MVC MBB Game-Day Update

To access the league’s most up-to-date player availability reports for men’s basketball, powered by HDI, visit here:  Click
 

  • Nation’s Second Oldest -- Founded in 1907, the Missouri Valley Conference is the nation’s second-oldest Division I athletic conference (behind only the Big Ten).  The MVC is celebrating its 119th season in 2025-26.
  • Four Postseason Teams in 2025 — The Missouri Valley Conference had four teams in postseason play in men’s basketball as Drake (NCAA), Bradley (NIT), UNI (NIT), and Illinois State (CBI) represented the MVC.  MVC schools have combined for 12 wins in post-season play the past two seasons.  The six postseason wins in 2024-25 matches the ninth-best total in league history.
  • 13-4 in NCAA First Round -- Including Drake in 2025, MVC teams are 13-4 in their first game in the NCAA tourney dating back to 2012. The league has combined for 21 wins in the NCAA Tournament in the past 12 NCAA championships and has had multiple bids 16 times since 1994.
 
Saturday, Jan. 31 Network Time (CT)
Valparaiso at Indiana State ESPN+ 12:00 PM
Evansville at UNI ESPN+ 3:00 PM
Bradley at Drake CBS SN 5:00 PM
UIC at Southern Illinois ESPN+ 6:00 PM
Murray State at Belmont CBS SN 7:00 PM
 
  • The State Farm MVC Tournament will be contested for the 50th time in 2026.  This year's tournament is March 5-8, 2026, in St. Louis, Mo., at Enterprise Center.
  • The Missouri Valley Conference is ranked No. 9 as a conference in the NCAA NET ratings (Jan. 30). Belmont (62) headlines seven MVC programs that rank in the Top 145. The Bruins are joined by Illinois State (71) and Murray State (82) in the Top 100. Belmont's 63 WAB (wins above bubble) tops the Conference.  
  • Belmont and Murray State shared the league lead (8-2) at the midway point of their 20-game MVC schedule in 2025-26.  From 1992-93 through 2024-25, 43 of 45 MVC teams in the lead (or co-lead) at the break have reached post-season play.  That has resulted in 32 NCAA bids, 10 NIT bids, and one CBI berth. In 2024-25, Bradley led the league at the midway point with a 9-1 league mark and represented the MVC in the NIT.
  • UIC (7 in a row) Belmont (6 in a row) and Drake (3-straight) enter Saturday with the league's longest active win streaks.
  • The U.S. Basketball Writers Association (USBWA) has named five Oscar Robertson National Players of the Week for games of the week ending Sunday, Jan. 25, and has included Drake senior guard Jalen Quinn.
 
Valparaiso at Indiana State (ESPN+) -- 12:00 PM CT
  • The Beacons have come close to pulling off big wins on multiple occasions. Six of Valpo's last nine losses have come by six points or fewer. Valpo has dropped its last five games decided by five points or fewer.
  • Indiana State and Valparaiso are set for their 99th meeting between the programs and the first meeting of the season. Indiana State has won the five of the last six. Last time out, Indiana State had nine blocks (vs. UIC) -- it's most in a game since Nov. 19, 2017 vs. Ohio.
Evansville at UNI (ESPN+) -- 3:00 PM CT
  • Northern Iowa holds a 38-30 lead on the Purple Aces in the all-time series after the Panthers scored a 62-48 win in Evansville earlier this month at the Ford Center. UNI has won the previous three matchups, as well as 11 straight games against Evansville at home.
  • Entering their game against Evansville, the Panthers have held 10 of their last 12 opponents under 30% from three-point range. UNI's scoring defense is currently on pace for the fourth-best mark since transitioning to a Division I program (1980-81). 
  • After missing four games, UE's Connor Turnbull made his return to the floor Jan. 28 at Drake and finished with 7 points in 12 minutes of action.
Bradley at Drake (CBS SN) -- 5:00 PM CT
  • Jalen Quinn scored 10 of the team's last 11 points to finish with 26 and the Bulldogs rallied from a 19-point deficit in the final 13 minutes to beat Evansville 82-78 at the Knapp Center on Wednesday night and complete a season sweep of the Purple Aces. The Bulldog rally matched the biggest comeback in program history. Drake came from 19 points down to beat Evansville 76-72 in overtime on Feb. 5, 2005, in Evansville.
  • Saturday's matchup against Drake will feature the MVC's oldest rivalry, marking the 171st meeting between the two programs. In their previous encounter, Bradley earned a 93-66 win in Peoria and will be looking to claim its first regular-season sweep of Drake since the 2021-22 season. Two of the conference's top scorers will square off on Saturday, with Jalen Quinn (1st) and JaQuan Johnson (T-2nd) ranked 1-2 in the league.
UIC at Southern Illinois (ESPN+) -- 6:00 PM CT
  • With the victory against Indiana State on Tuesday, UIC extended its winning streak to seven games (all against conference opponents), its longest in eight years.
  • The Flames collected 14 steals in Tuesday's win, tying their second-highest total against a Division I opponent this season (15 vs. Evansville on Jan. 20; 14 at UNI on Jan. 13). UIC had a season-high 17 steals on Nov. 11 against St. Francis (Ill.).
  • Last time out, Rolyns Aligbe scored a career-high 21 points along with his third double-double of the season in Southern Illinois' 65-50 victory over Northern Iowa on Wednesday night. With the win, Head Coach Scott Nagy earned his 600th career victory. He becomes the 13th active coach to reach 600 wins, and the 70th overall to reach this milestone, having coached in Division I basketball as well as other levels of the NCAA.
Murray State at Belmont (CBS SN) -- 7:00 PM CT
  • After starting the MVC season 8-0, the Racers come to Nashville with a 3-game losing streak after a pair of losses last week in Iowa to Drake and UNI and a Wednesday home loss to Illinois State. During the 3-game skid, the Racers' field goal and 3-point percentages are down from their normal great numbers as the team is .421 (80-190) from the field and .225 (18-80) from the 3-point line.
  • Belmont is 8-2 all-time in Nashville against Murray State -- the Racers lone victories coming in 2022 and 1998.
  • Behind a career-high 23 points from Eoin Dillon, Belmont defeated Valparaiso, 78-77, Wednesday night.  Dillon went 7-for-11 from the field and made four straight free throws in the final nine seconds of the game to help secure Belmont's NCAA-best 11th victory away from home this season.
  • Belmont (19-3) joins Gonzaga as the only two programs in America to win 19 or more games in 21 consecutive seasons; Kansas and San Diego State can join the group.