MVC Games 11/11-11/17

[sixth ace]

LET'S not take from UE WIN OVER UK

GO ACES

[NaperRedbird88]

Way to go Aces! Huge win for them!

[goramblers2011]

No need to talk about ANY other MVC game tonight than Evansville. Thanks, Aces!

[Blers]

No need to talk about ANY other MVC game tonight than Evansville. Thanks, Aces!

Agreed... Don't mind us.... I hope people realize i wasn't sandbagging LU when i was less than confident with the experience of our personal (which has only gotten worse with now 5 scholarship players out...)

[BCPanther]

I kinda thought Loyola might be a middle of the pack team, I didn't think they were a Thursday team...

Woof.

[Blers]

I kinda thought Loyola might be a middle of the pack team, I didn't think they were a Thursday team...

Woof.

I'm not sure about Thursday yet, but it's not looking great. No PG (Kennedy is great, but more of a combo/SG), no back up big (Welch is more of a wing)... all the other injuries. The physical talent is all there, as is the effort, just making rookie mistakes and trying to gel. So much inexperience. Also... like last year... outside shooting has been PAINFUL. Haven't hit above 28% from 3 in a game yet .

What really sucks is I think we have the pieces we need, they're all just unavailable right now... two 45%+ three point shooters in Norris and Kaifes, two point guards in Norris and Clemons (who shot 40% from deep in JuCo), a backup big who was really improving in Agunanne, and a glue guy who can shoot it in Wojcik.

Apparently trying to get a waiver for Norris, Kaifes is out for the season, and Clemons, Agunanne, and now Wojcik are all out for another few weeks. OOF.

Really glad Evansville is picking up our slack though. Great for the fans who've waited so long!!!

[Adunk33]

Loyola hasn't looked great, but it's clear the injury bug has hit them hard. If the season ended 3 games into the year, they would be a Thursday team for sure, but plenty of opportunity to get healthy.

For the Aces, amazing win. This is the type of win, on a national stage, on the road, against the number 1 team in the nation*, is what can send the program in a completely new direction. They probably sold a couple thousand more tickets for their game against Kokomo on Thursday. Kokomo is the biggest trap game of all time with a HUGE win against a national power, come home for a non d1 game, then host Tim Jankovich. Evansville will have to show out because I'm sure Kokomo felt this was their Super Bowl to begin with, but now it got even bigger and they are going to throw everything at the Aces. (Kokomo lost to Butler by 30 in their only other D1 game this year.) We'll see if the Aces have what it takes to avoid a let down after a massive emotional win.

*Per the AP/Coaches polls, but not the one that really matters, RPI

[Majik45]

I didn't realize Loyola had so many other injuries. If they are able to get healthy, they could be a team that hurts the conference "perception" as a whole because they will struggle in the non-conference with all the injured players and then they will get healthy during conference season. It will appear the MVC is not good as Loyola will have a lot of bad losses in the non-con, yet they'll finish fairly high during the conference season.

[Blers]

I didn't realize Loyola had so many other injuries. If they are able to get healthy, they could be a team that hurts the conference "perception" as a whole because they will struggle in the non-conference with all the injured players and then they will get healthy during conference season. It will appear the MVC is not good as Loyola will have a lot of bad losses in the non-con, yet they'll finish fairly high during the conference season.

Yeah, it's been a bit rough. Used a six man rotation last night for the most part because Skokna is well... Skokna (meanwhile Uguak for some reason is afraid to shoot the ball). I still don't think we'll be higher than 3rd or 4th... I think 5-6 is the most realistic. I love the potential for next years team as all these pieces returning after having a year develop. They're skilled just very very green.

[Kyle@MOState]

My weekend picks...

Mo State @ Xavier - Xavier

N Colorado @ UNI - UNI (I honestly did not know that school existed let alone was D1)
St Joe @ Loyola - St. Joe
UIC @ Bradley - Bradley
San Fran @ SIU - San Fran (That's actually a pretty good home game, I hope the SIU fans enjoy that one)

UCF @ Illinois State - Illinois State (Another good get, I know it's not football, but at least it's a known brand)
North Dakota @ Valpo - Valpo
The Simpsons @ Drake - Drake
Ball State @ Indiana State - Balls