Missouri State (13-4,) @ Bradley (7-9,2-4)
Carver Arena
Peoria, Ill. 3:05 CT
TV: Mediacom-Mo.
Since their meeting on January 9th, where the Bears were able to protect their home court 88-69, each team had a bit of a hiccup in the middle of the week. The Bears were beat by lowly Drake team, 77-88, and will be looking to get back to their winning ways this afternoon. The Bears were able to put together an decent non-conference season, but have fluttered a bit in the Valley.
Similar to the Bears, the Braves have had some trouble in the valley, but were very close to handing the Panthers of UNI their first conference loss earlier this week. With the final possession, the Braves were unable to get a shot off in the first thirty seconds and needed to rely on an inbounds lob to tie the game. In my opinion, it was a combination of good defense by the Panthers as well as some poor play calling by Les.
Each team will want this one to stay in the group not playing on Thursday night in St. Louis, and should be a decent match-up. I like the Bears in this one, and would not be surprised if it came down to another last second effort.
– Paul Liberty
Southern Illinois (9-6, 2-4) @ Evansville (6-10, 0-6)
Roberts Stadium
Evansville, IN 7:05 CT
The Purple aces will either have a tough going tonight or have a perfect opportunity to steal a win against the Salukis. Evansville has yet to win a conference game. Southern Illinois has lost four straight games. Denver Holmes has come on as of late as a go-to guy for the Purple Aces. Colt Ryan has been consistent all season. After a 22-point effort at Illinois State, he’s now fourth in the league in scoring.
Which Salukis team will show up? The team that won its first two conference games? Or the team that lost those four in a row. They let a lead get away against Drake. They battled Creighton even for over 39 minutes and despite a close shot at the buzzer by Kevin Dillard , they were defeated again.
– Panon
Indiana State (11-6, 3-3) @ Northern Iowa (15-1, 6-0)
McLeod Center
Cedar Falls, IA 7:05 CT
TV – KWWL
Having tied their school record win streak at 14 games on, the Panthers will look to set a new record with 15 if they can pick up a win tonight. Like P’Allen approaching the 1,000 point mark, Adam Koch is only 13 points away from 1,000 as well. An average night for Koch and he achieves it.
While Indiana State is 3-3, their conference strength of schedule isn’t the best. They have wins over Creighton, Evansville, and at an improving Drake. They have respectable losses at Southern Illinois (tough place to play), Bradley, and at Wichita State (we all saw how CU did there). Last season they defeated the Panthers in Cedar Falls in the first game of the conference schedule. The Sycamores are learning to play without Jake Kelly an improving each game out.
– Panon