Trees at Beacons 2/5 @ 6 PM

[VUSERF]

First game thread I have ever started.

This one is actually special to me because this will be the first Valpo game I have attended in person since I was a student at VU in 2014. Driving far from out of town and am looking forward to the opportunity to be back in the ARC for a game. Job / school has taken me far away from NWI but now I am close enough to make the journey.

Valpo looking to win this one to stay above 0.5 for its home win/loss record. Bottom of the MVC standings are getting awfully crowded. Avoiding Thursday may be possible...

See you at the game!

[humbleopinion]

Last time we played, Cooper Neese was out for ISU, and we had both Kithier and Trevor available (although both of then had their minutes limited.  I suppose that Kithier could be available with the added rest, but I would be pleasantly surprised if he stepped on the court. 

Krikke will need to stay out of foul trouble.  Last game against InSU he played 30 minutes and only was whislted twice.  Tonight he may need to play a few more minutes and still be able to move his feet well enough to avoid fouling.

If Kevion finds his shot, life will be easier for Kobe to move inside.

We'll need our freshmen to play well -- it would be a bonus if Trey Woodyard could provide quality minutes.

I'm eager to get out to the game. I hope students will be tired of being stuck inside after the snow and are willing to make the walk over to the ARC.

[Just Sayin]

Pomeroy Predicts Valpo to win by two.

188 Indiana St. at 214 Valparaiso   Valparaiso 70-68 (57%)   6:00 pm   Valparaiso, IN
Athletics Recreation Center

Pomeroy uses just the objective numbers while ignoring any other subjective factors such as injuries of major players and so forth. What's the Vegas line on this game? It typically considers those factors right up till game time.

Heck, if Houston can not miss a beat from losing two of its best players, surely Valpo can do the same thing. 

[justducky]

See you at the game!

I had no desire or intention to attend but an acquaintance called in a promise I had made when our team prospects were far more favorable. I'll rationalize our going by saying that ISUb might show us some quality Valley basketball and coaching. I am pretty sure that one of these two teams will give us a winning performance. Also----Even bad basketball is slightly better than no basketball! 

[tjjvalpo]

Happy to be out of town and missing this game. Valpo basketball is getting so hard to watch. After 25 years of having season tickets, I don't recall ever being this disappointed in a Valpo team. We have had bad seasons before, but this one is made so much worse by the high expectations that we had coming into the season.

[AB]

A win is a win. Neither team playing with it's full complement of players. Two below average teams battled it out. Henry is a stud. Crowd asleep, most of game. Pep band was amazing. Understatement... Kithier's loss is enormous. Nice game from King, Taylor and Sheldon. Woodyard got abused on defense. Whelp slim chance to grab sixth place and avoid Thursday night.

[Just Sayin]

The crowd attendance seemed a lot better on TV tonight than in previous home games. There were students in the student section. 
Was there a push by the university to get attendance up? I was surprised to see the official stat sheet on the website which shows attendance was 1908. That seems low from what I saw.

[tjjvalpo]

Sixth place went out the window with the loss to SIU. We have two losses to them, so we would have to beat them outright. With the games they have left, SIU will be either 8-10 or 9-9. We are not getting to 9-9 and certainly not 10-8. 7th place is the best we can hope for with a first round game against Evansville.

[valpotx]

Playing without Trevor and TK, I am not going to have anything negative to say about this game.  Gordon was able to contribute, versus the games where he is invisible/only visible when making errors.  Hopefully Preston gets in a groove with his shot, as he is not missing by much.  We need at least SOME points from the PG position.  If TK is back for the rest of the season, I could still see us get to 8-10 or 9-9.

[humbleopinion]

I feel sorry for those of you who didn't enjoy last night's game.  It was a hard fought battle that never saw a lead greater than five points after the first couple minutes until the end of the second overtime. We saw Kobe have his best night in a Valpo uniform on both ends of the court (I wish he would have made a couple more free throws). Krikke defended without getting into foul trouble. Overall, the team gave their all throughout the game. ISU was fully healthy, and Henry and Peese played very well.  I can see how the Sycamores knocked off Missouri State.

A double overtime game with Valpo on the "W" side of the ledger. I left the ARC with a smile on my face.

[justducky]

Krikke defended without getting into foul trouble. Overall, the team gave their all throughout the game. ISU was fully healthy, and Henry and Peese played very well.  I can see how the Sycamores knocked off Missouri State.

When two teams battle that hard you can't help but enjoy it. Good defensive movement without a lot of mistakes.

[vuny98]

Sixth place went out the window with the loss to SIU. We have two losses to them, so we would have to beat them outright. With the games they have left, SIU will be either 8-10 or 9-9. We are not getting to 9-9 and certainly not 10-8. 7th place is the best we can hope for with a first round game against Evansville.

Half game behind with 7 games to go. Yeah, completely out the window. We should just pack it in, no chance to make that up. I hope you don't give motivational speeches for a living.


Actually,  I'd even say over taking Bradley isn't out of the realm of possibility.  They have a pretty tough remaining schedule. Now obviously the hard part to both those equations is we need to string together several wins in a row, which has not been our strong suit. But it's clear the team is still fighting and playing hard and our schedule is easier in the back half.

[vu84v2]

I feel sorry for those of you who didn't enjoy last night's game.  It was a hard fought battle that never saw a lead greater than five points after the first couple minutes until the end of the second overtime. We saw Kobe have his best night in a Valpo uniform on both ends of the court (I wish he would have made a couple more free throws). Krikke defended without getting into foul trouble. Overall, the team gave their all throughout the game. ISU was fully healthy, and Henry and Peese played very well.  I can see how the Sycamores knocked off Missouri State.

A double overtime game with Valpo on the "W" side of the ledger. I left the ARC with a smile on my face.

Watched the last four minutes of regulation and the two overtimes. I fully agree and it was nice to see some energy in the ARC.

[vu72]

Was there a push by the university to get attendance up?

Yes, it was family night and it was promoted.

Nice game from King,

Was it just me or is King finally rounding into the "go to" player we all expected?  I thought he played a great game and when the pressure was on at the end of the first OT, Kobe got the ball and went hard to the basket.

It was a grind it out in you face game from both teams.  They were nearly at full strength and we were not. Credit Matt for getting the few pieces we had available (six scholarship players in street clothes) into positions to win.

[valpopal]

With this win Valpo fans still harbor a slim hope to avoid a Thursday game in St. Louis, but also now get to sit back and observe the battle for the conference basement taking place elsewhere in Indiana.
[tweet]1490179800232779778[/tweet]

[VALPO LI]

Speaking of playing in the basement....Other than the 3 Big Boys Purdue, Indiana and Norte Dame, Indiana as a state is not looking great in Basketball right now.

#4 Purdue 9-3 (20-3)
Notre Dame 9-3 (16-7)
Indiana 7-5 (16-6)

Purdue FW 7-6 (12-10)
Ball St. 6-5 (11-11)
Valpo 4-7 (11-12)
Butler 4-8 (11-12)
Indiana St. 2-8 (9-13)
Evansville 1-9 (5-16)
IUPUI 0-10 (2-19)

[Valpo89]

Regarding attendance: I'd say 1,900 is about right. Decent crowd in the balcony, chairbacks not bad but still a lot of open seats.
The students were all girls on the right hand side. Must have been a sorority thing. The students were enticed by free Hungry Howie's pizza. They wheeled in about two dozen pies at halftime.
It was somewhat enjoyable watching a close game between two flawed teams.
Suggestion for the promos: Please, please, please stop doing the Chicken Dance thing. No one wants to do it, and it's uncomfortable to watch. Very lame.

[tjjvalpo]

Vuny98, I appreciate your optimism. I hope you are right. Here is hoping that the team can still live up to our pre-season expectations and make a run and finish higher than 7th. That type of momentum might mean we would even have a deep run in the MVC tournament.

[vuny98]

Vuny98, I appreciate your optimism. I hope you are right. Here is hoping that the team can still live up to our pre-season expectations and make a run and finish higher than 7th. That type of momentum might mean we would even have a deep run in the MVC tournament.

Oh don't get me wrong, I think we will likely finish 7th and play Thursday... but to call it a foregone conclusion is a bit much. I'd say I am hopeful, but maybe not optimistic about those chances.

[VUGrad1314]

It's not the distance in the standings that is worrisome it's that SIU holds every conceivable tiebreaker which effectively adds a full game to their lead over us. How I wish we had completed that comeback at the ARC earlier in the year

[elephtheria47]

Matt Hackman did 100,000 simulations for the remainder of the season.

5th - 1%
6th - 10%
7th - 53%
8th - 27%
9th - 9%
10th - 1%

So mathematically...not good.
https://mobile.twitter.com/mjhackman/status/1490732817814327296

[oklahomamick]

We will be #7 and beat #10 Evansville then play #2 on no rest.

[VUGrad1314]

We will be #7 and beat #10 Evansville then play #2 on no rest.

Which I'm guessing will be either Missouri State or UNI and will be an extremely tall order no matter who we play.

[AB]

For what it's worth. Indiana State lost at home to Evansville tonight. Two bottom feeder teams. Anyway....stat of the night. Trees 0-17 on three pointers. Ouch!

[valpo tundra]

I would counter that the stat of the night was that neither team had an offensive rebound. That is possibly the only time this has ever happened since this stat started in the early 1990's.