Valparaiso (15-17, 7-11 MVC)
Game #33 - Friday, March 8, 2019 - noon
Quarterfinals - State Farm MVC Tournament
vs. Loyola (19-12, 12-6 MVC)
Enterprise Center (17,625) - St. Louis, Mo.
Next Up in Valpo Basketball: Coming off of its first win at Arch Madness with a 77-55 victory over Indiana State Thursday night, ninth-seeded Valpo faces a quick turnaround to take on top-seeded Loyola in Friday’s first quarterfinal at noon.
Last Time Out: Valpo earned its first win in program history at the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament, turning a nine-point deficit with six minutes to play in the first half into a seven-point halftime lead en route to a 77-55 victory over Indiana State Thursday night in St. Louis. Markus Golder tied his career high with 18 points, while Javon Freeman added 17 points and seven rebounds.
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 (54-43) 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: Loyola holds a 38-15 advantage in the all-time series against the Crusaders – a series which dates way back to 1922. Prior to last season, the two squads had not met since February of 2013, as the Ramblers departed the Horizon League for the Missouri Valley Conference following that season. Loyola is one of two programs (Evansville) which Valpo has not defeated since joining the MVC, as the Ramblers are 4-0 over the last two years, including a 71-54 win in Chicago and a 56-51 win in Valparaiso this season. Friday marks the first postseason meeting in program history between the two schools.
@ValpoBasketball...
...in the road 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 just 17 baskets (17-for-40) and just eight assists, marks which are both the second-lowest of the season. 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, coming up just two points shy of his career best as he went 6-of-8 from the floor for 16 points.
...in the home loss to Loyola
- Valpo led 24-22 at the half and held the outright lead for the first 16 minutes of the second half.
- A pull-up jumper from the edge of the paint by Javon Freeman with 7:41 to play gave Valpo a 43-34 lead.
- But the Crusaders would then be kept off the board by the Ramblers on their next seven trips down the court on offense, going 0-for-7 with a turnover during that stretch as Loyola went on a 13-0 run to take the lead for good.
- The loss was one of three times this year Valpo has held a nine-point lead and lost, marking the largest lead lost in a defeat this season. On the flip side, Valpo has overcome double-digit deficits for wins three times.
- Javon Freeman continued his recent strong play with a team-high 17 points on Sunday, while Deion Lavender added 12 points.
...looking ahead
- With a win over Loyola, Valpo would face either Bradley or Missouri State on Saturday in the semifinals.
- Valpo split the season series with both the Braves (61-50 W at Valpo; 67-42 L at Bradley) and the Bears (82-66 W at Missouri State; 55-54 (ot) L at Valpo)
...at neutral sites
- Valpo owns a 2-2 record in neutral-site games this year, beating Monmouth while falling to Western Kentucky and Wake Forest at the Myrtle Beach Invitational before Thursday’s win over Indiana State.
Valpo and Conference Tournaments
- This year is just Valpo’s second appearance at Arch Madness, with Thursday’s win representing Valpo’s first MVC Tournament win.
- Last season, Valpo was the 10-seed and fell to seventh-seeded Missouri State in the opening round, 83-79.
- In fact, Valpo had lost its first conference tournament game in each of the last three years prior to this year - 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.
- Valpo’s last conference tournament win prior to Thursday was its victory in the 2015 Horizon League title game over Green Bay.
- Thursday’s win was also:
- Valpo’s first neutral-site conference tournament win since the 2011 Horizon League quarterfinal over Detroit.
- Valpo’s first win as the lower seed in a conference tournament game since the 2008 Horizon League quarterfinal against Wright State
- Valpo’s largest margin of victory in a conference tournament game since an 88-55 win over IUPUI in the 2002 Mid-Continent Conference championship game
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.
Playing Back-to-Back Days
- Valpo is 1-0 this year when playing on the second of two consecutive days, defeating Monmouth 64-53 at the Myrtle Beach Invitational.
- In fact, in Lottich’s three seasons, Valpo is a perfect 3-0 on the second day of back-to-back games.
3rd Time the Charm?
- Valpo’s win over Indiana State was its first time beating a team in conference tournament play it had lost twice against in the regular season since defeating Western Illinois in the 1999 Mid-Continent Conference Tournament semifinals.
- Since then, Valpo had gone 0-3 in third matchups against teams it had already lost to twice (Cleveland State, 2008; Wright State, 2009; Missouri State, 2018).
- Valpo also lost twice during the 2018-19 regular season against Loyola.
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 56.5% over his first three years ranks third in program history.
- Smits is shooting at a 59.6% 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. Freeman tallied three steals in the MVC Tournament opener against Indiana State, giving him 59 steals this year - third-most in a single season in program history, and just four steals shy of the program’s single-season record.
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.
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 cracked Valpo’s top-five freshman scoring totals last time out with 355 points this year, just six points behind Bryce Drew for fourth.
- Freeman is also just two rebounds away from Jaume Sorolla to break into the freshman top-five for boards as well - only Lubos Barton currently ranks among the top-five in freshman points, rebounds and steals.
Indiana State - Player Notes
- Markus Golder tied his previous high that he had posted twice previously, scoring a team-best 18 points, including an 8-of-8 mark from the foul line.
- Golder also grabbed six rebounds, matching his highest mark since the Jan. 19 home win over UNI.
- Freeman went 6-of-10 from the field for 17 points, his highest scoring output since the Feb. 10 game against Loyola. He also tied for team-high honors with seven rebounds.
- Bakari Evelyn was the third Crusader in double figures with 13 points, going 4-of-7 from inside the arc, while Derrik Smits chipped in nine points and seven rebounds off the bench.
- Smits has averaged 11.4 points per game in the last five games while coming off the bench.
Indiana State - Team Notes
- Valpo’s defense limited Indiana State to just 36.2% shooting on Thursday, including just a 6-of-25 mark from 3-point range.
- After scoring better than 1.1 points per possession in both regular season meetings with Valpo, the Sycamores scored just .79 points per possession Thursday evening.
- After committing 35 turnovers against ISU in the two regular season matchups, Valpo tied its season low with seven turnovers on Thursday.
- The Crusaders outscored the Sycamores 15-7 off turnovers after Indiana State held a 51-16 advantage in the category in the regular season games.
- Valpo also held a 38-26 lead in points in the paint in Thursday’s win after being outscored in the category, 74-64, over the first two meetings of the year.
Shooting - The Highs and the Lows
- The difference in Valpo’s 3-point shooting in wins versus losses this year is striking - in its 15 victories, Valpo is hitting 39.1% 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.
- Valpo’s 21.4% mark in the win over Indiana State was its worst in a victory this season.
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 30-34 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.
