MVC Weekly MBB Notebook (PDF)




MVC Co-Player of the Week
Gaige Prim, Missouri State
6-8, 235, Sr., Fwd., Aurora (Colo.) Grandview High
Prim had a game for the ages in the Bears only contest of the week, scoring a career-high 29 points and snagging a career-high 21 rebounds to lift MSU to its first win at Banterra Center since 2014. Prim’s 20-20 game was the first in the Missouri Valley since former Bear Alize Johnson had 24 points and 20 rebounds against UNI on Jan. 4, 2018. He was 13-for-19 from the field against the Salukis and 3-for-4 at the line, but was equally impressive in other phases of the game as well, dishing out a game-high six assists to go with three blocked shots. He also snagged a steal for the 15th consecutive game. He is one of just eight players in Division I basketball this season with a 20-20 game, and only one of three players in the past 10 seasons have had a 29-point, 21-rebound, six-assist night -- none of the others did it on the road, had three blocks or shot 68.4 percent from the field. On the season, Prim has seven double-doubles and eight 20-point games.

MVC Co-Player of the Week
Joseph Yesufu, Drake
6-0, 180, So., Gd., Bolingbrook (Ill.) HS
Led Drake with 29.3 points per game on 64.6 percent shooting from the field, 60.9 percent from three-point range and 80 percent from the free-throw line … progressively set career highs in every outing with 20 points off the bench at UNI, 32 points off the bench against Evansville and finally 36 points in his first career start against Evansville … he became the first Bulldog to score 30 or more points in back-to-back games since December 1988 … his 36 points are the most in the Valley this season and the 25th most in school history … his 32 points vs. Evansville came on just 14 shots … made five three pointers in both Evansville games.

MVC Newcomer of the Week
Emon Washington, Illinois State
6-6, 175, Fr., Gd., Yazoo City (Miss.) South Cobb (Ga.) HS
Scored 20 points with 8 rebounds, 4 assists, and 2 steals in Illinois State’s 88-71 win over Bradley, securing the season sweep of the Braves … Made 7-of-12 shots from the field, including 1-of-4 from long range … He also made all five of his free throw attempts in the game … His two steals set a new career-high while his points, rebounds, and assists are all the second-highest totals of his young career … He also had no turnovers, his second four-assist-to-no-turnover game in his last three contests.


OTHERS NOMINATED

• Tyreke Key, Indiana State -- Key was fantastic in his swansong at Hulman Center Wednesday, Feb. 17, scoring a career-high 34 points while shooting 70-percent (14-of-20) from the floor and adding five rebounds and an assist. The Celina, Tenn. native tied a record co-owned by Larry Bird for points in a half when he scored 28 in the second to help the Sycamores over Evansville for the second time in four days. The guard continues his climb up the Valley scoring list as well, now sitting at No. 2 in the league in points per game with 17.4 ppg. Key is leading the league in minutes played (33.7), and is also fifth in the MVC in free throw percentage (82.9), and has snuck onto the rebounding list at No. 15 (5.3).
• Austin Phyfe, UNI -- Phyfe led the Panthers with 19 points in one game against Drake last week. The All-MVC big man went 8-12 from the field and hauled in 4 rebounds in the loss. Phyfe added 3 assists on the night.
• Cameron Krutwig, Loyola -- Krutwig accounted for 13 points, six rebounds, five assists and a pair of steals, while also hitting a key hook shot down the stretch, as Loyola rallied from a nine-point deficit in the first half to earn a 54-52 victory over Valparaiso on February 17. The 6-foot-9 center is now the only player in program history to rank in Loyola’s career top 10 in points (1,713), rebounds (882) and assists (349). That victory over Valparaiso also made him and classmate Lucas Williamson the winningest players in Loyola history over a four-year period (92 wins). For the season, the MVC Player of the Year candidate in producing 15.0 points, 6.6 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.0 blocks per outing.
• Zion Morgan, Valparaiso -- Fifth-year senior Zion Morgan was tied for second on the team in scoring (9.0 ppg) while pacing the squad in rebounding (5.3) over three Valpo games this week. He squeezed five rebounds or more in all three contests and owned the team lead with 15 points in Wednesday's near upset of No. 22/23 Loyola at Gentile Arena. The 15 points marked a career high and went along with five rebounds, three assists, a steal and an efficient 6-of-9 shooting performance. Morgan went 2-for-2 from 3-point distance against the Ramblers after entering the game 0-for-10 from 3 in his Valpo career. He followed that up with an eight-point effort in Sunday's one-point road victory at Southern Illinois. 
• Shamar Givance, Evansville -- Two strong efforts saw Shamar Givance lead the Aces with 18 points per game in their series at Drake.  Givance opened the weekend with a 9-of-14 effort on his way to 19 points in the opener.  Both his makes and attempts were career highs.  He added two assists, four steals and two boards over 29 minutes of work.  In game two, the junior added 17 points on 6-of-16 shooting and a 4-for-4 game from the line.  He added three helpers, two steals and two assists.  He saw 37 minutes of action.
• Samari Curtis, Evansville -- Curtis is hitting his stride as the season hits the homestretch.  He has 9+ points in each of the last four games and put together an excellent series at Drake.  The sophomore recorded 12 points per game in the series.  He opened with 11 points on an accurate 4-for-6 shooting day.  He hit two of his four outside tries while adding two rebounds and an assist.  In the final game, he recorded 13 points with 5 of his 10 attempts finding the bottom of the net.  For the week, he was 9-of-16 from the field and 4-for-9 from outside.
• Issa Samake, Drake -- Averaged 6.7 points and 4.7 rebounds per game in his most significant action of the season … opened the week with a career-high eight points on 4-of-5 shooting at UNI with four rebounds in 14 minutes … had six points and four rebounds in both Evansville games and played a season-high 29 minutes in the series finale.
• Jacob Ognacevic, Valparaiso -- Ognacevic averaged nine points per game and drained four of his eight 3-point attempts this week while shooting at an efficient 11-of-17 (64.7 percent) clip from the floor. He also accrued six rebounds, two assists and a blocked shot over the three games. His top performance of the week came in Sunday's victory at Southern Illinois when he went 7-of-10 shooting and shared team-high honors with 15 points. Ognacevic played 22 and 23 minutes during the Sunday and Monday games at Southern Illinois, respectively, after having not previously crossed the 20-minute threshold in any Division-I game this season. 
• Braden Norris, Loyola -- Norris contributed three points and five rebounds in last week’s victory over Valparaiso that extended the Ramblers’ home court winning streak to 20 games. The transfer from Oakland is going for 7.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 2.7 apg and is shooting 37.8 percent (34-for-90) from three-point land this season. 
• Nate Heise, UNI -- Freshman Nate Heise totaled 12 points and hauled in 4 rebounds in one game against in-state rival Drake last week. Heise dished out 4 assists, 2 blocks, and 1 steal. 
• Ben Harvey, Southern Illinois -- Averaged 11.3 points, 3.3 rebounds, 2.7 assists, and an assist for SIU in three games last week. Harvey shot 54% from the field on the week. He scored in double figures in all three games, and he dished a career-high five assists in Sunday’s win over Valpo.

Loyola Climbs to No. 21; Drake Also Receiving Votes
Loyola climbed one spot in both polls this week (Feb. 22).  Loyola is No. 21 in the Associated Press Top 25 Poll, and the Ramblers are 22nd in the Ferris Mowers Coaches Poll.  The Ramblers have been ranked for three-straight weeks.  Drake is also receiving votes in both polls this week after being ranked No. 25 in the Feb. 1 AP and coaches polls.  The Bulldogs are 32nd in the AP and 30th in the coaches poll.  It marks the first time since 2014-15 that two different MVC teams have been ranked by the AP in the same season.

Nothing But NET
Loyola (11) and Drake (34) represent the MVC in the Top 35 of the NCAA’s NET rankings (through Feb. 22).  The last time the MVC had two teams in the Top 35 of a season-ending metric was in 2014-15 (UNI was 11 in the RPI, and Wichita State was 12).  Both reached the NCAA Tournament that season.  After a putting together a 6-game win streak, Missouri State is now No. 85, while Indiana State continues to climb (118).

Inside the NET
Through Feb. 22, a total of 32 NCAA Division I men’s basketball teams had combined for five or more wins against Quad 1 and Quad 2 opponents AND recorded a winning percentage greater than .500 against Q1+Q2.  Drake and Loyola are among those 32 teams.  Notably, Drake’s 5-1 Q1+Q2 win percentage of .833 ranks 5th-best in the nation.

NCAA Q1+Q2 Win Pct. Leaders (thru 2/22)
Gonzaga (12-0)    1.000
Baylor (8-0)    1.000
Creighton (10-1)    .909
Michigan (10-1)    .909
Drake (5-1)    .833
Florida State (8-2)    .800

Drake -- Second in Nation
Drake enters the final week of league play with 23 wins, the fourth-most wins in program history. Additionally, the team’s 14 MVC wins tie for the second-most in program history.  Drake won two of its three games on the week by double figures and has now won 16 of its 25 games by double figures.  Drake’s 23 wins are second nationally to Belmont (24).

Homecourt Advantage?
Home teams are 18-16 in the first game of a the league’s two-game back-to-back scheduling model and are 21-13 in the second game of the series.  This season, MVC teams have a 45-35 record at home in league play.  That home winning percentage of 56.2 is 16th among conferences.  The MVC led the nation last year with a 64-26 record (71.1 percent) at home in league play.  The MVC has been in the Top 6 in each of the past three seasons (home record in league play).  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.

Back-to-Back
Below is a statistical snapshot as part of the league’s back-to-back series (cumulative averages, through Feb. 22).  The home team has had a decided advantage in the second game of the back-to-back series in field goal accuracy, while home teams average 2.9 more points in the second games, and visitors, on average, score 3.6 points less in game 2.  Bench scoring actually goes down (on average) for the teams that win the second game (an average of 1.20 points per game fewer than what they scored in G1).

• Home Teams -- 18-16 (G1); 21-13 (G2)
• Points (Home) -- +2.94  |  (Visitors) -- minus-3.56
• FG Pct. Improved G2 (Home) - 20 of 34  (Road) - 8 of 34

Pause in the Action
From Nov. 11 through today (Feb. 23), MVC schools had 25 total non-conference games canceled/postponed due to COVID.  A total of 24 of the lost games were replaced by another opponent.  The MVC has had 32 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/Played:  90/80
• MVC Games Postponed/Rescheduled:  17/17
• Total Games Moved:  32
• Games Canceled:  0

Ramblers Tops in KenPom
Loyola leads the Missouri Valley Conference with its No. 10 rating in KenPom (Drake is second at 50.)  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)
10 -- Loyola (2021) -- TBD
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)

LUC .. Home Cooking
Loyola enters the final weekend of the regular season with a 20-game home court winning streak, 5th-best among the nation’s longest active streaks. The Ramblers have also won 18 straight MVC home games since a 65-61 loss to Missouri State on 2/17/2019.  Loyola is 32-2 in its last 34 MVC home games.

BU .. Coming on Strong
Redshirt freshman Rienk Mast has become the team’s leader in the last month and has raised his game from the first half of the season. The rookie leads all Bradley players with 11.8 points per game during the last eight contests — shooting 53.1 percent from the field and 43.2 percent from 3-point range — while adding 6.4 rebounds per game. During the season’s first 17 games of the season, Mast scored 5.5 points per game with a field goal percentage of 42.5 and a 3-point mark of 27.0. In Valley games only this season, Mast ranks second among all freshmen with 9.6 points and first with 6.4 rebounds.

Strong Shooting
Drake shot 56 percent from the field on the week and is now shooting 50 percent this season. The Bulldogs have shot 50 percent or better in 14 games.  Loyola, meanwhile, has led the league in FG percentage for four-straight years.  Only 13 teams nationally are shooting 50.0 percent or better from the floor this season, including Loyola (51.1) and Drake (50.0)

FG Pct. - NCAA Leaders (All Games)
1. Gonzaga (WCC)        55.4
2. SFA (Southland)        53.2
3. Loyola Chicago (MVC)    51.1
4. Murray State (OVC)        50.8
5. Belmont (OVC)        50.7
13. Drake (MVC)        50.0

UE .. Peaking at the Right Time
The last three games have seen Evansville’s Evan Kuhlman find his groove.  In that stretch, the senior has averaged 13.7 points per game.  Over his first 18 games, Kuhlman hit double figures on five occasions, but his 3-for-3 showing as of late has seen his season average rise to 8.6 PPG.  His efficiency has been off the charts.  Overall, he has shot 71.4% from the field (15/21) over the last three games while going 6-of-7 from inside the arc (85.7%) while going 9-for-14 (64.3%) from long range.  

UNI .. Jake Closing in On 300
Coach Ben Jacobson of UNI is approaching 300 career wins, currently sitting at 298.  Only three others in MVC history have reached the milestone:  Henry Iba (486), Eddie Hickey (337) and Dana Altman (327).  The Panthers will have eight days off before taking on Illinois State this weekend, the longest stretch without a game since an 18- game break from Dec 9-Dec 27.

486 -- Henry Iba, Oklahoma State (1934-57) (23 yrs.)
337 -- Eddie Hickey, CU/SLU (1935-43, 46-58) (20 yrs.)
327 -- Dana Altman, Creighton (1994-2010) (17 years)
298 -- Ben Jacobson, UNI (2006-present) (15 years)

INS .. Trees Get to 10 Wins
Indiana State won its 10th Missouri Valley Conference game of the season when it defeated Evansville 87-73 Wednesday night. The 10-win Valley season is the 12th in program history, and the fifth during head coach Greg Lansing’s tenure.  Head coach Greg Lansing became just the 11th coach in MVC history to reach the 100 career Valley wins with the Sycamores’ 76-70 victory over Evansville Sunday, Feb. 14. Wednesday’s win over the Purple Aces was also the 11th-year head coach’s 179th, putting him just four behind Indiana State’s winningest coach, the legendary Duane Klueh (182).

Road Warriors
Drake and Missouri State are 6-1 in Valley road games this season, and MSU is just one win away from matching the 2010-11 team’s record for MVC road wins in a season (7-2) by a Bears team. Going back to the Mid-Continent days, Missouri State has won six or more conference road games in a season just six times as a Division I program.

MVC Teams w/1 or Fewer Road Losses 
In League Play, Since 1976    Place
9-0 Wichita State (2013-14)    1st
8-0 Bradley (1985-86)    1st
8-0 Indiana State (1978-79)    1st
8-1 Illinois State (1997-98)    1st
8-1 Illinois State (2016-17)    t-1st
8-1 UNI (2008-09)    t-1st
8-1 Southern Illinois (2003-04)    1st
8-1 Wichita State (1982-83)    1st
8-1 Wichita State (2010-11)    2nd
8-1 Wichita State (2011-12)    1st
8-1 Wichita State (2014-15)    1st
8-1 Wichita State (2015-16)    1st
8-1 Wichita State (2016-17)    t-1st
6-1 Bradley (1987-88)    1st

ILS .. Putting the Free in FT
With their effort against Bradley, making 16-of-17 free throws in the second game of the two-game sweep of the Braves, Illinois State’s percentage of .941 is tied for the 15th-best in program history (minimum of 10 attempts), and raised the team’s free throw percentage from 63.3% to 64.8% 22 games into the season.

VALPO .. Down to the Wire
Valpo has played in three straight games decided by one possession, incurring a two-point loss at No. 22 Loyola on Wednesday before prevailing by the slimmest of margins on Sunday at Southern Illinois and falling by three in Monday’s rematch with the Salukis. This marks the first time in nearly a decade that Valpo has played three consecutive one-possession games. The last time the team had three straight games decided by three points or fewer was from Dec. 29, 2011 to Jan. 6, 2012, Horizon League battles with Milwaukee, Green Bay and Detroit. In addition, Sunday’s one-point win in Carbondale marked the team’s first game decided by a single point since the memorable victory over Loyola in last year’s MVC quarterfinals. 

SIU .. Freshmen Impress
SIU’s freshman duo of Kyler Filewich and Dalton Banks have been outstanding in their first collegiate seasons. Filewich leads all MVC freshmen in rebounding and ranks in the top-5 among MVC freshmen in four statistical categories: points (5th), rebounds (1st), assists (5th), and blocks (5th). Dalton Banks ranks second among MVC freshmen in assists (2.1). Among all MVC players, regardless of class, Banks’ effective field goal percentage (59.5% via KenPom) ranks #1 in the MVC among bench players and #6 in the MVC overall.

LUC .. Eyeing 20 Wins
With one more victory, the Ramblers will notch a fourth consecutive season with 20 or more wins. The last time that happened was the 1945-46 through the 1948-49 seasons, the only other time in program history that Loyola has won 20 or more contests four straight years. Prior to Porter Moser’s arrival as head coach in April 2011, Loyola had produced just one 20-win season in the previous 26 years (21 wins in 2006-07).