Valparaiso (14-17, 7-11 MVC)
Game #32 - Thursday, March 7, 2019 - 6 p.m.
First Round - State Farm MVC Tournament
vs. Indiana State (15-15, 7-11 MVC)
Enterprise Center (17,625) - St. Louis, Mo.
Next Up in Valpo Basketball: The Valparaiso University men’s basketball team opens Arch Madness Thursday evening as the tournament’s ninth seed, taking on eighth-seeded Indiana State in a first-round matchup. Valpo will have to win four games in four days to claim the tournament title.
Last Time Out: Valpo held a nine-point lead with seven minutes remaining in its regular season finale at the ARC Saturday afternoon against Evansville, but the Purple Aces rallied as Valpo fell by a 65-63 final. Derrik Smits and Bakari Evelyn came off the bench to pace Valpo with 15 and 13 points, respectively.
Following Valpo Basketball: TV – MVC TV Network (FOX Sports Midwest/Indiana/Kansas City; NBC Sports Chicago Plus) – Mitch Holthus and Kevin Lehman
Video – ESPN+ (blacked out within MVC TV Network footprint)
Radio – WVUR (95.1 FM, Valparaiso) – Todd Ickow and David Huseman
Links for the video, audio and live stats will be available at ValpoAthletics.com.
Head Coach Matt Lottich: Matt Lottich (53-43) 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 53-32 advantage in the all-time series. Valpo claimed non-conference wins over the Sycamores in the 2015-16 and 2016-17 seasons, but Indiana State has won three of four meetings between the two squads in Valpo’s first two years in The Valley, including a season sweep this year - 70-53 in Terre Haute and 87-82 in overtime in Valparaiso.
@ValpoBasketball...
...in the road loss at Indiana State
- A pair of free throws from junior Markus Golder 3:34 into the game tied it at 8-8, but ISU’s Tyreke Key nailed a 3-pointer on the Sycamores’ next possession to give Indiana State the lead for good.
- Indiana State outscored Valpo 17-5 over a stretch of 10 minutes in the first half to extend its lead to 13 points, and would eventually lead 32-21 at the half.
- Valpo would get no closer than 10 points in the second half.
- Valpo gave up 70 points to the Sycamores on just 59 possessions, the third-worst defensive efficiency for Valpo this season, only coming in ahead of the West Virginia and Western Kentucky defeats.
- Valpo committed 14 turnovers against the Sycamores’ eight as Indiana State held a 22-6 advantage in points off turnovers. ISU also outscored Valpo in the paint, 40-30.
- Derrik Smits and Golder tied for team-high honors with 14 points apiece, while Deion Lavender added 10 points and a game-high seven rebounds off the bench.
...in the home loss to Indiana State
- Neither team led by more than three points for the final nine minutes of regulation.
- Holding the lead inside the final four minutes, Valpo misfired on five consecutive free throw attempts to allow Indiana State to stay within striking distance.
- Valpo’s Ryan Fazekas hit two free throws with 46 seconds to play in regulation to give the Crusaders a two-point lead, but Indiana State hit a pair with 33.4 to play to tie.
- Valpo got a pair of looks on its final possession, but could not knock either down as the game headed to overtime.
- Indiana State went on top for good 12 seconds into the extra period. The Sycamores pulled out to a seven-point advantage at 79-72 with 2:53 to play, and Valpo could get no closer than three the rest of the way.
- The overtime loss was the second in a three-game home span for Valpo, as the Crusaders fell to Missouri State in overtime on Jan. 29.
- The foul line proved to be the difference, as Valpo went just 27-for-40 (67.5%) from the stripe as compared to a 25-of-28 (89.3%) mark for Indiana State.
- Valpo also committed a season-worst 21 turnovers which the Sycamores turned into 29 points.
...looking ahead
- With a win in its first-round game, Valpo would advance to play Loyola in the quarterfinals Friday at noon.
- The Ramblers have won all four matchups with the Crusaders since Valpo joined the MVC prior to last season, including two wins this year - 71-54 in Chicago and 56-51 in Valparaiso.
...at neutral sites
- Valpo owns a 1-2 record in neutral-site games this year, beating Monmouth while falling to Western Kentucky and Wake Forest at the Myrtle Beach Invitational.
@IndStMBB
- Indiana State enters Arch Madness with a 15-15 overall record and finished tied with Valpo at 7-11 in conference play.
- The Sycamores sat at just 3-7 in MVC play through 10 games, but have played .500 ball since, going 4-4 over the final eight games of the regular season. That includes a 71-54 win last time out over UNI.
- Tyreke Key has been one of the conference’s top scorers all season long and averaged a team-best 17.5 points/game within MVC-only play. That mark includes 54 points over the Sycamores’ two wins against Valpo.
Valpo and Conference Tournaments
- This year is just Valpo’s second appearance at Arch Madness.
- Last season, Valpo was the 10-seed and fell to seventh-seeded Missouri State in the opening round, 83-79.
- In fact, Valpo has lost its first conference tournament game in each of the last three years - the Crusaders were defeated by Green Bay in the 2016 Horizon League Tournament semifinal, 99-92 in overtime, and by Milwaukee in the 2017 Horizon League Tournament quarterfinal, 43-41.
- Prior to that stretch, Valpo won the 2013 and 2015 Horizon League Tournaments and went 1-1 at the 2014 Horizon League Tournament.
Valpo in St. Louis
- Last year’s Arch Madness game was not Valpo’s first time playing in what is now known as the Enterprise Center.
- Valpo’s Sweet Sixteen game against Rhode Island in 1998 was played at the building, which was then known as the Kiel Center.
- Valpo also appeared in 2002 NCAA Tournament action in St. Louis, but that year’s first round game against Kentucky was played at the Edward Jones Dome.
3rd Time the Charm?
- Valpo’s matchup against Indiana State is the fourth time in the last 15 years that the Crusaders have faced a team in conference tournament play it has lost to twice in the regular season.
- It’s a case of history repeating itself, as Valpo played two such games in its first two years in the Horizon League (Cleveland State, 2007-08; Wright State, 2008-09) and now is playing its second in its first two years in the MVC (Missouri State, 2017-18).
- Valpo is 0-3 in those previous third matchups of the season.
- On the flip side, Valpo has played a team for a third time which it has beaten twice in the regular season 14 times in the last 15 years, and is just 8-6 in those games.
Record Book Watch
- Three Crusaders are making their mark on Valpo’s record books this year.
- Junior Jaume Sorolla has blocked 30 shots this year, giving him 92 career blocked shots through three years - seventh-most in program history and just two shy of Harry Bell in sixth position.
- Junior Derrik Smits just surpassed the minimum 500 field goal attempts needed to qualify for Valpo’s career field goal percentage chart last time out - his career clip of 566% over his first three years ranks third in program history.
- Smits is shooting at a 59.9% mark from the field this season, a percentage which would be seventh-best on Valpo’s single-season chart should he maintain it for the duration.
- Freshman Javon Freeman broke Valpo’s freshman record for steals in a season earlier this year at Drake. With 56 steals on the year, Freeman is currently tied with Stalin Ortiz’s 2002-03 campaign for sixth in a single season in program history. He is just seven steals shy of Lubos Barton’s single-season record of 63, set in 2001-02.
Leading the League
- Not only is Freeman on track to threaten Valpo’s single-season steals mark, he also currently paces the Missouri Valley Conference with 1.8 steals/game.
- Freeman would become the first Valpo freshman to lead a conference in one of the five major statistical categories, and would also become the first Valpo player since at least 1982 to pace the conference in steals.
- Alec Peters was the last Valpo player to lead a league in a major stat category, leading the Horizon League in both scoring (23.0 ppg) and rebounding (10.0 rpg) in 2016-17.
- Vashil Fernandez was the last to post a league-best block total, averaging 3.3 bpg to lead the Horizon League in 2015-16.
- Since 1982, no Valpo player has led their conference in assists or steals.
Freeman Feats
- Javon Freeman was named MVC Newcomer of the Week on Feb. 11 after averaging 22 points per game on 66.7% shooting over the previous two games.
- Freeman’s week was highlighted by a 27-point effort on 11-of-13 shooting at Illinois State, a game which included a 20-point first half.
- Freeman grabbed 15 rebounds in Valpo’s home game against Missouri State, becoming the shortest Valpo player in at least 30 years with a 15-board effort.
- Freeman opened his career with five straight double-figure scoring efforts, the only Valpo freshman to do so in the last 30 years - only two others had even scored in double figures in three straight to open their careers.
- Freeman scored 22 in his debut, the highest-scoring debut by a freshman since Lubos Barton scored 27 in 1998.
- In addition to his freshman steal record, Freeman is also just 11 points and nine rebounds shy of cracking Valpo’s top-five totals by freshmen in those categories as well.
Smits Stays Strong
- Junior Derrik Smits has been a consistent scorer for Valpo this season, leading the team with 12.5 points per game on 59.9% shooting from the field.
- Smits has scored in double figures a team-high 22 times this year.
- Smits also paces Valpo on the glass, averaging 5.7 rebounds per game, and is second on the team with 29 blocked shots.
- Smits enters Arch Madness second in the league in field goal percentage, ninth in blocked shots and 12th in rebounding.
Shooting - The Highs and the Lows
- The difference in Valpo’s 3-point shooting in wins versus losses this year is striking - in its 14 victories, Valpo is hitting 40% from the 3-point line, while in its 17 losses, Valpo is shooting just 24.5% from deep.
- Valpo has hit better than 33% from 3-point range in a loss just twice this season and is averaging just 4.1 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, a 12-of-24 performance in the win at Missouri State, and most recently a 10-of-23 mark in the win at Illinois State.
- The 15 triples at GW 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.
Similar Starts in New Conference
- Valpo’s first two seasons in the Missouri Valley Conference have played out quite similar to the program’s first two seasons in the Horizon League.
- In Valpo’s first two seasons in the Horizon League (2007-09), the program posted a 31-36 overall record and went 14-22 in league play.
- To date, in its first two MVC seasons, Valpo owns a 29-34 overall record and a 13-23 mark in conference play.
- After its first two seasons in the Horizon League, Valpo would not finish worse than fourth place in its final eight years as a league member and claimed five league regular season titles.
