Tuesday, Jan. 26
Southern Illinois at Indiana State (ESPN+) -- 4:00 p.m. CT
Drake at Missouri State (MVC TV/ESPN+) -- 7:00 p.m. CT

Wednesday, Jan. 27
Drake at Missouri State (ESPN+) -- 8:00 p.m. CT

Weekly Notebook (PDF) -- Click Here to Open




MVC Player of the Week
Ben Krikke, Valparaiso
6-9, 230, So., Fwd.
Edmonton (Alberta, Canada) Jasper Place
Krikke averaged a team-high 13.7 points per game over three contests this week while sharing the team lead in rebounding during the three-game stretch at 7.3 boards per outing. The Valpo sophomore's week was highlighted by a 25-point, 15-rebound game on Sunday at Illinois State as he became the first Missouri Valley Conference player to post a line of 25&15 in over four years. He also became just the third Valpo player with a 25-point, 15-rebound effort in the last 25 years. In addition, a second-half burst helped Krikke finish with 12 points in Wednesday's game vs. Loyola. His 25 points and 15 rebounds on Sunday both represented career highs. Krikke's efforts over the weekend helped Valpo to a road sweep over Illinois State.

MVC Newcomer of the Week
Kyler Filewich, Southern Illinois
6-9, 250, Fr., Ctr.
Winnipeg (Canada) Orangeville Prep
SIU freshman center Kyler Filewich earned his first career start on Monday at Indiana State and responded with a career-high 12 points for the Salukis in a 69-66 loss. Filewich, a Winnipeg, Canada, native, went 6-for-7 from the field in 19 minutes and snagged four rebounds. Filewich is shooting 65% in MVC play this season.  He’s the first SIU center to earn the honor as a true freshman since Gene Teague in 2010.

OTHERS NOMINATED

• Cameron Krutwig, Loyola, Sr. -- In three games last week, Krutwig averaged 13.7 points, 4.7 rebounds and 2.7 assists per game, hitting 18 of 23 shots (.783) shots from the field to help Loyola run its win streak to six games, its longest since a 14-game run during the NCAA Final Four season of 2017-18. In addition, with seven points at Bradley on January 25, the 6-foot-9 senior center moved into 10th place on Loyola’s career scoring chart with 1,605 points. Krutwig opened the week with 15 points, five boards and three assists in only 21 minutes in a 75-39 rout at Valpo, then went for 19 points, six boards, three assists and three steals in a 69-56 victory at Bradley on January 24. Krutwig, who is on pace to join Alfredrick Hughes as the only individuals in program history to rank in the school’s top 10 in both scoring and rebounding, is averaging 14.7 ppg, 5.7 rpg and 2.3 apg this season.
• Tyreke Key, Indiana State, Sr. -- Key stuffed the stat sheet in the Sycamores’ lone game of the week, leading Indiana State to its third straight win while scoring 23 points and grabbing seven rebounds, dishing out two assists, swiping two steals, and adding a block for good measure. The Celina, Tenn., ranks fourth in the conference in scoring (15.4 ppg) and has climbed into the top 15 in rebounds per game (5.2). Key also ranks third in free throw shooting at 91 percent, and has 38 and 42 more attempts than the two in front of him, respectively.
• DJ Horne, Illinois State, So. -- In three games on the week, Horne averaged 20.7 points per game, making half of his 46 field goal attempts from the field, 11-of-20 from long range, and 5-of-6 from the charity stripe. He also added 10 rebounds, four assists, seven steals and a blocked shot. In the opening game of the week, a 15-point win over I-74 rival Bradley, Horne went for a season-high 23 points (one away from his career-high) making 9-of-16 shots from the field and 5-of-9 of his attempts from beyond the arc, with the three-point make total setting a new career-high. In the opening game against Valparaiso he scored 19 points in 33 minutes of action, hitting on 6-of-16 shots from the field, and 4-of-8 from long range, while adding an assist and two steals. In the weekend finale against the Crusaders he reached the 20-point plateau for the third time this season with 20 points on 8-of-14 shooting, going 2-of-3 from three-point range, while making both of his free throw tries. He pulled down four rebounds with three assists, and a career-high-tying five steals in the contest.
• Braden Norris, Loyola, So. -- Norris put up 4.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 2.7 apg and 1.7 spg in three outings last week as the Ramblers ran their win streak to six games. In a week-opening victory at Valparaiso, the 6-foot transfer from Oakland put up three points, two rebounds, two assists and three steals, then had four assists and five boards in a 69-56 win at Bradley. Norris closed out the week with seven points, two boards, two assists and a pair of steals in a come-from-behind 65-58 win at Bradley on January 25, with his clutch three-pointer capping the rally and tying the score at 50-50. 
• Lance Jones, Southern Illinois, So. -- Without Marcus Domask, who was averaging more than 16 points per game this year, Lance Jones led the way with a game-high 25 points for SIU against Indiana State on Monday.  His 25 points were a season high, and it was his fourth career 20+ point game.
• Nate Heise, UNI, Fr. -- Heise had a career-high 18 points in UNI's win against DIII Coe College on Monday.  Heise tied for team-high scoring honors with 18 points and he added 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals, and a block in the win.

Top--25 Polls
Drake and Loyola are receiving mention in both the Associated Press Top-25 poll and Ferris Mowers Top-25 men’s basketball coaches poll this week.  The Bulldogs received 75 points (27th) in the AP poll, and they received 17 points in the coaches poll (33rd).  Loyola received 12 points in the AP poll (36th) and 21 points in the coaches poll (32nd).
Loyola was the last MVC team to earn a top-25 ranking, closing the 2017-2018 season at No. 7.  Wichita State was the last MVC team to earn a regular-season ranking, clocking in at No. 19 in the AP poll in March 2017.

Clean Slate After 13 Games
    A total of 19 MVC men’s basketball teams, including Drake this year, have started a season with 13-straight wins in the league’s 114-year history.  Drake’s previous best start to a season was 8-0 in 1970-71.  Of the 12 previous 13-0 MVC starts since World War II -- eight teams reached the NCAA Tournament, and four played in the NCAA Final Four.

Pause in the Action
Since Nov. 11 (two weeks prior to the start of the basketball season) and through Monday (Jan. 25), MVC schools have had 25 total non-conference games canceled/postponed due to COVID.  A total of 24 of the lost games were replaced by another opponent.  (One of the rescheduled non-conference games was also canceled.)  Also, the MVC has had 30 game-date shifts in league play since Christmas.

• Non-Conference Games Permitted:  90
• Non-Conference Games Scheduled:  68
• Games Cancelled/Added:  25/24
• Conference Games Scheduled:  90
• MVC Games Played:  35
• MVC Games Postponed/Rescheduled:  17/16
• Total Games Moved:  30

Three in the Top 75
Drake (11), Loyola (28) and Missouri State (73) represent the league in the national Top 75 of the NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool).  The last season in which the Valley had three teams in the Top 75 of a season-ending metric was in 2014-15 (RPI used that season).

Back-to-Back
Here’s a statistical snapshot for the second game played as part of the league’s back-to-back series (cumulative averages, through Jan. 25):

Home Teams -- 11-6 (G1); 7-9 (G2)
Points (Home) -- +3.75  |  (Visitors) -- minus-0.06
Pts./Possession (Home) -- +0.067
Pts./Possession (Visitors) -- +0.023
FG Pct. Improved G2 (Home) - 9 of 16  (Road) - 5 of 16

Return to Play
Several league teams have endured lengthy (10 days or more) in-season layoffs between games due to natural scheduling gaps or COVID protocol (own team and/or opponent).   In five 'returns to play,' the team coming back from a layoff of longer than 10 days has lost all five games.

Still Perfect
Drake is one of just five unbeaten Division I teams (through games of Jan. 25).  The Bulldogs have not played a game since Jan. 4, and resume action Tuesday, Jan. 26, when they play Missouri State (9-1, 5-1 MVC).

15-0: Gonzaga, Winthrop
14-0:  Baylor
13-0:  Drake
4-0:  Alabama A&M

Welcome to Springfield
The last time an undefeated team visited Springfield in January was Jan. 11, 2014 when No. 6 ranked Wichita State came to JQH Arena. The Bears led 54-35 with 11:48 to go only to fall 72-69 in overtime in front of MSU’s third-largest home crowd ever (10,776). Fred VanVleet scored 7 of his 16 points in OT for Wichita, while Austin Ruder’s 17 points led the Bears.

MSU:  2 for 40.0 PPG
Missouri State’s Isiaih Mosley and Gaige Prim are averaging a combined 40.2 points per game.  The last MVC duo to average 40+ per game for a whole season was Randy Blocker and Cam Johnson of UNI (1993-94).   Here’s a list of the last 3 ‘dynamic duos’ … and some near misses.

1994:  44.1 -- Randy Blocker (23.0)/Cam Johnson (21.1)/UNI
1988:  48.5 -- Hersey Hawkins (    36.3)/Donald Powell (12.3)/BU
1988:  43.1 -- Steve Middleton (25.4)/Kai Nurnberger (17.7)/TU
---
1990:  39.9 -- Bob Harstad (22.2)/Chad Gallagher (17.7)/CU
1994:  39.7 -- Gary Collier (22.9)/Shea Seals (16.8)/TU
1999:  39.4 -- Maurice Evans (22.6)/Jason Perez (16.8)/WSU
1989:  39.2 -- Anthony Manuel (21.1)/Dion Thurman (18.1)/BU

Home Sweet Home
This year, Valley men’s teams are 34-2 (94.4 pct.) at home against non-league teams -- the best in the MVC since at least 1975-76.

Ramblers Tops in KenPom
Loyola leads the Missouri Valley Conference with its No. 21 rating in KenPom (Drake is second at 64.)  Notably, the Ramblers were rated 31 in KenPom the year they advanced to the NCAA Final Four (2018).  Eighteen previous MVC teams in the past 20 seasons have finished the year in KenPom’s Top 30.  All but one earned an NCAA Tournament berth [the only one not to was Wichita State 2011, and the Shockers won the NIT that year.]  The combined post-season record of those 18 teams:  27-17.

Top MVC KenPom Ratings (Since 2002)
6 -- Wichita State (2014) -- NCAA (1-1)
8 -- Wichita State (2017) -- NCAA (1-1)
11 -- Wichita State (2012) -- NCAA (0-1)
13 -- Wichita State (2015) -- NCAA (2-1)
13 -- Wichita State (2016) -- NCAA (2-1)
15 -- Creighton (2013) -- NCAA (1-1)
16 -- Southern Illinois (2007) -- NCAA (2-1)
17 -- Drake (2008) -- NCAA (0-1)
17 -- Wichita State (2013) -- NCAA (4-1)
18 -- UNI (2015) -- NCAA (1-1)
21 -- Loyola (2021) -- TBD
25 -- Bradley (2006) -- NCAA (2-1)
26 -- Creighton (2003) -- NCAA (0-1)
26 -- Wichita State (2006) -- NCAA (2-1)
27 -- UNI (2010) -- NCAA (2-1)
27 -- Wichita State (2011) -- NIT Champs (5-0)
28 -- Creighton (2007) -- NCAA (0-1)
28 -- Creighton (2012) -- NCAA (1-1)
29 -- Southern Illinois (2005) -- NCAA (1-1)

For the Ages
Evansville is the ‘oldest’ team in the Missouri Valley Conference, as its roster has an average of 21.50 (through 1/24/2021).  Drake, however, leads the league in average age by its “Top 7,” as defined by the most total minutes played.  That Top 7 for Drake has an average age of 22.57.

Rambling ...
Before facing Bradley on Sunday-Monday, Loyola had back-to-back league wins of 36 or more points.  In the league’s 114-year history, a team has posted a 36-point (or more) win just 72 times, including Loyola’s two this year.  Only five times has a league team posted two 36-point MVC wins in the same season, and the Ramblers are the second to accomplish it in back-to-back games.

Most 36-Point MVC Wins, Same Year
3 – Wichita State, 2011-12
3 – Oklahoma St., 1945-46 (includes back-to-back)
2 – Loyola, 2020-21 (back-to-back games)
2 – Missouri, 1919-20
2 – Cincinnati, 1959-60

UE .. Career Marks
When Evansville traveled to Bradley, a pair of players had their top games in the weekend series.  The opener saw junior Jawaun Newton record 22 points, surpassing his previous tally of 19, which was set on two occasions earlier in the season.  He knocked down 9 of his 14 field goal attempts.  In the finale, it was Iyen Enaruna putting forth his top effort.  The first double-digit scoring game of his UE career saw him go 5-for-6 from the field on his way to 17 points.

INS .. A Starting Affair
In Monday’s 69-66 victory over Southern Illinois, Indiana State got every point from its starting five. It marked the first time since Jan. 10, 2014 that the Sycamores accomplished such a feat, when ISU topped Southern Illinois 59-56 in Carbondale.

SIU .. Shorthanded Salukis
Without Marcus Domask (foot injury), who was averaging more than 16 points per game this year, Lance Jones led the way with a game-high 25 points for SIU at Indiana State on Monday. Kyler Filewich and Steven Verplancken Jr., who each made his first start for SIU, both made the most of the opportunity. Filewich scored 12 points on 6-of-7 shooting and Verplancken added 11 points, including three first-half 3-pointers.

DU .. Double-Digit Dandies
After defeating SIU in its last series by a total 49 points in two games, Drake has won 12 of its 13 games by double figures at an average of 24.0 points per game. That average is the second highest in the nation behind only Baylor at 24.1 points per game. Drake’s  average is also the 18th most by any team since 2010-11 through the first 13 games of a season. The Bulldogs are third nationally in field goal percentage at 53.5 percent and first in three-point accuracy at 43.0.

Sharp Shooters
Drake (3rd), Loyola (8th) and Missouri State (14) are ranked in the Top 15 nationally in field goal percentage.  Loyola has led the league in FG percentage for four-straight years.  Only 18 teams nationally are shooting 50.0 percent or better from the floor this season.  Illinois State (42nd) and Southern Illinois (46th) also rank in the NCAA’s Top 50.

LUC .. Road Warriors
Loyola closes out a grueling stretch of five consecutive road games in Valley play this week when it visits Missouri State. The Ramblers, who just swept a two-game series at Bradley, have 18 MVC road wins since the start of the 2017-18 season, the most of any MVC team.

BU .. A Consistent Force
One of just three players in the Valley to score in double figures in each game this year, Elijah Childs is the first Brave to accomplish the feat in Bradley’s first 16 games since Jerome Robinson in 2000-01. Overall, Childs has led Bradley in scoring in 10-of-16 games in 2020-21 with at least 10 points in 20-straight games dating back to last season.

VALPO:  Elite Company
With his 25-point, 15-rebound effort Sunday, Ben Krikke became just the third Valpo player in the last 25 years to enjoy a 25&15 game, joining Alec Peters (3x) and Dan Oppland. Overall, he posted just the seventh 25&15 game by a Valpo player in the last 33 seasons (since ’89-90). In addition, Krikke accounted for the first such performance by any Missouri Valley Conference player since Missouri State’s Alize Johnson over four years ago on Dec. 31, 2016, vs. Indiana State.

ILS:  Long Range Quality
Illinois State’s DJ Horne is one of just five sophomores to rank inside of the top-16 in three-point field goal percentage, and top-77 in three-point field goals made per game. The other members of this group include Chris Shelton (Hampton), Matthew Hurt (Duke), Brandon Rush (Fairleigh Dickinson), and Noah Freidel (South Dakota State). Also, not a sophomore but within that same grouping is Drake junior guard D.J. Wilkins.

UNI:  Panther Reboot
UNI got back on the winning track with a victory against Coe College on Monday.  Trae Berhow and Nate Heise each had 18 points, a season-high for Heise. Berhow’s stat line included 18 points, 7 rebounds, 3 steals, 3 assists, while Heise added 18 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 3 steals.