NOTEBOOK (PDF)
Five Perfect in MVC Play
Drake (2-0), UNI (2-0), Missouri State (2-0), Southern Illinois (2-0) and Bradley (1-0) remain perfect after the first weekend of league play. The five teams will put their undefeated MVC records on the line this weekend as Drake, UNI, Missouri State and Southern Illinois all play, while Bradley will travel to Loyola and Valparaiso.
Best Starts in MVC?
Below is a look at the best league starts for current MVC members (includes each school’s top performance only):
Rec. Team (Year) Loss Final
18-0 Drake (16-17) N/A 1st (18-0)
12-0 Missouri St. (95-96) at ILS 1st (16-2)
12-0 Indiana St. (05-06) at MSU 1st (16-2)
9-0 Illinois St. (06-07) UE 2nd (13-5)
8-0 UNI (16-07) DU 2nd (15-3)
4-0 Evansville (99-00) at MSU 2nd (14-4)
4-0 Bradley (08-09) at UNI 4th (11-7)
4-0 Loyola (16-17) MSU 5th (10-8)
3-0 Southern Illinois (93-94) Creighton 3rd (9-7)
Home Sweet Home
Since 2002, home teams have won at least 55 (.611) of the 90 league contests in all but six seasons (2003-04, 2006-07, 2013-14, 2014-15, 2015-16, 2016-17). The most wins by home teams in league play came in 2008 (61-29 at home in conference play). The league was 51-39 (.567) at home in league play last year, and has compiled a 4-5 (.444) mark so far in 2017-18.
Valley Streaks
Drake has tied Missouri State for the longest win streak in MVC history. Listed below are the top five streaks for MVC contests only. Drake’s last MVC loss was an 85-74 setback at UNI on Feb. 19, 2016.
Consecutive MVC Wins (MVC History)
24 – Missouri State (Jan.9, 1999-Feb.. 5, 2000)
24 - Drake (Feb. 26, 2016-present)
19 – UNI (Mar. 6, 2010-Mar. 5, 2011)
17 – Missouri State (Jan. 11, 1992-Jan. 10, 1993)
Josh Keister Named Interim Coach at Indiana State
Josh Keister was named the interim head coach at Indiana State on Jan. 2 following the resignation of Joey Wells. Keister, who has previous head coaching experience at Missouri Western and previously held a recruiting coordinator title while serving as an assistant coach at TCU, was named the interim coach by Director of Athletics Sherard Clinkscales. Wells completed his tenure at Indiana State with a record of 44-59. A national search for the eighth head coach in program history begins immediately.
RPI Update
The latest installment of the NCAA RPI Report (Jan. 1) has five Valley teams that rank in the top-200, led by Bradley at No. 110, UNI at No. 127, Drake at 163, Missouri State at 164 and Southern Illinois at No. 179.
Perfect at the ARC
The Crusaders carry a seven-game home winning streak into Friday’s game and enter this weekend as the only team in The Valley unbeaten at home this year (5-0). Valpo finished the nonconference portion of the season with an undefeated home record for the first time since 2007-08. This is Valpo’s longest home winning streak since rapping off 11 straight victories at home spanning the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons.
Knocking Down Freebies
After going 29-31 (93.5%) from the free-throw line over the weekend, Evansville moved into the top spot in the nation in free-throw shooting percentage, shooting 83.6% from the charity stripe this season. Evansville is shooting 8% better than any other MVC team and is one of just five teams in the nation shooting better than 80% this season. The Aces also tied a program record with a perfect 15-15 performance from the line on Sunday against Missouri State, just one make shy of the 16-16 outing the Aces put together against UNI in the MVC Tournament on Mar. 14, 2008.
Sweeping the Honors
For the fifth time in MVC history and the second time this season a player has swept the weekly awards since the Newcomer of the Week began during the 2003-04 season.
Year Player, School Date
2005-06 Kristi Cirone, Illinois State (Dec. 19)
2007-08 Kelsey Woodard, Creighton (Feb. 4)
2008-09 Casey Garrison, Missouri State (Jan. 19)
2017-18 Hannah Noe, Evansville (Jan. 13)
2017-18 Abby Brockmeyer, Southern Illinois (Jan. 2)
MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE PLAYER/NEWCOMER OF THE WEEK:
Abby Brockmeyer, Fr., F/G, Southern Illinois
Southern Illinois freshman Abby Brockmeyer averaged 21.5 points, 11.0 rebounds, 2.5 blocks and 2.0 steals in a pair of Saluki wins over the weekend. The freshman set the school record for points by a freshman in an MVC game in SIU’s 64-52 win over Evansville on Friday. Brockmeyer set or tied nine career-bests in SIU’s conference opening win, including points (27), rebounds (14) and steals (3) and notched the third double-double of her career. She followed with a game-high 16 points on 5-of-7 shooting to go along with eight rebounds and a career-high four blocks in SIU’s 64-45 win at Indiana State on Sunday. Her 43 combined points are the most of any Valley player through two conference games this season and are the most by a freshman to start Valley play in program history.
Other Notable Performances: Gabi Haack (BRAD); Becca Hittner (DU); Kerri Gasper (UE); Simone Goods (ILS); Wendi Bibbins (INS); Alexa Willard (MSU); Mikaela Morgan (UNI); Alexis Delgado (INS); Abby O’Connor (LUC); Brice Calip (MSU); Nicole Kroeger (UNI)