#15 Alabama defeats Wichita State 70-60
In a second round matchup in Puerto Rico, Alabama’s Tony Mitchell led the Crimson Tide with 26 points and a flurry of high flying slam dunks. Toure Murry scored 21 points for the Shockers. Ben Smith added 16 and Joe Ragland scored 14, but the Wichita State big men could never get untracked as the Shockers shot just 22-65 from the field.
Greg Marshall and Co. have a shot at redemption and an opportunity to secure a very nice victory tomorrow with a win over A-10 member Temple.
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Lusk leads Missouri State to impressive start
“Anytime a coach moves on because of winning, that’s a good thing.”
Missouri State Bears Basketball Head Coach Paul Lusk was asked a question during his introductory press conference in April regarding the state of the program, and responded with former Bears coach Cuonzo Martin in mind.
If the present is any indication of the future, Lusk won’t see the end of his five-year contract in Springfield.
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Wichita State defeats Colorado 67-58
Wichita State defeated Colorado 67-58 in a first round matchup in Puerto Rico. Senior center Garrett Stutz led the Shockers with 14 points and 11 rebounds. The Shockers advance to play #15 Alabama in a rematch of their game last year at Madison Square Garden in the NIT.
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Creighton wins at UAB 70-60
Creighton held UAB scoreless for nearly 11 minutes at the end of the first half to give the Jays a seven point halftime lead. However, the Blazers responded and held a six point lead in the second half before Grant Gibbs and Doug McDermott elevated Creighton to a 10 point victory. McDermott scored 27 for Creighton and Gibbs, a Gonzage transfer, made several key plays down the stretch as the Valley secured another strong road victory.
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Drake defeats Iowa State 74-65
Drake welcomed in state rival Iowa State to the Knapp Center and the Bulldogs pulled off a 74-65 win. Ben Simons led Drake with 24 points. This was the first game for sophomore guard Rayvonte Rice following a brief suspension. Drake is now 2-0 on the young season. The Bulldogs will now head to the US Virgin Islands where they will face Mississippi in a first round game.
The MVC is now 1-0 against BCS conference teams.
Final – St Mary’s 57 Northern Iowa 41
You can’t win them all, I suppose. After three consecutive wins in games identified as critical for MVC at large chances, the Panthers were easily defeated in the early morning hours as part of ESPN’s 24 hours of hoops. The final was closer than the game as the Gaels led at one point in the second half 48-21. UNI fans still have to be pleased with a 1-1 start in two difficult road games.
Up next: Creighton at UAB on Wednesday
MVC Tournament – Mens soccer final – Creighton 1 Missouri St 0
Creighton appears to have secured home field through the NCAA tournament until the College Cup (final 4) with their victory over Missouri State in the finals of the MVC soccer tournament.
OMAHA, Neb. – Freshman Jose Ribas scored his first career goal to help No. 2-ranked Creighton beat Missouri State 1-0 in the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament Championship match Sunday afternoon at Morrison Stadium. The top defense in the NCAA logged its seventh straight shutout to deliver Creighton its 12th MVC tournament crown.
Senior goalkeeper Brian Holt stopped two shots and kept his backline organized as the Bluejays posted their 16th shutout of the year. Holt was named MVC Tournament MVP for his efforts and he was joined by senior defender Andrew Duran, senior forward Ethan Finlay and sophomore defender Tyler Polak on the all-tournament team
Missouri Valley Power Rankings – November 14
What a start to the season! Friday and Saturday spawned three great wins for the Valley to kick off a campaign for multiple bids to the NCAA Tournament in March. Sunday saw three schools simply taking care of business. Victories over Nevada, Old Dominion and Butler will pay dividends for the league’s RPI, as all three victims are projected to win 20 or more games and finish near the top of their respective mid-major conferences.
In my recap of the first two days of the regular season, I dubbed this weekend a mini-BracketBuster… in fact, it likely will be more beneficial than anything that happens on that February ESPN weekend holiday.
Did that change the Power Rankings? Hmm…
Here are the Missouri Valley Basketball Examiner’s Power Rankings for the 2011-12 season – Week of November 14, 2011:
To see the Power Rankings, click here!
Valley off to a roaring start
I know, I know… the regular season is only two days old. Pardon me if I’m jumping out of my Bradley shorts already…
By now, many of you know that the Valley has had a stellar weekend so far. Ignore the loss by Illinois State to WAC bottom-dweller Fresno State. Forget that Southern Illinois exists altogether. Apart from those two disasters, the league already has established itself as one of the top mid-major conferences this season.
Premature? I think not.
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Missouri State vs Creighton – Soccer MVC Tournament Final 1pm on FSN
The final of the Missouri Valley Conference mens soccer tournament will be held today between the top 2 seeds – Missouri State and Creighton. It can be viewed on FSN at 1pm. Below is a release from MSU:
The top-seeded Missouri State men’s soccer team (9-7-2, 5-1-0 MVC) played its way into the 2011 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference championship match with a 2-0 shutout of Drake at Morrison Stadium in Omaha, Neb., on Friday afternoon. With their second win in as many games over the Bulldogs, the Bears will now face No. 2-seed Creighton for the MVC title on Sunday at 1:06 p.m.
http://www.missouristatebears.com/sports/m-soccer/spec-rel/111211aab.html
