Game #3 - @ Southern Illinois Univ-E'ville Cougars 11/15/17 7pm - FoxSports MW

[talksalot]

Let's #govalpo! Alumni pre-game dinner for Valpo vs. Southern Illinois University Edwardsville! Register at http://ow.ly/mOcb30eEARl  (I put the FAQ on the event at the end of this post)

Originally opened December 5, 1984, the Sam M. Vadalabene Center lends itself to the students, faculty, staff and alumni of SIUE for the purposes of education, health, recreation and wellness. The facility is the home to SIUE men's and women's basketball, volleyball and wrestling, and has a capacity of slightly above 4,000. It also serves as the indoor practice facility for baseball and track.

Following spring commencement exercises in 2008, the facility underwent a $6 million renovation, nearly tripling the number of chair back seats as well as adding new locker room, class room and office space. A new playing floor was also installed. The facility was officially "rededicated" February 7, 2009.

The largest crowd at the Vadalabene Center post-renovation was 4,157 on Jan. 21, 2012, against Murray State University, a game televised nationally on ESPNU.

In 2010 new locker rooms opened for men's basketball, women's basketball, wrestling, and volleyball.

================
Three SIUE players scored in double figures and SIUE won the rebounding battle, but No. 20 Purdue proved too much for the Cougars. The Boilermakers earned a 105-74 win in the season opener for both teams Friday at Mackey Arena.

"Our guys fought tonight," Third-year SIUE Head Coach Jon Harris said. "We talk about the '50-50 balls.' We won a lot of those. That part was good to see. There are definitely some positive takeaways from the game."

Redshirt-sophomore Julian Torres led the Cougars in his SIUE debut. Torres, who sat out last season after transferring from UIC, scored a game-high 20 points on 8-for-14 shooting. He was 4 for 4 from three-point range.

"Julian is a capable guy," Harris said. He did some really nice things and it's good to see him have some success."

Daniel Kinchen and Justin Benton also turned in double-digit scoring performances for the Cougars. Kinchen, also making his SIUE debut, scored 17 points. He was 7 for 17 from the field and added four three-pointers of his own. Benton scored 15 points. He was 7 for 13 from the floor.

Overall the Cougars were 31-81 (38.3) combined from the field, including knocking down 10 of 31 three-point attempts. The 10 three-pointers made were the most for a Cougar team since the 2015 season.

"Overall, I was disappointed in our offense," Harris said. "I don't think we moved at the level that we're capable of. We got a little stagnant. (Purdue) is a good defensive team but we have to be better than we were."

The Cougars outrebounded Purdue 40-39, which included a 25-17 advantage in the first half.

"Rebounding is a mindset," Harris said. "If that's one thing we can bottle up and take with us the rest of the way then we'll have a chance to do some things this year."

Purdue connected on 59 percent (36-61) of its shots. The Boilermakers were nine for 19 from three-point range.

"That team is hard to guard," Harris said. "They don't make a lot of mistakes."

Purdue was led by Dakota Mathias, who scored 18 points. He was 5 for 8 from the field. He was 6 for 6 at the free throw line. The Boilermakers were 24-32 as a team from the free throw line.

Here's the box score link:

http://www.siuecougars.com/sports/m-baskbl/2017-18/boxscores/20171110_vb07.xml?view=boxscore


Their starters are: 
6'9"-255 So
6'6"-210 Sr, Keenen Simmons from Michigan City, IN
6'3"-155-Jr
6'2"-190-So
6'4"-180-Jr
and first guy off the bench is 6'4"-195-So

About Jon Harris, the head coach:   He came to SIUE having been an assistant coach at the University of California-Berkeley under Cuonzo Martin. He spent seven seasons on Martin's staff, first at Missouri State for three seasons and then three seasons at Tennessee. Harris joined Martin at Cal, where he spent one season before getting the SIUE head coaching position. The Bears finished the 2014-15 season with an 18-15 record. Cal defeated Washington in the first round of the Pac-12 Tournament before falling to No. 5 Arizona.

In three seasons at Tennessee, Harris oversaw an extremely successful frontcourt. Under Harris' tutelage, Jarnell Stokes and Jeronne Maymon earned All-SEC honors for the Vols. Tennessee ranked near the top of the SEC in defensive rebounding and rebounding margin during three seasons under Harris.

In three seasons on staff at Missouri State, the Bears averaged more than 20 victories and captured the program's first-ever Missouri Valley Conference regular season championship. MSU improved from 11 wins in 2008-09 to a 24-12 record and the CollegeInsider.com postseason tournament title in 2009-10.

Harris, who played four seasons at Marquette, including three for Head Coach Tom Crean, served on the staff at his alma mater for the 2002-03 season

Valpo Alumni Event Details:  (There are already 40 people signed up to attend !)

For ease of getting to the game, we are holding the event on SIUE's campus at the Morris University Center. Adult tickets will include a the game ticket, a delightful buffet, wine, and beer for $30. Children's tickets can be purchased for $20. Game tickets alone will be $5.00 per ticket.

DATE: Wednesday, November 15, 2017
EVENT TIME: 4:00 to 6:00 PM (CST)
GAME TIME: 7:00 PM (CST)
Go Crusaders!

Contact Information
Primary Contact
Alumni Engagement
1100 S. Campus Drive
Valparaiso , IN 46383
219-464-5142
alumni@valpo.edu

[talksalot]

Talk about worthless stats... how about RPI after 4 dates in the new season?   the teams that have not played a D1 game are listed alphabetically so Drake is #258 ahead of us...

      9    Indiana St.   0-0     1-0    0.7500   42    0.6667
29    Evansville   0-0     2-0    0.6250   92    0.5000
91    Illinois St.   0-0     0-1    0.5000   56    0.6667
181    Northern Iowa   0-0     1-1    0.2917   181    0.2222
229    Southern Ill.   0-0     1-0    0.2500   298    0.0000
204    Loyola Chicago   0-0     1-0    0.2500   251    0.0000
247    Missouri St.   0-0     1-0    0.2500   332    0.0000
234    Bradley   0-0     1-0    0.2500   304    0.0000
321    Valparaiso   0-0     0-0    0.0000   309    0.0000
278    Drake   0-0     0-0    0.0000   228    0.0000


Sagarin obviously uses a different formula...interesting to see our future opponents in the same block ...

141  Valparaiso              =  73.24    0   0    0.00(   0)    0   0  |    0   0  |   73.15  140 |   73.12  143 |   73.00  147
142  Northeastern            =  73.22    1   0   71.89( 162)    0   0  |    0   0  |   72.79  145 |   73.46  138 |   77.74   98
143  Elon                    =  73.08    0   1   97.40(   1)    0   1  |    0   1  |   72.93  143 |   73.25  140 |   72.84  153
144  San Diego               =  73.05    1   0   69.40( 191)    0   0  |    0   0  |   72.79  144 |   72.44  154 |   77.89   96
145  NC Asheville            =  72.98    0   1   86.82(  34)    0   0  |    0   1  |   72.78  146 |   73.55  137 |   71.83  165
146  Utah State              =  72.97    1   1   70.03( 181)    0   0  |    0   0  |   72.67  149 |   73.12  145 |   75.19  130
147  Long Beach State        =  72.90    1   0   77.69( 112)    0   0  |    0   0  |   72.31  153 |   72.95  148 |   82.58   48
148  Ball State              =  72.81    0   1   82.35(  69)    0   0  |    0   0  |   73.03  142 |   71.70  163 |   71.25  177
149  NC Wilmington           =  72.79    0   0    0.00(   0)    0   0  |    0   0  |   72.70  147 |   72.66  150 |   72.60  156
150  Santa Clara             =  72.78    0   0    0.00(   0)    0   0  |    0   0  |   72.68  148 |   72.65  151 |   72.59  157

[VU2014]

As Paul wrote in his last article, "Now the real games begin."

Valpo did what they had to do against the Non-D1s and thoroughly dominated them and now we get our first real test with this team on the road. SIUE isn't  suppose to be a great team but they're a team with some size and D1 caliber athletes.

[oklahomamick]

Size?  Tallest starter is 6'9.....Second tallest is 6'6.  We have guys that can bring the ball up the court taller than that....

[VU2014]

relative size to the teams we've played so far.

[oklahomamick]

At least SIUE will be athletic.  Smits will have to jump....

[covufan]

A full complement of players, two with something to prove.  The real games begin.  We don't want to look past SIUE, nor take them lightly. 

Valpo   77
SIUE    62

[agibson]

Anyone get Fox Sports Midwest? I flipped through my Comcast and didn't notice it.

I assume that it means there's no video stream?

[VU2014]

Anyone get Fox Sports Midwest? I flipped through my Comcast and didn't notice it.

I assume that it means there's no video stream?

Is Fox Sports Midwest the same thing as FS1? Just looked it up and it won't be streamed on ESPN3. It's a bummer if there is no stream.

[valpo4life]

Anyone get Fox Sports Midwest? I flipped through my Comcast and didn't notice it.

I assume that it means there's no video stream?

Is Fox Sports Midwest the same thing as FS1? Just looked it up and it won't be streamed on ESPN3. It's a bummer if there is no stream.

Did my own digging using my Xfinity TV app. Searched for the Valparaiso Men's Basketball Team. The result was they Comcast Xfinity does have the game tomorrow listed but not on Fox Sports Midwest, but on Fox College Sports Atlantic. Which apparently I get on the app so I will be able to watch, yay me!  But as far as anyone else, take a look for that channel which could be listed as FCSA.

[agibson]

Is Fox Sports Midwest the same thing as FS1? Just looked it up and it won't be streamed on ESPN3. It's a bummer if there is no stream.

Did my own digging using my Xfinity TV app. Searched for the Valparaiso Men's Basketball Team. The result was they Comcast Xfinity does have the game tomorrow listed but not on Fox Sports Midwest, but on Fox College Sports Atlantic. Which apparently I get on the app so I will be able to watch, yay me!  But as far as anyone else, take a look for that channel which could be listed as FCSA.

Re FS1. In general, no, FS1 should be different from FS Midwest or FS Atlantic. FS1 is more of a national thing, with more households (though not exactly ESPN) and I suspect they'd tell us if it was going to be on FS1.

Good catch re the Xfinity search. It seems like I'm in a similar situation. Maybe I don't get it on TV, but it may be available streaming.

At the office, I can get it on my phone (through the xfinity app), but not through my laptop (it doesn't tell me no, it just sort of endlessly tries to load the stream).

I'll have to try it at home. Phone-only doesn't exactly make for good viewing with the family! We do HDMI from a laptop to the TV, but I'm not sure we can easily do phone to TV.

[crusaderjoe]

http://www.ovcdigitalnetwork.com/watch/?Live=5934&type=Live

Is this subscription based?  Anyone know?

[VU2014]

The SIUE coach mention that they are going to try and keep Valpo in our half court. Pretty much one of inconsistency from the last 2 games is our half court offense. It seems like Valpo this year excel in the transition but has looked shaky at time when we're force into our sets, but the last two games we've been playing without 2 starters so maybe thats the difference. He also mentions the keeping us off the free throw line which is an obvious but we haven't been that great from the free throw line early on even though we were a little better last night making .733 (22-30).

https://twitter.com/SIUECougars/status/930556029229850624

[agibson]

The result was they Comcast Xfinity does have the game tomorrow listed but not on Fox Sports Midwest, but on Fox College Sports Atlantic. Which apparently I get on the app so I will be able to watch, yay me!  But as far as anyone else, take a look for that channel which could be listed as FCSA.

Yeah, I think this will work for me too. My trouble turned out to be a browser issue (maybe my Firefox setup). Works now for me laptop and phone, office (campus) and home.

The channel is part of Xfinity Go, or some such. Streaming only. Not available through my cable box like "regular" TV.

[talksalot]

you could go for the LiveStats and listen to Todd and Dave on the call... if you close your eyes its better than TV!

[VUSWIM08-12]

Valpo out of the gate as a 7 point favorite, I doubt it will move much but I do expect Valpo to cover. Should win by 10-14  if we just play an average game!

[valpolaw]

Predicting a win by about 20. Hopefully my early season optimism isn't wrong

[valpotx]

Valpo 74
SIUE 65

[VULB#62]

SIUE has played one exhibition vs.  Brescia University (who??) a Catholic, NAIA school out of western KY, beating them by 20, 95-75. Their only regular season game so far has been their 31 point blowout loss to Purdue @ Purdue (105-74).  Our game will be their home opener.

OTOH, Valpo has, so far, a secret scrimmage with NIU, exhibitions vs. Robert Morris (w) and Chicago State (w), and regular season wins against non-D-Is North Park and Trinity Christian.  We have 3 more game situations under our belt, with 2 of them vs. D-I opponents if you count the UNI scrimmage. What's the Vegas spread?

[bbtds]

SIUE has played one exhibition vs.  Brescia University (who??) a Catholic, NAIA school out of western KY, beating them by 20, 95-75.

I actually posted Brescia's emblem last season. Come on! Somebody has got to remember this.






The blue Brescia Bearcats!

[M]

Forcing our team to run half court sets is a good strategy based off of the first couple of games.  The half court sets seem pretty elementary to me, and I'm pretty sure that was done purposefully to not put a lot on video real early for our opponents.  Hoping to see the play book open up a bit the next few games if the situation calls for it.

[AranJacobs]

I am confident Valpo will win this game tonight but I am interested to see how they do on the boards. This SIUE team out-rebounded Purdue in despite Purdue's monster height advantage in the paint. 

[agibson]

What's the Vegas spread?

Valpo out of the gate as a 7 point favorite, I doubt it will move much but I do expect Valpo to cover. Should win by 10-14  if we just play an average game!

I'm now seeing Valpo by 9.

[vu84v2]

Given that Valpo is a new team coming together and that this will be one of the biggest home games of the year for SIU-E, I expect this to be close with Valpo winning.

That said, with all due respect to people in University Advancement and others at Valparaiso, this game should never happen. As discussed in previous posts, University Advancement/Alumni Engagement wanted a game in St. Louis to create an alumni event. They apparently couldn't get Saint Louis (which would have been fine) and settled for SIU-E (one of the historically weakest D1 programs). SIU-E should be thrilled to get Valpo to come there. OK, so Valpo agrees to a home and home so that they can get the alumni event - a huge give on Valpo's part. And what happens? They schedule the game on a Wednesday night at 7:00 PM with an alumni dinner from 4:00 PM to 6:00 PM in Edwardsville. Valpo alumni would likely live in the western suburbs (38 miles) or the Saint Charles area (36 miles) - not an easy drive on a weeknight and many would think twice about driving it for such a weak opponent. Taking the game at SIU-E was questionable, but if Valpo was focusing on an alumni event they should have demanded the game be on a Saturday or Sunday.

[VUBBFan]

If you have Comcast cable you can stream the game on your computer. This was stated above but if you don't know how, I'll try to explain how you can connect to the game. I'm assuming most of you know how but there may be a few who don't. Go to your xfinity main page and click on the little TV icon at the top right or go to xfinity stream. From there click on Live TV and select TV go channels in the drop down box. Then just scroll down the listings until you get to College Basketball Crusaders. Hope this was helpful to at least one fan.