MVC Games Week 4 2023-24

[BEARZ77]

I don't know, Coach Ford says it's likely we'll still be w/o Mason and Mayo and with Kramer and Hill out till 2nd semester, that means we'll be playing on the road with only 1 real guard at the preseason league favorite. Mason was our leading scorer and Mayo is our top defender. We may get 6'8 freshman wing Tyler Bey back by Sat, but it's 50/50 and he's not really a guard either.

[tribecalledquest]

Really good win by Murray State tonight. They were more prepared and the Racer guards were phenomenal. The guard position is where Bradley is vulnerable and it showed up big time tonight.

I love the Murray State addition to the league. Those fans and that program are USED to winning in that arena. That hasn't changed. Bradley saw it tonight and lost there last year. Murray will win 7-8 league home games for sure.

The winner of the league will dominate at home and have to get five road wins.

The only real surprise tonight was Belmont. Good grief UNI.

[tribecalledquest]

Four MVC games tonight. Valpo scored 65. Only team under 70 of the eight teams. Drake scored 83. Belmont and Mo State 90. What’s up with that? Better talent is one place to look.

[BEARZ77]

Evansville is much improved and have a deep bench ; that said the bears 90-78 win was a 20 point game much of the second half and the Bears won playing only 6 players till the last minute . Starters Mason and Mayo were out along with 3 other perimeter players. Notables:

Lee 20 pts, 8 assists, 3 stls
Clay 19 pts, 5rbs
Moore 28 pts, 8 rbs, 3 blks
Bensen 16 pts, 13 rbs, 2 blks

Bears play at Drake Sat; might get 1 of the 5 missing players back [most likely freshman Tyler Bey] for the Bulldogs

[ValleyFAN]

Evansville is much improved and have a deep bench ; that said the bears 90-78 win was a 20 point game much of the second half and the Bears won playing only 6 players till the last minute . Starters Mason and Mayo were out along with 3 other perimeter players. Notables:

Lee 20 pts, 8 assists, 3 stls
Clay 19 pts, 5rbs
Moore 28 pts, 8 rbs, 3 blks
Bensen 16 pts, 13 rbs, 2 blks

Bears play at Drake Sat; might get 1 of the 5 missing players back [most likely freshman Tyler Bey] for the Bulldogs

The Bears really showed something last night. I mean, you really covered a large spread using one real guard. Matthew Lee, who happens to be the smallest guy on the floor. No offense to shooting guard Raphe Ayres (did not score a single point) but on a good team Ayres isn't going to see many real minutes. As mentioned the Bears only played 6 guys, 3 of which are bigs (Clay is a jack of all trades). Luckily Evansville is a big team as well that doesn't rely on guard play much, and the Bears actually had a good matchup on the floor for them.

Needed Clay, Moore, and Lee to step up and all of them certainly did. Will be a challenge on Saturday for Drake with likely a still shorthanded roster. Interested to see who guards Devries, as that would have been the perfect assignment for Damien Mayo.

[INSaluki]

What in the world has happened to Northern Iowa? They used to be a top Valley team every year. They have a legitimate chance at starting the season 2-8. Gulp !!!! This will be 2 seasons in a row of being under .500. Is Jacobsen in danger of losing his job?

[keane1]

Evansville is much improved and have a deep bench ; that said the bears 90-78 win was a 20 point game much of the second half and the Bears won playing only 6 players till the last minute . Starters Mason and Mayo were out along with 3 other perimeter players. Notables:

Lee 20 pts, 8 assists, 3 stls
Clay 19 pts, 5rbs
Moore 28 pts, 8 rbs, 3 blks
Bensen 16 pts, 13 rbs, 2 blks

Bears play at Drake Sat; might get 1 of the 5 missing players back [most likely freshman Tyler Bey] for the Bulldogs

Yes, this is our situation: Two starting guards have foot injuries — Alston Mason with a sprained ankle and Damien Mayo Jr. with a bone bruise, both sustained in Saturday's win over South Carolina State — which added to Tyler Bey's sprained MCL, Davion Hill's continued absence for personal reasons and Nick Kramer's ongoing recovery from back surgery. This equates to about an average of 22pts per game alone.

We need to get healthy in a big hurry!

[hot nuts]

What in the world has happened to Northern Iowa? They used to be a top Valley team every year. They have a legitimate chance at starting the season 2-8. Gulp !!!! This will be 2 seasons in a row of being under .500. Is Jacobsen in danger of losing his job?

Slow starts are the UNI (aka NIU) way! Wait until March...they'll be very tough.

[jturner38]

What in the world has happened to Northern Iowa? They used to be a top Valley team every year. They have a legitimate chance at starting the season 2-8. Gulp !!!! This will be 2 seasons in a row of being under .500. Is Jacobsen in danger of losing his job?

Slow starts are the UNI (aka NIU) way! Wait until March...they'll be very tough.

NIU is not starting slow as they are 5-2. However UNI yes.

[agernes]

UNI has made two conference semifinals in the past seven years and only outperformed their seed twice as well (one time of which was a 8-9 game where they were a 9 seed). They're 4-3 as the better seed in St. Louis since 2017. They've had 2 winning seasons in 7 years. The luster is off of Jacobson