Game 1 (6 p.m.): #8 Drake (13-18; 7-11) vs. #9 Southern Illinois (15-14; 6-12)
Season Series
Drake swept the battle of the dawgs this season, posting a 79-72 win in Des Moines and a 70-65 victory at SIU Arena. In MVC Tournament play, the Bulldogs and Salukis last met in 2007 when Southern Illinois soundly defeated DU 71-59.
Drake will win if …
… someone steps up to help Josh Young. The Salukis hounded the senior all-MVC player in the teams’ last meeting, limiting Young to just 2-11 shooting from the field. He still got his points at the free throw line, though. Still, in the two games against SIU this season, both Ryan Wedel and Adam Templeton supported Young with big scoring efforts. Young will likely get his shots; it is up to his supporting cast to make sure they hit theirs.
Southern Illinois will win if …
… Kevin Dillard can come back to lead the Salukis. When healthy, Dillard is one of the best perimeter players in the Missouri Valley Conference. A few days after a solid performance against Western Michigan in the BracketBusters event (17 points, 6 assists, 4 rebounds), Dillard sprained his ankle and didn’t play in SIU’s loss to Creighton. He started against Wichita State but re-aggravated the injury and only played 4 minutes against the Shockers. Gene Teague’s efforts are appreciated, and Carlton Fay can catch fire here or there, and Justin Bocot is a solid slasher. But Dillard is the key.
Game 2 (8:30 p.m.): #7 Missouri State (19-11; 8-10) vs. #10 Evansville (9-20; 3-15)
Season Series
These teams started their Valley seasons against each other in Evansville, where the Bears beat the Purple Aces 74-60. A month later, Missouri State secured the sweep with a 76-66 victory in Springfield. These teams last met at Arch Madness in 2008, when the Bears destroyed UE 69-46.
Missouri State will win if…
… they make someone other than Colt Ryan beat them. Cuonzo Martin demands solid defensive effort from his squad, but the freshman phenom has given plenty of Valley teams fits with his scoring ability. MSU has done a nice job defending Ryan, though, limiting him to 9 points back in December and 11 points in January.
Evansville will win if…
…they can somehow keep the mojo working. After losing by 16 at Southern Illinois a few weeks ago, the Aces put a scare into Wichita State (eventually losing in overtime) and dropped a 2-point heartbreaker in the BracketBuster before beating Northern Iowa and Drake by a combined 4 points. Marty Simmons’ team looked like a squad that would struggle to win one MVC game all season; now, the Aces are carrying a win streak into Arch Madness.
