Valpo hosts Evansville Game Thread, Sun., Jan. 26,2020, 4:00p CT

[wh]

Valpo Looks to Continue Home Success on Sunday

http://www.valpoathletics.com/mbasketball/news/2019-20/19643/valpo-looks-to-continue-home-success-on-sunday/

[wh]

The spread: Valpo -13

https://www.oddsshark.com/ncaab/evansville-valparaiso-odds-january-26-2020-1200809

[talksalot]

NBC Sportsnet Chicago.  local Comcast 200. 

[govalpogo]

Pretty much a must-win in the large scheme of things.  You've got to beat the 10th place team at home.  Also important to avoid the spiral that has occurred around this time over the last couple of years.  There are some tough games ahead, so you need to hold serve (tomorrow and against Ill St. coming up especially). 

[M]

Any win would be great, but this should be an easy double digit victory.

[Just Sayin]

Any word on whether DeAndre Williams is healthy and will play against Valpo after missing the last four games with a back injury?

[valpotx]

Valpo 73
E-vil 65

KJ Riley gets 12 BS FTs.

[talksalot]

From the UE site... their preview of the game... NOTE:  They are showing it on ESPN3...

Lickliter takes the helm
- On January 21, it was announced that Todd Lickliter inked a multi-year deal to become the Aces head coach
- An assistant with UE last season, Lickliter has been a head coach at Butler, Iowa and Marian and was honored as the 2007 NABC National Coach of the Year while at Butler
- He led his alma mater to a pair of Sweet 16 appearances

Setting the Scene
- Sunday's contest takes place in a venue that has been kind to the Purple Aces - the Athletics-Recreation Center
- UE has won four of the last five road contests against the Crusaders and both games since Valpo joined the MVC
- Last year, the Aces picked up a 65-63 win over VU in the regular season finale at the ARC with Marty Hill scoring 21
- The Aces look to right the ship following an 0-7 start to its MVC slate; UE is trying to avoid the 0-13 start to the 2009-10 league schedule

Last Time Out
- Drake scored the first nine points of the game and finished with a 73-50 win on Wednesday evening at the Ford Center
- Evansville got within five points in the first half and after trailing by 20 at the break, UE trimmed its deficit to 14, but the Bulldogs countered both times
- Shamar Givance used a 3-for-3 performance from long range to lead the team with nine points; it marked the first time since 12/8/10 against North Carolina that the team did not have a double digit scorer
- Jawaun Newton tallied eight points while John Hall scored seven while grabbing a team-best seven boards
- After allowing Drake to shoot 56.3% in the first half, the Aces buckled down in the final 20 minutes, holding them to 33.3%

Adapting to the Next Level
- Freshman Marcus Henderson has done a nice job of filling his role, which continues to grow as the season evolves
- Henderson played a season-high 22 minutes on Wednesday against Drake and responded with six points and three assists
- Over the last two games, Henderson has drained four of his seven 3-point attempts

Coach vs. Valpo
- UE head coach Todd Lickliter is 2-0 in a pair of meetings against the Crusaders, both coming while at Butler
- The Bulldogs defeated Valpo, 72-69, in the 2005 Bracket Buster games at Hinkle Fieldhouse before taking a 60-47 victory at the ARC in 2006

Scouting the Opponent
- Valparaiso heads into Sunday's game with an overall mark of 10-10 while going 3-4 in Valley action
- The Crusaders dropped a 67-60 contest at Missouri State on Thursday but have won their last two home games against Drake and Indiana State
- Javon Freeman-Liberty continues to be the top player for Valpo
- Freeman-Liberty leads the squad in points (20.7/game), rebounds (5.6/game) and steals (47)
- In the first match-up against the Aces, Freeman-Liberty had 25 points
- Donovan Clay and Ben Krikke added 10 points apiece in the January 4 game at the Ford Center

[humbleopinion]

The flu bug has hit the band so hard that they won't be able to play.
We'll have to count on the PA

[hailcrusaders]

Love the intensity with which we're playing, but man Evansville is in rough shape without Williams.

[VALPO LI]

Feels good to be on the other end of a team that is struggling to score!

[VALPO LI]

Yeah....about that....
9-0 Evansville run

[vu84v2]

Liked the play to end the half...nice little two man game to setup Fazekas.

[bbtds]

Liked the play to end the half...nice little two man game to setup Fazekas.

It was obvious Coach Lottich called for Ryan to come out and set the screen & then receive the pass for the three. X's & O's starting to work better for Valpo in general.

[vu84v2]

Your X's always look better when players make plays.

[NativeCheesehead]

Stop.  Shooting. Threes.  Early. In. The. Shot. Clock.

[FieldGoodie05]

Stop.  Shooting. Threes.  Early. In. The. Shot. Clock.

That and early shot clock poor attempts.  They are in this game (potentially) because of our bad shot selection.  Also, is Mileek a good passer or does he "believe" he is? 

[hailcrusaders]

Production crew needs to knock it off with the weird camera angles. We totally missed an Evansville turnover and have had poor views of other possessions because of it.

[FieldGoodie05]

Am I missing something, doesn't it feel like our G are getting beat off the dribble with a high frequency?  It forces our Bigs to help then comes an easy dish and layup.  It's maddening . . .

[NativeCheesehead]

Nothing is ever easy with this team.

[Valpower]

Nothing is ever easy with this team.

Will we ever have two dominant halves?

[VALPO LI]

Nothing is ever easy with this team.

Will we ever have two dominant halves?

Playing home against an 0-7 team in conference play with out their best player and I still need to reach for the Pepto....

[FieldGoodie05]

It would seem that all MVC teams are shading 1 defender in addition to the on ball defender against JFL.  How do we break this?  By shooting the very first shot from deep once JFL passes.  Well that is a good idea if we aren't very sub-par as a team from deep.  Gotta keep making the extra passes guys.  We are one-dimensional and predictable.

Coach wants us to run . . . ok.  Well run when you can and run an offense when that isn't available.  Come on gents, we can and should do better.

P.S.  If I have to hear Todd and his compatriot (radio) say we should be winning this game by double digits one more time I am going to lose my mind.  Where is the evidence (thru 20 games) that we are the type of team that has big leads and wins by large margins?  Stop reading the spread guys, it's junk!

[hailcrusaders]

Well that was a lot closer than it needed to be.

[nkvu]

Good half, bad half. Same old same old. At least we managed to pull this one out. Take it.