Evansville

Butler Tops Evansville, Improves to 5-0

Bill Kintner — Sat, 29 Nov 2008 19:34:32 -0500

INDIANAPOLIS - It is Saturday afternoon in Indiana and today 5000 college basketball fans including Governor Mitch Daniels are engaging in the state pastime, which is basketball.

And there is no better place to watch college basketball than Butler's historic Hinkle Fieldhouse. Today is another classic basketball experience with the sun shining in the windows high above the court and Evansville, a traditional regional rival, invading with a legion of purple-clad fans in attendance.

Today is the 114^th time that Evansville and Butler have faced off. These two old foes have a long history having played against each other in the old Indiana Collegiate Conference 1950-77 and in the Midwestern Colligate Conference (now Horizon League) 1979-94.

The game

This game ended for Evansville the same way every game against Butler since 2000 ended and that was in a loss as Butler wins again 75-59.

It took just 13 seconds into the game for Butler to draw blood as freshman Shelvin Mack hit a 3-pointer on a feed from Gordon Haywood. A minute later Evansville's Jason Holsinger hit a 3-pointer to tie the game at three points each.

The game stayed close most of the first half with Evansville (3-1) getting their only lead of the game on a jump shot by Denver Holmes to make it 11-10 at the 14:30 mark.

As the time ticked down in the first half the Purple Aces pulled to within one point at 31-30 as Holmes made two foul shots after being fouled by Matt Howard.

Butler's Will Veasley made a lay up and then 49 seconds latter sunk two foul shots after being fouled by Kaylon Williams to give Butler a 35-30 halftime lead.

Evansville coach Marty Simmons felt fortunate to be only down by five at the half with his team shooting just 38.1 percent (8-21) from the field.

"We didn't really have any good rhythm. We came out, gave up the lob to Haywood," explained Simmons.

Simmons was referring to the first play of the second half when Matt Howard lofted a lob that Haywood jammed in for a thundering dunk to put Butler (5-0) up 37-30.

"They do what they do a lot better than we do what we do," continued Simmons. "They play with a lot of confidence. They just kind of bring new players in and believe in their style of play. They have very smart, good, sound basketball players."

Evansville did follow up the Haywood dunk with a layup by Pister van Tongeren to get the score back within five points at 37-32.

From that point on Mack went on the attack. During a little more than a four minute stretch starting at the 17:42 mark Mack hit a 2-pointer, a 3-pointer and two free throws that put the Bulldogs up by 10 points at 49-39.

When the smoke cleared Mack put in 13 points in the second half for a total 18 points for the game which led all scorers.

"We just kept running the plays and finally I got the shot. Coach just told us to go out and play," said a very matter-of-fact Mack.

Butler coach Brad Stevens was impressed by Mack's shooting from the field, as well as his whole team's second half play.

"When you score 18 points on 11 shots and don't shoot any free throws, that is pretty good," said Stevens. "We played our best half of basketball and that contributed to the win. I thought we played at both ends of the floor."

At the 2:48 mark Butler got the lead to 23 points at 72-49 which was their largest lead of the game on a layup by Mack before the Purple Aces whittled the lead back down to the game ending 75-59.

Stevens was most impressed with the adjustments his team was able to make during the game to keep Evansville off balance.

"Being able to adjust on the fly, they do some things defensively that make you attack and our guys did a pretty good job making the adjustments," said Stevens.

Game Notes:

-Evansville leads the 88-year-old series against Butler 60-53, but the Bulldogs are 9-1 in the last 10 games. This series is Butler's long active series.

-All five Butler starters are making their first start versus Evansville.

-Butler is 48-4 in non-league games at Hinkle Fieldhouse since 1999-00.

-Indiana Governor Mitch Daniels is a long-time Butler fan. He loves to tell the story of attending Butler games as a kid when you could get a season ticket for five dollars.

-Butler had the most wins of any Division I team in Indiana for the third straight year last year.

-Butler has won nine straight games against Indiana opponents.

-Former Wright State coach Ed Schilling was in attendance with former Butler player Julian Betko.

-Butler's next game is Thursday December 4^th at 8 p.m. and will be carried on ESPNU.

-Evansville - next game is Tuesday December 2^nd at home against SIU-Edwardsville at 7:05.

MVC Weekly Notebook

Press Release — Mon, 17 Nov 2008 12:48:05 -0500

In recent seasons, the Missouri Valley Conference has had great success at home in non-conference play, and the league is at it again, recording a 7-1 home start in the first week of the season. In the past four seasons (not counting this year), the league has combined for a 226-33 (.873) mark at home in non-conference play. The results have translated into 20 post-season bids (including 10 NCAA trips, nine NITs and a CBI entry).

State Farm Missouri Valley Players of the Week
P'Allen Stinnett, Creighton, So., 6-3, Gd., Las Vegas (Nev.) Brewster Academy [N.H.]
? Stinnett scored a career-high 30 points, including 21 in the second half, as Creighton rallied from a late double-digit deficit to post an 82-75 win over a New Mexico team that returned four starters from a 24-9 team a year ago. Stinnett scored 21 of his 30 points after half, including back-to-back three pointers on consecutive possessions in the final 90 seconds that gave CU its first lead since 4-2. His 30 points were the most by a Bluejay in a season-opener since Bob Harstad scored 38 on Nov. 30, 1990, and six more than his previous personal best of 24 last winter against UNI. He shot 11-for-16 from the field, including 3-of-6 from downtown, as well as 5-of-8 at the line. He also contributed four rebounds, an assist and steal while holding New Mexico's leading scorer Tony Danridge (23 points) without a shot attempt in the final 8:26.

Newcomer of the Week
Dodie Dunson, Bradley, Jr., 6-3, Gd., Bloomington (Ill.) High [Vincennes Univ.]
? Dunson was Bradley's leading scorer in each of the season's first two games, highlighted by his career-best 21 points in Friday's 67-61 win against UIC. By following up with 15 points Sunday at #19 Florida, Dunson is averaging 18.0 points per game. He also is averaging 4.0 rebounds and 1.5 assists in his first two Bradley games and has committed just three turnovers in a team-best 74 minutes. Dunson scored the first seven points of Bradley's season, as well as seven straight during a 9-0 Bradley run that gave the Braves a 61-50 lead with just 1:07 left against the Flames.

Long-Range Bombers
?It's difficult to tell if the new three-point line (20'-9") is having an impact. Through the first week of the season, though, the league has converted on just 32.2 percent of its three-point tries (74-of-230). Last year, the league-wide season percentage was 35.6 (2,322-of-6,525). Missouri State leads the league with its 47.8 percent accuracy (11-of-23).

Salukis Take on Duke
?Southern Illinois and Duke will meet for just the fourth time when they square off this week in the semifinals of the 2K Sports Classic. SIU beat the Blue Devils at Madison Square Garden during its NIT Championship run in 1967. Duke has beaten Southern twice, most recently a 105-70 thrashing in the 1993 NCAA Tournament -- a game in which coach Chris Lowery was the Salukis' starting point guard. The game will be televised on ESPN2 (on Thursday, Nov. 20, at 6 pm CT).

MVC Against the Top 25
?This year, The Valley is 0-1 against top-25 teams (Bradley lost at No. 19 Florida on Sunday, Nov. 16). Last year, The Valley had a 2-8 mark against top-25 non-conference foes. In both 2005-06 and 2006-07, the MVC posted six non-conference wins each year against nationally ranked teams.

Happy Returns
?Three contests this week are 'return' games as a result of the ESPNU BracketBusters series: (Missouri State/Central Michigan; UNI/Illinois-Chicago; Creighton/Oral Roberts). Last year, Valley schools went a combined 8-2 in the 10 games as part of the series. Since the event started in 2003, Valley schools have a combined 65-33 record in games scheduled as a part of the series (33-20 in BBS games, and 32-13 in the returns). Illinois State (6-0), Missouri State (4-0) and Wichita State (4-0) have never lost a return BBS game.

Returning to Florida
?Bradley will have the entire week off before making a return trip to the Sunshine State for the final three games of the O'Reilly Auto Parts CBE Classic. Including Sunday's loss at #19 Florida in the first round of the CBE Classic, Bradley is 3-3 all-time in the state of Florida. The Braves will face Nov. 24, Ft. Myers Sub-Regional host Florida Gulf Coast Nov. 25 and Richmond Nov. 26.

Dynamic Duo, Part II?
?From 1987-91, Creighton big men Bob Harstad and Chad Gallagher were known as the "Dynamic Duo." Both men were named MVC Player of the Year (Harstad in 1990, Gallagher in 1991) and finished their careers first and second in school history for points scored. It's still quite early, but the Jays had quite the dynamic duo in the season-opening win over New Mexico when P'Allen Stinnett (30) and Booker Woodfox (26) both lit up the Lobos. The current duo ranks 1-2 in the MVC in scoring, and became the first Bluejay pair to score 25 points or more in the same game in the Dana Altman era. CU hadn't had that happen since, you guessed it, Gallagher (29) and Harstad (26) did it against Bradley on Jan. 21, 1991. The last time the league had two players score 25 points or more in the same game was on 3/1/08 when Bradley's Daniel Ruffin (30) and Jeremy Crouch (29) did it against Creighton.

Making an Impact
?All three of UNI’s starting guards against Denver were not even on the active roster a year ago, and each had an impact in the win against the Pioneers. True freshman point guard Johnny Moran had 14 points, 10 rebounds and two assists; junior college transfer Ali Farokhmanesh had 13 points; and sophomore guard Kwadzo Ahelegbe (who missed the entire 2007-08 season with a shoulder injury) had three points and a team-high five assists.

MVC Against the BCS
?This year, the MVC has an 0-2 record against members of BCS-football leagues (0-0 at home, 0-0 neutral, 0-2 away). Last year, the league went 13-13 against BCS schools, which included an 8-3 home mark. In 2006-07, The Valley was 17-14 against teams from BCS-football conferences. Notably, only six of those 31 meetings that year were on MVC homecourts.

vs. Conference (Valley Wins)
vs. ACC 0-0
vs. Big East 0-0
vs. Big Ten 0-0
vs. Big 12 0-0
vs. Pac-10 0-0
vs. SEC 0-2
TOTALS 0-2

Good Against the Rest
? The Missouri Valley combined for an 85-46 (.649) record in non-conference play. That ranks sixth-best in the last 25 years (not counting this year). In those six years of .649 or better in that span, the league produced 28 post-season teams, including 16 NCAA Tournament teams. The current non-league start of 8-3 (.727) would rank No. 6 all-time and is the best in 46 seasons.

MVC In Select Company
?Every Valley team has reached the NCAA Tournament since 1998. Only the ACC, Mountain West, Pac-10 and SEC have had every member qualify for the Big Dance in that span.

Catch Us On the Tube
?The Valley will produce a 36-telecast, in-house television package on Fox Sports Midwest in 2008-09. An additional 22 telecasts will be shown on the ESPN family of networks and CBS Sports. Counting institutional packages, the league will have at least 121 games on national, regional, or local television. Approximately 100 games (some of which are also institutional broadcasts) are available as part of the league's videostream package, which includes all non-televised MVC TV network home games from eight of the league's 10 schools.

Fans Love the MVC
?The league had a solid first week of the season on the court, and in the stands. Three league teams drew better than 10,000 in their home openers including Bradley (10,034), Creighton (16,107), and Wichita State (10,301).

Missouri Valley Basketball Preview: 08-09

CHN — Tue, 04 Nov 2008 15:42:29 -0500

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Conference Rank: 9th

10 year average: 9th

MVC Conference Page

All-MVC Team
Pos.	Player	Team	Yr.

G	Bryan Mullins	So. Illinois	Sr
G	Osiris Eldridge	Illinois St	Jr
G	Josh Young	Drake	Jr
G	P'Allen Stinnett	Creighton	So
F	Jonathan Cox	Drake	Sr
CHN Award Winners		Returning Leaders
High-Major All-Americans Jonathan Cox Osiris Eldridge Bryan Mullins P'Allen Stinnett Josh Young		Points: Josh Young 15.9 Rebounds: Jonathan Cox 8.5 Assists: Bryan Mullins 5.0

MVC Standings
Nat'l	Team	League	Tourney

24	Creighton	MVC	1	NCAA
43	Southern Illinois	MVC	2	NCAA
56	Drake**	MVC	3	NIT
64	Bradley	MVC	4	NIT
82	Illinois State	MVC	5	NIT
110	Indiana State	MVC	6
134	Wichita State	MVC	7
161	Northern Iowa	MVC	8
198	Evansville	MVC	9
211	Missouri State	MVC	10

*Click on links for full Top 144 team preview

** returning conference champion

Poll: Who Do You Think Will Win the MVC?

Other MVC Content

Head Coach Q&A's

Tim Jankovich: Illinois State

Conference Media Poll

Creighton Top Media Poll

Other

How Many MVC Teams Will Make the Tourney?

Rise & Fall: MVC

MVC/MWC Challenge Announced

MVC Media Poll: Creighton Favored

Press Release — Tue, 28 Oct 2008 10:20:26 -0400

OMAHA, Neb. -- The Creighton men¹s basketball team is the near-unanimous pick to win the Missouri Valley Conference, according to the preseason poll announced today during the league¹s annual Basketball Media Day. Creighton earned 36 of 39 first-place votes in the survey of league coaches, beat writers, sports information directors and play-by-play men.

Pollsters have accurately predicted the league¹s regular-season champ only 10 times out of 24 since 1985-86, but Bluejay fans can take solace knowing that 21 of those 24 predicted champs have gone on to postseason play, with 15 of those 21 playing in the NCAA Tournament.

This is the second time in three years that Creighton has been picked to win The Valley, and league-high seventh time overall since the preseason poll began in 1985-86. Creighton won the regular-season title in two of their previous six runs as favorite (1990-91 and 2000-01) and finished in second place the other four times (1989-90, 1998-99. 2002-03. 2006-07).

The preseason poll doesn¹t always match the year-end standings. Last year¹s poll forecasted Drake to finish ninth in the MVC. The Bulldogs proved everyone wrong, going 28-5 and winning the Valley regular-season title by two games over an Illinois State team tabbed fifth in the preseason.

Creighton collected 36 first-place votes and earned 386 of a maximum 390 points in the preseason poll. Southern Illinois grabbed two first-place votes and was second with 322 points, just ahead of Illinois State, which had 309 points and garnered the remaining first-place vote. Defending league
regular-season and tournament champion Drake was fourth with 274 points, its best preseason pick the 1991-92 season. Bradley was fifth with 219 points while UNI was sixth with 186 points. Rounding out the bottom four teams were Indiana State (137), Evansville (122), Wichita State (105) and Missouri State (85).

2008-09 MVC Preseason Poll

Rk. School (1st place votes) Total
1. Creighton (36) 386
2. Southern Illinois (2) 322
3. Illinois State (1) 309
4. Drake 274
5. Bradley 219
6. Northern Iowa 186
7. Indiana State 137
8. Evansville 122
9. Wichita State 105
10. Missouri State 85

Poll determined by panel of league sports information directors and media.

Preseason All-MVC Team

Jonathan Cox, Sr., F, Drake
Osiris Eldridge*, Jr., G, Illinois State
Bryan Mullins, Sr., G, Southern Illinois
P¹Allen Stinnett, So., G, Creighton
Josh Young, Jr., G, Drake
*Preseason Player of the Year

Honorable Mention:
Shy Ely (Evansville)
Jason Holsinger (Evansville)
Andrew Warren (Bradley)
Theron Wilson (Bradley)

State of '08: Indiana

Shawn Siegel — Sat, 13 Sep 2008 12:33:31 -0400

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Duke or Carolina? BC or UMASS? Gonzaga or Washington.. or Washington State? What is the best program in each state? While there's not much competition in Hawaii.. there are great debates to be had in loaded regions like California, North Carolina, and Texas. The State of '08 is a ranking of every program in every state.. based mostly on recent success (the last five years) mixed in with subjective factors such as conference prestige, historical success, and overall program direction.

Up today: Indiana. For more info, check out the State of '08 introduction.

INDIANA

INDIANA - Considering all the turmoil this program has gone through, Indiana's still topped ND in the RPI for 9 of the last 10 seasons. While Indiana will surely struggle this year, and probably next as well, you still have to figure in time the Hoosiers will regain their place on top of the state's basketball pyramid.

NOTRE DAME - From 1991 to 2000, ND missed the NCAA Tournament every season. But in Mike Brey's eight seasons, the Irish have reached the holy land 5 times. This year, expectations are as high as ever, and a Top 10 ranking is not out of the question.

BUTLER - Who has been the top team in Indiana over the last two seasons? Butler, according to the computer rankings. Brad Stevens picked up where Todd Lickliter left off and led the Bulldogs to an amazing 30-4 overall record. In the last 12 years, Butler has made 7 NCAA Tournaments and 3 NITs. In fact, they've had more Tourney wins recently than ND. But I give the Irish the edge for more consistent success, being in a better conference, and because they'll probably outperform Butler in the next two seasons.

PURDUE - Despite getting tons of hype last season, Purdue probably wasn't as good as many think. They mostly beat up on weak Big Ten teams and poor non-conference opponents. But the program is obviously going in the right direction, and a more legit Top 20 finish is likely this season. Still, the Boilers haven't topped ND in the RPI since the turn of the century, and haven't surpassed Indiana since 2003.

VALPARAISO - From 1996 to 2004, Valpo made the Big Dance an amazing 7 out of 8 tries. The last four seasons have been a bit more pedestrian as the program has made the move to the bigger Horizon League. But the Crusaders still knocked off 5 Top 100 teams last year, and should once again make the postseason in 2009 (NIT or CBI).

6. IUPUI - Ron Hunter continues to do a great job in Indianapolis. Since 2003, the same year IUPUI shocked many by making the Big Dance, the Jaguars have consistently finished in the upper half of the Summit League. Without George Hill, their might be a bit of slippage in 08-09, but I still expect an RPI better than 175 or so.

7. INDIANA STATE - In 2000 & 2001, Indiana State was one of the country's darling mid-majors, making the tourney in back to back to seasons, and upsetting 4-seed Oklahoma in 01. But the program has run into some lean seasons, and there hasn't been a .500 or better finish since then. But beginning in 2003, the Sycamores' RPI has improved every year (from 260 to 128), a trend which could very well continue in 2009.

8. EVANSVILLE - The Purple Aces are in the bit of a slump, and Marty Simmons has a lot of work picking up the pieces left by Steve Merfeld. Evansville hasn't reached the .500 mark in MVC play since 2001, and almost certainly won't accomplish that feat in 2009. At least they managed to beat Ball State on the road early last year.

9. BALL STATE - In the 80's and 90's, and really up until 2004 or so, Ball State was a consistently solid program that was always competitive in the MAC. But somewhere along the way, the bottom has fallen off, and the Cardinals haven't even won 10 games in the last four campaigns. Another sub-200 RPI should be expected in 08-09.

10. IPFW - Relatively new to D1 (2004), IPFW has shown signs of improvement every year. Officially joining the Summit League was a big step last year, and finishing 9-9 in conference play was a pleasant surprise.

Last: Georgia - Next: Indiana

State of '08: The Introduction (& State list)

MVC BracketBusters Preview & Predictions

David Merchant — Fri, 16 Feb 2007 12:13:50 -0500

Valley teams will take center stage this week as ESPNU presents the annual BracketBuster Event, where teams from non-BCS conferences face off against one another in an attempt to bolster their tournament resumes. The Valley is arguably the best non-BCS league in the nation and with its third best non-conference record ever at 82-27, the MVC has shown it can play with the best in the country. Valley teams have posted numerous quality wins this season, including Missouri State’s win over Wisconsin, Indiana States knocking off nationally ranked Butler and Wichita State beating Syracuse on the road. This weekend’s games will give teams hoping to make the post season a chance to pick up a marquee win as the Valley continues to prove it is one of the top conferences in all of college basketball.

Here’s a closer look at the 10 Valley BracketBuster match ups with predictions.

Friday February 16th

Winthrop at Missouri State

The Bears have a chance to add to a resume that includes a win over #4 Wisconsin when they face a very solid Winthrop team from the Big South Friday night in Springfield. Winthrop, who lost to Wisconsin in overtime in Madison, is currently 10-0 entering this week’s action in the Big South and looks to be the favorite to win their conference tourney. Should they slip up, a win at Missouri State could help them out in their quest for an at-large bid. Missouri State will have its hands full with the Eagle’s leading scorer Michael Jenkins who is averaging almost 16 points a game. The Bears know what’s at stake and a win here will move them even closer to the Big Dance. The Bears don’t want a repeat of last year’s Selection Sunday when they were left out of the tourney and this game will have Missouri State stepping up to the challenge and beating the Eagles behind a huge game from seniors Blake Ahearn and Tyler Chaney.

Prediction – Missouri State 75-70

Saturday February 17th

Appalachian State at Wichita State

Both teams will probably need to win their respective conference tournaments to get into the NCAA Tournament but both teams enter this match up as two of the best non-BCS teams in the nation. The Shockers, who looked to be a lock to make the Big Dance a few weeks ago desperately needs this win if they want to even find themselves on the “bubble” come Selection Sunday. Both squads own numerous quality wins this season with Appalachian State beating Virginia, Vanderbilt and VCU but it might be the winner of this game that keeps its NCAA Tournament dreams alive. The Mountaineers, currently first in the Southern Conference’s North Division, likely hasn’t encountered an atmosphere like Wichita State’s Koch Arena. The home crowd will be a huge factor and the Shockers led by Kyle Wilson and Sean Ogirri will pick up yet another quality win, but will the win be enough to help them come Selection Sunday?

Prediction – Wichita State 80-70

Evansville at Samford

Neither team has a shot at the NCAA Tournament but it’s the Evansville Purple Aces who will look to continue their season with a shot at the NIT still within reach. Sitting at just one game under .500, the Aces need to pick up as many wins as possible over the course of the last three weeks if they want to make the postseason. The Aces will travel to Samford Saturday to take on a very strong Bulldog team, which is currently second in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Bulldogs are led by Randall Gulina who is averaging just over 18 points a game for a very solid Bulldog team. The Aces have been good this season at home but they are just 3-9 on the road. The Aces are 3-0 against the OVC this season with wins over Austin Peay, SE Missouri State and Tennessee-Martin. The Aces, despite their road struggles, will pull out a very close win over Samford, running the table against OVC teams.

Prediction – Evansville 62-61

UW-Milwaukee at Drake

The Drake Bulldogs were off to one of their best starts in school history at 9-2 but they have since hit a lull and have struggled in the MVC. The Panthers of UW-Milwaukee have historically been one of the top teams in the Horizon league but they are having a down year. Both teams have no shot at the post season but they both will be playing for the pride of their conferences. The difference in this game will be Drakes full-court pressure as it will give the Panthers fits all game long. The Panthers have yet to win a road game this season as they are currently 0-13 away from home. UW-Milwaukee is lead by Avery Smith, one of two Panthers averaging double figures in scoring with 15 points per game. Drake will get a huge game out of senior Ajay Calvin and the Bulldogs should have no trouble handing the Panthers their 14 consecutive road loss of the season.

Prediction – Drake 68-55

Miami (OH) at Indiana State

The Redbirds of Miami, Ohio will travel to Indiana State Saturday to take on the Sycamores in a game both teams need badly if either one hopes to make the NIT. Both teams are hovering around the .500 mark thus far and in order to quality for the NIT, teams must finish above .500. The Sycamores will struggle despite this game being on their home floor as the forward duo of Tim Pollitz and Nathan Peavy has been huge for the Redhawks as each play over 34 minutes and average 14 points per game. The Sycamores have struggled recently with their shooting and if they want to stay close they’ll have to play much better on the offensive side of the ball. This game will be close throughout but the Redhawks will steal one on the road and inch even closer to a possible postseason berth.

Prediction – Miami (OH) 62-55

#15 Southern Illinois at #12 Butler

The highlight game on this year’s BracketBuster schedule features two nationally ranked teams clashing head on when Southern Illinois visits Butler. Both teams are in the running for a top 4 seed in the Big Dance and whichever team wins here will add to their already very solid tournament resume. The Bulldogs have been the surprise team in the country this season as they have been almost unbeatable behind AJ Graves’ stellar play. Graves keeps this team together, averaging 17 points a game, but this team is very solid from beyond the arc as they hit 20 threes a week ago in a win over Cleveland State. One of the Bulldogs only two losses came to Valley member Indiana State, a team SIU has already beaten during conference action. SIU will once again rely on their smothering defense to try and stop the Bulldogs. Regardless of the outcome both teams will be seeded very high in the NCAA Tournament and both, at this point, are locks to make the Big Dance. This game should be an outstanding college basketball game, but Butler playing at home has the edge and will escape with a narrow win.

Prediction – Butler 68-66

Ball State at Illinois State

Another Missouri Valley verse Mid-American match up has the Ball State Cardinals traveling to Normal, Illinois to take on the Illinois State Redbirds. Neither team has a shot at the post season unless they get hot and run the table in their conference tournament, which most likely won’t happen. Both teams, however, will be looking to step outside conference play and pick up a win on a national stage. The advantage goes to the Redbirds in this game as they are a much better team than the Cardinals and they are playing at home. The Cardinals are led by Skip Mills, averaging 13 points per game, but after him they are not very deep. Illinois State will play one of its more complete games this season and beat Ball State handily.

Prediction – Illinois State 75-62

Northern Iowa at #11 Nevada

Just a couple weeks back, the Northern Iowa Panthers looked primed for another tournament run and a possible MVC Championship. But the Panthers have struggled as of late and now their tournament chances are in serious jeopardy. One simple way to revive those chances is to beat nationally ranked Nevada on the road. But that is easier said than done and the Panthers will have their hands full with an extremely talented Wolfpack team lead by Player of the Year Candidate Nick Fazekas. Fazekas is averaging over 20 points and 11 rebounds per game for the Wolfpack who have only tasted defeat twice this season. The Panthers will have to hope that both Grant Stout and Eric Coleman can stay out of foul trouble and they will have to do anything possible to contain Fazekas. Nevada has the edge in guard play, both Marcelus Kemp and Ramon Sessions average in double figures, and since this game is away from Cedar Falls, the Panthers will be trouble from the opening tip. Nevada wins and all but knocks UNI out of NCAA Tournament at-large talk.

Prediction – Nevada 80-70

Bradley at Virginia Commonwealth

Both teams are hoping to hear their names called on Selection Sunday but both still have work to do and the winner of this game will certainly enhance their chances. The Braves have slipped as of late and VCU is looking to pad its resume in case it doesn’t win the automatic bid for the CAA. VCU currently sits atop the CAA and is primed to be the next surprise team to make some noise in the Big Dance after George Mason did so next year. However, they must first beat a solid Bradley team at home and they should have no trouble doing so. VCU is lead by a trio of guards, B.A. Walker, Eric Maynor and Jesse Pellot-Rosa, all who are averaging in double figures. The Braves live and die by the three point shot and lately that shot hasn’t been falling. It won’t be easy for the Braves, as they’ll head into a gym where VCU has only lost twice all season. The Rams will keep their tourney hopes alive with a victory of a solid Bradley team.

Prediction – Virginia Commonwealth 75-65

Drexel at Creighton

The last game to be played by a Valley member in this year’s BracketBuster event will feature the Drexel Dragons going on the road to take on the Creighton Bluejays. Both teams appear to be in good shape to make the Big Dance but the Dragons need this game badly as they are sitting on the “bubble” for at-large consideration. The Bluejays appear to be a lock to make this year’s tournament but a win over a Drexel team who has wins at Syracuse, St. Joseph’s and Villanova, will certainly enhance their seed. When the Dragons walk out onto the floor at the Quest Center they’ll be in for quite a surprise as no atmosphere in the CAA is like that of the one in Omaha. The Bluejays must stop Drexel’s force in the middle, center Frank Elegar, who is averaging 15 points and 7 boards per game. Anthony Tolliver will be up to the challenge and Nate Funk will continue to make the “big shot,” and the Bluejyas will win a very close game over the Dragons of Drexel.

Prediction – Creighton 77-73

Evansville Downs SIU

Press Release — Thu, 18 Jan 2007 03:00:00 -0500

EVANSVILLE, Ind. - A visit to Evansville is supposed to be a homecoming of sorts for native son Chris Lowery.

Instead, it must have felt more like a trip to the dentist for a root canal for the Saluki head coach, as Southern Illinois made mistake upon mistake in a 75-68 lost to Evansville.

How bad was it?

Although the stat sheet said the Salukis missed 14 free throws, it seemed like even more as shot after shot bounced around the rim.

"You can't win when you miss that many free throws," Lowery said flatly.

SIU committed a whopping 31 personal fouls and had three players foul out of the game. Evansville forward Matt Webster drew the majority of the contact, and 11 of his team-high 19 points came from the charity stripe. Often, the 6-foot-8 inch forward was fouled 10 or more feet from the basket.

"We've just got to be better and be smarter," Lowery said. "We had some boneheaded mistakes."

Typically, defense is Southern's forte. However, the Purple Aces (10-9, 3-5) shot nearly 60 percent from the field. Kyle Anslinger made 5-of-7 shots from 3-point range to finish with 17 points.

"I couldn't get them ready to play, and that's my fault, and I take full credit for the loss," Lowery said.

Amazingly, SIU was still in the game with a minute remaining.

Southern rallied from a 16-point second half deficit behind the hot shooting of Jamaal Tatum, who finished with a season-high 29 points.

His jumper with 1:20 remaining closed the gap to 64-63. That's when a toothache in the form of Webster flared up.

Webster missed the second of two free throws with 59 seconds to go and SIU's Jamaal Foster grabbed the rebound. For a split second, Southern had the ball and a chance to tie or take the lead, trailing, 65-63. However, Foster lost his balance, fell to the floor and was whistled for traveling.

Webster then picked up where he left off, drawing another foul and making both free throws to put his team up four. Southern never seriously challenged thereafter.

In what has become something of a trend, the Salukis (14-5, 5-3) struggled against zone defense. Evansville used a 1-3-1 zone that held SIU without a field goal for a six-minute stretch during the first half and a seven-minute block to start the second half.

"Offensively, we just weren't aggressive enough," Saluki point guard Bryan Mullins said. "We've just got to move the ball better and be a lot more aggressive on offense."

Part of the problem in the first half was that forward Randal Falker was saddled with two quick fouls and played just six minutes.

"When Randal is not in there, we are not very threatening on the block," Lowery said.

Seventeen of SIU's 22 first half shots were from 3-point range.

"I think we just settled," Mullins said. "(3-pointers) is what they wanted us to take. We really didn't start going to the basket until the last 10 minutes of the game."

Once the Salukis began attacking the zone with dribble penetration in the second half, they erased much of Evansville's 16-point lead.

"We've got to be aggressive throughout the game, not just at the end when you realize you have a chance to win," said forward Matt Shaw, who finished with nine points.

The off-night came as a surprise to a team that played so well at home in its last two games.

"Whatever the circumstances are, you've got to be ready to play on the road every night," Tatum said. "You've got to be ready to play every game, whether it is on the road or not."

"Every game you play is a learning experience and learning how to play when you don't feel like you want to feel is huge with these guys," added Lowery.

Next up for SIU is a road game at Creighton on Saturday. That contest marks the end of the first half of the regular season.

"It is not too late," Lowery said. "The winner of this league is not going to lose three games. This league is too hard."