Best-Ever Non-Conference
The MVC’s current winning percentage in non-league play (46-16, .742) would be fifth-best in 111 years of MVC basketball.  The league has surpassed .700 in non-league play 12 times previously, most recently in 2006-07 (90-36, .714).

Weekly MVC Men's Basketball Notebook (PDF)

MVC Player of the Week
Donte Ingram, Loyola
6-6, 225, G/F, Sr., Chicago (Ill.) Simeon
Ingram averaged 14.7 points, 10.0 rebounds, 1.3 assists and 1.0 steals, while shooting 51.7 percent (15-for-29) from the field and 41.2 percent (7-for-17) from beyond the arc in three wins.

MVC Newcomer of the Week
Tywhon Pickford, UNI, 6-4, 202, Fr., Gd.
Minneapolis (Minn.) Maple Grove High
Pickford averaged 12.7 points and 12.7 rebounds as UNI took second place at the Battle 4 Atlantis. Pickford led the Panthers with 18 points and 18 rebounds in a 64-60 triumph over North Carolina State in the semifinals. 

MVC Rated as High as No. 5
  The MVC rates as a Top 9 league by five different available metrics, topping out at No. 5 in Warren Nolan RPI ratings.  Last year, the MVC season-ending conference RPI was 12, with two Top 50 teams and just three among the Top 150.  Also, the ESPN BPI index (it doesn’t rank leagues) has eight MVC teams rated in the Top 175, including four in the Top 100.

Warren Nolan RPI Conference Rankings
1 - SEC
2 - Big 12      
3 - Big East      
4 - ACC      
5 - Missouri Valley    
6 -- Pac 12 
7 -- Big Ten
8 -- American

Going For 8-0 on Tuesday
Duke is 8-0 after Sunday’s victory. Valpo and Loyola on Tuesday are the next two teams in the nation with a shot at eight wins, both on Tuesday night.  A total of 29 teams in the NCAA haven’t lost.

NCAA Unbeaten Teams
8-0 -- Duke
7-0 -- Loyola, Minnesota, Valpo
6-0 -- 15 teams
5-0 -- 8 teams
4-0 -- 2 teams

Power Play
  The MVC has a 4-4 record against teams from Power 5 leagues this year (Indiana State at Indiana; Drake vs. Wake Forest; Illinois State vs. South Carolina; UNI vs. North Carolina State represent the four wins).  The league has a 3-2 record vs. teams from the other four leagues among the Sagarin Top 10:  (American – 2-0); Big East (0-1); Mountain West (1-1); and Atlantic-10 (0-0).

Mountain Men
The Mountain West and Missouri Valley conferences conduct a Challenge Series that features head-to-head competition between 10 Mountain West and 10 MVC teams annually.  The MW has a 33-22 edge in the 55 previous games  Last year, the two leagues tied in the series, 5-5.  The Mountain West holds a 3-1-2 edge in the series in the previous six seasons.

2016 CHALLENGE RESULTS (Tied, 5-5)
2015 CHALLENGE RESULTS (MW won, 6-4)
2012 CHALLENGE RESULTS (MW won, 6-3)
2011 CHALLENGE RESULTS (Tied, 4-4)
2010 CHALLENGE RESULTS (MW won, 8-1)
2009 CHALLENGE RESULTS (MVC, 5-4)

MVC RECORDS IN THE SERIES (22-33)
Bradley: 0-5 (Streak: Lost 5 in a row)
Drake: 2-4 (Streak (Lost 2 in a row)
Evansville: 2-3 (Won 2 in a row)
Illinois State: 2-3 (Won 1 in a row)
Indiana State: 3-3 (Won 2 in a row)
Loyola: 1-1 (Won 1 in a row)
Missouri State: 1-4 (Lost 4 in a row)
UNI: 3-3 (Lost 3 in a row)
Southern Illinois: 2-3 (Lost 1 in a row)
Valparaiso: 0-0

Loyola Ranks 4th in NCAA
  Through games of Nov. 26, Loyola ranks fourth in the nation with a .542 field goal percentage. Over the last pair of outings, the Ramblers are converting a sizzling 55.7 percent (63-for-113) of their field goal attempts, including a remarkable 55 percent (22-for-40) of their tries from long range. A year ago, Loyola ranked 17th in the nation with a .485 field goal percentage.

Hot Shots
Valpo ranks in the Top 5 in the NCAA in both free throws attempted and free throws made.

Dangerous From Deep
Evansville ranks third-best in the NCAA with a 47.8 accuracy from beyond the arc.  Drake is also among the leaders, as the Bulldogs are 14th nationally (43.8).  Individually, Keyshawn Evans of Illinois State ranks 2nd in the NCAA with 4.50 3FG made per game, while Reed Timmer of Drake is 19th (3.60 3FG/game).

NCAA Active Leaders
Reed Timmer of Drake has 1,466 career points and ranks 19th-best among all active players.  Brenton Scott of Indiana State has 1,373 career points and is tied for 26th among active players.  Timmer cored a career-high 32 points in Drake’s win over Chicago State on Sunday.

Board Certified
Tywhon Pickford of UNI had 18 rebounds in the Panthers’ win against North Carolina State on Nov. 23 -- it’s the second-best in the league this season (Alize Johnson of Missouri State had 20 against North Dakota State on Nov. 17).  Pickford’s total matches the 8th-best performance in the NCAA this year and ties UNLV’s Brandon McCoy for the highest single-game rebound total by a freshman.  The 18 caroms also matches Boise State senior Chandler Hutchison for the most rebounds by a guard.

Off the Bench
Valparaiso leads the MVC and ranks 6th nationally in bench scoring.  The Crusaders have averaged 39.4 points per game from their non-starters.

Road Warriors
MVC teams has a 5-4 combined record in road non-conference games.  Notably, the league has been .500 or better in road non-league games only twice since 1996-97 (2009-10 and 2014-15).