Tweet
1 afternoon game and 3 night games Saturday in the MVC--
-
-
Some early lines courtesy of Wagerline.com:
SIU -11 1/2 vs Wich St
Drake -5 vs ISU
Bradley -9 vs E'Ville
Creighton -12 1/2 vs Indy St
I'll take SIU, ISU, Bradley and Creighton.
-
In the only afternoon game--
Southern beats Wichita State in Carbondale--
Comment
-
ISU blows a 12 point lead and falls to Drake, 79-73 on the road, giving Drake sole possession of first place.Comment
-
Wichita State 52
So. Illinois 63
Evansville 76
Bradley 77
Illinois St. 73
Drake 79
Indiana St. 69
Creighton 86
Comment
-
Some things I noted looking at the box scores...
In a critical sttretch when ISU led Drake by double digits, the had bad shot selection and numerous turnovers, six by OE.
They let a big 2nd half lead slip away and lost to Drake.
Each year one of the MVC teams gets hot early and fails late in the season.
In 2004-2005 it was ISU who were battling for the lead in the Valley in late January, then lost their final 6 MVC games to end up 8-10, and barely escaping Friday night (the then-equivalent of thursday night), but it didn't matter, as ISU put itself out of its own misery by losing their first MVC Tourney game big-time to Creighton.
In 2005-2006 it was Indiana State, as they raced out to 8-0 and started off the Valley season strong, only to plummett and end in a tie for last in the Valley race.
In 2006-2007 it was Wichita State, who won their first nine games, and rose to #8 in the National Rankings and #1 in the RPI.
Then then self-destructed, lost their next four, and also their final five Valley games to end 8-10 in the MVC.
Will it be Drake this year?
Drake is 15-1, but are they that good?
Two wins are against non-DI's, and they have yet to beat any team on the road with an RPI better than 130, and they barely escaped the game here.
Tuesday they go to (RPI 40) Creighton, and their final FIVE MVC games are against the five highest RPI Valley teams.
Lastly, after sneaking out of Dodge (actually Wichita) late at night and getting a fat contract to coach at Texas A&M, Mark Turgeon is falling on some pretty relatively hard times.
His Texas A&M Aggies were picked by most to be a Top 10 team, and they have great talent that Billy Gillispie left behind.
But Turgeon has them losing two Big 12 games in a row to Texas tech and K-State, and already the locals are grumbling!!
They haven't beaten any team whose RPI is under 100 since before Thanksgiving, and if their RPI drops much further, they simply might not have the resume to get an at large NCAA bid!
Ball State (where Jim Molinari is assistant) is HOT!
Theyhave won 3 of their last 5 and only one game out of first place in the MAC West Division!Comment
-
I'm not sure Drake will fail the rest of the way. Afterall, they have managed to win 3 straight after losing there top player. We've won 2 out of 9 games with our top player out. I'll give them the benefit of the doubt on this one.
JasonComment
Comment