Paul Suellentrop’s MVC Report (Feb. 17)

Ramblers rebound

It is OK to feel good about Loyola again.

The Ramblers served as the Missouri Valley Conference’s feel-good story in November and December with a 10-2 non-conference record that included wins over Kent State, Boise State and Texas Tech. MVC schools own 11 non-conference wins over top-100 RPI teams. Loyola has two, more than any school other than Wichita State and Northern Iowa.

Then guard Milton Doyle sprained his right ankle and the Ramblers faded with five straight losses. Doyle missed the past eight games and Loyola is learning how to win without him. His return may be nearing, perhaps this week, and certainly in time for the MVC Tournament.

“He’s getting reevaluated this week,” coach Porter Moser said. “If he gets cleared, he’s ready to start practicing. How long it takes him to get back into the flow of things, we don’t know.”

Without Doyle, freshman Ben Richardson, from Blue Valley Northwest, is playing more. He started and scored 11 points, making 3 of 5 three-pointers, Sunday in a win at Bradley. He scored a season-high 12 at Missouri State earlier this month.

“He’s a winning-type of kid,” Moser said. “His confidence is growing. Sometimes freshmen hit a wall, Ben seems to be getting better as the season goes.”

Doyle’s absence highlights Loyola’s improving depth. It won back-to-back games for the first time as an MVC member and three of the past four games entering Wednesday’s home game against No. 11 Northern Iowa. With Richardson, Devon Turk, Earl Peterson, Jeff White, Joe Crisman and Donte Ingram, the Ramblers possess enough guards and wings to rebuild during the season.

“You want to get hot at the right time,” Moser said. “The first five games without (Doyle), we struggled. Now we’re starting to get some confidence. When we get him back, we hope we’re peaking at the right time.”

▪  Drake freshman guard Reed Timmer is at the front of his team’s improvement. The Bulldogs, after starting 1-7 in the MVC, won 4 of 6 games entering Tuesday’s game at Evansville.

Timmer averaged 15.8 points and made 47.7 percent of his shots in those six games.

“By moving him off the ball the last four or five games, where we’re playing two point guards on the floor, helped him scoring-wise,” Drake coach Ray Giacoletti said. “We’ve put him in some tough, tough situations and he’s persevered.”

▪  With UNI No. 11 and Wichita State No. 13 in the Associated Press poll, it is the first time since Jan. 5, 1982 that two Valley schools appeared in the top 13 (No. 9 WSU and No. 10 Tulsa).

▪  Evansville center Egidijus Mockevicius had 15 games with double-figure scoring and rebounding entering Tuesday’s game against Drake. In the past 20 years. UNI’s Joe Breakenridge tops the list with 17 during the 2000-01 season.

▪  Missouri State hasn’t endured a losing home record since 1970-71, when it played in McDonald Arena. The Bears are 6-6 at JQH Arena with games against Indiana State and Bradley remaining.

Trending up

Seth Tuttle – A reporter from The New York Times joined the MVC coaches conference call to ask about Tuttle and Northern Iowa. Appreciation for his well-rounded game is growing, the Panthers are ranked higher than ever before and he is the favorite to win MVC Player of the Year.

Wichita State’s backcourt depth — With Zach Brown out, the Shockers are bereft of backcourt depth, even if it often seems unneeded. Corey Henderson and Ria’n Holland are a combined 11 for 46 from the field in MVC games. Opponents outscored the Shocker reserves in 5 of 6 games entering Tuesday.

Q: Which players earned the most MVC player of the week honors without winning Player of the Year?

A: Creighton’s Rodney Buford and Illinois State’s Osiris Eldridge both earned six player of the week honors. Neither was named Player of the Year. The seven other players with six or more weekly honors also own a Player of the Year trophy, plaque or patch for their letter jacket.

No. 11 Northern Iowa (24-2, 13-1) at Loyola (16-10, 6-8), 7 p.m. Wednesday – The Ramblers out-rebounded UNI and made 9 of 24 threes in a 67-58 loss in January. It will take that and more to pull the upset.

This story was originally published February 17, 2015 at 10:34 AM with the headline "Paul Suellentrop’s MVC Report (Feb. 17)."