … The lion’s share of his points came in the opener of the week where he scored a team-high 30 points on 12-of-13 shooting from the field against the Greenville Panthers … The 12-of-13 shooting set a new single-game school record for field goal percentage, breaking the previous record of 11-of-12.
• D.J. Wilkins, Drake, Jr. -- Led Drake with 28 total points in a pair of wins on the week … shot 76.9 percent from the field (10-of-13) and 77.8 percent from three-point arc (7-of-9) … added eight assists and no turnovers … made five-straight three-pointers at one point … had a team-high and season-high 19 points, one shy of matching a career high, in the win over Omaha in just 23 minutes of action.
• Tate Hall, Loyola, Sr. -- Hall poured in a team-best 17 points in only 22 minutes, hitting 6 of 10 shots from the field, including a trio of three-pointers, to lead Loyola past Lewis, 76-48, in the Ramblers’ 2020-21 season opener on December 5. The 6-foot-6 swingman also contributed two rebounds, two assists and a steal and has now scored in double figures in eight of Loyola’s last nine games against non-conference foes.
• Noah Frederking, Evansville, Sr. -- Frederking recorded his second 20-point game in a row.  The Okawville, Illinois native poured in 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting while hitting six of his nine outside attempts.  He also set his career mark with 46  minutes of action in the double overtime game at UT Martin.
• Jacob Ognacevic, Valparaiso, Fr. -- Ognacevic averaged 10.7 points per game in just 16.3 minutes of action per contest over three games this week to lead the team in scoring. He knocked down six of his nine 3-point attempts and sits atop the conference in season 3-point percentage by hitting at a 70 percent clip. Ognacevic went off for 20 points in the Dec. 6 home opener vs. Judson, marking the seventh consecutive year at least one Valpo player has reached 20 points in the home opener.
• Trae Berhow, UNI, Sr. -- Berhow made his season debut against St. Ambrose on Friday night, finishing with 19 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, and 1 steal. The senior guard went 7-9 from the field and 4-6 from beyond the three-point arc. Berhow hauled in 2 offensive rebounds with 4 defensive rebounds in 25 minutes on the court. 
• Elijah Childs, Bradley, Sr. -- Childs led the Braves with 15.0 points, 7.5 rebounds and 1.5 blocks in a pair of games against Judson and South Dakota State. The senior forward scored 12 points to go with seven rebounds in a record-setting win against Judson before adding team-highs with 18 points and eight rebounds versus South Dakota State.
• Terry Nolan Jr., Bradley, Jr. -- Averaged 14.5 points, 7.0 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 1.5 steals in a pair of games against Judson and South Dakota State during the week. The junior guard tallied 12 points in Tuesday’s record-break victory before setting his season highs against the Summit League favorites with 17 points, seven boards and six assists.
• Nate Heise, UNI, Fr. -- Heise played 30 minutes against St. Ambrose, scoring 11 points and hauling in 9 rebounds. Heise went 3-4 from the field and 4-4 from the free-throw line while hauling in 2 offensive rebounds and 7 defensive rebounds. The freshman guard recorded 3 assists, 3 steals, and 1 block.
• Jax Levitch, Evansville, Gr. -- Levitch continued to make impress in the early part of the season and his hard work resulted in the first double-double of his college career at UT Martin.  Levitch scored a career-high 15 points and added 10 rebounds.  In 45 minutes of work, Levitch added four assists, two blocks and a steal.  He was 5-for-9 from the field and 4-of-6 from long range on the way to his top collegiate scoring output.
• Shanquan Hemphill, Drake, Fr. -- Averaged 11.0 points in a pair of wins and has scored in double-figures in all four games as a Bulldog … was 9-of-17 shooting on the week with seven total rebounds and a pair of steals … had 12 points on 4-of-5 shooting against Omaha in 23 mintues … added 10 points in 18 minutes against St. Ambrose.
• Braden Norris, Loyola, So. -- In his Loyola debut, the transfer from Oakland University had a perfect day, going 3-for-3 from the field, 2-for-2 from the foul line and hitting his only triple try in Loyola’s 76-48 win against Lewis on December 5. The point guard also doled out five assists, did not commit a single turnover and collected three rebounds. As a freshman at Oakland in 2018-19, the point guard ranked 23rd in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio.

Pause in the Action
Since Nov. 11 (two weeks prior to the start of the basketball season) and through today (Dec. 7), MVC schools have had 16 total games canceled/postponed due to COVID.  Conversely, league schools have added 11 games to their respective schedules, including tonight’s 7 p.m. Bradley contest against Lewis.

INS:  Game On
Eight of 10 MVC schools have opened their seasons.  Indiana State will join the fold as the Sycamores host Truman State on Tuesday night.  Indiana State went 12-1 at Hulman Center in 2019-20, the best mark under Greg Lansing.

Power Play
Last year, MVC schools recorded a 5-9 mark against teams in ‘power’ conferences (ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac-12 and the SEC), which included a 3-3 mark against SEC programs.  So far this season, the league is 1-5 in such contests.  Indiana State faces Purdue on Saturday.  ISU’s last road game against a Big Ten foe was a season-opening win at Indiana in 2017-18.

Home Sweet Home
Collectively, the league won 71.1 percent of the time at home during league play last year (after winning 90.2 percent of its home games in non-league play). That 71.1 percent winning percentage matches the best in the MVC since 1999-00, and it was the best in the NCAA last year.  So far this year, league teams are 8-1 (88.9 pct.) at home.

Beating a Ranked Team
UNI battles No. 19 Richmond this week.  Two league teams knocked off a ranked opponent last year. UNI won at nationally ranked Colorado, and Evansville made history with its win at #1 Kentucky -- it marked the first time the Aces had beaten a top-ranked team.

LUC:  Stifling Defense
The Ramblers limited Lewis to just 11 first-half points in a 76-48 victory on December 5. A suffocating Ramblers defense stymied the Flyers, forcing them into a paltry 16.1 percent (5-for-31) shooting in the opening period.  The Ramblers rank 6th nationally in FG percentage defense (31.1); Bradley ranks 9th-best nationally (32.8). 

BU:  Record-Setting Win
Bradley opened play at Carver Arena this season with a record-setting win against Judson, 105-32. The Braves’ 73-point margin of victory is the largest in school history (previous record was 61 against Chicago State in 1971), while the 32 points allowed are the fewest for BU in the shot-clock era.

ILS:  Young Scorer
    With his 30 points against Greenville, Illinois State freshman Emon Washington became just the fifth freshman in program history to reach the 30-point plateau, and is the first since Bubbles Hawkins accomplished the feat on February 16, 1973.   It marked the first 30-point game by a league freshman since Darrell Brown of Bradley established a school freshman scoring record with 34 points vs. Hofstra on 11/21/16.
 
SIU:  Offensive Uptick
SIU’s highest-scoring game of 2019-20 was 79 points; the 2020-21 Salukis have already eclipsed that twice, scoring 87 and 102 points in the first two games. SIU is averaging 94.5 points per game on 50% shooting from the field and 43% from the 3-point line. SIU’s 41-point margin of victory against Quincy was the program’s biggest since 1994.

UNI:  Born Identity
UNI freshman Bowen Born has averaged 14.8 points per game while shooting 41.5% from the floor in his first four games of the season.

VALPO:  Barrett Bull’s-eyes
Connor Barrett knocked down five 3s on Dec. 6 vs. Judson, becoming the first Valpo freshman to do so since Alec Peters on Feb. 22, 2014. Barrett drained five triples in only his fourth collegiate game, while even Peters needed until his fifth game in 2013-14 before his first outing with five or more treys. 

ILS:  Big Numbers
With Illinois State’s big 177-108 win over Greenville, the Redbirds edged their way into a number of NCAA Division I all-time top-10 stat totals, including new NCAA records in assists (57) and field goal percentage (84.3%), and top-ten standings in total points (177), combined points for both teams (285), and scoring in a half (94).

UE:  20-20
Entering his senior season, Noah Frederking had just one 20-point game – a career-high of 26 as a sophomore versus Kentucky Wesleyan.  In just three games this season, Frederking has eclipsed that mark with back-to-back 20-point efforts.  After scoring 20 versus Prairie View A&M, Frederking had one of the most efficient games of his career, pouring in 22 points on 8-of-13 shooting at UT Martin.

DU:  4-0 Start
Drake is 4-0 to start a season for the first time since 1979-80 and the 12th time in program history … all four of Drake’s wins have come by double digits, a feat that has not occurred since the 1962-63 season.

BU:  Dominating Inside
Bradley has dominated inside so far during the 2020-21 campaign. The Braves have won the battle in the paint by at least 10 points in 4-of-5 games this season, outscoring opponents by an average of 33.6 to 18.0. The Braves also have the edge in 2-point percentage (50.2% to 30.9%), rebounds (46.0 to 37.8) and blocks (6.2 to 2.2).

VALPO:  Home Sweet Home
Valpo will attempt to start the season 2-0 at home for the 14th consecutive season with a win over SIUE on Wednesday. Since a 65-62 home loss to No. 8 Marquette on Nov. 27, 2006, Valpo is 27-0 in the first two home games of the season. 

LUC:  Home Cookin’
Saturday’s 76-48 victory over Lewis was Loyola’s ninth consecutive season-opening victory and the Ramblers improved to 9-1 in season lid-lifters under 10th-year head coach Porter Moser.  Each of the Ramblers’ last three season-opening victories has come by more than 30 points – Kansas City (76-45 in 2018), UC Davis (82-48 in 2019), and Lewis (76-48 in 2020).

DU:  Off the Bench
Drake’s bench scored 62 points to mark the fourth-straight game this season the Bulldogs’ bench has scored 30 or more points. Drake’s bench is averaging 41.8 points per game to account for 51.1 percent of the Bulldogs scoring.