Valparaiso (12-7, 5-1 MVC)
Game #20 - Wednesday, Jan. 23, 2019 - 6 p.m. CT
at Indiana State (10-8, 2-4 MVC)
Hulman Center (10,200) - Terre Haute, Ind.
Next Up in Valpo Basketball: The Valparaiso University men’s basketball team faces its first test against an in-state foe in MVC play this season when it heads to Terre Haute for a Wednesday night matchup against Indiana State. At the one-third point of the MVC slate, Valpo finds itself in a first-place tie with Loyola.
Last Time Out: Valpo represented the Hoosier State well on Saturday as part of Basketball Day Indiana, leading start to finish in a 75-66 victory over UNI at the ARC. Junior Derrik Smits led the way with one of the top efforts of his career, finishing with 21 points and 11 rebounds.
Following Valpo Basketball: Video– ESPN3
Radio – WVUR (95.1 FM, Valparaiso) – Todd Ickow and Aaron Leavitt
Links for the video, audio and live stats will be available at ValpoAthletics.com.
Head Coach Matt Lottich: Matt Lottich (51-33) is in his sixth season overall at Valpo and third as head coach in 2018-19. Lottich led Valpo to 15 victories in his second season in charge in 2017-18 and guided the the program through the transition to the MVC, which ended the campaign ranked eighth nationally in conference RPI. In his first year as head coach, Lottich guided Valpo to its fifth Horizon League regular season championship in the last six years as he led the team to 24 wins and an at-large berth into the NIT.
Series Notes: The fourth-most common opponent in Valpo men’s basketball history, Indiana State holds a 51-32 advantage in the all-time series. In eight meetings this century, however, the Crusaders own a 6-2 record. Valpo claimed non-conference wins over the Sycamores in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons, but the two squads split two matchups last year in their first season paired together in as MVC conference members - Indiana State won in Terre Haute 73-64 before Valpo responded with a 69-63 win at the ARC.
@ValpoBasketball...
...and @ValleyHoops
- Valpo was selected to finish in seventh place in the MVC preseason poll with 173 points.
- Valpo has finished worse in the final standings than its preseason projection just once in the last eight years.
- Valpo is looking to buck MVC history this year - in 110 years of Valley basketball, only 28 teams have gone from last place one year to an upper division finish the following year.
...looking back at last year
- Valpo went 15-17 in its first season as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference.
- The Brown and Gold posted a 6-12 record in MVC play in a conference which ended the season ranked eighth in the nation in conference RPI.
- The 2017-18 campaign marked the first time in the last eight years that Valpo has not earned a bid to postseason tournament play.
- Sophomore Bakari Evelyn was named to the MVC’s All-Newcomer Team, while sophomore Markus Golder earned a spot on the conference’s All-Bench Team.
...in the win over UNI
- Valpo never trailed against the Panthers, taking the lead for good on a basket 1:09 in from Derrik Smits as part of a game-opening 16-5 run.
- UNI cut the lead to one 12 minutes into the game, but Valpo pushed back to take a 36-30 lead into halftime.
- Valpo extended its advantage to 10 points with 7:31 to play before a 7-0 UNI run made it a 60-57 lead with four minutes remaining.
- Valpo would score 10 points on its next four possessions, coming from two baskets from Smits and 3-pointers by Bakari Evelyn and Deion Lavender, to extend the advantage to 70-62 with 1:32 to go. UNI would get no closer than six the rest of the way.
- The win over UNI was just the third for Valpo against the Panthers in 27 meetings all-time. It snapped a seven-game winning streak for UNI in the series – Valpo’s last victory versus the Panthers came back in February 1989 at the ARC.
- Leading the way was Smits, who had a size advantage on the interior and took full advantage to the tune of 21 points and 11 rebounds – just two points and one rebound off of his career highs.
- Valpo hit at a 51% (26-of-51) clip from the floor and was 7-of-16 from behind the 3-point line. The Brown and Gold’s offensive efficiency of 121.4 was the best performance against the UNI defense this season.
...in the loss at Loyola
- Valpo never led in the game, but took each shot Loyola threw at it in the early going.
- Loyola’s Cooper Kaifes hit a 3-pointer in the final seconds of the period – his third triple of the first half – to give the Ramblers a 33-23 lead at intermission.
- Loyola started the second half on a 15-1 run to extend its lead to 24 points, and Valpo would get no closer than the final margin the rest of the way, outscoring Loyola 15-4 over the final five and a half minutes.
- Loyola limited Valpo to a season-low 17 baskets from the floor (17-for-40) and a season-low eight assists. Meanwhile, Valpo committed 14 turnovers which the Ramblers converted into 23 points.
- Valpo did enjoy one of its top free throw shooting performances of the year, going 14-of-17 from the charity stripe.
- Markus Golder led Valpo in scoring for just the second time this season, coming up just two points shy of his career best as he went 6-of-8 from the floor for 16 points.
...looking ahead
- Valpo returns home to the ARC for consecutive home games to close out the month of January, hosting Drake (Jan. 26) and Missouri State (Jan. 29).
...on the road
- Wednesday is the seventh of 13 true road games for Valpo in the 2018-19 regular season, as it is currently 4-3 in true road games this year and 2-1 in MVC road games.
- Valpo has already surpassed its overall and MVC-only road win totals from last year, as it went just 3-12 in true road games last season and just 1-8 on the road in MVC play.
- Prior to last year, Valpo had finished above .500 in true road games in four of the last five seasons.
@IndStMBB
- Indiana State enters Wednesday’s game at 10-8 overall and tied for seventh in the MVC standings at 2-4 in conference play.
- The Sycamores have dropped three of their last four games, most recently a 75-67 home loss to Loyola on Saturday.
- After hitting at nearly a 45% clip from 3-point range in non-conference action, ISU is connecting at just 23.4% from deep so far in MVC play.
- Jordan Barnes paces the Sycamores, averaging 17.4 points and nearly five rebounds per game.
4-0 Starts
- This year’s squad became just the third Valpo team this century to win at least four straight games to open conference play.
- Despite winning five regular season titles in its last six seasons in the Horizon League, the 2015-16 season was the only time in that stretch Valpo won even its first two league games, starting 6-0 en route to a 16-2 league record.
- The 2002-03 Valpo squad also started 6-0 on its way to a 12-2 record and a Mid-Continent Conference regular season championship.
Leading at the One-Third Mark
- Six games into the 18-game MVC slate, Valpo finds itself in a first-place tie with Loyola atop the conference standings at 5-1.
- Each of Valpo’s last four Horizon League regular season championships saw the Crusaders tied or alone atop the conference standings at this point in the league schedule - three times at 5-1 and once at 6-0.
- The last time Valpo was atop its league one-third of the way through the conference schedule and failed to win a title was 2010-11 - Valpo was tied for first place at 5-1 at the one-third mark before finishing in fourth place with a 12-6 record.
Never Trailing
- Saturday’s win over UNI was the fifth time this season that Valpo has led a game start to finish, and was its second MVC win in that fashion (Missouri State).
- On the flip side, in only one of Valpo’s seven losses this year (Loyola) have the Crusaders never led at any point.
Centers of Attention
- The combined play of Valpo centers Derrik Smits and Jaume Sorolla has proven crucial to winning since joining The Valley.
- Since joining the MVC, in Valpo’s 11 conference wins, Smits and Sorolla have combined to average 17.7 points and 8.9 rebounds per game.
- Meanwhile, in 13 conference losses, the post duo has averaged just 10 points and 5.2 rebounds per game.
- The top six scoring performances from the duo have all come in MVC wins, including a combined 25 points last time out against UNI (Smits 21, Sorolla 4).
- Smits and Sorolla have combined to pull down nine or more rebounds in seven MVC games to date - all of which have been Valpo wins, including last time out against UNI (Smits 11, Sorolla 3).
Defending Without Fouling
- Perhaps the biggest change defensively for Valpo this season has been its ability to play defense without committing fouls and sending opponents to the foul line.
- Last year’s team ranked 337th nationally (14th from last) in defensive free throw rate, while this year’s squad ranks 72nd nationally in the same category.
- In terms of raw numbers, last year’s Valpo opponents averaged 23.2 FT/game across all games and 22.8 FT/game in conference play, while this year, opponents are averaging 16.3 FT/game overall and 15.2 FT/game in conference play.
The Balanced Attack
- On the offensive end, Valpo has proven to have multiple threats who can step up through the season’s first 19 games.
- Entering Wednesday’s game, five different players are averaging 9.7 points per game or better, led by Ryan Fazekas’ 12.7 points/game.
- Six different players have led Valpo in scoring in a game this season.
- Valpo last featured five different players averaging in double figures in 2007-08, the program’s first season in the Horizon League.
Buzzer Beaters
- Markus Golder’s buzzer-beater against Illinois State added to the lore of last-second shots in Valpo history.
- It was Valpo’s first game-winner with the clock at zero since Ryan Broekhoff connected on a 3-pointer to give Valpo the 70-69 win in the 2013 Horizon League semifinal at the ARC over Green Bay.
- It was Valpo’s first game-winner from beyond halfcourt since Greg Tonagel drilled a heave from the opposite 3-point line for a 71-68 win over Belmont at the ARC on Jan. 11, 1999.
- Of course, the most famous buzzer-beater in program history came courtesy of Bryce Drew in the first round of the 1998 NCAA Tournament versus Ole Miss.
- Golder’s shot came in at the top spot on SportsCenter’s Top 10 on Wednesday night’s countdown. He became the third different Valpo athlete over three different sports to earn a SportsCenter Top 10 spot since Valpo joined The Valley.
Earning Honors
- Junior Ryan Fazekas became the first Valpo player since the program joined the MVC to earn a weekly award from the conference office, as he was named the MVC Newcomer of the Week on Jan. 2.
- Fazekas earned the honor after leading all players in scoring with 19 points - including five 3-pointers - in Valpo’s win over Purdue Northwest.
- Fazekas repeated as MVC Newcomer of the Week Jan. 7 after pouring in 10 3-pointers over Valpo’s first two MVC wins over Illinois State and Missouri State.
Shooting - The Highs and the Lows
- The difference in Valpo’s 3-point shooting in wins versus losses this year is striking - in its 11 victories, Valpo is hitting 40.3% from the 3-point line, while in its six losses, Valpo is shooting just 25% from deep.
- Valpo has hit better than 33% from 3-point range in a loss just once this season and is averaging just 5.3 3-pointers/game in defeats.
- Meanwhile,Valpo has enjoyed a number of strong shooting performances in wins, including a 15-of-27 effort from deep in its win at George Washington and a 12-of-24 performance in the win at Missouri State.
- The 15 triples were the program’s highest total against a Division I opponent since going 15-of-26 from deep in a Feb. 5, 2013 win over UIC.
