January 7th games

[Championz]

RPI Tracker:
Loyola - 52
Creighton - 138

Good call, Elgin.

[Rambler63]

On the last play of the Loyola-UE game, was the Loyola shot blocked and ended up in the player under the baskets hands, who then put it in? Or was it a jump pass and the guy under the basket put it in? I guess either way it worked for them, just curious.

Doyle dribbled into the paint with three seconds, drawing a triple team. Dished it off to Christian Thomas standing alone under the basket.

Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zM5o0mdqSUA

[PowderBlue]

RPI Tracker:
Loyola - 52
Creighton - 138

Good call, Elgin.

LOL
The power needed to run that crystal ball must be enormous.

[PowderBlue]

The Valley's pretty unpredictable, but ISUb starting 3-0 and Evansville starting 1-2 is pretty crazy.

Gotta be impressed with Loyola this year.

Gonna be a lot less Evansville fans on here demanding respect after this last week.

Is losing to Loyola really that bad? They are clearly the #3/4 team in the Valley until ISUr proves they've just been trolling us for the first 2 months of the season.

Also my apologies to the Sycs but 3-0 doesn't cover up that black eye of a non-conference. They might avoid Thursday but they aren't a top 4 team based on what I've seen.

terrible non conference for Indiana State, too many new players and no Jake Odum, who had run the show for 4 straight years, took some time to adjust, but they seem to have meshed now.

I'd agree with a lot of this:

1. 3-0 is a huge surprise. I'd have expected 0-3 or 1-2 to this point for ISU based on the non-con.
2. The non-con is a huge eye-sore. A loss against us is a bad loss, plain and simple, even though we are an improving team with a decent amount of talent.
3. The time to adjust thing is my biggest issue. Gant, Smith, and Kitchell were all here last year and played good minutes. I get that it takes time for new players to mesh, but that isn't the reason you don't beat 200+ RPI foes. I'm not sure what the underlying issues in non-con were. Kitchell got benched at one point, rotations got completely flipped at some points, hell even Todd Golden had some pretty sobering comments on the team's situation at one point. Growing pains were expected, but not that that level from anyone in or around the program.
4. This is not a top three team. The ILST win was great for ISU, but it's not like the redbirds put on a basketball clinic in that game and it's not like the Syc's were the steel curtain of collegiate defenses. In Evansville and Missouri State, they've beaten comparable teams at home, which you need to do in order have a chance to stay out of the Thursday games. In the case of Missouri State last night, that's by far the best I've seen this team look on both sides of the court, but it's still not a contender. Too many mental lapses and silly turnovers to be at that point.

At this point, regardless of where they finish in the MVC, I'm just hoping to see continued improvement in consistency in ball handling and passing. That alone should keep them out of the Thursday fracas.

[rlh04d]

The Valley's pretty unpredictable, but ISUb starting 3-0 and Evansville starting 1-2 is pretty crazy.

Gotta be impressed with Loyola this year.

Gonna be a lot less Evansville fans on here demanding respect after this last week.

Is losing to Loyola really that bad? They are clearly the #3/4 team in the Valley until ISUr proves they've just been trolling us for the first 2 months of the season.

I don't mean to imply that losing to Loyola is that bad ... that's a solid team.

My point is that several Evansville fans have been on here demanding respect as one of the best teams in the conference and a possible NCAA tournament team, and starting 1-2 in the conference is a long, long way from proving that. Evansville's still a good team, and Loyola is as well, and Loyola beating Evansville at home in a close game is what you should expect from two 3rd-to-5th place Valley teams who won't have an at-large resume. But that's not what some Evansville fans were claiming they were.

[Wufan]

The Sycamores have beaten three upper tier teams; Illinois State, Evansville, and Missouri State. Good for them. That's a great start and I think it shows that they might avoid Thursday. Drake, Bradley, and SIU will not. Who will be the 4th team?

[ShoxNAwe]

I guess, somehow, that outburst didn't warrant a technical? Interesting.

Usually, when a coach begs for a "T" - and Marshall certainly did - when he doesn't get one it's because the ref realizes he made a bad call and the coach is right.

For sure. The make up calls which followed The Lecture proves that they know their calls were absurd.

[UE-grad]

The Sycamores have beaten three upper tier teams; Illinois State, Evansville, and Missouri State. Good for them. That's a great start and I think it shows that they might avoid Thursday. Drake, Bradley, and SIU will not. Who will be the 4th team?

Evansville - the ACES will be 1-6 to start the season after being swept by Loyola in the return game.

[Wufan]

The Sycamores have beaten three upper tier teams; Illinois State, Evansville, and Missouri State. Good for them. That's a great start and I think it shows that they might avoid Thursday. Drake, Bradley, and SIU will not. Who will be the 4th team?

Evansville - the ACES will be 1-6 to start the season after being swept by Loyola in the return game.

And they'll follow that up with 9-2 to finish.

[PowderBlue]

Which in this conference is good enough for a 5 way tie for 4th. Because that's how the MVC works.