3 MVC games Wednesday, Jan. 13

[Da Coach]

There are 2 other MVC games tonight (WEd. 1/13) in addition to the Bradley-Loyola game-

http://espn.go.com/mens-college-basketball/scoreboard/_/group/18/date/20160113

Bradley trails at Loyola 23-21 at halftime

UNI leads at Indiana State 37-30 at halftime

Wichita State plays at Missouri State at 8:00 PM- it will follow the Bradley-Loyola game on the MVC-TV Network.

[tornado]

Bradley wins 54-53

Indiana State beats UNI 74-60

and right now (on Comcast) Wichita State is chukin' airballs galore and Missouri State leads 15-4 about 7 minutes into their game
Go Bears!!

[Da Coach]

Wow, a lot of us are going to do poorly with our Pick-Em picks this time.

[tornado]

glad the Vegas people & DR badly missed their pick on the BU-LU game

[Chico]

glad the Vegas people & DR badly missed their pick on the BU-LU game

Wouldn't rub it in T. They've been right more often than not so far. Just enjoy the win.

[tornado]

Wichita has fought back- they lead by one at half...37-36 - Baker has 10
Ron Baker working hard and yet his hair still looks perfectly coiffed...
wonder if his hairdresser travels on the road with the team...

[GoBUBraves98]

Wichita has fought back- they lead by one at half...37-36 - Baker has 10
Ron Baker working hard and yet his hair still looks perfectly coiffed...
wonder if his hairdresser travels on the road with the team...

That's what I wondered too! How can any basketball player's hair stay like that? Maybe plenty of hair gel.

Congrats to MSU for making it a tough game for them. Saturday night will not be easy for the Braves.

[Da Coach]

Considering how well Northern Iowa played prior to Christmas, they have really done a 180 since then. They are 2-4 since Christmas, and after this loss last night at Indiana State, they are 2-3 in the MVC, despite playing one of the weakest MVC schedules so far (they've played Bradley, SIU, Drake, MSU, and INSU).
A couple months ago I noted that they get virtually nothing from their bench, and that it could hurt them as the season went on. And last night was no different. UNI lead 37-30 at halftime, but was outscored 44-23 in the 2nd half. Their starters played OK, though Morgan and Jesperson had off games, but they got only 7 points and just 1 rebound from their bench.
Unfortunately, any hope of an at-large bid for UNI has evaporated. They are now 10-8 (9-8 against D1) and their RPI has dropped to 112. Plus, they still have 2 games each with Wichita State, Evansville, Illinois State, and Loyola.

[tornado]

I see several "Bracketologies" and Tourney previews still have the MVC getting two teams in...
but honestly, who in the MVC would get an at-large bid now? Nobody but Wichita has an RPI better than 100, and even tho the Shockers have gone 5-0 in the MVC, their RPI is exactly the same as it was 4-5 weeks ago and their SOS has fallen...and they even played & beat BOTH of the other two highest RPI teams in the MVC (Evansville & SIU) in that span, and have NOT played the worst RPI team (Loyola 301)!

[tornado]

Considering how well Northern Iowa played prior to Christmas, they have really done a 180 since then. ,.....

amazing - just as all the FIRE LUSK threads instantly die out when Missouri State plays several good games, and the Fire Barry talk dies down...
.....now the Northern Iowa fans are at it...

I just read these comments on their board...
"It is clear that the regular season is a lost cause, and we will need to make quite the run in STL ..."
"the sky has fallen.."
..then discussions of who to blame and what players to run off...

[tornado]

One game last night that I found interesting...

SIUE's Burak Eslik hit SIX STRAIGHT 3-pointers right off the bat and had already scored 22 points in just the first 6:40 of the game!
He had 28 at half and 40 for the game...

BUT--- despite having a double digit lead within the game's first 4 minutes and a 17 point lead nine minutes in...
SIUE allowed Morehead State to get back into the game and win in OT 70-67.

Eslik, a junior from Lewis & Clark junior college - originally from Istanbul, Turkey but played high school ball in North Carolina, had been averaging 12.8 ppg but boosted his average to 14.4 with his performance.