2 Semifinal games Saturday, March 5

[Da Coach]

Schedule- https://www.statbroadcast.com/events...gid=mvc#tourny

Live Stats for Game 1- #1 UNI vs. #4 Loyola- https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=383714
Game 2- #2 Drake vs. #3 Missouri State- https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=383715

Both games today are on the CBSSports Network- channels 531, 963, and 1303 on Xfinity.

[bigjimmy]

This first game should be a real physical contest. Loyola won by 23 in early February and UNI won in overtime last Saturday. Both teams played really well yesterday. Whoever can execute down the stretch will win. Should be fun.

[bigjimmy]

Tough sledding so far for both teams. Loyola is 2-6 and UNI is 1-7. 15:13 left Loyola leads 4-2.

[bigjimmy]

Loyola’s offense on a 9-0 run now leading 11-2 with 12:51 left. UNI having a harder time than we did in dealing with the Ramblers over aggressive defense shooting just 1-11

[bigjimmy]

18-8 Loyola with 9:48 left. Loyola is 8-16 overall, 2-5 from while UNI is just 4-18 overall, 0-7 from 3. Loyola doing a really good job of extending UNI’s offense outside. Only 1 foul called so far

[bigjimmy]

5:07 left and Loyola in control leading 25-11 with 5:00 left. AJ Green struggling against Loyola’s pressure defense as he’s just 1-7 so far

[bigjimmy]

UNI had cut the lead to 8 with 1:46 left and looked to have some momentum building. Unfortunately for them the Ramblers closed the half on an 8-0 run and lead at the half 39-23. Braden Norris is 5-5, including 3-3 from 3 and leads all scorers with 13 points. UNI’s big 3 of Green, Berhow and Carter have just 14 points. Loyola shot 16-31 overall, 6-14 from 3 while UNI shot just 10-32 overall, 2-12 from 3. Loyola’s lead could be even bigger as they committed 8 turnovers. Only 6 fouls were called. UNI averaged 75 points a game but they’ve never faced so much ball pressure and once again if the refs aren’t going to call it Loyola will continue to do it.

[bigjimmy]

Loyola went the first 3 1/2 minutes without scoring but UNI only scored 4 points themselves, 2 of those being a Technical foul called against Drew Valentine for complaining about a non foul. 16:00 left and Loyola leads 41-28.

[bigjimmy]

11:57 left Loyola leads 44-33. UNI playing really good defense so far. Loyola had only 2 points for the first 6 1/2 minutes until a desperation at the shot clock buzzer went in.

[bigjimmy]

8:09 left and Loyola leads 50-37. UNI can’t get the lead closer than 8 as the Ramblers are making enough shots to keep it in double digits. Green has struggled the whole game as he’s 4-17 overall, 1-6 from 3.

[basketball nut]

The refs aren't calling anything inside. They are, literally, hammering each other with no calls. Players getting knocked to the floor with no calls.
Typical Higgins game. Calls everything or nothing

[Da Coach]

Final score- Loyola 66 UNI 53

https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=383714

One trend holds true again in this Loyola-UNI game....
If a team shoots under 30% from three, they usually lose. If they shoot less than 25%, they better hope their opponents have a worse shooting night, because it almost always leads to a loss.
Today- UNI was 4-24 (16.7%) and was blown out by Loyola

On Thursday, Indiana State shot 7-30 (23.3%)- and lost to ILSU
On Friday, Bradley was 4-20 (20%) and lost to Loyola
Valpo was 4-24 (16.7%) and lost to Missouri State
SIU was 4-26 (15.4%) and lost to Drake

Generally, the team that shoots better from three will win the game.
Effective perimeter shooting wins games in the MVC.

[bigjimmy]

Loyola advances to their final MVC Championship tournament game with a convincing 66-43 win. They held UNI to their lowest point total of the year, holding the Panthers to 13-56 shooting overall, 23%, and to 4-24 shooting from 3. Green, Berhow and Carter, who average a combined 43 points a game, only had 28. Green was just 4-20. For Loyola they were led by Norris who had 19. Marquise Kennedy, who had been out awhile with an injury, came off the bench to score 12 and grabbed 6 boards. Whoever wins between MSU and Drake will have to play their best game of the year to beat the Ramblers.

[bigjimmy]

MSU and Drake had two close games this season. The Bears won at home by 5 and won in Des Moines by 4. Drake led in the second half of both games so I would expect another close one but the way things have trended so far probably will be another blowout.

[bigjimmy]

13 lead changes in by far the closest game of Arch Madness as the Bears lead 33-32. MSU shot 14-29 overall, just 2-10 from 3 while Drake shot 13-36 overall, 3-11 from 3. Isiaih Mosley led the way with 15 points while Gage Prim took just 1 shot even though he has a big size advantage inside. Drake had 4 of their 5 staters score at least 7 points. Nice to finally have a close game to watch