Today in the Valley

Today in the Valley: February 15, 2011

Evansville (14-11, 8-7) vs Wichita St. (21-5, 12-3)

Roberts Stadium; Evansville, IN

7:05 CST

The Wichita St. Shockers look to keep their perfect road record in conference game intact.  At 7-0 on the road, the Shockers are a surprising 5-3 at Koch Arena.  Luckily for them, this game is on the road.   In a tie for first in the conference, each game the rest of the way will be crucial for the Shockers’ conference title hopes as well as a potential at-large bid, if it comes to that.   In an 18-point win at UNI on Saturday, 14 Shockers saw minutes and four finished in double figures.

The Purple Aces have dropped two of their last three games after a big win against Missouri St.  The win, sandwiched between two losses, was against a reeling UNI team.  The Purple Aces have a five-game home winning streak.  At Bradley on Saturday, the Purple Aces managed to score only 54 points, their lowest in a loss since scoring 50 in losing to MSU on January 7th.  The defense the Shockers apply will continue to make it tough for the Purple Aces to score.  Evansville will have revenge on their mind from the 91-57 defeat at Wichita earlier in the season.

Bradley (9-17, 3-12) vs. Northern Iowa (18-9, 9-6)

Carver Arena; Peoria, Ill.

7:00 CST  TV:  FSN

Bradley continued their turn around in conference play after a dreadful 0-11 start with a win over Evansville 68-54.  The Braves will still be playing on Thursday night in the MVC tournament, but they will be building confidence and hoefully be playing spoiler as the season wraps up.

The Panthers seem to be pretty vulnerable since the los of Lucas O’Rear, as they were demolished on their home court by Wichita State over the weekend 55-73.  Even though Panther Nation came out with their “White Out for Wichita” shirts, it was not enough to get the job done.  Maybe it is because the Shockers have seen that before.  Maybe they should have had dollar beers!  Oh, that doesn’t work either.

Missouri State (20-6, 12-3) vs. Drake (11-15, 6-9)

JQH Arena; Springfield, MO

7:00 CST

The Bears were able to keep their share of 1st place on the Valley with their win over Illinois State last weekend, thanks again to a great effort by Kyle Weems and company.  Coming off his 27 point performance last week, Weems once again went over 20 with 21 points on the night.  They will be in the comforts of their own home tonight as they take on a young Drake team that seems to have the ability to surprise some teams.

The Bulldogs are coming off a tough loss to Indiana State 63-75, and found themselves in the bottom half of the league.  A win tonight may play into their seeding for the tournament, but I would not be surprised if the Brears continued their hot play and make the Bulldogs look like a bunch of puppies.

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