MVC 2/8--Wichita 61-InSU 45 & Drake 67-UNI 59

[Da Coach]

There are 2 games tonight in the MVC

Indiana St. 12-11 (Conf: 5-8 ) at Wichita St. 15-9 (Conf: 6-7) 7:05pm CST
Charles Koch Arena (Wichita, KS)

Drake 12-12 (Conf: 3-10) at Northern Iowa 16-8 (Conf: 7-6) 7:05pm CST
McLeod Center (Cedar Falls, IA)

[Thor_Batchelor_42]

Re: MVC games Thursday 2/8

There are 2 games tonight in the MVC

Indiana St. 12-11 (Conf: 5-8 ) at Wichita St. 15-9 (Conf: 6-7) 7:05pm CST
Charles Koch Arena (Wichita, KS)

Drake 12-12 (Conf: 3-10) at Northern Iowa 16-8 (Conf: 7-6) 7:05pm CST
McLeod Center (Cedar Falls, IA)

These 2 should go to the home teams.

This is a big game for Indiana State if they can take it. This would place them in a tie with the Shockers, and Indiana State has the tiebreaker via a 68-63 home win on January 10th. That would put Wichita St. in the play-in round if the season were to end tonight!

[tornado]

After years of UNI dominating Drake, maybe this year will be different.
The Bulldogs won handily in Des Moines, 79-61, but Drake hasn't won at Cedar Falls in 14 years.

[Da Coach]

Indiana State 24
Wichita State 26 Halftime

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/boxscore?gid=200702080648

Drake 28
UNI 22 Halftime

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/boxscore?gid=200702080418

[ser_solace]

Wow. I'm surprised Drake is up and Indiana St. is so close.

[Da Coach]

Both games are final--

Indiana State 45
Wichita State 61

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/boxscore?gid=200702080648

Drake 67
UNI 59

http://sports.yahoo.com/ncaab/boxscore?gid=200702080418

[ser_solace]

Wow. Drake took down Northern Iowa 67-59. Wichita came back strong and beat Indiana State 61-45.

[Da Coach]

Drake beats UNI at UNI's McLeod Center. Drake also won the game in Des Moines, and Drake also Beat Iow and Iowa State. So they are the undisputed Champions of Iowa with a 4-0 record against the other Div I schools.

The Drake win over UNI helps Bradley out. Too bad Indiana State couldn't hold on and beat Wichita State.
Bradley is now in a 3 way tie for 4th place.
Here are the MVC standings after tonight's 2 games.--
Team.............MVC....All
Southern Ill....11-3..20-5
Creighton.......11-3..16-7
Missouri State..9-5..18-7
Bradley...........7-7..16-10
Northern Iowa..7-7..16-9
Wichita St.......7-7..16-9
Indiana St.......5-9..12-12
Evansville........5-9..12-13
Drake............4-10..13-12
Illinois St........4-10..12-13

[MacabreMob]

UNI is fading...

I thought a 3-way tie for 4th between BU, Wichita and UNI.... not now. I think UNI finishes 6th (and draws a hungry Mo St team for an NCAA bid in Round 1 of the Conf Tourney).

Lights out...

[Da Coach]

UNI played their starters McKowan 40 min., Josten 38 min., Coleman 36 min., Stout 33 min., and Travis Brown 30 minutes.
They were supposed to be a deeper team this year, but it's not developed that way. They should have learned from last year when they faded in the last 2 weeks of the season partly because their 5 starters were worn down from excessive minutes. Yet they are doing it more now than they did last year, and the fade has started earlier this season.
Their bench tonight played a total of 23 minutes, and scored 0 points, 0 assists, and had 2 rebounds.

[MacabreMob]

Well, DC... We have depth issues too. But I guess we have excuses why and maybe they don't.

We should beat Drake Sat.
Would LOVE to see 'em beat EU on the road but I don't think it is gonna happen.
Expect to regroup and come up big vs UNI at home.
Then dispose of Indy St at home.

(sandwich in VCU - I have hope... I think it is winnable but I worry deeply nonetheless)

I must say... honestly... as a season, the whole season... I have enjoyed this year so far more than last year.

[Bravesfan]

Well, DC... We have depth issues too. But I guess we have excuses why and maybe they don't.

We should beat Drake Sat.
Would LOVE to see 'em beat EU on the road but I don't think it is gonna happen.
Expect to regroup and come up big vs UNI at home.
Then dispose of Indy St at home.

(sandwich in VCU - I have hope... I think it is winnable but I worry deeply nonetheless)

I must say... honestly... as a season, the whole season... I have enjoyed this year so far more than last year.

Yes, 10-8 and 19-12 overall should be good for at least one, if not two NIT home games! Maybe with 20 wins overall, we get lucky and get a 13 seed in the NCAA, but the NIT isn't that bad either.

[Bravesfan]

Well, DC... We have depth issues too. But I guess we have excuses why and maybe they don't.

We should beat Drake Sat.
Would LOVE to see 'em beat EU on the road but I don't think it is gonna happen.
Expect to regroup and come up big vs UNI at home.
Then dispose of Indy St at home.

(sandwich in VCU - I have hope... I think it is winnable but I worry deeply nonetheless)

I must say... honestly... as a season, the whole season... I have enjoyed this year so far more than last year.

Yeah, Evansville has looked the best of the "play-in" teams this year. But I think that is a winnable game for us. We'll see how this plays out. Like I said in my above post, we should still be able to finish 10-8 even if we lose there, but a loss won't help our at-large chances.

First things first though. I hope we take Drake seriously Saturday night. I'm glad they beat UNI tonight, but hopefully they won't spring two upsets on their road trip!

[Da Coach]

The other notable thing from tonight's boxscore is how far the 2 freshmen phenoms from Indiana State have fallen. Marico Stinson and Cole Holmstrom were both starting and averaging double figures and were the #1 and #2 scorers among MVC freshmen as recently as a couple weeks ago.

http://www.bradleyfans.com/phpbb/viewtopic.php?p=35141#35141

But neither of them started tonight and they scored 1 point between them.
Holmstrom, who was a candidate for Freshman of the Year, had 0 points tonight, is averaging only 6.4 ppg over the past 9 games, and is shooting just 28% and 23% from 3.
Stinson, who looked like a shoe-in for Freshman of the Year a couple weeks ago, had 1 point tonight, is averaging only 3.7 ppg over the past 6 games, and is shooting just 27%, and 16% from 3.

[patrick_o'brian]

Why does everyone predict we will be 10-8 in the conference? Why noy 11-7? who do we have left on the road? Evansville? You guys don't think we can beat Evansville? It's time to tighten up. I know we can beat Evansville on the road. VCU will be a very tough game. That is the game that worries me the most. They are a good team that is well-coached by anthony Grant a Billy Donovan disciple. If we win out it the conference, which is very possible, and beat VCU on the road, and win at least one in St. Louis, that puts us at 23-11 and an at-large bid. What does MM say?................book it!