2 MVC games Tuesday, Feb. 11 & 4 MVC games Wednesday, Feb. 12

[Da Coach]

There are 2 MVC games Tuesday, Feb. 11 - https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...50211/group/18
>> Indiana State (12-13, 6-8 ) at Northern Iowa (16-9, 10-4) - 7:00 pm on ESPN+
>> UIC (14-10, 7-7) at Murray State (12-13, 6-8 ) - 7:00 pm on ESPN+

4 more MVC games on Wednesday, Feb. 12 - https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...50212/group/18
>> Southern Illinois (12-13, 7-7) at Bradley (19-6, 10-4) - 6:00 pm on MVC TV Network (Gray Media) and ESPN+
>> Evansville (9-16, 6-8 ) at Missouri State (8-17, 1-13) - 7:00 pm on ESPN+
>> Belmont (17-8, 9-5) at Valparaiso (10-15, 3-11) - 7:00 pm on ESPN+
>> Drake (22-2, 12-2) at Illinois State (15-10, 7-7) - 8:00 pm on MVC TV Network (Gray Media) and ESPN+

[Da Coach]

There are 2 MVC games Tuesday, Feb. 11 - https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...50211/group/18
>> Indiana State (12-13, 6-8 ) at Northern Iowa (16-9, 10-4) - 7:00 pm on ESPN+
>> UIC (14-10, 7-7) at Murray State (12-13, 6-8 ) - 7:00 pm on ESPN+

Both home teams won tonight...
UNI 88 - Indiana State 73 - https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...meId/401722558
Murray State 63 - UIC 53 - https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...meId/401722523

MVC Standings - https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...ngs/_/group/18

[Tommy]

Man, either UIC just matches up against us really well or they play their best ball against us.

[tomahawk chop]

Man, either UIC just matches up against us really well or they play their best ball against us.

I think it was a combination of us playing poorly and them making a lot more shots then they normally make in a game.These 3 point shooters in our league are pretty much stationary shooters so if you get them to move a little they will miss most of the time. You cannot allow them a lot of space like they are shooting free throws.

[yoda]

Several teams play a style of head down, drive hard into the lane and force contact ….
SIU tends to play that way.
….if the trio of refs reward all those efforts with foul calls, then it’s not only an unenjoyable night but it’s been tough on us because our guys don’t play that style.
Go back and look at the box score from the game at Indiana State, we were lucky to get a win when they send them to the FT line almost 40 times. A few nites later, with a different set of refs, we blow them out by 60 points.

[Stryker]

We better win out or close to it or UNI might push us into 3rd place...

[Fetz86]

Be great for all the home teams to win tonight.

[Da Coach]

We better win out or close to it or UNI might push us into 3rd place...

UNI might have a slightly more difficult schedule left. Here are their last 5 games-
2/16- at Murray State (7-8 )
2/19- at Belmont (9-5)
2/23- home vs Drake (12-2)
2/26- home vs UIC (7-8 )
3/2- at Bradley (10-4)
Combined record of upcoming opponents- 45-27 (winning pct of 0.625)

Compare with Bradley's remaining schedule-
2/12- home vs SIU (7-7)
2/16- at Drake (12-2)
2/19- at Illinois State (7-7)
2/22- home vs Murray State (7-8 )
2/26- at Valparaiso (3-11)
3/2- home vs UNI (11-4)
Combined record of upcoming opponents- 47-39 (winning pct 0.547)

[tomahawk chop]

Several teams play a style of head down, drive hard into the lane and force contact ….
SIU tends to play that way.
….if the trio of refs reward all those efforts with foul calls, then it’s not only an unenjoyable night but it’s been tough on us because our guys don’t play that style.
Go back and look at the box score from the game at Indiana State, we were lucky to get a win when they send them to the FT line almost 40 times. A few nites later, with a different set of refs, we blow them out by 60 points.

Agree, in tournaments you do not see a lot of these fouls called. Hard to defend when players put their head down and drive to the basket and virtually jump into defenders. Nobody likes to see teams shooting 25 plus free throws in a game.

[Da Coach]

Final results of Wednesday's four games - https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...50212/group/18

Standings after 15 games - https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...ngs/_/group/18

[yoda]

once again, Drake's Bennett Stirtz and Mitch Mascari played all 40 minutes.
Stirtz leads all of NCAA basketball in minutes played as almost 39 per game! And ranking just behind him
in the number 2 spot is Mascari. Plus a third Drake starter, Daniel Abreu, at 34 minutes pergame, is also
in the Top 100 and among the top 1-2% of all DI players in minutes played.

There's still almost a month left to play including THREE really tough games in three days in St. Louis, so we have to hope
all those minutes take their toll on the Drake lineup.
I recall back when Greg McDermott was coaching UNI in 2003-2006, and they had dominant regular seasons using his starters heavily,
playing as much as 34-38 minutes pergame. But he faltered in the MVC tourney, and then they looked worn out and got bumped in their
first game in the NCAA Tourney.
By contrast, not one Bradley player is even close to the top 20 in the MVC in minutes played- good sign for those tough three days in St. Louis.

[Tommy]

once again, Drake's Bennett Stirtz and Mitch Mascari played all 40 minutes.
Stirtz leads all of NCAA basketball in minutes played as almost 39 per game! And ranking just behind him
in the number 2 spot is Mascari. Plus a third Drake starter, Daniel Abreu, at 34 minutes pergame, is also
in the Top 100 and among the top 1-2% of all DI players in minutes played.

There's still almost a month left to play including THREE really tough games in three days in St. Louis, so we have to hope
all those minutes take their toll on the Drake lineup.
I recall back when Greg McDermott was coaching UNI in 2003-2006, and they had dominant regular seasons using his starters heavily,
playing as much as 34-38 minutes pergame. But he faltered in the MVC tourney, and then they looked worn out and got bumped in their
first game in the NCAA Tourney.
By contrast, not one Bradley player is even close to the top 20 in the MVC in minutes played- good sign for those tough three days in St. Louis.

That is going to be an issue for them in back to back to back games (if they go to the finals). I am discouraged that it was their bench that did us in when they visited Peoria. Is that the only game where their bench performed? I think it is.

[yoda]

Wonder if anyone’ watching the A-10 game Saint Louis vs Loyola, on ESPN2 right now.
Both teams are good teams but have little bench depth. (0-10 & just 3 pts off the bench for both teams combined)
Multiple times they bemoan that Saint Louis coach Josh Schertz simply doesn’t have any players and is doing a good job considering how little chance he had to build his roster.
LOL - what the hey - he stole two 1st Team MVC players from Indiana State (Avila, Swope), signed a couple solid portal players & inherited SLU’s best player (16ppg) and 3 of their top 5 guys