Today In The Valley (Feb. 11)
Indiana State (5-19; 3-10, 9th) vs. Drake (15-10; 6-7, 6th)
6:00 p.m.
Hulman Center; Terre Haute, Indiana
As a Creighton fan, I would like to start by thanking our old friend Kevin McKenna for the Sycamores’ amazing win at Illinois State over the weekend. What a solid comeback from 12 points down with 3 minutes to play. That win allowed Creighton to sit all alone in second place for the time being. So thanks, coach.
Now on to the battle tonight between the Sycs and Bulldogs. As mentioned above, ISU is coming off an amazing overtime victory against a very talented and athletic Illinois State club in Redbird Arena. Thanks in part to the effort of Jay Tunnell, who was named Missouri Valley Player of the Week, ISU was able to crawl back into the game and defeat the Redbirds 75-73 on a Harry Marshall jumper at the buzzer. Tunnell finished the game with a career high 28 points, including 8 3-pointers.
ISU will need to keep that momentum going as they look to even the conference series against DU. The Bulldogs were able to snap a three game losing skid as they dropped the Bradley Braves 68-54 on Saturday night. Drake shot an impressive 58.8% from the floor in the second half to pull away from the Braves for the victory. With Drake now in a bit of survival mode, as WSU was able to pull out the win last night, they will need to play tough to stay out of the Thursday night bracket in St. Louis. As most of us are aware, no team has ever played on Thursday and won the tournament.
Picks
Creighton Otter: Drake
Panon: Drake
Dance Cam Guy: Drake
~ Dance Cam Guy
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Evansville (15-8; 7-6, t-4th) vs. Illinois State (19-5; 8-5, 3rd)
7:00 p.m.
Roberts Stadium; Evansville, Indiana
Evansville comes in the winners of three of their last four. There's still a lot of basketball left to play in the conference season but a win tonight and Evansville will be in at least a tie for third place in the conference standings. More than two-thirds of the way through the Valley schedule and Evansville is yet to defeat a team ahead of them in the standings. It's not going to get any easier the rest of the way: including tonight, their remaining games are against Illinois State, UNI, Creighton, and Bradley (x2).
The Redbirds are a prime example of showing what happens when you are not ready to play every night in conference play. For the second time this season they were defeated by Indiana State, most recently Sunday night in overtime at Redbird Arena on national television. Tonight they fly into Roberts Stadium without the services of starting point guard Lloyd Phillips. Phillips is taking a leave of absence from the team and won't make the trip. He leads the team in assists and is third on the team in scoring. They'll need to put Saturday's loss behind them quickly, as the Purple Aces have just a pair of losses at home this season.
Picks
Creighton Otter: Illinois State
Panon: Illinois State
Dance Cam Guy: Illinois State
~ Panon
---
Northern Iowa (17-7; 11-2, 1st) vs. Southern Illinois (11-13; 6-7, t-6th)
7:00 p.m.
McCleod Center; Cedar Falls, Iowa
Ben Jacobsen and his Panthers are in a bit of unfamiliar territory. For the first time in the 2009 calendar year he'll be regrouping his team after a conference loss. It's a bit of deja vu for the Panthers because after that first defeat, they took on (and beat) SIU (on the road) then reeled off 11 straight wins.
The top shooting team was held under 30% shooting against Creighton’s 2-3 match-up zone in their 77-71 loss to CU. Did Dana provide the other MVC teams with a blueprint for beating UNI? It will be surprising if the Panthers shot under 30% again in the foreseeable future. On your home floor where players are so familiar with the surroundings, you don't expect that to happen. But a tough defensive squad can contribute to those woes. That's something Southern Illinois will bring to this contest.
The Salukis have split their two games without Bryan Mullins. Justin Bocot, their new starter, took a game to get acclimated to that roll and then scored exploded for 28 points in his second start. The Panthers will need to slow him down before the Jays head to SIU Saturday and face him and the rest of the Saluki pups with a ton of confidence.
Picks
Creighton Otter: Northern Iowa
Panon: Northern Iowa
Dance Cam Guy: Southern Illinois
~ Panon
6:00 p.m.
Hulman Center; Terre Haute, Indiana
As a Creighton fan, I would like to start by thanking our old friend Kevin McKenna for the Sycamores’ amazing win at Illinois State over the weekend. What a solid comeback from 12 points down with 3 minutes to play. That win allowed Creighton to sit all alone in second place for the time being. So thanks, coach.
Now on to the battle tonight between the Sycs and Bulldogs. As mentioned above, ISU is coming off an amazing overtime victory against a very talented and athletic Illinois State club in Redbird Arena. Thanks in part to the effort of Jay Tunnell, who was named Missouri Valley Player of the Week, ISU was able to crawl back into the game and defeat the Redbirds 75-73 on a Harry Marshall jumper at the buzzer. Tunnell finished the game with a career high 28 points, including 8 3-pointers.
ISU will need to keep that momentum going as they look to even the conference series against DU. The Bulldogs were able to snap a three game losing skid as they dropped the Bradley Braves 68-54 on Saturday night. Drake shot an impressive 58.8% from the floor in the second half to pull away from the Braves for the victory. With Drake now in a bit of survival mode, as WSU was able to pull out the win last night, they will need to play tough to stay out of the Thursday night bracket in St. Louis. As most of us are aware, no team has ever played on Thursday and won the tournament.
Picks
Creighton Otter: Drake
Panon: Drake
Dance Cam Guy: Drake
~ Dance Cam Guy
---
Evansville (15-8; 7-6, t-4th) vs. Illinois State (19-5; 8-5, 3rd)
7:00 p.m.
Roberts Stadium; Evansville, Indiana
Evansville comes in the winners of three of their last four. There's still a lot of basketball left to play in the conference season but a win tonight and Evansville will be in at least a tie for third place in the conference standings. More than two-thirds of the way through the Valley schedule and Evansville is yet to defeat a team ahead of them in the standings. It's not going to get any easier the rest of the way: including tonight, their remaining games are against Illinois State, UNI, Creighton, and Bradley (x2).
The Redbirds are a prime example of showing what happens when you are not ready to play every night in conference play. For the second time this season they were defeated by Indiana State, most recently Sunday night in overtime at Redbird Arena on national television. Tonight they fly into Roberts Stadium without the services of starting point guard Lloyd Phillips. Phillips is taking a leave of absence from the team and won't make the trip. He leads the team in assists and is third on the team in scoring. They'll need to put Saturday's loss behind them quickly, as the Purple Aces have just a pair of losses at home this season.
Picks
Creighton Otter: Illinois State
Panon: Illinois State
Dance Cam Guy: Illinois State
~ Panon
---
Northern Iowa (17-7; 11-2, 1st) vs. Southern Illinois (11-13; 6-7, t-6th)
7:00 p.m.
McCleod Center; Cedar Falls, Iowa
Ben Jacobsen and his Panthers are in a bit of unfamiliar territory. For the first time in the 2009 calendar year he'll be regrouping his team after a conference loss. It's a bit of deja vu for the Panthers because after that first defeat, they took on (and beat) SIU (on the road) then reeled off 11 straight wins.
The top shooting team was held under 30% shooting against Creighton’s 2-3 match-up zone in their 77-71 loss to CU. Did Dana provide the other MVC teams with a blueprint for beating UNI? It will be surprising if the Panthers shot under 30% again in the foreseeable future. On your home floor where players are so familiar with the surroundings, you don't expect that to happen. But a tough defensive squad can contribute to those woes. That's something Southern Illinois will bring to this contest.
The Salukis have split their two games without Bryan Mullins. Justin Bocot, their new starter, took a game to get acclimated to that roll and then scored exploded for 28 points in his second start. The Panthers will need to slow him down before the Jays head to SIU Saturday and face him and the rest of the Saluki pups with a ton of confidence.
Picks
Creighton Otter: Northern Iowa
Panon: Northern Iowa
Dance Cam Guy: Southern Illinois
~ Panon
posted by Creighton Otter at 6:29 AM
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