Wednesday, February 25, 2009

Today In The Valley (Feb. 25)

Evansville (16-11; 7-9, t-6th) vs. Bradley (16-12; 9-7, 4th)
7:00 p.m.
Roberts Stadium; Evansville, Indiana

Evansville, you’ve got an entire city — heck, a Bluejay Nation of fans — pulling for you. You are Creighton’s second favorite MVC team right now.

Obviously, CU has to take care of business against Illinois State on Saturday. That’s a scary proposition, considering the last four outcomes for the Jays against the Redbirds (hint: CU got throttled in all four games). But if Creighton can hold serve on Senior Day and the Purple Aces can travel to Cedar Falls and pick up a win, the Valley crown will be Creighton’s and only Creighton’s.

Tonight, though, the Aces celebrate their own Senior Night. And it will be an emotional one. Jason Holsinger, Shy Ely, and Nate Garner will wave goodbye to the Aces faithful. Those three players are the top 3 scorers on their team, the only such combination in the Valley this season.

Holsinger and Ely are first and second, respectively, in scoring among active players in the MVC. And they’ve been playing more and more like seniors wrapping up their careers. Ely has poured in four straight 20-plus point games while Holsinger has had three straight of his own. While Evansville has lost four of five senior games, they are 21 of 30 in all their years at the Division 1 level.

Bradley is looking to clinch the 4th seed for next week's tournament with a win. MVC Newcomer of the Week Chris Roberts scored a team-high 18 points in their BracketBuster win over Loyola of Chicago. They'll need a similar type of game against the Purple Aces, who are always tough at home.

Picks
Creighton Otter: Evansville
Panon: Evansville
Dance Cam Guy: Evansville

~ Panon

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Drake (17-12; 7-9, t-6th) vs. Southern Illinois (11-17; 6-10, 8th)
7:30 p.m.
Knapp Center; Des Moines, Iowa
MVC TV

Drake might be the hardest team in the MVC to figure out on a nightly basis. We know they have two proven all-Valley performers in Josh Young and Jonathan Cox. Other than that, however, it is a mystery to whether they’re going to beat the top team in the Valley on the road (they’ve won at CU and at UNI) or get blown out at home by some of the better teams in the league (vs. Illinois State and, to a degree, vs. CU). They are on a two-game win streak, including their BracketBuster win over Austin Peay, and can still finish as high as 4th in the conference.

Unfortunately for Saluki fans, Chris Lowery’s team isn’t hard to figure out at all. They’re running on fumes at this point. While they can still finish 5th in the league, they seem destined for a date with the play-in games next Thursday. How far the mighty have fallen, right?

They’ve lost 4 games in a row, and 6 of their last 7. Last weekend’s BracketBuster loss notwithstanding, it looks like Super Frosh Kevin Dillard is running out of gas — he has shot over 33% in just 1 of SIU’s previous 5 games. And Carlton Fay has been nowhere to be found during vast stretches of play in the second half of SIU’s conference slate.

Early in January, Drake’s win in Carbondale was seen as a sign that the Bulldogs might pick up where they left off in conference play last season. But with a wilting roster and a squad full of freshmen, the Salukis seem like sure marks for a Senior Night that promises to be emotional for Cox and some of the other upperclassmen Bulldogs.

Picks
Creighton Otter: Drake
Panon: Drake
Dance Cam Guy: Drake

~ Creighton Otter

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