Missouri Valley Notebook: Northern Iowa braces for a major mid-major clash

At Missouri Valley media day in Saint Louis before the season, the primary topic of conversation for coaches was the departure of Wichita State, and if that opened up the chance to win a league title. Most coaches had different versions of agreement to that statement, but when Northern Iowa coach Ben Jacobson was asked if his Panthers felt like one of the banner-carriers for the conference now that the Shockers were gone, he sang a different tune. “I’ve felt like that since we got here 16 years ago,” he said.

He has a point. Northern Iowa has made four NCAA Tournament appearances since Jacobson took over in 2006, including each of the past two seasons, despite Wichita State’s dominance. But if they weren’t “banner-carriers” before, they certainly are now. Despite being picked second in this year’s conference preseason poll, the Panthers have put together one of the best mid-major résumés in the country so far this season.

After an opening loss at North Carolina and three home blowout wins, the Panthers began to make noise at the Battle 4 Atlantis tournament over Thanksgiving. They knocked off SMU and North Carolina State on the road to the championship game, before falling to a top-five team in Villanova.

“Defensively we did a great job of getting back in transition, and we did the best job we’ve done with our quarter-court defense as well,” said Jacobson, whose team held both SMU and NC State to 60 points or fewer and under 40 percent from the field. “That was the part I was probably most impressed with, their ability to defend at such a high level against three really good teams.”

Then came a highly anticipated matchup with UNLV in the Missouri Valley-Mountain West Challenge. The Runnin’ Rebels boast two high quality big men in 6-7 junior Shakur Juiston and 7-1 freshman Brandon McCoy, and looked poised to beat up on Northern Iowa’s frontline of 6-7 senior Klint Carlson and 6-10 senior Bennett Koch. But the Panther bigs won the matchup handily. In the second half and overtime, the two combined for 35 of the final 43 points for their team. Koch finished with 30 points and Carlson 23, while the UNLV big man duo combined for just 22 points.

Next up for the Panthers is a home showdown with UT Arlington on Thursday night, a matchup between two of my top five mid-major teams in the country. What the Mavericks may lack in name recognition, they make up for in experience, with eight seniors returning from a team that won 27 games last season.

“I’ve been trying to tell our fans how good this Arlington team is,” said Jacobson, who compares them equally to his matchups with high-major powerhouses the team has faced already this season. “When I watch them on film, they’re just like them. They have everything that the great teams have: How hard they play, the execution on both ends, and they have the highest level of guys.”

Jacobson said that Carlson has drawn the assignment of guarding Maverick star 6-9 senior forward Kevin Hervey, who comes in averaging 23.4 points per game, while Koch will start on their 7-foot senior center Johnny Hamilton, who is averaging 14.5 points of his own. While most of the attention will be on the big men in this game, Jacobson thinks the game may be won or lost with how well Panther 5-11 sophomore point guard Juwan McCloud can defend UT Arlington’s 5-10 senior Erick Neal, who leads the nation in assists. It’s a battle that he knows won’t be easy. “Neal is I think one of the better point guards in the country,” he said.

No matter what happens, it should be one of the best mid-major games of the season, and serve as a preview of two prime Cinderella candidates to keep in mind when you’re filling out your bracket in March.

Loyola-Chicago gets a program-defining win

Perhaps the biggest win of the season by a Missouri Valley team occurred Wednesday night, when Loyola traveled to Gainesville and knocked off No. 5 Florida, 65-59. The Gators shot just 36.9 percent from the floor, and 2-of-19 from three, allowing Porter Moser’s Ramblers to maintain a slim lead for most of the game. When a Florida tip-in to tie the game was waved off due to touching the ball in the cylinder with 20 seconds left, Loyola was able to ice the game with four straight free throws from 6-4 sophomore guard Cameron Satterwhite.

Loyola was led by forward Aundre Jackson, who poured in 23 points on a ridiculous 10-of-12 shooting from the field. The 6-5 senior is a living embodiment of Moser’s ideal playing style: small ball. When Florida put a bigger player on him, he stepped out and hit outside shots or took them off the bounce. When the Gators adjusted with a smaller defender, Jackson took them down into the post and scored. “I love those mismatch guys,” Moser said back at Missouri Valley media day. “We recruit mismatch guys.”

Highlights from tonight's victory over No. 5 Florida –> https://t.co/8m9rXC2zht #LUCMBB100 #OnwardLU #MVCHoops

— Loyola Basketball (@RamblersMBB) December 7, 2017

“We’ve been playing small ball for years,” Moser added. “The thing about it is, some people start talking about defensively you’re going to get pounded, but we say, ‘They’re going to have to guard us too.’” Florida was only able to manage 34 points in the paint against the smaller Ramblers, and too often settled for 3-pointers that almost always missed their mark.

The win gets Loyola off to an impressive 9-1 start. While their eight other wins have come against less-than-elite competition, their ability was obvious during stretches like the 27-4 run against UIC on Saturday. Four Ramblers could break out for 20 points on any given night in Jackson, 6-6 senior guard Donte Ingram, 6-4 junior guard Marques Townes and 6-1 junior guard Clayton Custer, and yet none average more than 9.4 shots per game. That sort of balance and unselfishness bodes well heading into conference play.

Since Loyola joined the Valley in 2013, they’ve placed mostly in the middle of the pack in the final conference standings. But with seniors like Jackson and Ingram leading this year’s team, Moser has higher expectations. “I’m just excited to be in that conversation. Four years ago when we got here, the whole conversation was, ‘Oh great, you’re in the Valley now,’” he said. “Now the conversation is, ‘Hey, you’re in the conversation about winning it.’ I love that, it means we’ve elevated our program, that means we’re doing some things right. Now the next step is to win it.”

Valpo puts its 8-0 record to the test

The other huge game being played on Thursday is in West Lafayette, where Valparaiso will put its undefeated season on the line against No. 21 Purdue. Valpo (8-0) picked up five points in the latest AP Top 25 poll and is one of just 10 teams remaining with unbeaten records, but Purdue will certainly be its toughest test to date.

“This will be very challenging for us,” said Valparaiso head coach Matt Lottich, who will depend on his team continuing its stellar defensive play. In their first eight games, the Crusaders have held opponents to just 34.3 percent from the field and 25 percent from deep. “I mean, really (Purdue has) four guys on the perimeter, five guys, guys coming off the bench that can really stroke it,” he said when the numbers were read back to him, “so we’ll see if those numbers stay true.”

Anchoring the defensive backline are a pair of 7-foot sophomore centers in Jaume Sorolla and Derrik Smits, who make driving to the rim difficult for opposing offenses. That allows Lottich to emphasize a “run them off the perimeter” scheme that has resulted in the poor shooting numbers, and ultimately victories. But none of it would be possible without lockdown perimeter defender Tevonn Walker, a 6-2 senior guard who is also the team’s leading scorer.

Tevonn Walker and 8-0 Valpo will have their hands full with Purdue on Thursday night. (Credit: Jerome Lynch/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

With the graduation of Alec Peters, likely the best player in program history, Walker has had to pick up the primary scoring responsibility on top of his defensive duties. He’s averaging 17.3 points per game, despite shooting only 32.4 percent from three. “A lot times the shooting numbers aren’t great because we gave him the toughest defensive assignment too,” Lottich said. “We’re going to keep riding him. I’m really glad he’s on our team, because he does a lot for us.”

Lottich also shouted out the contributions of 6-2 redshirt sophomore point guard Bakari Evelyn. “(He) has just kind of calmed us when he’s on the court,” said Lottich. “He’s the true sense of a point guard.” While he leads the team in assists, he also stepped up when he was called upon in the team’s win over UNC Wilmington, producing 30 points on 8-of-11 shooting.

Valparaiso will certainly need excellent games from both Walker and Evelyn to beat Purdue on Thursday night.

Around the rim 

• Bradley (7-2): The Braves struggled mightily against the size and length of San Diego State’s defense, falling in what became a 75-52 blowout. But outside of that game they’ve been impressive, especially in a great win over Georgia Southern and a heartbreaking one-point loss to Vermont. Their strength is on the defensive end, where they’re holding opponents to just 36.4 percent from the field and 24.9 percent from three.

• Drake (4-4): No team better exemplifies the Missouri Valley’s incredible start top-to-bottom than Drake, who was picked to finish last in the conference in the preseason and won just seven games a year ago. Out of the gate they downed Wake Forest in the Virgin Islands, and made a second-half comeback to scare Colorado the following game. They’ve already won four games this season, thanks in large part to the scoring and leadership of 6-1 senior guard Reed Timmer, who checks in at 22.6 points per game.

• Evansville (7-2): The surprise story of the conference so far has been Evansville’s hot start. Picked to finish ninth in the MVC preseason poll, the Purple Aces picked up a good win against Fresno State and showed well in losses to good teams in Louisiana Tech and New Mexico. When leading scorer and preseason MVC-second-teamer Ryan Taylor, a 6-6 junior guard, went down with a broken foot, the team still went on the road and beat a good Bowling Green squad. How are they doing it? As a team, Evansville is shooting an excellent 48.5 percent for the season. As a team! In the win over Bowling Green, they hit 12 of 15 from behind the arc. Can they sustain this level of shooting all season?

• Illinois State (4-5): The Redbirds’ record won’t jump off the page compared to other Missouri Valley teams, but three of those losses have come to some of the best mid-major teams in the country in Nevada, Boise State, and Florida Gulf Coast. The questions coming into the season about who would fill the production of the three leading scorers who departed have been answered with the emergence of 6-foot junior guard Keyshawn Evans, who built off of his 16-point performance in the MVC tournament last year to become a 20-point-per-game scorer and currently a 50-percent 3-point shooter.

• Indiana State (3-5): After the glorious season-opening victory against Indiana at Assembly Hall, the Sycamores have struggled to find their footing. Perhaps the most interesting development is the stellar play of 5-11 sophomore guard Jordan Barnes, who has outshined preseason all-conference first-team selection Brenton Scott, a 6-1 senior. Most believed Scott would be the lone gunner on this team, but Barnes is putting up 15 points per game while also leading the team in assists from the point-guard position.

• Missouri State (8-2): The preseason MVC favorites have found their form recently, and had their best performance of the season against South Dakota State on Saturday in Sioux Falls. In limited minutes, 6-5 junior forward Reggie Scurry has provided a big boost for the Bears off the bench as they wait for 6-9 senior forward Alize Johnson to work into form. The team’s offense will be dependent on its ability to hit jump shots, which they’ve shown the ability to do but still sit at 31 percent as a team from behind the arc.

• Southern Illinois (4-3): The Salukis have looked completely different from the team people expected coming into the year. Most thought the team would be led by 6-5 junior guard Marcus Bartley, a transfer from Saint Louis, and 6-4 senior guard Tyler Smithpeters, an elite shooter returning from a season lost to injury. Bartley missed the first six games of the year with a broken wrist before making his return on Wednesday against, ironically, Saint Louis, and Smithpeters has only made one start and shot under 30 percent from deep. Even 6-8 senior forward Thik Bol, named to last year’s MVC All-Defensive team, underwent knee surgery and has yet to play this season. But the team has found double-digit scoring averages in four different players, led by breakout junior college transfer Kavion Pippen, a 6-10 center.

Looking up the court

Murray State at Illinois State, Dec. 9: Murray State is one of the best teams in the Ohio Valley, standing at 5-1 with a win over Southern Illinois already on its résumé. The Racers are led by a pair of seniors in 6-8 forward Terrell Miller Jr. and 6-0 guard Jonathan Stark, who each average nearly 16 points per game and match up perfectly with the Redbirds’ leaders Keyshawn Evans and 6-9 junior forward Phil Fayne.

Valparaiso at Ball State, Dec. 9: The Crusaders’ tour around the state of Indiana continues through Muncie on Saturday as they take on James Whitford’s Ball State team fresh off of a massive upset over No. 9 Notre Dame. The Cardinals are battle-tested and experienced, and can really shoot it from deep, challenging Valparaiso’s defense that has been excellent to this point. Will Valpo coach Matt Lottich deploy lockdown defender Tevonn Walker on Ball State’s go-to scorer, 6-3 junior guard Tayler Persons?

(Top image of Northern Iowa’s Klint Carlson: Kevin Jairaj/USA TODAY Sports)