Quick out of the Gate

• At 7-2, Bradley has matched its best start through nine games since 1985-86.
• At 8-1, Loyola is off to its best start through nine games since 1965-66 when it also won eight of its first nine contests.
• Missouri State is 6-2 after eight games -- its best start since a 20-win campaign in 2013-14 when the Bears were 7-1 to start the year. 
• And the 8-0 start to the year for Valparaiso is the third-best in program history, trailing just the 1923-24 (22-0) and 1944-45 (11-0) teams.

MVC Weekly Basketball Notes (PDF)

Monday, Dec. 4 (Times CENTRAL)
Missouri State at North Dakota State (KOZL/ESPN3)  |  Fargo, N.D. • 7:00 p.m.

Tuesday, Dec. 5 (Times CENTRAL)
Evansville at Bowling Green (ESPN3)  |  Bowling Green, Ohio • 6:00 p.m.

Wednesday, Dec. 6 (Times CENTRAL)
Drake at South Dakota (MidcoSN/ESPN3)  |  Vermillion, S.D. • 7:00 p.m.
Illinois State at BYU (BYU Sports Network)  |  Provo, Utah • 6:30 p.m.
Indiana State at North Texas (C-USA.TV)  |  Denton, Texas • 7:00 p.m.
Loyola at #5 Florida (SEC Network)  |  Gainesville, Fla. • 7:00 p.m.
Southern Illinois at Saint Louis (FS Midwest)  |  St. Louis, Mo. • 7:00 p.m.

MVC Player of the Week:  Bennett Koch, UNI
MVC Newcomer of the Week:  Kavion Pippen, Southern Illinois

Best-Ever Non-Conference
The MVC’s current winning percentage in non-league play (57-22, .722) is the best in 55 seasons (since 1962-63).  The .722 percentage is also 5th in the NCAA this season among conferences.

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 also has a 9-7 record vs. teams from the other four leagues among the RPI Top 10:  (American – 3-0); Big East (0-1); Mountain West (6-6); and Big West (0-0).

MVC and the Top 25
Last year, Indiana State knocked off then-No. 15 Butler on Dec. 7, marking the eighth-striaght season the MVC has had at least one non-conference top-25 victory.  In four of the last six years, the league has had regular-season top-25 wins by multiple MVC schools.  The league is 0-3 this season with Top-25 foes #5 Florida (vs. Loyola), #21 Purdue (vs. Valparaiso), and #14/15 Minnesota (vs. Drake) coming up.  Valpo, meanwhile, represents the MVC in the Dec. 4 Associated Press rankings with five points.

MVC Rated No. 6
   The MVC rates as a Top 9 league by five different available metrics, topping out at No. 6 in both the Warren Nolan and Jim Sukup Collegiate Basketball News RPI Report.  Six teams are in the Top 100 [led by UNI at No. 26]; eight are in the Top 150; and no league team is in the 200s.

Mountain Men
For the second-straight year, the Mountain West and Missouri Valley Conference split the Challenge Series (which completed Dec. 3) with a 5-5 tie.  The home team won all 10 games.

Timmer Moves Up
Drake senior Reed Timmer continues to climb up Drake’s all-time scoring list.  His 28 points at Wyoming pushed him past the 1,500 career point mark with 1,506 career points.  He ranks 7th all-time in career scoring at Drake and needs just 40 points to move into sixth with Lynnrick Rogers.  His 1,506 career points rank 19th among active DI players.  Also, his 417 career free throws made are the sixth most among active NCAA players and his .839 career free-throw percentage is the fifth highest among active players with more than 450 career attempts. 

Going For 9-0 on Thursday
At 8-0, Valpo remains one of just 13 unbeaten teams in the NCAA.  The Crusaders next play Thursday at Purdue.  The 8-0 start to the year is the third-best in program history, trailing just the 1923-24 (22-0) and 1944-45 (11-0) teams.

NCAA Unbeaten Teams
10-0    Duke
8-0    Nevada, TCU, Valpo, Villanova, Virginia
7-0    Arizona State, Kansas, Miami (Fla.), Mississippi State, Texas A&M
6-0    Florida State, Georgetown

Defending the Shot
Led by Valparaiso’s 34.3 figure, four MVC teams rank among the Top 15 in the NCAA for field goal percentage defense.  Wichita State set a league record last year (numbers available since 1980) with a 37.7 FG percentage figure.  The MVC is the only league with four teams among the Top 15 nationally.

Defense
Four MVC teams are in the Top 15 in the NCAA for scoring defense, led by UNI, 5th at 58.5 points allowed per game.  No other league has 4 in the Top 15.

Dangerous From Deep
Evansville ranks second in the NCAA with a 47.1 accuracy from beyond the arc.  Drake and Loyola are also among the leaders, as the Bulldogs are 19th nationally (42.2), while Loyola clocks in at 24th (41.8).  Individually, Keyshawn Evans of Illinois State ranks 5th in the NCAA with 4.00 3FG made per game, while Reed Timmer of Drake is 7th-best in 3FG percentage (57.1).

Rebound Phenoms
Only 10 active players in the NCAA are averaging 10.0 rebounds for their careers - six of them are first-year players (one being UNI’s Tywhon Pickford).  Alize Johnson also represents the MVC on the list as the senior from Missouri State has averaged 10.6 caroms in his first 42 career games for the Bears.  Egidijus Mockevicius of Evansville (2012-16) averaged 9.3 in his four years for the Aces, representing the highest career figure for any MVC player in the last 20 seasons.