MVC games Wednesday 12/18

[Da Coach]

We still have to wait a couple more days for the next Bradley game (Friday, 12/20 vs. Portland in Las Vegas).
But there are 3 MVC games tonight, Wed. 12/18-

http://scores.espn.go.com/ncb/scoreboard?date=20131218&confId=18

None of these games are available on broadcast TV.
Loyola needs to beat NIU tonight to keep their record from dropping below .500.
Only 1 of the 10 MVC teams (SIU) currently has a losing record-
SCHOOL.............CONF....OVERALL
Wichita State..i....0-0.......11-0
Missouri State....t.0-0........8-2
Indiana State.......0-0........7-2
Drake...........i......0-0........6-3
Evansville.........ii..0-0........6-5
Bradley.......e.......0-0........5-5
Illinois State....i....0-0........5-5
Loyola...............i.0-0........5-5
Northern Iowa......0-0........5-5
Southern Illinois....0-0........2-8

[bigjimmy]

MVC 1-2. Drake won 71-68 over Western Michigan. Center Jacob Enevold Jensen came off the bench to lead Drake with 16 points. Drake was down 8 in the 2nd half and took the lead with a 3 with 16 seconds left then made 3 FT's down the stretch to hold on for victory.
Loyola lost 55-49 to NIU. They led 28-14 at the half but shot under 30% for the 2nd half. Manual product Jeff White had 14 points.
ISU Blue got beat on the road by St. Louis 83-66. The Billikens outshot ISU 10-3 from the 3 point line and were 27-34 from the FT line while ISU shot 15-21.

[tornado]

Anyone else watch the Indiana State game at Saint Louis? It was on Comcast and it showed the difference as wide as the Grand Canyon between the MVC currently and the A-10.

Indiana State is the MVC's 2nd best team - ..SLU looks to be right now the 3rd, or 4th best team in the A-10.

Anyway - Saint Louis handled them fairly easily 83-66.
I actually thought the Sycamores played well - just that Saint Louis seemed to be able to score & rebound at will.
SLU built a 7-10 point lead within the first 7 minutes, and InSU rallied and narrowed the gap a little a few times, but after the 1st basket of the 2nd half, Indiana State was never closer than 7 pts.

The refs seemed to call a foul on every trip down the court, and as I said - I thought Indiana State played well - they shot 48% from the field, made 15-21 FT's, and their 66 points is pretty much what they've been scoring in their games against D-I opponents in the past month since they beat Notre Dame (they also have wins against DII Alaska Anchorage & Truman State).


And I guess I am shocked that Loyola lost to NIU. Loyola held a 28-14 halftime lead, and was still holding a comfortable lead the last time I checked the score mid-2nd half.
Loyola even still lead with under 2 minutes to go. Their 49 total points last night reflects the worst offensive output all season long by any Valley team - except the 46 Evansville got against the Hoosiers, but this was NIU!


In the Drake Game - they were trailing and hit a 3-pointer (by Trevor Berkeley - only his 4th of the entire year) with just 16 seconds left to take the lead over WMU who have a 250 RPI.
MVC narrowly escaped going 0-3.

[Nacho]

It was on Comcast and it showed the difference as wide as the Grand Canyon between the MVC currently and the A-10.

Indiana State is the MVC's 2nd best team - ..SLU looks to be right now the 3rd, or 4th best team in the A-10.

Kinda like how a ranked Dayton lost to a lowly Redbird team? It's just one game...

[tornado]

overranked (they beat the likes of IPFW - two different schools named Francis, & Delaware St.),
and depend a bunch on players who have been inconsistent, and had an off night.
And honestly - you'd have to admit, everything the Redbirds were wildly throwing up that night went in - even overcoming the presence of Gerry Pollard.
Even their own coach admitted they have "lost their edge" and have been "underplaying"'

[mvcfan]

On a side not former Redbird Jordan Threloff that is now playing for NIU is becoming very vocal on his twitter. He claims they beat the best Valley team in the state. He obviously has ill feelings toward ISU.

[tornado]

Yeah - we don't know the whole story but lots of kids see "playing time deserved" as being a lot different from "playing time received"
NIU simply doesn't have the manpower right now to beat anyone good - so I have no idea what he's talking about in beating Loyola...Loyola is losing to almost everyone.

NIU is 4-5 with their 4 wins being Loyola, Dartmouth, DII St. Jo's, IN, & San Jose St...most nights scoring in the 50's
Threloff doesn't even start consistently but gets good playing time.

BTW - tell us what he said - his tweets are protected

[Da Coach]

On a side note former Redbird Jordan Threloff that is now playing for NIU is becoming very vocal on his twitter. He claims they beat the best Valley team in the state. He obviously has ill feelings toward ISU.

Threloff is claiming Loyola is "the best Valley team in the state"? I know the others are not ranked high, but Loyola was ranked behind every other Illinois school in the preseason MVC poll, and now after losing to NIU, they are 5-6, one of only 2 Valley teams (the other is SIU) with a losing record, despite the worst SOS by a mile! It takes a little imagination to think Loyola is the best Illinois team in the MVC.

[Chico]

Threloff is claiming Loyola is "the best Valley team in the state"? I know the others are not ranked high, but Loyola was ranked behind every other Illinois school in the preseason MVC poll, and now after losing to NIU, they are 5-6, one of only 2 Valley teams (the other is SIU) with a losing record, despite the worst SOS by a mile! It takes a little imagination to think Loyola is the best Illinois team in the MVC.

Think it would be hard for any Illinois school to say they are the best MVC team in the state.