Other MVC games

[Da Coach]

11 of the 12 MVC teams play their first games on Monday, Nov. 4, starting with an 11:00 am game between SIU and College of Charleston in Sioux Falls, South Dakota as part of the Field of 68 Opening Day Showcase-
> https://fieldof68.beehiiv.com/p/fiel...showcase-event
> https://www.sanfordsports.com/blog/c...g-day-showcase

In another neutral site event, Valparaiso plays Liberty in the Total Athlete Tip-Off at 4:00 pm in the Wooden Family Fieldhouse in Xenia, Ohio.
Indiana State plays Florida Atlantic at 6:30 pm in the Total Athlete Tip-Off, also in the Wooden Family Fieldhouse in Xenia, Ohio
> athletesinaction.org/events/totalathletetipoff/

The only MVC team not playing Monday, Nov. 4 is Evansville. They open their season Tuesday, Nov. 5 with a road game at University of North Texas.
Full MVC schedule with links- https://mvc-sports.com/calendar.aspx?path=mbball

[64NIT]

I'll be attending the Field of 68 games in Sioux Falls. I'm an SIU grad, was there during part of the Rich Herrin era, and it will be interesting to see what kind of team Scott Nagy has put together.

Also, I'll get to see Robbie Avila, Isaiah Swope, and Josh Schertz for St. Louis go up against Santa Clara, a future BU opponent. I'm sure SLU fans are excited to have these three as Billikens, InSU not so much. haha

I'll probably stick around for the third game, SDSU vs. McNeese, although I have no real interest in either team.

[Da Coach]

I'll be attending the Field of 68 games in Sioux Falls. I'm an SIU grad, was there during part of the Rich Herrin era, and it will be interesting to see what kind of team Scott Nagy has put together.

Also, I'll get to see Robbie Avila, Isaiah Swope, and Josh Schertz for St. Louis go up against Santa Clara, a future BU opponent. I'm sure SLU fans are excited to have these three as Billikens, InSU not so much. haha

I'll probably stick around for the third game, SDSU vs. McNeese, although I have no real interest in either team.

I'd be interested in your assessment of McNeese State, in addition to SIU, St. Louis, and Santa Clara. Will Wade took over a McNeese State team last year that had gone 11-23 in 2022-23 and hadn't had a winning season in 12 years. He had the most impressive turnaround I can ever recall, turning a losing program into a 30-4 record in Wade's first season last year. He turned down interest from bigger programs to stay at McNeese.

[Da Coach]

This page has links to the video streams for the SIU game tomorrow at 11 am, as well as the other games in Sioux Falls, South Dakota as part of the Field of 68 Opening Day Showcase - https://www.youtube.com/@TheFieldOf68/streams

[yoda]

the direct link to the SIU game - free streaming- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uR1uqmCCimg


other games of interest:
Saint Louis vs future Bradley opponent Santa Clara at 2pm - link - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gtSYn4BZ_20

Valpo vs Liberty (4:30 pm) and Indiana State vs Florida Atlantic (6:30 pm) - both are streamed here - https://athletesinaction.org/events/totalathletetipoff/
(I am completely unfamiliar with that site and streaming platform, so good luck)

Missouri State at Butler is on FoxSports1 (cable and streaming) 5:45 pm

The rest of the Valley games overlap BU's game, so I won't post their games,
but SEMO at BU will be right here --- LINK for ESPN+ Stream of Bradley game
(you will have to subscribe first if not already done so, they will prompt you to the subscription page, it's $11.99/month payable by credit card or PayPal)

(in the very first game of the day on ESPN+, IU-Indianapolis has raced out to a 23-6 lead over IU-Columbus.
I am sure everyone recalls that IU-Indianapolis used to be IUPUI)
(Note that IU-Indy is a member of the Horizon League, but I have seen mention that the MVC was at least looking at them as a potential future consideration because of their BIG city market in Indianapolis)

Edit- yup, the SIU game stream is available for free - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uR1uqmCCimg

[Da Coach]

Nice to see that ESPN+ finally corrected the date for the Bradley-SEMO game. It is now listed correctly for Monday, Nov. 4, and the link is now posted on today's schedule of upcoming games.
LINK- https://www.espn.com/espnplus/player/_/id/54a1962e-c81b-4d0f-bf48-1837321e6696

[yoda]

Seriously SIU??
Totally new lineup - almost all new players and they don't bother to put the players' names on the jerseys.

[Da Coach]

Seriously SIU??
Totally new lineup - almost all new players and they don't bother to put the players' names on the jerseys.

Good point.
Also, I am watching this SIU-Charleston game, and the video quality is not very good. I can accept the somewhat amateurish broadcasters. But video streaming these days should be far better than what I am seeing.

[yoda]

I'm impressed - the arena is nearly full...
SIU shaky on ballhandling and outside shooting (1-6 and none of them looked good), but they do a lot of driving into the lane & get to the line

edit - SIU is very athletic, they get in the paint easily and get good shots but not converting anywhere outside the lane.
Also leaving a lot of 3-point shooters open.
SIU is just 1-7 from 3pt, while Charleston is 7-12.
3 min until halftime, SIU Trails 42-31.

SIU's Massey (3-3, 8 pts) and Elliott (6-8, 12 pts) are carrying SIU.
The rest of the team are just 6-21
If SIU can defend DII transfer Brzovic (14 pts) down low and get some contributions from the other players, this is a very winnable game.

[Da Coach]

A lot of offense and not much defense, so far. The game was tied 71-71 with 8 minutes left, but then SIU went cold missing 4 straight shots allowing Charleston to open an 85-73 lead with 4 minutes left. - https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...meId/401715872
Box score- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...meId/401715872
SIU is only 4-22 from three.

[yoda]

Charleston 90 - SIU 80, SIU was never able to cut into that double digit lead in the final 5 minutes.
Over those final 5 min they went 2-9, missed FTs and had turnovers. They ended 5-21 on 3-pointers with one of those coming late
after the game was decided. Charleston hit 56.4% overall. SIU's Elijah Elliott, 6-1 guard, transfer from University of Texas-Rio Grande Valley
was 9-14 and scored 23 pts. Sloppy game, lots of fouls, both teams shot 30 or more FTs.
It appears SIU's game plan is head down, drive the lane and try to score inside. Their outside game was lacking, only 3 guys converted 3-pointers. They were picked 7th in the MVC but if they can shoot better from the arc they can do better than 7th.

One guy that got a lot of hype was consensus 4-Star, Top-150 guard Texas Tech transfer Drew Steffe.
He was 0-3, scoreless. He looked lost. Hard to know what to expect,

[Da Coach]

A lot of offense and not much defense, so far. The game was tied 71-71 with 8 minutes left, but then SIU went cold missing 4 straight shots allowing Charleston to open an 85-73 lead with 4 minutes left. - https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...meId/401715872
Box score- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...meId/401715872
SIU is only 4-22 from three.

SIU was not able to come back from the 12-point deficit that Charleston built in a 4-minute stretch late in the 2nd half.
As noted, poor outside shooting was the Salukis downfall. They shot 25-62 overall (40.3%), but just 5-21 (23.8%) from three. They were also outrebounded 38-27.
SIU was lead by Elijah Elliott with 23 points. He is a 6'1" senior transfer who is playing for his 5th school in 5 years. He played one season at D2 Oklahoma Christian, then played one year at D1 Mount St. Mary's, then a year at a junior college, then a year at UT-Rio Grande Valley, and now SIU.
He looks like he might be the Saluki's go-to scorer. He also lead SIU with 23 points in their exhibition win over North Park

[Nashville Cat]

A lot of offense and not much defense, so far. The game was tied 71-71 with 8 minutes left, but then SIU went cold missing 4 straight shots allowing Charleston to open an 85-73 lead with 4 minutes left. - https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...meId/401715872
Box score- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...meId/401715872
SIU is only 4-22 from three.

Looks like the Salukis were struggling to guard the post. Big game for Charleston center.

[Da Coach]

Looks like the Salukis were struggling to guard the post. Big game for Charleston center.

Yes, I watched the game, and you are right. They couldn't seem to stop Charleston's big man Ante Brzovic, who lead everyone with 27 points and 9 rebounds. SIU's starting 5-man was Antuan Massey, who is listed as a 6'8" juco transfer from New Mexico Junior College, though he might not be quite 6'8". He appeared to have more offensive capabilities than their other big men. He scored 8 points in 15 minutes compared with the other two big men who totalled just 4 points in a combined 20 minutes. But SIU's coach Nagy seemed upset with his defense, and pulled him out and tried 6'9" freshman Rolyns Aligbe and 6'11" juco transfer Jorge Moreno at center for much of the 2nd half. Neither of them did much better defending Brzovic, and they appeared more offensively challenged. Between the three of them, they accumulated 10 personal fouls trying to guard Brzovic.
6'10" freshman Jaheem Webber from Normal Community HS did not play at all. Have to wonder if he's injured or a possible redshirt candidate.

[yoda]

Saint Louis vs future Bradley opponent Santa Clara at 2pm -

Final
Santa Clara 85 - Saint Louis 78
although 4 of Santa Clara’s points came in the final couple seconds as SLU tried in desperation to foul but couldn’t cash in
Avila & Swope were solid but between them they took 30 of Saint Louis’ 61 shots.
SLU had zero bench points- in fact, only 2 players came off the bench & both were non- factors. Pretty heavy starter minutes for a game in the first week of November.
If they use only 2 subs, those starters are gonna be gassed by their conference season.
Santa Clara shoots a ton of 3’s at 34%.

Avila appeared to injure or sprain his ankle near the end of the game. He missed 4 weeks with an ankle sprain in September & October, and had just gotten back to full health - but obviously they will take this injury quite seriously.