Missouri Valley Conference Basketball Tournament Recap

2010 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament - Final

(1) Northern Iowa 67, (2) Wichita State 52

No NCAA Tournament bid will be stolen. No sweat glands will work overtime on Selection Sunday. Multiple bids will not be handed out to the Missouri Valley Conference.

The Northern Iowa Panthers made those realities quite clear after imposing their style of play on yet another conference foe.

Friday, it was Drake who endured the defensive dominance of Coach Ben Jacobsen's UNI outfit in the quarterfinals. On Saturday, Bradley got blunted by the Panthers' defensive prowess in the semifinal round of this four-day tournament. Now, after receiving a Sunday afternoon spanking from the regular-season champion in the Valley, the Wichita State Shockers once again know the empty feeling that emerges after playing 40 minutes of basketball against the best program in the league.

For two straight years, Northern Iowa has entered Arch Madness as the No. 1 seed, and for two straight years, the Panthers have completed the March to the Arch in successful fashion. Creighton and Southern Illinois used to be the schools that made the Missouri Valley their own, and Drake had its one glorious run to the winner's circle in 2008, but over the past two years, no team in this mid-major conference has been able to match the supreme squad from Cedar Falls.

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This Sunday showdown for an automatic berth in the NCAA Tournament was decided the same way every Northern Iowa game is decided: by defense. A lot of it. All the time. From start to finish.

On Saturday against Bradley, UNI didn't allow more than 21 points in either half and forced more turnovers (14) than the number of field goals it allowed (13). On Friday against Drake, the Panthers didn't allow a field goal in 20 minutes and 59 seconds. Up against the second-seeded Shockers and coach Gregg Marshall - a man who showed at Winthrop his ability to get to the Big Dance - it figured that UNI would continue to lean on its defense, but the crowd at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis couldn't have known just how great that defense would once again prove to be.

This contest started off reasonably enough for Wichita State, which was trying to steal a tournament bid and shrink the bubble with a win. Due to red-hot 3-point shooting, the Shockers - who hit 8 of their first 16 threes - accumulated occasional clusters of points against their defense-minded adversaries. Opponents of Northern Iowa need to score at a reasonable rate, given the Panthers' lack of offensive explosiveness; Wichita turned this trick in the game's first 23-plus minutes, and led 39-33 with 16:24 left in the game.

Then came the drought that Northern Iowa is famous for producing, and Wichita's NCAA hopes faded away into the afternoon mist.

Over the next 12 minutes and 10 seconds, the Shockers failed to hit a single field goal. True, the dry spell was eight minutes and 47 seconds shorter than Drake's remarkable run of futility on Friday, but it was still substantial... especially since its came from a No. 2 seed and not a No. 8 seed in the Valley tournament. Within that 12-minute-plus nightmare, a slightly less severe but still substantial stat also emerged: WSU scored just one point in a stretch of 10 minutes and 21 seconds.

When both of these prolonged periods simultaneously ended on a Shocker basket with 4:14 left, that 39-33 lead Wichita had ever-so-briefly enjoyed turned into a 56-45 Panther lead. Given Northern Iowa's ability to run clock, protect the ball (the Panthers committed only five turnovers), and - of course - defend, an 11-point deficit with only four minutes remaining proved to be far too great a mountain for the Shockers to climb. UNI coasted to the finish line, punched its ticket for the Big Dance, and devoured a Missouri Valley combo meal which involved a regular season and conference tournament championship.

Yes, Northern Iowa doubled its pleasure on Sunday in St. Louis - who knew defense could provide so much fun for a thoroughly successful basketball program and the undisputed master of the Missouri Valley Conference?

> Follw the entire 2010 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament here at MVC-fans.com

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Staff Writer