Paul Suellentrop’s Missouri Valley Conference report (Feb. 9)

Illinois State, UNI push second-place contenders

There is some honor in finishing second in the Missouri Valley Conference. The real reward is the No. 2 seed in the MVC Tournament, which will place a team opposite presumptive No. 1-seed Wichita State in the bracket.

It won’t be easy to beat the Shockers in St. Louis. It’s best to put that meeting off until Sunday and hope for one magnificent effort with the automatic bid at stake. Or maybe somebody else will knock off the Shockers in the semifinals, where their tournament run ended in 2011, 2012 and 2015.

Six teams are within two games of second place.

Evansville continues its solid play and enjoys a favorable schedule. Indiana State and Southern Illinois are slumping. Missouri State can’t make up much ground, but also won’t fade.

Illinois State and Northern Iowa are coming fast after losing streaks threatened to dump them into the bottom half. They are the scariest threats to the Aces because of their talent and recent success.

Illinois State shook off a three-game losing streak to win 5 of 6 games, including Saturday’s upset of Wichita State. The Redbirds are 8-4 in the MVC, tied with Evansville in second. Those teams play on Thursday at Evansville’s Ford Center.

While the Redbirds shot poorly against WSU, coach Dan Muller is pleased with his team’s offense in recent weeks. Before Saturday, his team scored 70 or more points and made 40 percent or more of its three-pointers in four straight games.

“Up until Saturday, our offensive efficiency has really improved,” he said. “Our rebounding has been really consistent. Ball care has been good most games.”

Northern Iowa’s revival is even more dramatic. The Panthers are 6-6 in the MVC, tied with Missouri State in sixth, one game behind SIU and Indiana State. They won four in a row after a 2-6 start in Valley play.

Coach Ben Jacobson diversified his offense to take some of the burden off point guard Wes Washpun and involve more players. Sophomore centers Bennett Koch and Klint Carlson are growing into significant roles as rotation players for the first time. Koch had 22 points and 11 rebounds in a win over SIU and Carlson scored 11 in Saturday’s win over Drake.

“They’ve had opportunities to play some more minutes now,” Jacobson said. “You can just see them both — their confidence is better so they’re playing harder, they’re more aggressive, they’re more physical.”

Evansville is in prime position with home games against Illinois State, SIU and UNI remaining. SIU, which has lost four straight, must also travel to Indiana State and Illinois State. Northern Iowa finishes the season with home games against Illinois State and Indiana State before the finale at Evansville.

Fast breaks

▪  It took a long time for Bradley’s freshman-dominated lineup to show progress. Here is something for long-suffering fans to ponder:

The Braves, who defeated Indiana State 63-58 on Saturday, are averaging 68 points and shooting 43.6 percent from the field in the past three games, two them on the road. In the previous 22, Bradley averaged 53.9 points and shot 36.2 percent.

Bradley also cut its turnovers from an average of 17.5 to 13.7 in the past three games.

“Our level of effort and our care level has been very high every day, for our record,” coach Brian Wardle said.

The return of senior Ka’Darryl Bell after missing eight games with a broken right wrist helps. He can give the freshmen guards a rest and his experience is valuable on a team with 10 freshmen.

“He brings a calming voice on that floor,” Wardle said.

▪  Illinois State shot 27.3 percent (15 of 55) in Saturday’s 58-53 win over WSU, the lowest winning percentage for an MVC team this season. It is second nationally, behind Arkansas-Little Rock, which made 26.3 percent (15 of 57) of its shots in a 54-46 win over East Carolina.

In the past 20 seasons, one other MVC school won a game in which it shot below 30 percent. In 2012, Indiana State made 17 of 63 shots (27 percent) in a 57-55 overtime win over Miami (Fla.).

▪  Senior D.J. Balentine became Evansville’s career scoring leader when scored 18 points in Saturday’s win over Missouri State. Balentine has 2,280 points, passing Colt Ryan by one point. He is sixth on the Valley’s list, trailing Bradley’s Mitchell Anderson (1978-82) and his 2,341 points. Bradley’s Hersey Hawkins (1984-88) leads the MVC with 3,008 points.

Aces center Egidijus Mockevicius needs 76 rebounds to top that school list, now owned by Dale Wise (1,197).

Trending up

Loyola forward Montel James averaged 16.5 points and 8 rebounds last week and has four double-doubles in MVC play. He is averaging 14.6 points in his past six games.

Trending down

Southern Illinois guard Anthony Beane is 8 of 31 (25.8 percent) from three-point range in the past six games, as well as committing 25 turnovers while handing out 11 assists. The Salukis need their star to sharpen his game if they are to finish second in the MVC.

Get to know an MVC neighbor

Q: Which former Drake coach was named Associated Press Coach and United States Basketball Writers Association Coach of the Year?

A: Keno Davis, in 2008. He left Drake for Providence and is now coach at Central Michigan.

One to watch

Illinois State (14-11, 8-4) at Evansville (19-6, 8-4), 8 p.m. Thursday (CBSSN) — The Aces outscored the Redbirds 17-3 at the foul line in the first meeting, a 66-55 win on Jan. 15 at Redbird Arena.

This story was originally published February 9, 2016 at 1:35 PM with the headline "Paul Suellentrop’s Missouri Valley Conference report (Feb. 9)."