Today In The Valley (Jan. 10)
Indiana State (3-12; 1-3) vs. Illinois State (14-1; 3-1)
6:00 p.m.
Hulman Center; Terre Haute, Indiana
Illinois State will continue their road trip tonight as they head to Terre Haute to face the Sycamores of Indiana State. The Redbirds are coming off their first loss of the season, dropping a game to in-state rival Bradley last Tuesday 56-52. This is not necessarily a good thing for Indiana State; the Sycs will now have the most athletic team in the conference coming into their house with a huge chip on their shoulder. This game was already one of those that most Valley fans look at and thought, “Blow out!” With Osiris Eldridge and the ‘Bird ticked off, that prediction looks even better.
The Sycamores are also coming off a loss, as they were unable to handle the Bulldogs from Drake. Indiana State has played fairly well at home this season, and they can only get better as this season goes on. They’ll need to do so soon, though, as the Redbirds and Bradley Braves are two formidable opponents in the Sycs’ next two games. Indiana State will be a big underdog in this matchup, but I don’t see Illinois State coach Tim Jankovich, who recently finished 9th in the collegeinsider.com mid season coach of the year award, and the rest of the Redbirds taking anyone lightly the rest of the MVC season (especially on the road).
Picks
Creighton Otter: Illinois State
Panon: Illinois State
Dance Cam Guy: Illinois State
~ Dance Cam Guy
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Northern Iowa (9-6; 3-1) vs. Missouri State (7-8; 0-4)
7:00 p.m.
McLeod Center; Cedar Falls, Iowa
MVC TV
Nearly a quarter of the way through the Valley schedule, UNI has put itself into pretty good position. Just think, one half of basketball (that first half against Indiana State, during which they were down 21 points at the break on their way to a double overtime loss) pretty much separates the Panthers from a perfect Valley record. But they can’t take tonight’s game against the Bears lightly without risking a home loss that would somewhat neutralize their road wins at Creighton and Southern Illinois. Plus, they’ve got two tough road games (at Evansville and Drake) on tap after they host MSU.
But let’s not get carried away; first, the game at hand. Ben Jacobsen’s squad needs to avoid a letdown. They got a career-high 22 points from Johnny Moran, one of the talented freshmen guards in the Valley, in their win in Omaha Tuesday. One way to avoid a lull? Being able to count on solid contributions from the perimeter night in and night out from a red-shirt sophomore (Kwadzo Ahelegbe), a freshman (Moran), and a JUCO transfer (Ali Farokhmanesh).
The Bears nearly pulled out a win at Evansville on Wednesday before falling in overtime. They’ll be hoping to end a 5-game skid (their first in four years). The news doesn’t get better for the Bears; just as they get Chris Cooks and Shane Laurie back from concussion-related symptoms, they will now be without the other Laurie – Spencer – for up to two weeks with a broken non-shooting hand.
As the weather gets colder UNI is just getting warmer. Coach Cuonzo Martin and his Bears will have their work cut out for them to pull out their first MVC win in a hostile road environment such as the McLeod Center.
Picks
Creighton Otter: Northern Iowa
Panon: Northern Iowa
Dance Cam Guy: Northern Iowa
~ Panon
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Southern Illinois (6-9; 1-3) vs. Evansville (11-3; 3-1)
7:00 p.m.
SIU Arena; Carbondale, Illinois
Two teams on the opposite site of the spectrum meet in Carbondale tonight in a matchup that should be better than the records indicate.
Evansville comes into SIU Arena without a win in their last seven trips to Little Egypt. The Purple Aces are off to their best start since the 1999-2000 team was 13-3 (maybe you’ve heard that on this blog for the past few weeks). In their last game, they survived a scare at home against Missouri State, holding on for a 66-61 win in overtime. While Evansville is 10-0 at home, they’re just 1-3 on the road.
Meanwhile, the Salukis finally got a MVC win after starting the conference season 0-3. They went to Wichita and notched a victory against the 0-fer Shockers. And now they are back home, in front of a boisterous Dawg Pound that will be full of students returning from break, hosting an EU squad that doesn’t play exceptionally well on the road.
What to watch: SIU senior Bryan Mullins against EU freshman Kaylon Williams. Since Valley play started Williams has averaged 7 rebounds and 7 assists a game. Overall, he’s second to Mullins in the Valley in assists (5.9 apg vs. 4.6 apg) and third in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.0:1), behind Mullins (3.1:1) and Creighton’s Josh Dotzler (2.6:1).
Picks
Creighton Otter: Evansville
Panon: Southern Illinois
Dance Cam Guy: Southern Illinois
~ Panon
6:00 p.m.
Hulman Center; Terre Haute, Indiana
Illinois State will continue their road trip tonight as they head to Terre Haute to face the Sycamores of Indiana State. The Redbirds are coming off their first loss of the season, dropping a game to in-state rival Bradley last Tuesday 56-52. This is not necessarily a good thing for Indiana State; the Sycs will now have the most athletic team in the conference coming into their house with a huge chip on their shoulder. This game was already one of those that most Valley fans look at and thought, “Blow out!” With Osiris Eldridge and the ‘Bird ticked off, that prediction looks even better.
The Sycamores are also coming off a loss, as they were unable to handle the Bulldogs from Drake. Indiana State has played fairly well at home this season, and they can only get better as this season goes on. They’ll need to do so soon, though, as the Redbirds and Bradley Braves are two formidable opponents in the Sycs’ next two games. Indiana State will be a big underdog in this matchup, but I don’t see Illinois State coach Tim Jankovich, who recently finished 9th in the collegeinsider.com mid season coach of the year award, and the rest of the Redbirds taking anyone lightly the rest of the MVC season (especially on the road).
Picks
Creighton Otter: Illinois State
Panon: Illinois State
Dance Cam Guy: Illinois State
~ Dance Cam Guy
---
Northern Iowa (9-6; 3-1) vs. Missouri State (7-8; 0-4)
7:00 p.m.
McLeod Center; Cedar Falls, Iowa
MVC TV
Nearly a quarter of the way through the Valley schedule, UNI has put itself into pretty good position. Just think, one half of basketball (that first half against Indiana State, during which they were down 21 points at the break on their way to a double overtime loss) pretty much separates the Panthers from a perfect Valley record. But they can’t take tonight’s game against the Bears lightly without risking a home loss that would somewhat neutralize their road wins at Creighton and Southern Illinois. Plus, they’ve got two tough road games (at Evansville and Drake) on tap after they host MSU.
But let’s not get carried away; first, the game at hand. Ben Jacobsen’s squad needs to avoid a letdown. They got a career-high 22 points from Johnny Moran, one of the talented freshmen guards in the Valley, in their win in Omaha Tuesday. One way to avoid a lull? Being able to count on solid contributions from the perimeter night in and night out from a red-shirt sophomore (Kwadzo Ahelegbe), a freshman (Moran), and a JUCO transfer (Ali Farokhmanesh).
The Bears nearly pulled out a win at Evansville on Wednesday before falling in overtime. They’ll be hoping to end a 5-game skid (their first in four years). The news doesn’t get better for the Bears; just as they get Chris Cooks and Shane Laurie back from concussion-related symptoms, they will now be without the other Laurie – Spencer – for up to two weeks with a broken non-shooting hand.
As the weather gets colder UNI is just getting warmer. Coach Cuonzo Martin and his Bears will have their work cut out for them to pull out their first MVC win in a hostile road environment such as the McLeod Center.
Picks
Creighton Otter: Northern Iowa
Panon: Northern Iowa
Dance Cam Guy: Northern Iowa
~ Panon
---
Southern Illinois (6-9; 1-3) vs. Evansville (11-3; 3-1)
7:00 p.m.
SIU Arena; Carbondale, Illinois
Two teams on the opposite site of the spectrum meet in Carbondale tonight in a matchup that should be better than the records indicate.
Evansville comes into SIU Arena without a win in their last seven trips to Little Egypt. The Purple Aces are off to their best start since the 1999-2000 team was 13-3 (maybe you’ve heard that on this blog for the past few weeks). In their last game, they survived a scare at home against Missouri State, holding on for a 66-61 win in overtime. While Evansville is 10-0 at home, they’re just 1-3 on the road.
Meanwhile, the Salukis finally got a MVC win after starting the conference season 0-3. They went to Wichita and notched a victory against the 0-fer Shockers. And now they are back home, in front of a boisterous Dawg Pound that will be full of students returning from break, hosting an EU squad that doesn’t play exceptionally well on the road.
What to watch: SIU senior Bryan Mullins against EU freshman Kaylon Williams. Since Valley play started Williams has averaged 7 rebounds and 7 assists a game. Overall, he’s second to Mullins in the Valley in assists (5.9 apg vs. 4.6 apg) and third in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.0:1), behind Mullins (3.1:1) and Creighton’s Josh Dotzler (2.6:1).
Picks
Creighton Otter: Evansville
Panon: Southern Illinois
Dance Cam Guy: Southern Illinois
~ Panon
posted by Creighton Otter at 2:02 PM
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