Wednesday, Feb. 19
Missouri State at Bradley (MVC TV Network) -- 7:00 p.m. CT
Illinois State at Loyola (NBCSCH/ESPN+) -- 7:00 p.m. CT
Valparaiso at Drake (Mediacom/ESPN+) -- 7:00 p.m. CT

Thursday, Feb. 20
UNI at Indiana State (ESPN+) -- 6:00 p.m. CT
Evansville at Southern Illinois (ESPN+) -- 7:00 p.m. CT

Weekly MVC Men's Basketball Notes (PDF)

MVC Player of the Week
Javon Freeman-Liberty, Valparaiso
6-3, 175, So., G
Chicago (Ill.) Whitney Young High
Freeman-Liberty averaged 19.5 points and 7.0 rebounds per game, lifting Valpo to a pair of victories this week. His performance helped the team notch back-to-back Missouri Valley Conference wins for the first time this season. He started the week with 14 points, two steals, three assists and a team-high seven rebounds in a 55-38 victory over Southern Illinois on Wednesday. He followed with an incredible individual performance on Saturday night at Illinois State, helping Valpo erase a 17-point halftime deficit in a 65-62 victory. Freeman-Liberty finished with 25 points, seven rebounds, three assists and a career-high-tying five steals. He scored 19 points on 8-of-9 shooting in the second half alone. His fifth and final steal of the night allowed him to increase his season total to 63, moving into a tie with Lubos Barton’s 2001-02 season for the program’s single-season record. Saturday was his seventh game this season with 25 points or more, his 13th game with 20+ points and his 27th straight games with 10 points or more. 
 
MVC Newcomer of the Week
Lamont West, Missouri State
6-8, 221, Sr., F
Cincinnati (Ohio) Miller Grove High [West Virginia]
West led the Bears to a pair of victories this week, averaging 18.5 points and 8.0 rebounds per game in an impressive fashion. He posted season highs in back-to-back games, scoring 15 points to lift the Bears past Drake at JQH Arena, before surpassing that with a 22-point outburst in Sunday’s road win at Indiana State -- with 15 points in the first half. West also led the Bears in rebounding in both games (both game highs) with 7 boards vs. Drake and 9 at Indiana State. West dropped in three 3-pointers against both foes and finished the week 11-of-21 (.524) from the field, 6-of-11 (.545) from bonus range and a perfect 9-of-9 (1.000) at the free throw line with 3 steals. West also had 3 dunks in Sunday’s win at Indiana State.


Nothing But NET
Eight MVC schools rank in the top 160 of the NCAA Evaluation Tool (NET).  Last year, only three MVC teams were in the Top 160 at season’s end.  Five league schools are rated higher than last year’s best-rated team in the NET (Loyola led the league with a season-ending 131 NET rating in 2018-19.)  Co-champion Drake was the league leader at the end of the regular season with a 127.  This season, UNI is rated No. 40 to lead the Valley.  As a conference, the MVC is the 11th-rated league in the NET ratings.  Last season, the MVC was No. 14 in the NET at season’s end.  Although no longer a primary tool used by the Selection Committee, UNI is No. 21 in the RPI.

Trending Towards 20 Wins
UNI reached 20 victories with its win at Valparaiso on Feb. 5.  Three other league teams have 17+ wins with four regular-season games remaining.  Should two of them also reach 20 wins before the tournament it will mark the 10th time in 30 years of the event in St. Louis that three teams had 20+ wins prior to the tourney.  It hasn’t happened since 2010, and the league championship has never had four 20-win teams prior to the event.

3 Teams, 20+ Wins at Arch Madness
1994 -- Bradley#, Southern Illinois*, Tulsa*
2000 -- Creighton*, Indiana St.*, Missouri St.#
2004 -- Creighton#, S. Illinois*, Wichita State#
2005 -- Creighton*, UNI*, Southern Illinois*
2006 -- Missouri State#, UNI*, Wichita State*
2007 -- Bradley#, Missouri State#, S. Illinois*
2008 -- Creighton#, Drake*, Southern Illinois#
2009 -- Creighton#, Illinois State#, UNI*
2010 -- Illinois State#, UNI*, Wichita State#
*denotes NCAA; #denotes NIT

9-9 Team on Thursday?
Eight league teams are .500 or better as we head into the final two weeks of the regular-season race.  Last year, Illinois State (9-9) became the third .500 team to play in the league’s opening round.  Since the MVC expanded to a 10-team tournament format in 1997 (23 previous tourneys), only Bradley (1998), Drake (2012) and Illinois State (2019) had a 9-9 league mark and played in the opening round (Thursday night) of the State Farm MVC Tournament.  All three won their opening game in the tournament.  In 1998, Bradley became the only Thursday night team to win a second game as the Braves defeated No. 2 seed Creighton.  No team to play in the opening round of Arch Madness has reached the title game.

Off the Bench
Led by 19 points from Keandre Cook and 15 from Lamont West, Missouri State had a season-high 51 bench points in Wednesday’s win over Drake, the team’s most since collecting 53 points from its reserves vs. Tulsa on 11/16/13.  The Bears had a 36-11 advantage off the bench in the win at Indiana State.  MSU leads the MVC and ranks 21st nationally with 39.2 percent of its points coming from non-starters.

Home Cooking
Loyola is now 25-2 (.926) in its last 27 home games in MVC action. Saturday’s overtime victory against UNI ran Loyola’s win streak at Gentile Arena to seven games, and in the last six appearances at Gentile Arena, Loyola is averaging 71.8 points per game and shooting a hearty 56.3 percent (165-for-293) from the field and 43.7 percent (38-for-87) from three-point territory. UNI, meanwhile, has a league-best 14-straight home wins which ranks 13th-best nationally.  Collectively, the league has won 71.4 percent of the time at home during league play this year (after winning 90.2 percent of its home games in non-league play).  That 73.3 percent winning percentage is the second-best in the MVC since at least 1996-97.

Road Warriors
On Saturday, Bradley snapped Southern Illinois’ 10-game homecourt winning streak.  And on Sunday, Missouri State snapped Indiana State’s 12-game homecourt win streak.  Notably, though, UNI has the league’s best road record at 7-3.

Valpo Defense Shines
Valpo beat Southern Illinois, 55-38, on Wednesday at the ARC.  The 38 points were the fewest allowed against a Division-I opponent since Jan. 21, 1984, when Valpo edged Green Bay 35-33. Wednesday set the record for the fewest points allowed by a Valpo team since the advent of the shot clock in 1985-86, and it tied for the 16th fewest points allowed in the MVC during that era.

Another MVC Coaching Alum
There are currently five MVC head coaches who have also played in the MVC.  Dan Muller and Bryan Mullins are both coaching at their alma maters.  In MVC history, there have been 8 head coaches to lead their alma maters.

Moving Up the Charts
Now in his 14th season as head coach at UNI, Ben Jacobson continues to climb the all-time MVC lists for victories.  Only one other coach has won as many as 288 games during his 14th MVC season.  Henry Iba of Oklahoma State had 302 total wins at the end of his 14th year.

Salukis Picked 10th, in Third
Southern Illinois enters this week tied for third place in the league race (9-5 in the MVC).  The Salukis were picked to finish last in the preseason poll.  Only one team in MVC history has finished in the Top 3 after being picked last in the league’s pre-season poll.  Drake, in 2017-18, was picked 10th and tied for third place.

Worst Picks to Finish in Top 3
1988-89 - Creighton (picked 7th of 8) -- 1st
2007-08 - Drake (picked 9th of 10) -- 1st
2017-18 - Drake (picked 10th of 10) -- t3rd
2018-19 - Drake (picked 9th of 10) -- t1st

Climbing the 3-Point Ladder
Indiana State’s Jordan Barnes continues to climb the MVC’s all-time lists for three-point field goals as the senior has 265 in his career to rank 3rd at Indiana State.  He’s 10th in MVC history.  Nate Kennell of Bradley has moved into second all-time at BU with 236 treys.

Top Scoring MVC Freshmen
Marcus Domask of Southern Illinois leads MVC freshmen with 393 points.  In league history, 22 freshmen have scored 400+ points, including 10 since 2000.    Eight MVC freshmen since 2000 to hit 400 points earned the league’s Freshman of the Year award.  Domask’s 393 points this season rank 11th nationally among NCAA freshmen.

Defending the Shot
Since 2010, every team but one that has led the MVC in field goal percentage defense has earned a spot in the NCAA Tournament.  (Loyola was third in the MVC in that statistic in 2018 and represented the league in the NCAA Tourney.)  Bradley’s current 38.9 percent figure is the sixth-best in the MVC since 1980.

Comeback Kids
Valparaiso stormed back from 17 points down to win at Illinois State on Saturday.  Although there have been 19 comebacks of 18 or more points in league history, only three of those comebacks were on the road.  New Mexico State set a league record after trailing 28-0 at Bradley only to win 117-109.

Biggest Road Comebacks, MVC History
1/27/77 -- (28 pts at Bradley) N.M. State, 117-109
11/25/07 – (22 at Winthrop), Missouri St., 73-69
2/6/13 -- (17 pts at Drake), Illinois St., 94-86
2/15/20 -- (17 pts at Illinois St.), Valparaiso, 65-62

JJ Jumper
Since 1992-93 only two players have played a full season in which he made zero two-point baskets and 40 or more three-pointers.  Jonah Jackson of Drake enters this week with 54 made field goals this year (all three-pointers).

King Krut
Loyola’s Cameron Krutwig ranks among the MVC leaders in points, rebounds, assists and FG percentage.  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 of those four categories.  No player in MVC history has finished in the Top 5 in each of those four categories.

Reaching 1,000 Points
AJ Green of UNI enters this week with 1,034 career points.  Below is a list of the top point totals for MVC student-athletes who played their freshmen and sophomore seasons in the MVC.  Doug McDermott of Creighton scored 1,382 in his first two years at Creighton to lead the way.

Top MVC Point Totals Thru Sophomore Season
1,382 -- Doug McDermott, CU (2010-11 & 2011-12)
1,225 -- Mitchell Anderson, BU (1978-79 & 1979-80)
1,125 -- John S. Williams, INS (1982-83 & 1983-84)
1,095 -- Hersey Hawkins, BU (1984-85 & 1985-86)
1,071 -- Shea Seals, Tulsa (1993-94 & 1994-95)
1,069 -- Cliff Levingston, WSU (1979-80 & 1980-81)
1,050 -- Cleo Littleton, WSU (1951-52 & 1952-53)
1,043 -- Tarise Bryson, ILS (1998-99 & 1999-00)
1,034 -- AJ Green, UNI (2018-19 & 2019-20)
1,034 -- D.J. Balentine, UE (2012-13 & 2013-14)
1,010 -- Rodney Buford, CU (1995-96 & 1996-97)

MVC’s 1,000-Point Scorers
A host of MVC players have surpassed 1,000 points for their careers this year.  Darrell Brown ranks 43rd all-time in MVC history and is the league’s active leading scorer with 1,727 career points.  Evansville’s K.J. Riley is six points shy of joining that club this week.

MVC Active Scoring Leaders  
1,727 - Darrell Brown, Bradley (Sr.)
1,496 - Jordan Barnes, Indiana State (Sr.)
1,318 - Cameron Krutwig, Loyola Chicago (Jr.)
1,189 - Tyreke Key, Indiana State (Jr.)
1,189 - *Lamont West, Missouri State (Sr.)
1,144 - Nate Kennell, Bradley (Sr.)
1,089 - *Tulio Da Silva, Missouri State (Sr.)
1,034 - AJ Green, UNI (So.)
  994 - K.J. Riley, Evansville (Sr.)
  934 - Elijah Childs, Bradley (Jr.)
*some statistics compiled at former institution

It’s a Steal
Javon Freeman-Liberty grabbed his 63rd steal of the season at Illinois State, moving into a tie with Lubos Barton’s 2001-02 season for the program’s single-season record. With his next steal, Freeman-Liberty will shatter a mark that has stood for nearly two decades. Freeman-Liberty is in position to become the first player to lead the MVC in steals in consecutive seasons since Hersey Hawkins of Bradley did so in 1986, 1987 and 1988. 

Charity Tosses
Earlier this season, AJ Green of UNI established a school record by making 44-straight free throws.  He currently leads the league and ranks fourth nationally with his 92.2 percent accuracy from the foul stripe.  Only three players in MVC history have had a full-season percentage better than that:  Blake Ahearn of Missouri State (4x), Rick Fields of Indiana State and Mike Glenn of Southern Illinois.

First-Year Guys
MVC newcomers dot the league leaderboards in a host of categories, although Drake’s Roman Penn is the only first-year MVC player to lead the league in one, topping the charts with 156 assists.