17, 2021, at Bud Walton Arena in Fayetteville, Ark. Look for a potential second-round matchup with Missouri State - a team that ranks third in the MVC in defensive turnover percentage - to potentially give the Salukis some trouble.Northern Iowa Panthers head coach Ben Jacobson reacts to a call during the second half against the Arkansas Razorbacks, Wednesday, Nov. On offense, the Salukis rank 260th nationally in turnover percentage, turning the ball over on 19.5% of their offensive possessions.Īdditionally, Southern Illinois shoots the 10th-most 3-point shots in the country, despite ranking 270th in 3-point percentage at just 32.4%. The Salukis had key wins over Belmont and Drake early in conference play and recently fell short against Bradley by just two points.Īlthough this team is experienced, it's far too unpredictable for me to advocate any type of investment pre-tournament. With Bryan Mullins at the helm for his fourth season, Southern Illinois was able to use its experience to finish 14-6 in conference play, good for a tie for third with Belmont. The last team that must be put into the “contenders” conversation is the Southern Illinois Salukis. It would not be out of the question for Indiana State to use this matchup as a jumping off point to get hot from distance and make a run in Arch Madness. The Aces were only able to win one conference game this season. Lastly, the Sycamores have to like their draw, as they face Evansville in the first round. Indiana State is led by DePaul senior transfer Courvoisier McCauley, who is seventh in the conference in scoring, averaging 16.4 per game. 2-rated offense in terms of Adjusted Efficiency, averaging 78.7 points per game. Indiana State shoots the most 3-point attempts in the conference.Įven given this dependence on their outside shooting, the Sycamores have been able to post the No. These up-and-down results can be directly tied to the Sycamores' play on the offensive end. Indiana State ended MVC play by losing five straight, then winning seven straight before dropping its last two. If you have tuned into any of the Sycamores' games this season, you know how volatile this team can be. The first team we will address is Josh Schertz’s Indiana State Sycamores. Offensively, Drake is led by sophomore Tucker DeVries, who averages 18.9 points per game (second in the MVC). They also combined this with a defense that allows its opponents to grab offensive rebounds on just 20.8% of their field goal attempts, the second-lowest rate in MVC. The Bulldogs rank first in the conference in offensive turnover percentage at just 15.1%. What I love about this Drake team is its ability to take care of the basketball. In addition, Drake will be out for blood after coming up short against Bradley to end the year. This experienced Bulldogs team will have revenge on its mind, as it was outlasted by Loyola Chicago in the MVC Tournament title game in 2022. Drake ranks 27th nationally in D-I experience and returns 67.1% of its minutes from a team that went 25-11 a season ago. This high level of success can be attributed to the Bulldogs being one of the most experienced teams in all of college basketball. In his fifth year as head coach, Darian DeVries is looking to punch his second ticket to the Big Dance with Drake.ĭeVries has to like his chances after the Bulldogs finished the year 24-7, just one game shy of Bradley. This brings me to the second head of our two-headed monster, the Drake Bulldogs. Now that we have that laid out, let’s dive into Arch Madness. Need a Spark: Missouri State, Murray State.The Contenders: Southern Illinois, Belmont, Indiana State.The regular season concluded with Bradley winning its final 10 conference games, outlasting Drake by a single game for the MVC regular-season crown.Īlthough it came up just short, Drake has a lot to be proud of, winning 10 of its last 11 games, with its only loss coming to eventual champion Bradley in the season finale.Įven though Bradley and Drake were able to create separation in the regular season, there were four teams that finished within four games of first place.ĭue to this widespread arrangement of talent throughout the MVC, I have broken down the league into tiers in order to find places to best make investments before the conference tournament gets underway on Thursday afternoon. This increase in talent level can be attributed to the additions of Murray State, Belmont and UIC to the fold. This season, the Missouri Valley Conference has had its most talent top-to-bottom in quite some time.
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