MVC Rated No. 8
The MVC’s current winning percentage in non-league play (67-31, .688) is 6th-best in the NCAA among conferences.  The Conference ranks No. 8 in the RPI, while UNI leads the way in the team rankings, at No. 17.  The MVC hasn’t been as high as No. 8 in a season-ending RPI since the 2012-13 season.

Weekly MVC Men's Basketball Notes (PDF)

MVC Player of the Week
Dru Smith, Evansville
6-3, 190, So., Gd.
Evansville (Ind.) Reitz High
Smith led UE to a pair of wins last week, as the guard finished with 21 points per game, 4 rebounds and had 13 assists against just three turnovers.  Smith also went 10-of-14 from the field (71.4%) while hitting 8 out of 9 free throws and 4 out of 8 tries from long range.  In Monday’s win at Bowling Green, Smith set his career mark with 25 points.  He hit 11 out of 13 attempts while notching 7 assists, 5 rebounds and 4 steals.  Smith led all players once again in the victory over Canisius, scoring 17 points while dishing out six assists.  He went 8/9 from the line in the win.

MVC Newcomer of the Week
Cameron Krutwig, Loyola
6-9, 260, Fr., Ctr.
Algonquin (Ill.) Jacobs High
Krutwig has been a key contributor on a Loyola team that at 10-1, is off to its best start since 1965-66. A starter in each of the last eight contests, Krutwig averaged 13.0 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.0 blocks and 1.5 steals per game last week, while connecting on 71.4 percent (10-for-14) of his field goal attempts and 85.7 percent (6-for-7) of his tosses from the foul line, as Loyola won at No. 5 Florida and beat Norfolk State. Krutwig came up huge in the win over the Gators, Loyola’s first win over a top-five team since 1984, recording 14 points, his most since producing a career-high 17 points in the season opener versus Wright State, eight rebounds, three assists, a block, and three steals. He followed that up with 12 points, eight boards, three assists and a rejection, hitting 4-for-4 from the field and 4-for-5 from the charity stripe, in an 80-52 pasting of Norfolk State on Dec. 9.


Awesome at Home
The MVC is a combined 43-5 at home this year, which ranks fourth-best among all Division I leagues.  Six league teams are still perfect at home.  Evansville (27-straight wins at home against non-league opponents) and Loyola (15) are among the national leaders for consecutive home victories vs. non-league teams.

Making Shots 
Against Norfolk State Saturday, Loyola connected on 71.4 percent (25-for-35) of its FG tries to set a Loyola single-game record, eclipsing the previous mark of 68.1 percent (32-for-47) versus Northwestern on Dec. 15, 1990.  The 71.4 performance is the best in the NCAA this year.

Power Play
The MVC has a 5-5 record against teams from Power 5 leagues (Indiana State at Indiana; Drake vs. Wake Forest; Illinois State vs. South Carolina; UNI vs. NC State; Loyola at Florida are the five wins).  The league is also 12-10 vs. teams from the other four leagues among the Top 10:  (AAC – 3-0); Big East (0-1); Mountain West (6-6); and MAC (3-3).

Resumé Building
UNI is building a strong resume during its non-conference play with a mark of 8-2. The Panthers have posted wins over SMU (61-58), North Carolina State (64-60), UNLV (77-68 OT) and UT Arlington (62-58). UNI’s only two losses this season have come at No. 9 North Carolina and on a neutral floor to No. 5 Villanova in the championship game of the Battle 4 Atlantis. In fact, both of those two teams are the last two NCAA champions with Villanova claiming the crown in 2016 and North Carolina raising the trophy in 2017.

Bears, Panthers Among Best
In 2017-18, the NCAA RPI formula added a tiering system that classifies teams into four quadrants (based on opponent RPI and site of game).  Missouri State and UNI are among 22 teams nationally that have 3 or more wins from the top two quadrants.  Only eight schools have more wins against the top two quadrants than UNI’s and Missouri State’s three.

Ramblers First to 10 Wins
   Loyola’s 10-1 record is its best start through 11 games since 1965-66 when it also won 10 of its first 11 contests. The Ramblers finished with a 22-3 record that season and reached the NCAA Tournament. The Ramblers are one of only seven teams (Albany, Duke, Purdue, TCU, Towson, Villanova) in the country with double-digit victories.

4 or More MVC Teams to 10?
Only 16 seasons in the league’s previous 110 years have four or more MVC teams won 10 or more non-conference games in the same season. (Notably, in only 11 of those 16 seasons did four or more teams reach 10+ wins during regular-season play).   The high-water mark was in 1956 when 6 teams reached 10+ non-league wins (all during the regular season).  The MVC had 5 teams reach 10+ non-league wins 5 other times, and in 3 of those 5 times, the teams reached 10+ wins during regular-season play. In addition to Loyola, five other league teams can achieve 10 regular-season non-league wins this year.

MVC and the Top 25
Loyola beat No. 5 Florida on Dec. 6, marking the ninth-straight season the MVC has had at least one non-conference top-25 victory.  In four of the last six years, the league has had regular-season top-25 wins by multiple MVC schools.  Loyola’s top-5 win marked the 31st top-5 non-league win in MVC history, but marked the first top-5 non-league win on the road since Dec. 6, 1967 (exactly 50 years), when Louisville beat No. 5 Kansas, 57-51. 

Rambling On ...
Loyola’s 65-59 victory at No. 5 Florida on Dec. 6 was its first over an AP Top 25 team since a 71-67 victory at No. 15 Butler on Feb. 15, 1984. It also marked the Ramblers’ first win over an AP top-five squad since a 63-62 win vs. No. 4 Illinois on Dec. 22, 1984. Prior to the Florida win, Loyola had never defeated an AP top-five team on its opponent’s home floor. The Ramblers have now won three of their last four games versus SEC foes.

Three-Point Stuff

• UNI has made at least one 3-pointer in 571 straight games – the longest active streak in the MVC. The last time UNI failed to make a 3-point basket came Feb. 3, 2000, vs. Southern Illinois. UNI went 0-for-4 from 3-point land vs. the Salukis.
• Drake leads the MVC and ranks 25th in the nation in 3FG made per game this year (10.3 makes per game).
• Three MVC schools rank in the Top 10 nationally in 3FG percentage, including Evansville (1st - 49.0); Loyola (5th - 44.6) and Drake (9th - 42.9).
• Reed Timmer ranks 3rd in the NCAA with his league-leading 56.1 percent three-point field goal accuracy.

Board Certified
UNI leads the nation in rebound improvement from last year to this year (with a differential of +10.2).  One of the contributing factors -- freshman Tywhon Pickford, who leads the MVC with 10.7 rebounds per game (13th in the NCAA).

Winning with Defense
Five MVC schools rank among the NCAA leaders (Top 33) in scoring defense this season, led by UNI (4th), Bradley (7th) and Evansville (18th).  The five teams have combined for a 40-11 overall record (.784)