Game #27, MVC 16 at Missouri State Saturday 1pm 2/17

[talksalot]

MVC TV Network (NBC Sports Chicago)

Playing without the services of leading scorer Isaiah Stafford for family reasons, the Valparaiso University men's basketball team started four freshmen for the first time in 40 years on Saturday afternoon at the Athletics-Recreation Center. The Beacons were even or ahead for the majority of the first half, but the experience of visiting Missouri State proved too much to overcome as the Bears used a 12-0 second-half run to prevail 81-70 despite a combined 39 points from Darius DeAveiro and Jahari Williamson

Da Bears come in on a 3-game losing streak.  @UNI 72-65; Home to IndSt 73-71 and @ Murray St 82-72.  The recap on this last game:
N.J. Benson's free throw with 7:34 left in the game drew visiting Missouri State within three points of Murray State, but the hot-shooting Racers ended the game on a 13-6 run to put the Bears away down the stretch, 82-72, in a Valley battle here Wednesday.

Matthew Lee led Missouri State with 22 points and 7 assists, while Chance Moore scored 21 for the Bears (14-12, 6-9 MVC), while Cesare Edwards contributed 10 points.

The second half started with a furious pace with 36 points scored between the teams before the first media timeout. The Racers made 16 of their first 19 field goal attempts in the second half to push ahead 69-61. But Lee and Benson closed the game to 69-66 after Benson's free throw at the 7:34 mark.

But Ellington and Wood carried the Racers to the finish line as Missouri State made just one of its last eight shots down the stretch to fall by ten. The Racers shot 21-of-28 (.750) in the second half.

The Bears finished 27-of-60 (.450) overall, 7-of-25 (.280) from long range and 11-of-16 (.688) from the foul line with 9 turnovers.

Donovan Clay played just 14 minutes (fewest of all dressed athletes) no points, 2 rebounds and no other stats.   In the Indiana State game, Donovan played 35 minutes, 1 of 10 shooting and 5 rebounds..  and a total of 5 points. 

Their NET is 141, They are 7-4 at home; Valpo's Net is 298. 

so, let's see if Isaiah can help make the difference.  After this one, we only have two more road games to score the OVER on the coveted preseason prognostications, so we may as well win this one and further upset the middle of the Valley applecart.

[valpopal]

Valparaiso 66
Mo. State  77

[valpotx]

Valpo 66
Misery State 86

[usc4valpo]

Missouri St. 88
Valpo 69

[vu72]

They are just too big for Valpo to win. Hope we can keep it close.

[tiny707]

Missouri State: 90
Valpo: 64

Joe Vick starts.

[AB]

Bears 87 Brown and Gold 66. Bears...most underachieving coach in the league

[justducky]

Channel 201 on my Comcast package. Time for the team to get up off the deck and start competing for next year and the years that follow. I want to see signs of life.

[mj]

Nice to show some fight in the first half. Need another solid 20 minutes.

[justducky]

Nice 1st half contribution from Palm.

[johnu1]

Mo State seems to be able to commit extremely physical fouls and be immune to the consequences. They aren't actually illegal fouls but in ticky-tack Valley officiating, they usually spend 8 minutes studying the monitor against everyone else deciding if they are "flagrant."

[covufan]

This is a nice surprise. Go Beacons!


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[covufan]

Too much ball movement there. We need to feed whoever Moore and Clay are guarding


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[covufan]

This 12-0 run by MSU the last 4 minutes has been brutal.


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[tiny707]

That 12-0 run Palm should have been in for Sepp. Bigger body. Coach is learning too..

[AB]

Had them by the jugular, couldn't close the deal. Good first half. Played great for 30 minutes and then an epic meltdown. We score 2 points in the final 7 minutes? Not that I care, but Dana Ford should be fired after the season. They got away with one today.

[covufan]

By my memory, MSU finished game with 18-2 run. Last 7 minutes we seemed lost. Running weave to run clock, turnovers, cold shooting. We need to get that winning/killer instinct, especially at end of game. Can't play 33 minute games


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[justducky]

By my memory, MSU finished game with 18-2 run. Last 7 minutes we seemed lost. Running weave to run clock, turnovers, cold shooting. We need to get that winning/killer instinct, especially at end of game. Can't play 33 minute games

I will excuse this team for not knowing how to protect a lead because we've never had one before. 

[vu72]

That 12-0 run Palm should have been in for Sepp. Bigger body. Coach is learning too..

Totally agree. Palm played a solid game and should have been in there.  Sepp is just afraid to shoot.  Tough loss.  The learning curve continues...On a bright note, Darius in now 9th all time for a single season for assists!  Passed some guy named Bryce Drew! (and Ali Berdiel!)

[mj]

Our lack of depth was apparent this afternoon. Give Powell and the staff credit for getting the team ready to fight in this game. Tough loss.

[justducky]

8 total TOs kept us in this game with the help of some early offensive rebounds.

Other than Schweiger our other freshmen combined to play 33 minutes shooting 1-12 for 2 total points. Their absence from the scoring column was very noticeable.

[valpopal]

Despite getting an admirable 18 offensive rebounds, somehow Valpo lost points in the paint by a 46-32 margin and shot 15 fewer free throws. Nevertheless, the team played well a majority of the game, which makes the choking at the end even harder to accept.

[valpotx]

I am on the opposite side of this one, in saying that there are NO excuses for that last 4 minutes of play.  Up by 8, and we seemingly forgot how to simply dribble and pass a ball, or be aware of the shot clock.  You play fantastic for 35 minutes, and then like absolute sh!t for 4-5 minutes.  Darius thinks that he is going to take two inside shots in crunch time over a guy that is 8 inches taller?  I was surprised in how he looked at the end, in particular.  He also almost gave away the inbounds pass to Misery State, but it took a lucky bounce off their player to land in our hands. 

[justducky]

I am on the opposite side of this one, in saying that there are NO excuses for that last 4 minutes of play.  Up by 8, and we seemingly forgot how to simply dribble and pass a ball, or be aware of the shot clock.  You play fantastic for 35 minutes, and then like absolute sh!t for 4-5 minutes.  Darius thinks that he is going to take two inside shots in crunch time over a guy that is 8 inches taller?  I was surprised in how he looked at the end, in particular.  He also almost gave away the inbounds pass to Misery State, but it took a lucky bounce off their player to land in our hands. 

Plenty of individuals to credit for our good 33 minutes and blame for our bad last 7. On the Valley fan board AcesAces blamed Powell for horrible coaching during the MSU stretch run. I hate to get into finger pointing but he might have a point. Like I said in the earlier post we might have no idea how to protect a lead because we have never needed to do it before. 

[tiny707]

Benson scored 8 points starting at the 4:48 mark at end game. Not an old upperclassman.... Sophomore.