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Missouri Valley Tournament Basketball Weekly Recap
Scores Monday, December 19 Creighton 83, Tulsa 64 Northern Iowa 84, Loras 48 Southern Illinois 80, SIU-Edwardsville 57 Missouri State 66, Texas A&M-Corpus Christi 53 Wichita State 102, Newman 53 Tuesday, December 20 Evansville 77, Miami (Ohio) 75 Illinois State 72, Arkansas-Little Rock 65 Western Carolina 68, Bradley 67 Ohio 76, Northern Iowa 59 Wednesday, December 21 Indiana State 50, Louisiana-Monroe 35 Drake 87, Central Arkansas 64 Thursday, December 22 Creighton 87, Northwestern 79 Kansas State 83, Southern Illinois 58 West Virginia 70, Missouri State 68 (OT) Michigan 77, Bradley 66 Friday, December 23 Saint Mary's 77, Missouri State 61 Clemson 83, Southern Illinois 75 (OT) Sunday, December 25 Xavier 87, Southern Illinois 77
The Missouri Valley Conference had a mixed bag week, and mostly a down one at that. There were a few successes to point to in the Valley, but most of the past week's results did not bring glad tidings to this mid-major league. The bright spot in the MVC is clearly Creighton,. The Bluejays endured some hard knocks the past few years and missed out on the NCAA Tournament after making the event a regular home in the first few years of the new century. Creighton was the kind of team that no five or four seed wanted to face in the first round, but as then-coach Dana Altman's tenure continued in Omaha, the program didn't sustain a lot of momentum. Greg McDermott is the new coach at the Jesuit school, and the onetime coach of fellow Valley program Northern Iowa is clearly at home in his surroundings. Creighton produced another hugely successful week, toppling Tulsa from Conference USA and Northwestern from the Big Ten to give its resume some national balance and heft. No, the two wins were not spectacular by any stretch; the Jays were expected to win each of these games. However, the ability to go 2-0 this past week prevents an ugly upset loss from staining Creighton's NCAA dossier. Moreover, the fact that Creighton played credible teams, not a couple of cupcakes, will improve rather than drag down the RPI and other metrics which affect NCAA selection and seeding. Creighton is steadily building the kind of resume which can produce an at-large NCAA berth as long as the Jays produce a strong Missouri Valley regular season. Elsewhere in the league, however, the results weren't so encouraging. Northern Iowa got whacked by Ohio on Wednesday, giving coach Ben Jacobson's team a spanking which will be hard to ignore on Selection Sunday. Southern Illinois lost all three of its games at the Diamond Head Classic in Honolulu, Hawaii, showing how far the Salukis have fallen over the past three years. Missouri State very nearly beat West Virginia last Thursday in Las Vegas, but the Bears couldn't close the sale, thereby missing out on the kind of win that would have transformed their NCAA portfolio. MSU then took the court the following night and, dispirited by its loss to West Virginia, couldn't put up much of a fight in a 16-point setback against Saint Mary's. Bradley also lost a pair of games, undercutting the Valley's efforts to become a multiple-bid league in this year's Big Dance.
By: Matt Zemek |