Paul Suellentrop’s Missouri Valley Conference report (Jan. 5)
Cold days in MVC gymnasiums
Efforts by the NCAA to help offenses and create scoring and tempo aren’t reaching the Missouri Valley Conference. It remains a defense-first — and foremost — conference.
Eight of the 10 MVC schools rank in the top 154 of Ken Pomeroy’s statistics measuring defense. Great job, coaches and players. Get down in that crouch and stay there.
Now about the other part of the game. …
Illinois State and Loyola — the MVC’s two most disappointing teams — are largely weighed down by poor shooting or turnovers. Illinois State, picked fourth in the preseason poll, is 8-7. It is 2-0 in the MVC and has won five of six games. Non-conference losses to South Dakota State, TCU, UAB and Saint Joseph’s spoiled plans for building an NCAA at-large resume.
Loyola, coming off a 24-13 season and the College Basketball Invitational title, is 7-7, 0-2 in the MVC.
Both rank in the bottom half of the nation in most of Pomeroy’s offensive statistics.
The Redbirds are No. 289 in three-point shooting (30.6 percent) and No. 233 in two-point shooting (46.7), combining for a No. 276 rank for effective field-goal percentage (46.4). Loyola is No. 310 in two-point shooting (43.4), No. 209 in effective field-goal percentage (48.5) and No. 271 in turnover percentage (20.1). Both are saved by one category — Illinois State is No. 168 in turnover percentage (18.4) and Loyola ranks No. 24 in three-point shooting (39.5).
The Redbirds played a non-conference schedule ranked No. 44 nationally, which explains some of the issues. They made 15 of 27 threes in a 74-61 win over Missouri State to open MVC play. Maybe things are turning at Redbird Arena.
“We had a tough non-conference schedule that we didn’t handle real well,” Redbirds coach Dan Muller said. “I would like to schedule very aggressively most years. Hopefully, we’ll look back in another month and those games pay dividends because we’ve grown as a team.”
Loyola is looking for leadership after the departure of seniors Christian Thomas and Joe Crisman. Forward Montel James, who missed three games with a back injury, is adjusting to a more prominent role as Loyola’s leading big man. Guard Milton Doyle, who sprained his ankle against Notre Dame, is also inconsistent.
“Christian Thomas and Joe were kind of our alpha dogs,” coach Porter Moser said. “We just don’t seem to have an alpha dog. That’s the thing about confidence, you can get it going back quickly. You’re 40 minutes away from getting that confidence arrow pointed up.”
Those teams have plenty of company in the MVC in the bottom of Pomeroy’s offensive measures. Six of the MVC’s 10 teams ranks in the bottom half of NCAA Division I’s 351 teams in effective field-goal percentage. Seven rank 201 or lower in two-point accuracy. Half rank in the bottom half of turnover percentage, offensive efficiency and three-point shooting.
The MVC’s defensive juggernauts are led by Wichita State at No. 25 and Indiana State at No. 37. Missouri State (No. 226) and Drake (No. 244) are at the bottom.
Some of the scoring problems can be explained by injury and schedule (example, Wichita State). Other issues, weakness at point guard or in the post, are harder to solve. Defense can carry a team, but only so far. Teams that can bump up their scoring while maintaining a good level of defense will separate from those who can’t.
“You can’t let what happened at one end turn into something negative at the offensive or defensive end,” Indiana State coach Greg Lansing said.. “I still think we’re a good shooting team. I still think we have a good offensive team, we’ve just got to share the basketball more and play inside-out.”
Fast breaks
▪ Wednesday’s Evansville-Wichita State game will feature five first-team all-conference picks, if the definition is expanded a bit. WSU’s Ron Baker and Fred VanVleet face Evansville’s D.J. Balentine and Egidijus Mockevicius. WSU senior Anton Grady, a transfer from Cleveland State, earned All-Horizon League honors last season.
▪ Northern Iowa had SIU guard Anthony Beane under control for his first three seasons. The Panthers were the only MVC team to hold him under 20 points. He averaged double figures against every MVC opponent, except the Panthers (9.7).
That all changed on Saturday when Beane blistered UNI for 32 points, 20 in the second half. He made 6 of 10 three-pointers in the 75-73 win.
“He made some tough shots,” UNI coach Ben Jacobson said. “I thought we forced him into some tough jump shots, but he continued to make them.”
▪ Missouri State freshman Obediah Church, a 6-foot-7 forward, would rank second in the MVC in shooting percentage, but he falls short of the minimum number of attempts. He is 37 of 61 from the field (60.7 percent) and many of those come from extremely close range.
According to MSU’s totals, Church’s 14 dunks trail only Kyle Weems (18) and Wade Knapp (17) over the past eight seasons.
Trending up
Southern Illinois surpassed last season’s win total of 12 and its 13-2 start is program’s best since the 2004 team went 24-2. The Salukis should cruise past Bradley on Wednesday, setting up a big game against Wichita State on Saturday at SIU Arena.
Trending down
Bradley (2-13, 0-2) hasn’t defeated an NCAA Division I opponent since Nov. 13. Its MVC schedule started with Northern Iowa and WSU, followed by SIU and Evansville. If the Braves don’t defeat Missouri State on Jan. 16 at home, a winless MVC season is very much in play.
Get to know an MVC neighbor
Q: Where did Evansville coach Marty Simmons start his college career?
A: Simmons played two seasons at Indiana before following Hoosiers assistant coach Jim Crews to Evansville. Simmons averaged 22.4 points as a junior and 25.9 points as senior in 1988.
One to watch
Evansville (13-2, 2-0 MVC) at Wichita State (8-5, 2-0), 7 p.m. Wednesday (Cox 22) — Shockers have won 10 of the past 12 meetings and five in a row by holding the Aces under 70 points in seven of those games and under 60 in the past three.
This story was originally published January 5, 2016 at 1:17 PM with the headline "Paul Suellentrop’s Missouri Valley Conference report (Jan. 5)."