Bradley beats Toledo 61-59 with a Terry Nolan layup with 1 second left. Childs finishes with 14.
Louisville beating Evansville 36-16 at halftime.
Northern Iowa currently up 2 against Western Kentucky with 5:15 left in the 1st on ESPNU
W Ky & UNI, what a fun game to watch even though it started out pretty slow.
Could be a solid win for UNI. I’d love to see UNI set themselves up for an at-large tourney bid (if needed). A stud like AJ Green deserves to shine on a national stage.
Louisville beats Evansville 79-44. Aces shot 29.8% from the floor and 46% from the line
Western Kentucky beats Northern Iowa 93-87. Carter & Green had 28 points each.
A few thoughts from the games I was able to watch...Didn't see the Bradley/Evansville games so can't really comment on them.
Drake: There is no way this team is finishing in 7th...they played a really nice game today. Don't get me wrong, It's not like K-State is a world beater, but that's still a Big 12 team with some young talent. Brodie isn't quite as good as Robbins, but he's more than enough to close that gap especially on D. He altered a lot of shots in the paint. Their other transfer Hemphill looked pretty good too. Nothing splashy, just solid D and put the ball in the hole when he got the chance. They also got Tremell Murphy back who was the much more talented of the twins. Those guys along with what they were able to bring back in Penn, Jackson, Sturtz, and Wilkins...could be a scary team this year. They don't really have a standout player, just a collection of really good guys who play well together...and really hard. Really feel like they will finish mid to upper half. If you don't believe me just watch that game.
Illinois State: Let's just say it's a good thing Muller got a contract extension...one that the school will have no appetite to buy out at least after this year. The Birds looked really bad. I know Fischer decided to sit out, but even with him this is for sure a bottom four team. Horn and Reeves have a big load to carry this year. I didn't watch all of this one, but that final score is a lot closer than it would have been had the starters played the whole game for the OSU. ISU Red will likely be fighting with Evansville for last place this year.
UNI: First off, UNI and WKU are both really good teams. I thought UNI might struggle a bit with Berhow out, but they sure looked like a team that will hang a lot a points on people this year. They struggled on the defensive end, and Pickford looked TERRIBLE (just look at his stat line) no idea why he got so many minutes...maybe that changes when Berhow gets back. They look like they will be one of the best shooting teams in the country...they have 4 guys who will likely be shooting close to a 40% clip. Phyfe struggled quite a bit, which surprised me, but he was up against a likely lottery pick next year so I'll give him a break. Their freshman Bowen Born looks really really really good. He's a little undersized but he is great off the dribble, distributed the ball well (4-1 Assist to TO), and can knock down the three. He will be in the running for Freshmen of the year in the Valley. They were picked to win the Valley for a good reason!
A few thoughts from the games I was able to watch...Didn't see the Bradley/Evansville games so can't really comment on them.
Drake: There is no way this team is finishing in 7th...they played a really nice game today. Don't get me wrong, It's not like K-State is a world beater, but that's still a Big 12 team with some young talent. Brodie isn't quite as good as Robbins, but he's more than enough to close that gap especially on D. He altered a lot of shots in the paint. Their other transfer Hemphill looked pretty good too. Nothing splashy, just solid D and put the ball in the hole when he got the chance. They also got Tremell Murphy back who was the much more talented of the twins. Those guys along with what they were able to bring back in Penn, Jackson, Sturtz, and Wilkins...could be a scary team this year. They don't really have a standout player, just a collection of really good guys who play well together...and really hard. Really feel like they will finish mid to upper half. If you don't believe me just watch that game.
Illinois State: Let's just say it's a good thing Muller got a contract extension...one that the school will have no appetite to buy out at least after this year. The Birds looked really bad. I know Fischer decided to sit out, but even with him this is for sure a bottom four team. Horn and Reeves have a big load to carry this year. I didn't watch all of this one, but that final score is a lot closer than it would have been had the starters played the whole game for the OSU. ISU Red will likely be fighting with Evansville for last place this year.
UNI: First off, UNI and WKU are both really good teams. I thought UNI might struggle a bit with Berhow out, but they sure looked like a team that will hang a lot a points on people this year. They struggled on the defensive end, and Pickford looked TERRIBLE (just look at his stat line) no idea why he got so many minutes...maybe that changes when Berhow gets back. They look like they will be one of the best shooting teams in the country...they have 4 guys who will likely be shooting close to a 40% clip. Phyfe struggled quite a bit, which surprised me, but he was up against a likely lottery pick next year so I'll give him a break. Their freshman Bowen Born looks really really really good. He's a little undersized but he is great off the dribble, distributed the ball well (4-1 Assist to TO), and can knock down the three. He will be in the running for Freshmen of the year in the Valley. They were picked to win the Valley for a good reason!
Lots of good points here.
Penn is a really nice floor general for Drake, and they were very active on the offensive glass. Looks like Weber and Lowery are headed for a lot of Ls in the Big 12 this year.
It's a shame to lose a game when you make 20 (!) 3-pointers like Northern Iowa did, but their defense and rebounding was not up to snuff against a very talented Western Kentucky team, and too many sloppy turnovers, too. UNI is an incredible shooting team and getting Berhow back will help, but they need to tighten a few things up so they don't have to rain 3s just to stay with good teams. Agreed, that freshman Born is a baller, and sophomore Noah Carter looks like a lock for the Most Improved team.
Missouri Valley games for Thanksgiving:
Bradley @ Xavier 11:00 AM Fox Sports 1 (Xavier favored by 8.5)
Xavier (KenPom 58) blew out Oakland (KenPom 283) today 101-49. Should be a good test for the Braves
Northern Iowa vs Saint Mary's (from Sioux Falls, SD) 4:00 PM ESPN
Saint Mary's (KenPom 80) lost to Memphis (KenPom 32) today 73-56. Hopefully Northern Iowa can bounce back and get a win here against a perennial tournament team.
Northern Iowa blows a 16 point lead and loses to Saint Mary's 66-64. That probably does it for the Panthers' at-large hopes.
6 Valley games on Black Friday:
0-1 Evansville vs 0-1 Prairie View A&M (From Louisville) 12:00 PM ESPN3
Battle of KenPom #316 Prairie View A&M and KenPom #319 Evansville. Prairie View put up a fight against Little Rock on Wednesday losing by 5.
1-0 Drake vs 0-1 South Dakota (From Manhattan, KS) 1:00 PM
Drake comes back after their big win against Kansas State to take on South Dakota who lost by 23 to Colorado on Wednesday. Drake is favored by 8 points in this one
1-1 Bradley vs 0-2 Oakland (From Cincinnati, OH) 2:00 PM FloHoops
Bradley lost in the final seconds against Xavier on Thursday after beating Toledo in the final seconds on Wednesday. Oakland is KenPom's 311th ranked team so should be an easier game for the Braves.
0-2 Northern Iowa vs 0-2 Utah State (from Sioux Falls, SD) 3:00 PM ESPNU
The Panthers are coming off 2 losses to Western Kentucky and Saint Mary's and really need to leave Sioux Falls with a win. Utah State is KenPom's 91st ranked team and lost to VCU and South Dakota St.
0-0 Valparaiso @ 0-0 Vanderbilt 6:00 PM SEC Network
Valpo starts their season against a Vanderbilt team that finished 11-21 in 2019 and lost a few players to the NBA. Vanderbilt comes in as 6 point favorites at home.
0-0 Missouri State vs Evangel 7:00 PM
Missouri State starts their season against NAIA Evangel
UNI may be the most "un-clutch" team ever. I just cant get over them blowing a 13 point lead in the final minute of the NCAA tournament a few years back, or whatever it was. How can they have so much talent, but not be able to finish a game out?
Hope Loyola can somehow scratch up an at-large bid...
Evansville loses to Prairie View A&M 64-61
Frederking had 20. A&M was a 19 win team last year and were favorites but this seemed like one of the Aces more winnable games this year.
Drake beats South Dakota 69-53
Drake got 37 points out of their bench. Looking more and more like the Bulldogs might be a dangerous team in the Valley with the depth they have which will be important when we play back to backs during MVC play.
Bradley beats Oakland 74-60
Elijah Childs with a double-double (16 points, 10 rebounds). Freshman Darius Hannah gets 12 points, 8 rebounds off the bench. Bradley could have easily come out their MTE 3-0, but they'll gladly take a 2-1.
Northern Iowa is on the verge of leaving South Dakota 0-3. Down 11 with 3:00 left.
Northern Iowa is on the verge of leaving South Dakota 0-3. Down 11 with 3:00 left.
Like I said last year, I didn't think BJ (LOL) deserved COY after they pooped their adult diapers against Bradley - completely unprepared in that game. At times, BJ sucked!! 🙃
UNI loses by 11.
