MVC Player of the Week
Shamar Givance, Evansville
5-10, 155, Sr., G
Toronto (Ontario) First Love Christian
Givance set a new career high with 31 points in a week that saw him average 23 points per game. He shot 58.6% from the field while averaging 5.0 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2.0 steals per game while playing 34.9 minutes per contest. The big performance for Givance came in the MVC opener against Southern Illinois on Wednesday where the Toronto native was 11-for-16 from the field on his way to 31 points. He added two triples and a 7-for-10 effort from the line. In 37:44 of work, he had two assists and three boards. Saturday’s matchup against Tennessee Tech saw him score 15 points while grabbing 7 rebounds. Givance added 3 steals and 3 assists in a 6-for-13 shooting effort. His 31-point game against SIU surpassed his career high of 26, which came just three days earlier at Eastern Illinois.
MVC Newcomer of the Week
Terry Roberts, Bradley
6-3, 180, Jr., G
North Amityville, NY [Florida SouthWestern State]
Junior college transfer Terry Roberts led the Braves to a pair of wins during the week – averaging 18.5 points, 3.5 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 2.5 steals, while shooting 55.2 percent from the field and 44.4 percent from 3-point range. The junior scored 20 points in the Valley-opening victory against UNI, including the go-ahead basket with 4.5 seconds remaining. He then added 17 points, four assists and four assists in a non-conference win against SIU Edwardsville.
NET Rankings Leaders
The NCAA released its first installment of the NET (NCAA Evaluation Tool) ratings on Monday, Dec. 6, and Loyola leads the league at No. 25. 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
25 - Loyola
87 - Drake
128 - Missouri State
135 - Southern Illinois
148 - Indiana State
Where We Sit in KenPom
The MVC is No. 11 as a league in the KenPom rankings (through Dec. 5). Three MVC teams are in the Top 80, including Loyola (28), Drake (69) and Missouri State (78).
Prim in Elite Company?
Missouri State’s Gaige Prim leads the league in rebounding (10.0) and he is second in scoring average (19.6). Only a handful of players in league history have led the league in scoring and rebounding in the same season (dating back to 1956).
1958 -- Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati
1959 -- Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati
1960 -- Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati
1962 -- Chet Walker, Bradley
1978 -- Larry Bird, Indiana State
1979 -- Larry Bird, Indiana State
1980 -- Lewis Lloyd, Drake
1985 -- Xavier McDaniel, Wichita State
1992 -- Ashraf Amaya, Southern Illinois
Block Party
Illinois State and Bradley are among the national leaders in blocked shots per game. ISU leads the MVC and ranks 11th in the NCAA at 6.2 per game; while Bradley ranks 21 nationally with its 5.8 per game average. Only one league team on record (since 1988) has averaged 5.0 blocks per game for an entire season -- Wichita State in 2014 (5.1). Last year’s league leader was Bradley at 3.6 blocks per game.
Loyola’s Home Streak
Loyola carries a 27-game home-court winning streak into Tuesday’s game against Roosevelt. That 27-game run is the fifth-longest active streak in NCAA Division I play. Loyola won its 21st consecutive MVC game at Gentile Arena with an 88-76 victor against Indiana State on December 1. The Ramblers have not suffered a league loss on their home floor since February 17, 2019 – a 65-61 setback versus Missouri State. Since the start of the 2017-18 season, Loyola has gone 35-2 (.946) at home in Valley play.
56 -- Gonzaga
40 -- Liberty
35 -- Prairie View
30 -- Houston
27 -- Loyola
18 -- Baylor
1,000 Point Club
Trae Berhow is 13 points shy of becoming the 44th player in UNI history to score 1,000 points for the Panthers. Berhow currently sits at 987 career points with UNI since coming to Cedar Falls ahead of the 2018-19 season. Counting his previous stop, he enters this week with 1,295 career points. Loyola’s Lucas Williamson needs nine points to reach 1,000 for his career. He also is 44 rebounds shy of 500 for his career. Only 22 players in program history have collected 1,000 points and 500 rebounds.
Scoring, Up
Illinois State is the league’s top scoring offense in 2021-22, averaging an MVC-best 79.7 points per game. The Redbirds rank 56th nationally. ISU ranked 9th in the league in the last non-COVID season (2019-20), averaging 66.1 points per game that year. Since joining the Conference, Illinois State has led the league in scoring three times (1998, 2001, 2013). The Redbirds had winning seasons in each of those years and were the MVC champs in 1998.
Penn Sidelined Again
Drake guard Roman Penn, a first-team all-conference performer who led the MVC in assists last season (5.5 avg.) will be sidelined indefinitely after suffering a small fracture in his left foot. Penn missed Drake’s final seven games of last season with a similar injury. Tyreke Key of Indiana State suffered a season-ending injury before the year began.
BU .. Roberts, a Strong Start
Junior college transfer Terry Roberts has had a strong start to his Division I career, leading Bradley with 14.5 points and 3.9 assists per game. In fact, Roberts’ 133 total points are the most in a player’s first nine games of his Bradley career since Marcellus Sommerville scored 152 in the first nine in 2003-04.
DU .. Taking on the ACC
Following a midweek road test at Omaha, Drake will play Clemson on Saturday in the Holiday Hoopsgiving in Atlanta, Ga. Saturday’s game, which will be televised on the ACC Network, will be the Bulldogs’ first test against an Atlantic Coast Conference team since beating Wake Forest, 77-74, in the opening round of the Virgin Islands Paradise Jam Nov. 17, 2017.
UE .. Outside Efficiency
Antoine Smith Jr. of Evansville began the season hitting just one of his first eight field goal tries, but since an 0-for-3 finish at Belmont, Smith has converted 28 of his last 47 attempts – 59.6%. The improvement has also been evident from his outside shooting. Through the first five games, Smith hit three out of eight 3-point attempts, but has knocked down 16 of his last 29 tries.
ILS .. Consecutive Double-Figure Games
This season, Illinois State guard Antonio Reeves has scored in double figures in all nine games of the season. That has him with the 19th-longest single-season streak in program history. The all-time record is 30, held by Derrick Mayes for the full 1978-79 season. Seven times a Redbird student-athlete has scored in double-figures for an entire season, including all three seasons of Doug Collins’ career.
INS .. Young Guns, Part II
Indiana State returns just two players that saw significant minutes a year ago in guards Cooper Neese and Julian Larry. With the addition of eight newcomers to the roster in 2021-22, ISU ranks 345 out of 354 teams in terms of Division I court experience according to KenPom. Three Sycamore freshmen are averaging 10 minutes or more per game, which ties Illinois State and UNI for the MVC lead.
LUC .. Power Play
Loyola’s 68-64 win at DePaul on Dec. 4 was its second straight in a series that dates back to 1923. The Ramblers, who notched a 69-61 victory at DePaul on December 29, 2012 in the previous matchup between the teams, have now won back-to-back contests from the Blue Demons for the first time since the 1950-51 and 1951-52 seasons.
MSU .. Offensive Efficiency
Missouri State ranks 33rd nationally in offensive efficiency, according to KenPom, while boasting two of the top 50 offensive performers in the nation. Gaige Prim (127.3) ranks third in offensive efficiency behind Iowa’s Keegan Murray (141.2) and Purdue’s Zach Edley (131.6), while Isiaih Mosley (104.2) ranks 46th on the national roster of more than 2,200 DI players. The Bears’ tandem represents the only Missouri Valley players in the top 50 individual rankings.
UNI .. Foul Play
UNI leads the Missouri Valley Conference in the fewest fouls committed (87), fewest personal fouls per game (12.4), and fewest turnovers (68). UNI is tied with TCU for the NCAA lead in fewest fouls per game.
SIU .. Scoring Defense
The Salukis currently rank first in the league and No. 20 nationally in scoring defense, allowing just 58.0 points per game. In its last game, SIU held the Southern Miss Golden Eagles without a field goal for the final nine minutes of the game in a 66-41 blowout home win.
VALPO .. Return of the King
Kobe King will make his Valpo debut on Tuesday after sitting out the first nine games of the season before becoming eligible. This will mark his first collegiate game since Jan. 24, 2020 for Wisconsin in a game against Purdue. He played in 19 contests (all starts) and averaged 10.0 points per game for the Badgers in 2019-2020. King turned in a team-high 12.6 points per game during Big Ten play over nine appearances, all starts. A former Wisconsin Mr. Basketball, Gatorade Player of the Year and a unanimous selection for Associated Press Player of the Year, King led La Crosse Central to a 26-2 record and a state title as a high school senior.
BU .. Dominant Defense
The Braves rode a dominant defense against SIU Edwardsville. Bradley did not allow the Cougars to hit a field goal for 12:28 as it turned a 23-22 edge into a 52-28 lead. The Braves forced SIUE into 10-straight misses to go with nine turnovers during the run. Overall, BU set season highs in field goal defense (27.6%), steals (13) and blocks (10). It marked just the third time in school history that BU reached double figures in both blocks and steals (first time since 2006).