Game #8 - #21/#25 Rhode Island Tuesday Nov 29 7pm in the ARC

[talksalot]

I'll update the rankings on URI after the polls come out on Monday.  Thought #1:  4-17 from 3-point range will not create a W.  17 Steals might create a W.

URi with wins over Marist 107-65 (H), Dartmouth 84-61(H), Brown 79-72 (H), Cincinnati 76-71 (N), Belmont 82-73 (H), one loss is to Duke, 75-65 (N).

Here's their Roster

http://www.gorhody.com/sports/m-baskbl/2016-17/roster

and here's their stat sheet... 4 starters averaging over 10 points/game

http://www.gorhody.com/sports/m-baskbl/2016-17/teams/rhodeisland?view=profile&r=0&pos=sh

[talksalot]

Over the past 31 seasons... here's Valpo's record based on the game # for the season:

#1:  18-13
#2:  17-14
#3:  18-13
#4:  16-15
#5:  18-13
#6:  18-13
#7:  18-13

Tuesday is game #8... our record is 12-18 in the past 30 years... which is the second lowest W-L% of any game on the schedule. (game #27 is only 11-19, 37%).

Last year's game at Ball State was #8.
three years ago, the 114-108 3OT loss to Mercer was #8

[wh]

I love it when a guy watches 1 game and becomes a match-up expert:

From the URI board:

Forget last year. Two different teams.

I watched their game against Ball St today. They came back to get the win but trust me, this Valpo team can not hang with us. Peters may get his but we will shut everyone else down.

We will have a huge advantage at the guard positions and I think we will be just fine around the basket as well. Haas will do his best to contain Peters.

They have very little depth. Our style of defense is going to wear them down.

This game isn't a toss-up. We will win handily.

Please note we will have to deal with a couple of real Valpo homers on the ESPN3 broadcast. Will be nice to shut them up with a resounding victory.

Can you tell I'm confident in this one?

[a3uge]

I love it when a guy watches 1 game and becomes a match-up expert:

From the URI board:

Forget last year. Two different teams.

I watched their game against Ball St today. They came back to get the win but trust me, this Valpo team can not hang with us. Peters may get his but we will shut everyone else down.

We will have a huge advantage at the guard positions and I think we will be just fine around the basket as well. Haas will do his best to contain Peters.

They have very little depth. Our style of defense is going to wear them down.

This game isn't a toss-up. We will win handily.

Please note we will have to deal with a couple of real Valpo homers on the ESPN3 broadcast. Will be nice to shut them up with a resounding victory.

Can you tell I'm confident in this one?

Very little upside in a post like that. What a moron.

[SanityLost17]

URI is probably a better team than us, but the home court advantage, combined with this being URI's 1st true road game, makes this one a toss up.  Not going to predict a winner...but will be a 5 point game one way or the other.     

[bbtds]

URI           62
Valpo.      57

[M]

74-60 Valpo puts the hurt on them.

[NativeCheesehead]

I think this game is important far beyond the final score. Don't get me wrong, would love a W. But this is one of the few times a ranked team comes into the ARC. I really hope the athletic department is going all out to promote this game. A packed student section, an upper level mostly full, and an entertaining game could go a long way toward having this program taking the next step we all hope and believe it can. We don't typically draw well on school nights, and we don't typically draw well in the non conference. Having attended many games at many different schools over the past twenty years, I would say going back to the 90s we've always had a good to great game day experience. The next step is converting that to butts in the seats. Consistently. I know the problems and possible solutions to that have been discussed at length on this board, but frankly, none of us are paid to make this program a success. I will be be bitterly disappointed if i don't see an aggressive media/social media campaign over the next 48 hours. I'm already disappointed no special announcements or promotions were announced at the Ball State game.

Regardless, we can do our part. Tell your friends, neighbors and invite anyone who loves roundball. Expect a lengthy rant Wednesday one way or the other.

[justducky]

From the URI board:

Forget last year. Two different teams.

I watched their game against Ball St today. They came back to get the win but trust me, this Valpo team can not hang with us. Peters may get his but we will shut everyone else down.

We will have a huge advantage at the guard positions and I think we will be just fine around the basket as well. Haas will do his best to contain Peters.

They have very little depth. Our style of defense is going to wear them down.

This game isn't a toss-up. We will win handily.

While his logic may be flawed his conclusion may be accurate (depends on his definition of winning handily). Our short guard play is still somewhat down (Tevonn  ), as is our depth and interior defense. So our play has been spotty our shooting weak and our early ticket sales for the game abysmal. With all that I am still expecting a hard fought battle with a close outcome.

Longer term even if we win on Tuesday I do not yet believe we have any realistic at-large hope. Way too much work yet to be done. Matt will need to keep in focus the deeper player rotations that will give us some mileage in February and March.

[atkins]

The braggart from the URI board made several solid (albeit discourteous) points.  I disagree with his statement regarding the "announcers," and I question whether URI will "will win handily."  If Valpo plays its typical lackluster home game like the others this season, URI will indeed win handily.  My hope is that we (finally) play a quality first half.  If we had played URI instead of Ball State today, we would have been blown out by 20+.

[talksalot]

First 1,000 people get T-shirts.... I have no idea what the promotion is... and something nice at halftime.

[valpotx]

I don't care that Rhode Island is currently ranked, that won't matter to our guys.  We seem to only get intimidated by the big name programs that are ranked.  You don't look at the URI jersey and get tense like you would with any storied programs or top ranked teams.  Since we are at home:

Valpo 74
URI 67

[covufan]

I think we finally break out of our 3 point shooting slump.

Valpo   71
URI      64

[a3uge]

This is actually a pretty tough spot for Rhode Island. It's their first road game of the year, and Valpo will be highly motivated to beat their first ranked team since the 90s (although Valpo has beat teams that were eventually ranked). There's much more to lose for URI, as this would move them out of the top 25 and damage their at-large resume (but hopefully not much at all [emoji4] ). I would assume Vegas is going to have URI favored by 4 or 5, but that's going to be a tough one to figure. On paper, URI has more talent, but this is basketball where home teams like IPFW can beat IU. It's just asinine to make declarations like "this one won't be close." Okay dude.


Also, the hot take that the game will hinge on guard play is fairly suspect, especially after EC Matthews just went 1-6 against Belmont (not exactly known for their defense). They still won easily. URI's clear advantage is Hassan Martin and without Vashil (who had an awesome game last year), Valpo will need to have Jubril play much better on defense than he's played all year.

Still, if Valpo finds their shot and shoots well at home, this is a very winable game. Valpo hasn't been a "drain the shot clock, look for mismatch" type team that they've been in the past. They're playing at a much quicker pace, and pretty much everyone has been given the green light. They haven't gone full UWGB, but we've (unfortunately for Valpo) seen up-tempo, faster paced teams upset better teams on paper by simply shooting well.

[vu72]

I would not expect a big crowd.  As of now, there are still 212 seats available in the lower "bowl" and barely a dent upstairs--14 seats sold in CC.    I'd guess 3127.

[crusaderjoe]

We haven't beaten a ranked team at home in 28 years.  To be fair, there haven't been that many opportunities, but it's been 28 years nonetheless.  I think the URI fan is right about our lack of depth generally.  If no one steps up and we get very little quality minutes from the bench, it's going to be a long night, and you can look for that near three decade streak to continue.

Draw contact, go to the line, hit free throws.  Draw contact, go to the line, hit free throws.  Draw contact, go to the line, hit free throws.

[vu84v2]

I agree with the previous comment that this is a tricky game for Rhode Island. First road game and it is in a different (i.e. smaller) type of place to play. I hope that the early indications on attendance are wrong. This is every bit the same quality game that Florida State and Saint Mary's was last season and the ARC was packed for Saint Mary's. Valpo is a great environment when there is a large crowd and a quality opponent.

I like Valpo's four guard rotation against a better team like Rhode Island. All four of them hustle and can get after it defensively. My guess is that they all bring their A game tomorrow night. I expect a close game and see outside shooting as the key for Valparaiso to win. Hard to see Valpo winning if they shoot 20-25% from three point range, definitely possible to see them winning if they shoot 40%+. Rhode Island will likely double Peters when he has the ball, so need others to hit the open shot.

[agibson]

I would not expect a big crowd.  As of now, there are still 212 seats available in the lower "bowl" and barely a dent upstairs--14 seats sold in CC.    I'd guess 3127.

It may be some kind of test of regional support. Of the depth of "I come for a few games a year" fans or how many serious CBB fans there are among IU, Purdue, ND, and VHS fans that will come out for a good game on a week night.

I'm not even sure the student section will be full. Week night. School night. Crunch time for classes, last exams. Not even a TV game (too bad!).

Hopefully I'm pleasantly surprised, the student section overflows (and it's been good so far apart from Ball State), there are at least 4k in the stands, and they're noisy.

[walldozer]

OK, with a a combination of reading this thread, my kids being the right age, and the opportunity to take time off to get there, I am going to take my family to the game tomorrow.  While I do not post here much, I lurk often and I am a VU grad and huge fan.  That said, I have not had the opportunity to go to a game in years.  If possible, I would like to ask some of those "in the know" on this board for some advice on what to do for the game.  My kids are young (11 son -basketball player- and 9 daughter -dancer- seeing the Crusaderettes is going to blow my daughter's mind ), but I want to make a great first impression for them of my school.  Eventhough, they have never been there, I have watched many a Valparaiso basketball games on TV with my children (my son even cried when when we lost in the Horizon tourney last year).  Long story short, I want them to leave with the best Valparaiso University experience as possible.  On a side note, I am planning on arriving in Valparaiso at around 3:30 to 4pm and I have not bought tickets yet (I am weighing options on which ones to buy).  Thank you in advance everyone for your anticipated help.  As a father and a grad, I just want to cement a love of VU with my kids and you never get a second chance to make a first impression.  Thanks again. 

[agibson]

A few quick ideas:

I don't usually favor a big meal pre-game. But, if you want a sit down meal, you could do much worse than Industrial Revolution. My kids, similar ages, really like it. Good beer, pretty good food (some of the better burgers in town) and fantastic decorations, a tribute to NW Indiana's industrial heritage. Close to campus.

I don't know that it's quintessentially Valpo (maybe it should be!) but you could do much worse than Barada Kabob, just north of campus, for a lighter/quicker (but slower than fast food) pre-game meal.

At the game, Culvers custard would help make any kid's evening.

If I were you I'd consider picking up tickets in advance - print them at home, or the box office is open until 4 PM (and then probably from 6 PM?); or you can probably phone ahead and have them at Will Call from the box office. But, I don't think there's too much risk of a sell-out (alas).

Parking at 6:20 or a bit later probably gets you there in plenty of time for all of the pre-game festivities (not sure when you'd have to arrive to get the first 1000 handout). At that hour, I don't think you'd have any problem parking south of the softball field, in either of the two fair-sized lots there. If you're closer to game time and there's a good crowd you might get pushed behind the Union instead.

If you wanted to look around campus a bit _and_ get there for the anthem, etc. you could arrive around 6 PM. Maybe peek into the Union or the VUCA. The Chapel could be a priority, but is apparently open to the public only until 6 PM (after that you'd need to try to catch a student or someone to let you in). Maybe the library. No Christmas decorations just yet (that's later in the week), but you could see a bit of campus.

[wh]

Here's a thought. There are a couple of timeout fan contests that you might get your son in. One is a FT shooting contest between 2 kids shooting at opposite ends of the court (or students at times). In another one 1 contestant tries to bounce a basketball into a garbage can placed at center. The fans really get into it and it's something special he would be able to add to his experience. I don't know how they choose contestants, but a guy 2 seats over from me yesterday participated in the FT shooting contest. I heard him say it was his birthday, so he obviously let someone know in advance. If you're interested, I suggest you contact someone in the athletic office today.

Also, if we win, make sure they ring the victory bell outside adjacent to the west end parking lot. You won't be alone. Several people (mostly kids) will be taking a turn. It's a cool way to add to the experience.

[vu72]

OK, a combination of reading this thread, my kids being the right age, and the opportunity to take time off to get there, I am going to take my family to the game tomorrow.  While I do not post here much, I lurk often and I am a VU grad and huge fan.  That said, I have not had the opportunity to go to a game in years.  If possible, I would like to ask some of those "in the know" on this board for some advice on what to do for the game.  My kids are young (11 son -basketball player- and 9 daughter -dancer- seeing the Crusaderettes is going to blow my daughter's mind ), but I want to make a great first impression for them of my school.  Eventhough, they have never been there, I have watched many a Valparaiso basketball games on TV with my children (my son even cried when when we lost in the Horizon tourney last year).  Long story short, I want them to leave with the best Valparaiso University experience as possible.  On a side note, I am planning on arriving in Valparaiso at around 3:30 to 4pm and I have not bought tickets yet (I am weighing options on which ones to buy).  Thank you in advance everyone for your anticipated help.  As a father and a grad, I just want to cement a love of VU with my kids and you never get a second chance to make a first impression.  Thanks again. 

I would think you might want to buy tickets on-line at the Valpo Athletics site.  You can then pick them up at will call.  Based on current availability the only lower level seats where you can get three together are either in F (chairback $25 per seat)  or in E at $10 per seat but this is behind the visitor bench and others can comment on this but I would think there may be some foul language originating from that area.  I'd go to the upper deck , section CC, which is the middle of the court and you can still get seats a few rows up easily.

As for pregame I would think you might want to go to the Union for a bite to eat where your kids can see a bunch of students etc and head to the bookstore to see all the Valpo stuff.  I'd get to the arena at least 30 minutes a head of the start to get into the swing of things with the players shooting and band getting things rolling.  Those who live in Valpo may have a better idea.  Have a blast!!

[walldozer]

Thank you for the advice on game experiences for tomorrow.  You guys are the best!  I reached out to the athletic department and the basketball team via Facebook messenger.  Any advice on who to specifically contact in the at the athletic office?

[Baylorfan24]

Big game tomorrow! We need a big crowd

[a3uge]

Sorry to hijack the thread, but are the seats in section F right behind the team and near where the Crusaderettes and cheerleaders are?

This is the best way to buy tickets... you can see an interactive seat map:

http://www.etix.com/ticket/p/7663876/valpo-mens-basketball-vsrhode-island-valparaiso-valparaiso-universityathleticsrecreation-center-arc?cobrand=valpo


The cheerleaders are by section A (right in front of the bench), while the dancers are usually by the student section (section E/F).