The Week Ahead
MVC men’s basketball programs enter the final week of the calendar 15 games over .500 in non-league play (64-49) with five non-league tilts on the slate over the next three days.
Weekly MBB Notebook (PDF)
Tuesday, Dec. 28
Mount Marty at Drake (ESPN+) -- 7:00 p.m. CT
Grambling State at Southern Illinois (ESPN3) -- 7:00 p.m. CT
Prairie View A&M at Valparaiso (canceled)
Missouri Baptist at Southern Illinois (postponed)
Wednesday, Dec. 29
Midway (Ky.) at Indiana State (ESPN3) -- 6:00 p.m. CT
Illinois State at #23 Wisconsin (B1G+) -- 7:00 p.m. CT
Wartburg at UNI (canceled)
Bellarmine at Bradley (canceled)
Thursday, Dec. 30
Evangel (Mo.) at Missouri State (ESPN3) -- 12:00 p.m. CT
MVC Player of the Week & MVC Newcomer of the Week
Terry Roberts, Bradley
6-3, 180, Jr., G
North Amityville (NY) [Florida SouthWestern State]
Roberts led the Braves to the Sun Bowl Invitational title last week -- earning MVP honors as he averaged 24.5 points, 8.0 rebounds, 4.0 assists, 1.5 blocks and 1.0 steal, while shooting 53.6 percent from the field and 36.4 percent from 3-point range. In a come-from-behind championship game victory against host UTEP, Roberts completed the most productive game of his Bradley career. He registered his first career double-double with personal-best totals of 26 points and 11 rebounds – shooting 8-of-17 from the floor and 4-of-8 from 3-point range – while also adding three assists, three blocks and one steal.
16-0 Stretch Fuels MVC
From Dec. 15-Dec. 21, MVC men’s basketball teams recorded a 16-0 non-league record. That resulted in a jump in the Conference NET ratings. The Missouri Valley Conference is currently ranked No. 11 in the NET, and the league also continues to sit at No. 11 in the KenPom ratings.
Notably, the league’s best non-conference stretch last year was just five-straight wins. To put the current 16-0 stretch in historical perspective only once in the past 10 seasons has the league had a non-league winning streak that was at least half the current streak. From Nov. 12-15, 2017, the Conference went 8-0 within a stretch of 11 wins in 12 games. Below are the longest win streaks in non-league play in the past 20 years.
16-0 -- Dec. 15-21, 2021
12-0 -- Dec. 9-Dec. 15, 2004
11-0 -- Nov. 18-Nov. 20, 2005
9-0 -- Dec. 8-12, 2006 (included two top-25 wins)
8-0 -- Nov. 12-15, 2017
8-0 -- Dec. 22-23, 2010
8-0 -- Dec. 2-5, 2003
Paused
Eight league schools -- Bradley, Drake, Evansville, Indiana State, UNI, Southern Illinois, Valparaiso, and Loyola -- have seen their non-league schedules impacted by COVID pauses. As of Dec. 27, a total of 13 games have been adjusted or canceled.
Games Canceled/Postponed: 13
- Games Not Made Up: 9
- Games Added (new opponents): 3
- Rescheduled (same opponent/diff. date): 1
Recapping Last Season
The MVC played a full 90-game conference schedule (and was the only Division I league to do so). The MVC had 32 game-date shifts in league play since Christmas and rescheduled 17 games during the process.
Non-Conference Games Permitted: 90
Non-Conference Games Scheduled: 68
Games Cancelled/Added: 25/24
Conference Games Scheduled/Played: 90/90
- MVC Games Postponed/Rescheduled: 17/17
- Total MVC Games Moved: 32
- Regular-Season MVC Games Canceled: 0
League Play Re-Starts
After Missouri Valley men’s basketball schools started MVC play on Dec. 1/2 with a single contest -- Conference play begins in earnest on Sunday, Jan. 2. The Dec. 1 start to league play is the earliest on record (see below).
12-1-2021 -- Southern Illinois at Evansville
12-1-2021 -- UNI at Bradley
12-1-2021 -- Missouri State at Illinois State
12-1-2021 -- Indiana State at Loyola
12-2-2021 -- Valparaiso at Drake
12-2-1950 – Houston at Bradley
12-4-2002 -- Creighton at UNI
Winning the First One a Key
Since 1993-94, only four teams (UNI, a 2009 co-champ, Loyola in 2018, Drake in 2019 and UNI in 2020) have won at least a share of the MVC regular-season title without winning the league opener. In fact, 25 of the last 30 regular-season champs (or co-champs) have opened 2-0 or better in MVC play, with UNI (2008-09 and 2019-20), Wichita State (2011-12), Loyola (2017-18) and Drake (2018-19) the exceptions. In 2018-19, Drake became the first regular-season champ since 1992-93 to start league play with back-to-back defeats.
0-2 Starts in Conference Play
Before Drake accomplished the feat in 2018-19, the league had not had a regular-season champ (or co-champ) start an MVC season with two-straight losses since the 1992-93 season when Illinois State started 0-2 in league play before winning the league race with a 13-5 MVC mark. No team in MVC history has started league play 0-3 and gone on to win or share the regular-season title.
NET Rankings Leaders
Loyola leads the league in the latest installment of the NET ratings, at No. 15. Last year, three league schools ranked in the Top 100 of the NET. Loyola was 10; Drake was 43; and Missouri State finished at 97. The league had four teams in the Top 150. This year, the league currently has five teams rated 150 or better.
MVC -- NET Ranking Leaders
15 - Loyola
91 - Drake
100 - Missouri State
131 - Bradley
146 - Southern Illinois
154 - UNI
KenPom Leaders
The MVC is No. 11 as a league in the KenPom rankings (through Dec. 26). Three MVC teams are in the Top 100, including Loyola (22), Missouri State (75), and Drake (86).
Home Cooking
After a slow start at home in non-conference play, league teams have picked up the pace in Conference arenas. Through games of Dec. 5, MVC teams had a 25-11 home record in non-conference play. Since then, MVC teams are 19-1 at home to lift the full-season non-conference home record to 44-12 (through games of Dec. 16). Last season, Valley schools posted a 34-2 home record in non-league games, and the MVC was 55-6 at home the year prior.
Loyola’s Home Streak
Loyola will enter the New Year with a 28-game win streak at Gentile Arena, the fifth-longest, active streak in the country (through games of Dec. 26).
58 -- Gonzaga
41 -- Liberty
35 -- Prairie View
33 -- Houston
28 -- Loyola
21 -- Abilene Christian
20 -- Baylor
BU .. Tourney Champs
The Braves won the Weststar Don Haskins Sun Bowl Invitational last week – earning victories over Sam Houston, 87-61, and host UTEP, 73-66, to claim the title. It marks the sixth regular-season tournament crown for the Braves in school history – also collecting titles at the 1937 Rock Island Tournament, 1950 Sugar Bowl, 1966 Sugar Bowl, 1983 River City Shootout and 2018 Cancun Challenge. Junior Terry Roberts was named Tournament MVP after averaging 24.5 points, 8.0 rebounds and 4.0 assists, while classmate Malevy Leons also collected All-Tournament Team honors.
DU .. DeVries Climbs Charts
Drake’s Darian DeVries’ 79 wins are already sixth most in school history despite ranking 12th in total games coached. The 79 wins over the last three-plus seasons are the most in any three year-plus period in school history. Since World War II, he is fifth among coaches in wins with the fewest games coached among that group as well. His winning percentage is the highest of any Drake coach that has coached multiple seasons by more than 10 percentage points. During the past three seasons, Drake is 26-4 in December including a 6-1 mark this season.
UE .. Getting Better
Since his freshman campaign, Jawaun Newton has seen his game evolve in every way possible. As a junior, his scoring saw the largest leap from 5.5 PPG as a sophomore to 13.5 PPG. In his fourth year with the program, it is his rebounding which has been the next jump. His average has risen in each season (FR-2.2, SO-2.8, JR-4.4, SR-6.0).
ILS .. Strong Thru 13
Through the first 13 games of the 2021-22 season, Illinois State’s Antonio Reeves has scored 270 points, which is the ninth-most points through the first 13 games of a season in program history, just behind the 275 scored by Tarise Bryson to start the 2000-01 season.
INS .. Lineup Limbo
The Sycamores have used seven different starting lineups in 10 games this season. No starting lineup combination has been used more than three times.
LUC .. Quick Start
Drew Valentine’s 9-2 start is the best by a Loyola first-year coach through 11 games since Tom Haggerty also won nine of his first 11 contests in 1945-46.
MSU .. Approaching 1,000
The Bears have a pair of players rapidly approaching 1,000 career points at Missouri State. Gaige Prim (Sr., Aurora, Colo.) has accumulated 983 points in 65 games at MSU, while Isiaih Mosley (Jr., Columbia, Mo.) has racked up 974 points in 69 games. Missouri State’s 1,000-Point Club currently has 29 members, most recently joined by Jarred Dixon who reached, his 1,000th point on Dec. 22, 2018.
UNI .. Phyfe Catching His Dad
Austin Phyfe is 71 points from passing his father, Steve Phyfe, in career points scored for the Panthers. Steve Phyfe, who played at UNI from 1987-90 and was part of the program’s first-ever NCAA Division I Tournament team, scored 912 career points for the Panthers, ranking 55th in program history.
SIU .. Schedule Update
Southern Illinois has replaced Missouri Baptist with Grambling State on Tuesday, Dec. 28 at 7 p.m. In its last game (at San Francisco), J.D. Muila had a career high 11 points and made 5-of-7 shots. Ben Coupet Jr. added 12 points and made two of the team’s 3-pointers.
VALPO .. No Quit Attitude
Valpo rallied from 11 points down to beat Eastern Michigan 67-55 on Dec. 20. That represented the 18th time during the Matt Lottich Era (sixth season) that Valpo has erased a double-figure deficit to come away victorious. It marked the second such victory this season (Tulane).
BU .. Wardle Reaches 100
With Bradley’s two wins at the Sun Bowl Invitational last weekend, Brian Wardle collected his 99th and 100th career BU wins. Wardle is the eighth coach in school history to reach the 100-win milestone and now owns 195 career victories in 12 years on the sideline at Bradley and Green Bay.
DU .. Home Streak at 31
Drake has won 31 consecutive non-conference home games following a dominant 87-50 victory over Chicago State last Wednesday.
ILS .. High Shooting Pair
There are 30 student-athletes in the country this season that stand inside of the top-55 in the country in both three-point makes and three-point field goal percentage. Of that group, only ISU and Rice have two different student-athletes among the 30, as Antonio Reeves (22nd in makes per game, 17th in percentage) and Josiah Strong (52nd in makes per game, and 28th in percentage) are each in the top-55 in the two categories.
MSU .. Well-Oiled Offense
The Bears have one of the nation’s most-efficient offensive squads, ranking 20th in effective FG% (.557) and 46th in offensive efficiency (108.6), according to KenPom, while ranking 8th in the NCAA rankings in FT% (.798), 27th in 3-point% (.381), 35th in total FG% (.479) and 57th in scoring (78.5).
UNI .. Green Climbs Charts
AJ Green ranks second in minutes per game (34:43) in the MVC, the 55th best average in the NCAA. He leads the MVC in career three-point field goals among active players with 206. Drake’s D.J. Wilkins ranks second with 200.
VALPO .. Beacons Heating Up
Valpo has won four of its last five games and owns a 6-2 record over its last eight. The team’s Dec. 22 victory over William & Mary helped Valpo climb above .500 for the first time since the end of the 2019-2020 season. The 88-66 victory over the Tribe was the program’s largest margin of victory against a Division-I team since beating SIUE by that same differential on Dec. 9, 2020.