Today In The Valley (Nov. 22)
Illinois State (2-0) vs. Houston Baptist
5:00 p.m.
Moody Coliseum; Dallas, Texas
Illinois State looks to continue their winning ways today as they continue play in the SMU Classic in Dallas. Yesterday, ISU was able to avoid the sting of the Alabama State Hornets with a 77-71 victory. Osiris Eldridge and The People’s Champ, 6-6 guard Champ Oguchi, once again led the scoring for the Redbirds, dropping 16 points each. But Tim Jankovich’s team continued to share the rock and the Redbirds finished with four players in double figures.
After suffering their third straight loss to open the season to host SMU last night, the Huskies from Houston Baptist will be looking for their first win of the 2008-2009 season. They will have to bring their "A" game as they are still without standout post man (and former Auburn Tiger and USC Trojan) Emanuel Willis. They finally received a spark from Gordon Watt when he posted a double-double on Friday, but the Huskies will need big games from a lot of different guys if they want to pull off the upset today over ISU. The Huskies will be overmatched this afternoon, as the Redbirds have proved to be too quick and talented for their opponents thus far, and the historically bad Huskies don’t stand much of a chance.
~ Dance Cam Guy
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Evansville (2-0) vs. Buffalo (2-0)
7:00 p.m.
Roberts Stadium; Evansville, Indiana
The Purple Aces look to continue their winning ways at Roberts Stadium tonight when they host Turner Gill’s Buffalo Bulls. Evansville is coming off a 24-point win Tuesday against Oakland City. Never trailing in the game, they used a balanced attack to defeat the Mighty Oaks. Early in the year Shy Ely, Nate Gardner, and Jason Holsinger are leading the team in points, assists, and rebounds, respectively. That is exactly what you want out of your senior leaders. But that trio will face another set of three good players in the opposing jerseys tonight.
A three headed monster has done the bulk of the scoring for Buffalo in their two road wins to start the season. Rodney Pierce (21 point), Greg Gamble (19 points, 8 rebound, and 5 assists), and Calvin Betts (12 points and 13 rebounds) scored 52 of the 70 points in the Bulls' season opener at Youngstown State. Starting point guard Gamble does a lot for this Bulls team, averaging 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists per game. And Pierce drops 24 points per game as well. The trio also was in double figures individually in a win against Canisius.
Look for the Bulls to run with the Purple Aces in this game. Evansville is favored by 5.5 points, and the home crowd should make the difference in this one.
~ Panon
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Missouri State (1-1) vs. Arkansas (2-0)
7:00 p.m.
JQH Arena; Springfield, Missouri
The time has come. Today marks the first regular season home game for the Bears in their new building, the JQH Arena. Spencer Laurie, who has played in four different home arenas during his college career, says this one is best. I guess he’s an expert, so I’ll take his word for it.
Opening the building for the Bears? None other than next door neighbor’s state school, the Arkansas Razorbacks. I still hate typing that. These teams have met 9 times since 1980, with today’s game marking just the third visit by the Razorbacks to Springfield. In those 9 games, MSU has just one win (at home in 1986). The average margin of victory for Arkansas has been 12 points.
But one can only rely on the past so much without the reality of the present taking over. Arkansas went to overtime at home with Southeastern Louisiana in their season opener, and then only won by 9 at home versus UC Davis in their last game. In fact, even at 1-1, MSU is favored by the odds makers in Vegas; they’re giving the Hogs anywhere between 2.5 and 3 points.
In order to overcome those odds, junior post player Michael Washington will need to bring his 21 points and 10 rebounds per game to the new arena for the Razorbacks. The Bears aren’t very experienced in the post, so look for that matchup to cause problems for MSU.
Cuonzo Martin will need to counter with his experienced perimeter players, led by Chris Cooks (16 points, 6 rebounds per game) and the healthy Laurie brother, Spencer. Cardell McFarland, a freshman guard, might be the x factor for the Bears today if they want to post a solid home win against a BCS opponent. I’m not convinced they can do it, but I’m sure the polish and shine radiating off the new building will get the crowd pretty jacked up, which helps.
~ Creighton Otter
5:00 p.m.
Moody Coliseum; Dallas, Texas
Illinois State looks to continue their winning ways today as they continue play in the SMU Classic in Dallas. Yesterday, ISU was able to avoid the sting of the Alabama State Hornets with a 77-71 victory. Osiris Eldridge and The People’s Champ, 6-6 guard Champ Oguchi, once again led the scoring for the Redbirds, dropping 16 points each. But Tim Jankovich’s team continued to share the rock and the Redbirds finished with four players in double figures.
After suffering their third straight loss to open the season to host SMU last night, the Huskies from Houston Baptist will be looking for their first win of the 2008-2009 season. They will have to bring their "A" game as they are still without standout post man (and former Auburn Tiger and USC Trojan) Emanuel Willis. They finally received a spark from Gordon Watt when he posted a double-double on Friday, but the Huskies will need big games from a lot of different guys if they want to pull off the upset today over ISU. The Huskies will be overmatched this afternoon, as the Redbirds have proved to be too quick and talented for their opponents thus far, and the historically bad Huskies don’t stand much of a chance.
~ Dance Cam Guy
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Evansville (2-0) vs. Buffalo (2-0)
7:00 p.m.
Roberts Stadium; Evansville, Indiana
The Purple Aces look to continue their winning ways at Roberts Stadium tonight when they host Turner Gill’s Buffalo Bulls. Evansville is coming off a 24-point win Tuesday against Oakland City. Never trailing in the game, they used a balanced attack to defeat the Mighty Oaks. Early in the year Shy Ely, Nate Gardner, and Jason Holsinger are leading the team in points, assists, and rebounds, respectively. That is exactly what you want out of your senior leaders. But that trio will face another set of three good players in the opposing jerseys tonight.
A three headed monster has done the bulk of the scoring for Buffalo in their two road wins to start the season. Rodney Pierce (21 point), Greg Gamble (19 points, 8 rebound, and 5 assists), and Calvin Betts (12 points and 13 rebounds) scored 52 of the 70 points in the Bulls' season opener at Youngstown State. Starting point guard Gamble does a lot for this Bulls team, averaging 15 points, 7 rebounds, and 6 assists per game. And Pierce drops 24 points per game as well. The trio also was in double figures individually in a win against Canisius.
Look for the Bulls to run with the Purple Aces in this game. Evansville is favored by 5.5 points, and the home crowd should make the difference in this one.
~ Panon
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Missouri State (1-1) vs. Arkansas (2-0)
7:00 p.m.
JQH Arena; Springfield, Missouri
The time has come. Today marks the first regular season home game for the Bears in their new building, the JQH Arena. Spencer Laurie, who has played in four different home arenas during his college career, says this one is best. I guess he’s an expert, so I’ll take his word for it.
Opening the building for the Bears? None other than next door neighbor’s state school, the Arkansas Razorbacks. I still hate typing that. These teams have met 9 times since 1980, with today’s game marking just the third visit by the Razorbacks to Springfield. In those 9 games, MSU has just one win (at home in 1986). The average margin of victory for Arkansas has been 12 points.
But one can only rely on the past so much without the reality of the present taking over. Arkansas went to overtime at home with Southeastern Louisiana in their season opener, and then only won by 9 at home versus UC Davis in their last game. In fact, even at 1-1, MSU is favored by the odds makers in Vegas; they’re giving the Hogs anywhere between 2.5 and 3 points.
In order to overcome those odds, junior post player Michael Washington will need to bring his 21 points and 10 rebounds per game to the new arena for the Razorbacks. The Bears aren’t very experienced in the post, so look for that matchup to cause problems for MSU.
Cuonzo Martin will need to counter with his experienced perimeter players, led by Chris Cooks (16 points, 6 rebounds per game) and the healthy Laurie brother, Spencer. Cardell McFarland, a freshman guard, might be the x factor for the Bears today if they want to post a solid home win against a BCS opponent. I’m not convinced they can do it, but I’m sure the polish and shine radiating off the new building will get the crowd pretty jacked up, which helps.
~ Creighton Otter
posted by Creighton Otter at 10:44 AM
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