Evansville (14-14, 8-9) vs. Illinois St. (12-17, 4-13)
Roberts Stadium; Evansville, IN
2:05 CST
Good news for Purple Aces fans, Colt Ryan’s senior day is two years down the road. The Purple Aces do say farewell to three seniors; Kavon Lacey, Pieter Van Tongeren, and Clint Hopf. Lacey averages around 25 minutes per game, scoring 5.2 points. Van Tongeren and Hopf have provided a the Purple Aces a front line that plays defense and score the occasional basket or two. Against ISU today, Colt Ryan will need to play both ends of the court. Austin Hill has scored in double figures each of the last four games. Evansville can use this game to build momentum for their game next Friday against Indiana St.
Illinois St. enters today’s game winning one of their last seven games. Before facing Southern Illinois next Thursday, a team they have not played since January 23, they face an Evansville team that has struggled as well, winning one of their last six games. Illinois St. has not won a road conference game since January 26 at Indiana St. With a win over Bradley earlier in the week, the Redbirds will be ready to put a fight in Evansville.
Indiana State (16-13, 11-6) vs. SIU (12-17, 5-12)
Hulman Center; Terre Haute, IN
12: CST
The Sycamores were able to secure third pale in the Valley with a win over UNI 76-74 and put the Panthers in either the 4 or 5 seed. This season has been one of ups and downs for the most part, but has ultimately turned out as one of the more successful in recent years. They will look to close the season out on a positive note as they play host to Southern Illinois this afternoon.
SIU, well they are a different story. It looks like they will be making the early trip to St. Louis this year and will have a game to play on Thursday night. The last loss, the season finale in Carbondale, was an embarrassing loss to the league co-leader Missouri State 58-76. It has been a hard year for Chris and the gang, and it won’t get any better today.
Bradley (10-19, 3-14) vs. Drake (13-16, 7-10)
Carver Arena; Peoria, ILL
7:05 CST
Bradley was able to put another loss together as they fell to their rival Illinois State in another close game 50-51. It has been a hard season for the Braves, one riddled with injury and disappointment. Jim Les has always been a coach that that has couched to play through the game and the season no matter how bad it is. Tonight they will have their hands full again as they play host to Drake.
The Bulldogs are coming off a bashing of Evansville 87-69 sparked by a career night by Ryan Wedel with 29 points, including 5 3-pointers. Even if Wedel can’t repeat his performance from earlier in the week, this one should be a walk in the park for the Sycamores.
Missouri Stae (22-7, 14-3) vs. (23-6, 14-3)
JQH Arena; Springfield, MO
12:00 CST
Ths is by far the game of the weekend. Missouri State showed that they were not looking ahead in this one as they embarrassed Southern Illinois 76-59 on their senior night. Weems showed off with a career night dropping 26 points and also added 11 boards to complete a double double. With the Valley on the line, plus Senior Day, this should be a good crowd and a good match up.
The Shockers were a bit surprised on Wednesday night as they got all they could handle from the Bluejays in a back and forth battle that resulted in a 67-65 win for the Shockers. With the win, WSU was able to keep pace with Missouri State, making today’s game the final match up for the regular season crown. I will be honest, I will have my eye one the scores today as I am participating in the first annual “checker board” event.