Game #16 - MVC #5 - Southern Illinois at the ARC Wednesday 1/10 7pm

[talksalot]

Here we go... another winnable game.

It's late on a Monday... and Brandon already wrote my lead...so with proper credit to his expertise...

Southern Illinois prevailed 66-62 in the only clash between these two teams last season (Feb. 14 at the ARC) to take a 15-14 lead in an all-time series that dates back to 1928. The Salukis also took a slight 6-5 edge in the 11 games that have occurred since Valpo joined The Valley. SIU has won four straight head-to-head meetings in a series that has seen four of the last five decided by four points or fewer. These two teams will face off in two of the next five games as Valpo will make the return trip to Carbondale on Jan. 24.

Scouting the Salukis

Own a five-game winning streak including MVC wins over UIC (62-50), Belmont (73-63) and most recently Illinois State on Saturday in Normal (71-64).
Did incur a 77-48 setback to Indiana State for their lone league loss on Nov. 28.
Larry Bird MVC Player of the Year candidate Xavier Johnson is the league's leading scorer at 24.3 points per game.
Picked ninth of 12 in the MVC preseason poll despite going 23-10 and 14-6 in MVC play a year ago.
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They are 9-1 at home, only 1-2 on the road.

They have these wins
Kentucky State 88-57
Queens College 91-68
Chicago State 71-55
New Mexico State 81-54 (Cancun)
Saint Louis 101-62
Oklahoma State 70-68
North Dakota State 79-63
Southern Indiana 81-50
UIC 62-50
Belmont 73-63
Illinois State 71-64

Losses:
James Madison 82-76 (Cancun)
@Indiana State 77-48
Austin Peay 70-68
Wichita State 69-68


Diving into their last box score with Illinois State
Their GoToEverything guy.  #10 Xavier Johnson.  played 39 minutes, scored 26 points 5-11 from 2-point range, 4-7 from 3-point range and 4-4 from the line, 5 rebounds, 9 assists

The other guy you need to guard is #24 Trent Brown, he played 38 minutes, scored 20 on 6-7 from 3-point range

There other starters garnered 2, 2, 2 respectively.  Jarrett Hensley scored 9 points on 18 minutes.

They wound up 53.2% for the game, and 53.4% from 3point going 11-22.  They also shot 10-11 from the line.

They only had 24 points in the paint, 5 second chance points, 2 fast break points, 9 points off turnovers.   They allowed Illinois State 42 points in the paint.

Starters in their last game:

00 Troy D'Amico, 6-7 Jr -Started every Game
04 Clarence Rupert 6-8 Jr - Started every Game
10 Xavier Johnson 6-1 Grad St - Started every Game
24 Trent Brown 6-2 Grad St - Started every Game
30 Kennard Davis 6-6 Fr - Started last 10 games

and 32 Jarrett Hensley 6-8 Sr

Johnson is the only person on the roster averaging in double figures at 24.3 ppg, to go with 92 assists, 53 turnovers and 25 steals.

We know what we have to do.  Can we?

Come to the game and help us celebrate Connie Felton Bretscher's 103rd birthday.

[valpopal]

SIU  74
VU   62

[tiny707]

SIU 76
Valpo 60

Xavier gets MVC player of the week.

[AB]

77-64 SIU. We need transition points and point production from our bigs. Stafford took way to many shots, Williamson 0 points, Connor and Palm never got off the bench at UIC. Cooper needs atlas 10 shots this game, draw fouls etc..

Sadly.....Over/under 2. Home games the rest of the year with over 2,500 in attendance.

[covufan]

I'd like to think we continue the good play from Saturday, but for 40 minutes. Time to start a home win streak.

Valpo  72
S Illinois 70


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[historyman]

Another loss.


Another disappointing 5 to 10 point loss with poor shooting, many turnovers and poor defense.


I really wish this team would prove me wrong but I see them falling into a pattern that I challenge the coaching staff to change.

[usc4valpo]

You have to like the positivity and consistency of covufan's picks.

SIU 69
crusaders 60

[valpotx]

Valpo 70
SIU 77

[NativeCheesehead]

[crusadermoe]

That 40 point win over SLU got my attention.   I don't watch this team closely  But if they beat athletes of that caliber that badly, then I don't see this ending well.

[JD24]

Time to catch another spankin'. Stafford had his high volume success game of the week so the guess is he goes back into the tank.

SIU 75
Beacaroos 58

[SPEEDYPITCHER37]

Salukis 78
Beacons 67

Unrelated note: Two of Valpo's four wins are against teams now with 10 wins. Western Illinois 10-6, Green Bay 10-8 and looking like a potential Horizon contender. Plus Southern has won 7 of 8.

[VUSWIM08-12]

Line is +9.5 for Valpo. We lose by at least 12. Probably 15+. If everyone shows up it's close until the last 4 minutes . Would love to eat my words in 150 minutes !

[VALPO LI]

Hounds loose in overtime by 5!
Beacons finally continuously push the ball fast up the court to stay in this game!
Students back yet???

[NativeCheesehead]

Bryce: Out of timeouts by halftime.
RP2: "I can call timeouts?"

[NativeCheesehead]

It's looking more and more like not a single member of this team will be a contributor in '25-'26.  You'll need some of them to fill out the roster next year. But then. 👋👋

[AB]

Two questions. How would you compare the effort of this team to Lottich's teams the last few years? and has this years team reached it's ceiling already?

[mj]

Two questions. How would you compare the effort of this team to Lottich's teams the last few years? and has this years team reached it's ceiling already?

This was one of the those games where you realized the opponent was clearly more talented and physical than you. The fact we kept it under double digits is...surprising.

The effort of this team is 1000% better than last year. The Lottich teams were a collection of individuals, now we have a team albeit a not very good one. Powell has said that's he's trying to install a culture at Valpo and it looks like he's been somwhat successful. We'll know if players have bought in at the end of the season and the transfer portal heats up.

From a team perspective I don't see things changing. I think that individual players could really improve and take steps to become the key building blocks of the next great team. But we shall see.

[wh]

To put things in perspective, take away our opponents' 4th and 5th year players and we would blow the doors off of most everyone. We're not "a bad team" or "a not very good team." We are "a very young team" paying its dues against much older, much more experienced teams. The way we fought our way back in the 2nd half tonight was a credit to the entire coaching staff and an amazing never-say-die attitude from our young warriors. Every lesson learned is money in the bank for a big payback coming down the road.

[usc4valpo]

Their record is 4-12, thus they are not a good team. They are a way below average team.  This is simple to say. Young team I agree, but not a good team. If you know nothing about this team and the situation and making bets, you would consider them as a bad team.

However, that's OK as we know the talent level will improve, and these guys are learning and not giving up. We are in a better situation than with Lottich in the past few seasons.

[wh]

If I have a relatively new employee with seemingly great promise, I would never think of that person as "bad" simply because they can't perform at the same level as my more experienced people. Instead, I'm thinking positively knowing that I may have someone special down the road.

That's exactly how I feel about our young guys right now going up against far more experienced players, including COVID "gray-beards" like SIU's Johnson and his 130 games of playing experience over 5 seasons.

[valpo64]

I like your assessments, "wh".  I love the way Coach is approaching and handling the kids this year.

[usc4valpo]

Good points, and I presume Valparaiso will handle this situation better than the current situation of the Chicago Bears, which is "bad" management and ownership.

[valpopal]

Valpo is on track for the worst season since the last-place teams of Homer's early years: 89-90 (4-24, 1-11), 90-91 (5-22, 2-14), 91-92 (5-22, 2-14). Nevertheless, many seem willing to weather the storm with a trust that better days are ahead and history will repeat itself with success for Roger the way Homer found it. Like others, I'm also remaining positive toward Roger and his players even as the team drops into the 300s of the NET rankings. I am giving them a pass this year.

However, my good will does not extend to those who allowed the program to deteriorate and did not recognize the need to improve on and off the court when VU entered the MVC, as some members on here warned repeatedly, so that Valpo basketball became a shell of what it was. This season is a reminder that the program's national reputation, which had been built steadily for a couple of decades, was wasted. It is regrettable that the status has returned to those seasons more than 30 years ago. VU should never have reached this low point.

[JD24]

If I have a relatively new employee with seemingly great promise, I would never think of that person as "bad" simply because they can't perform at the same level as my more experienced people. Instead, I'm thinking positively knowing that I may have someone special down the road. That's exactly how I feel about our young guys right now going up against far more experienced players, including COVID "gray-beards" like SIU's Johnson and his 130 games of playing experience over 5 seasons.

The team is young. The team is bad. There's nothing evident that shows either of those two comments to be incorrect.

You can feel there are better days ahead but right now...the team is bad
...and young.