Eastern Michigan (5-5, 0-0 MAC)
at Valparaiso (5-6, 0-1 MVC)

Game No. 12 – Monday, Dec. 20, 6 p.m. CT
Athletics-Recreation Center (5,000) – Valparaiso, Ind.

Next Up in Valpo Basketball: The Valparaiso University men’s basketball team will return to action after an eight-day hiatus for final exams for the first of two pre-Christmas matchups at the Athletics-Recreation Center on Monday. The Beacons will play two games in three days including Monday night’s showdown with Eastern Michigan. This marks the third game in a stretch of six consecutive home contests.

Last Time Out: Kobe King hit a desperation heave from three-quarters court as the final horn sounded – a shot that was later featured on SportsCenter’s Top 10 plays and was showcased on the popular “SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt” on ESPN – but Valpo still came up a point shy in a 68-67 setback to Charlotte on Dec. 11. King was the team’s high scorer with 17, while Sheldon Edwards buried four 3s on his way to 16 points. Trevor Anderson posted a balanced stat line that featured 12 points, six rebounds and four assists. Valpo overcame an 11-point deficit and held the lead as late as the final minute, but the 49ers prevailed behind a 26-point effort by Jahmir Young.

Following the Beacons: Streaming – ESPN3 – Todd Ickow (play-by-play) and TBD (analyst)

Valpo Radio – 95.1 FM, WVUR, ValpoAthletics.com, TuneIn Radio App – Zach Collins (play-by-play) 

Twitter updates - @ValpoBasketball

Links for video, audio and live stats will be available at ValpoAthletics.com.

Head Coach Matt Lottich: Matt Lottich (88-84) is in his ninth season overall at Valparaiso University and sixth as the head coach of the men’s basketball program in 2021-2022. The 2020-2021 season saw Valpo improve its Arch Madness seeding for the fourth straight year as the program continued to make positive strides in each season as a Missouri Valley Conference member. The team earned a first-round bye in the State Farm MVC Tournament for the first time since joining the prestigious league. Valpo upset previously-undefeated Drake, the nation’s No. 25 team, 74-57 on Feb. 7, 2021 at the ARC, the fourth win over an AP Top 25 team in program history and second under Lottich. The Bulldogs were one of three undefeated teams in the nation prior to that setback, joining Gonzaga and Baylor. Just two years removed from finishing in last place and being knocked out in the first round of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament as a first-year Valley member, Lottich’s team did more than hold its own in 2019-2020, ascending into a tie for sixth in the league standings before finishing as the conference tournament runner-up. Valpo became the first team in the history of Arch Madness to reach the title game after playing in the opening round. Lottich, hired as the 22nd head coach of the Valpo men’s basketball program in April 2016, graduated from Stanford University in 2004 and New Trier High School (Illinois) in 2000.

Series Notes: This represents the return trip of a home-and-home that began with an 85-79 victory for host Eastern Michigan on Dec. 3, 2019 in Ypsilanti. This game was originally scheduled for Dec. 16, 2020, but was postponed a year due to Eastern Michigan’s program going on a COVID-19 pause at that time last season. The Eagles and Beacons have split four all-time matchups in a series that started in 1987. This will mark Eastern Michigan’s first visit to Valpo since that 1987 game, a 59-57 victory for the hosts. The 2019 meeting was the first matchup since 2010, a neutral-site game in Rochester, Mich.

#SCTop10 Again: Kobe King nailed a three-quarters court shot to beat the buzzer on Dec. 11 vs. Charlotte. Although the desperation heave was not enough as Valpo fell 68-67, the play checked in at No. 9 on SportsCenter’s Top 10 Plays that evening. It was highlighted again two days later on ESPN’s popular “SportsCenter with Scott Van Pelt” show. This marks the fourth time in a three-year span that Valpo basketball has produced an #SCTop10 play. The previous appearance came courtesy of a Sheldon Edwards dunk in a victory over No. 25 Drake on Feb. 7 of last season. Since joining the Missouri Valley Conference, Valpo Athletics has been featured on the iconic daily countdown on 10 occasions spanning five sports – men’s basketball (four times), softball (twice), volleyball (twice) women’s basketball and soccer.

Taylor Triples: Kevion Taylor has made at least one 3-pointer in all 10 games that he’s played this season. Overall, he has made a 3 in 74 consecutive contests dating all the way back to Dec. 15, 2018 while playing for Winona State in a game at Concordia St. Paul. The highest of the NCAA records (Division I, Division II or Division III) for consecutive made 3s is 93 and belongs to Daniel Park of D-II Rollins from Jan. 26, 1994 to Feb. 28, 1997 and is considered the NCAA record. However, Taylor’s streak would not be recognized in the NCAA record book should it reach that point since it is split between Division I and Division II. If Taylor’s streak came in all D-I games, 74 would rank third in Division-I history. The D-I record is held by Mack Smith, who Valpo played against on Dec. 5 at Western Michigan. Smith set the record while at Eastern Illinois.

Flawless at the Stripe: Valpo posted a 14-of-14 performance at the free-throw line in the Dec. 11 68-67 setback vs. Charlotte, the team’s first perfect showing at the foul line since going 5-of-5 on Feb. 7, 2018 at Evansville. This marked Valpo’s first flawless day at the stripe with at least 10 attempts since going 14-of-14 on Nov. 17, 2016 at Oregon. As of Dec. 11, only five teams nationally this season had a perfect free-throw shooting game with more than 14 attempts.

The Slimmest of Margins: Valpo’s 68-67 loss vs. Charlotte on Saturday was the team’s first one-point game since winning 66-65 at Southern Illinois on Feb. 21 of last season. That marked Valpo’s first defeat by the slimmest of margins since Jan. 29, 2019, 55-54 in overtime vs. Missouri State. Half of Valpo’s six losses this season have come by three points or fewer including one overtime setback.

Other Notes Wrapping Up Dec. 11: Charlotte 68, Valpo 67

• Kobe King followed his collegiate career high of 19 in his Valpo debut vs. East-West with 17 in his second game sporting the brown and gold, his top collegiate output against a Division-I opponent. He went a perfect 6-of-6 at the foul line against Charlotte, a career high for made free throws.
• Thomas Kithier collected seven rebounds, his fourth straight game and seventh time this season with six or more. He paced the team in rebounding for the seventh time this year.
• Trevor Anderson gave out four assists to co-lead the team, his fourth time this season with four or more helpers. He also scored in double figures for the seventh time in 11 games including the fifth time in the last six.
• Kevion Taylor shared the team lead in assists and equaled a season high with four while also swiping three steals. The three steals represented his highest total of the season and his third multi-steal effort in the last four contests.
• Sheldon Edwards drained four 3s, his second most of the season and fifth time with three or more. His 16 points represented his ninth time in double figures this year in 11 outings. His six made field goals were also his second most of the year, behind the Nov. 24 game vs. Tulane.
• King made his first start in a Valpo uniform, while Edwards returned to the starting five after coming off the bench for each of the last seven games.
• Charlotte shot 51.1 percent from the field, the highest shooting clip by a Valpo opponent this season. The 49ers shot 64.7 percent from 3, the highest 3-point percentage by a Valpo opponent since Evansville went 9-of-12 on Nov. 20, 2013.
• Jahmir Young had 26 points for Charlotte, the most points scored by an individual Valpo opponent this season.

Inside the Eagles

• Picked 11^th of 12 in the MAC Preseason Coaches’ Poll.
• Own victories over Illinois State, Western Illinois, Northwood, Niagara and Florida International.
• Fell by just six points at Indiana to open the season. Other losses have come to DePaul, Michigan State, Northern Kentucky (by one) and UC San Diego.
• Will close out nonconference play on Monday before visiting Ohio on Tuesday, Dec. 28 to tip off MACtion.
• Led in scoring by Noah Farrakhan, who is averaging 17.1 points per game in eight contests. Monty Scott (15.6 ppg) and Bryce McBride (12.1 ppg) join him in double figures.
• Went 6-12 overall and 3-11 in conference play last season.

Career Milestone Watch

• Kevion Taylor has scored over 1,700 career points and has well over 600 career rebounds. He is one of just 19 active NCAA players nationally in all divisions in the 1,700-point, 600-rebound club. He did much of his damage during 103 career games at D-II Winona State before grad transferring to Valpo prior to this season.
• Taylor made the 100^th start of his collegiate career on Dec. 7 vs. East-West.
• Trevor Anderson handed out his 100^th career assist on Dec. 7 vs. East West.
• Ben Krikke has passed the 600 career point mark this season and entering Dec. 20 vs. Eastern Michigan, he needs 13 more to get to 700.
• Valpo head coach Matt Lottich is 12 wins from 100 for his career.
• Eron Gordon enters Dec. 20 vs. Eastern Michigan 38 points away from 500 for his collegiate career. With his four rebounds on Dec. 5 at Western Michigan, he surpassed the 100-career rebound threshold.

Notes Wrapping Up Dec. 7 (Valpo 101, East-West 58)

• Ben Krikke turned in a game-high 21 points on an efficient 10-of-13 shooting in 18 minutes of action. He recorded his fourth 20-point output of the season in just seven games. He led the team in scoring for the fourth time in his seven outings.
• Kobe King’s 19 points surpassed his previous career high of 14, which came on Nov. 22, 2018 vs. Oklahoma.
• Valpo hit the century mark for the second time this season after posting 106 points on Nov. 27 vs. Trinity Christian. The 43-point margin of victory against the Phantoms marked Valpo’s largest since beating Concordia University Chicago by 56 (121-65) on Nov. 6, 2018.
• The Beacons shot 60.6 percent (43-of-71), their first time shooting at least 60 percent since shooting right at that threshold (33-of-55) on Dec. 12, 2018 vs. UC Riverside. Tuesday marked the team’s top shooting percentage since hitting at a 65.2 percent clip on Nov. 6, 2018 vs. Concordia Chicago.
• Thomas Kithier pulled down a team-high seven rebounds, his fourth game this season with at least seven and sixth with at least six.
• Darius DeAveiro dished out eight assists, his second game with eight helpers this season. He became the first Missouri Valley Conference player with two eight-assist games this season and now owns half of the four eight-helper performances by MVC players this year.
• Joe Hedstrom converted all four of his field-goal attempts, equaling a career best with nine points, a mark he previously reached on Nov. 27 of this season vs. Trinity Christian.
• Trey Woodyard chipped in a career-high nine points on 4-of-6 shooting while securing five caroms, also a personal watermark.
• Walk-on Brock Pappas had his first career made field goal, while fellow walk-on Luke Morrill hit his first and second career 3s on his way to a personal-best six points.
• Valpo picked up its fourth win in the last five games and improved to 5-2 since an 0-3 start that came without their leading returning scorer as Krikke was sidelined by an injury.
• Kevion Taylor and Sheldon Edwards have both hit a 3 in all 10 games this season.

Home-Heavy Stretch in Progress: The Dec. 5 game at Western Michigan marked the final contest in a seven-game stretch where Valpo played six games away from the Athletics-Recreation Center (three road, three neutral site). The Dec. 7 contest vs. East-West began a home-heavy month where the Beacons will be in front of their home fans for six straight. Valpo will go a full month between road games from Dec. 5 to Jan. 5. From Dec. 5 to Jan. 21, the Beacons will spend just one night in a hotel (Jan. 4 at UNI). This is Valpo’s first homestand longer than four games since a five gamer from Nov. 25 to Dec. 12, 2003. This homestand will be Valpo’s longest since Jan. 21 to Feb. 6, 1994, a stretch of six straight at home against Eastern Illinois, Oral Roberts, Buffalo, Youngstown State, UMKC and Western Illinois. 

#ChampionsInCommunity

• The Valpo basketball program received recognition from the Valparaiso University Student Philanthropy program on Sunday, Nov. 14.
• The team was recognized as part of the University’s annual Generosity Awards Celebration. Head coach Matt Lottich’s group was selected as the 2021 Athletic Team Awardee for the program’s community service and engagement.
• The team’s community engagement activities include participating in the Popcorn Fest, Valparaiso Downtown Trick or Treat, Valpo Day of Caring and beach cleanup at the Indiana Dunes National Park.
• In addition, the team hosts youth camps in the summer, working with children ages 6-14 to provide a fun and positive basketball experience.
• The program makes it a priority to attend as many Valpo Athletics events as possible to support other teams. The Beacons also make an effort to actively participate in the University community and support student organizations while also having an active presence as members of the broader City of Valparaiso and Northwest Indiana communities.
• Of the six core values that make up the foundation of the Valpo men’s basketball program, servanthood and appreciation are among the most prominent.

Beacon Bits

Random off-the-court facts on each Valpo player.

• #0 Thomas Kithier – Is an avid Detroit Lions fan and can name every player on the roster... Mother Jane played college volleyball at Eastern Michigan... Works in Valpo Athletics in ticketing, marketing and sports information.
• #1 Cam Palesse – Enjoys building fish-tank ecosystems.
• #2 Preston Ruedinger – Is an avid golfer in his spare time... Has an interest in coaching in the future.
• #3 Connor Barrett – Is also an avid golfer whose best score is a 73.
• #4 Darius DeAveiro – Father David is the former head coach at McGill University in Montreal and is now the head coach of the Ryerson Rams.
• #5 Keyondre Young – Enjoys observing nature and sightseeing... Enjoys watching movies and lists Blue Chips as his favorite.
• #10 Eron Gordon – Comes from a basketball family including brother Eric who has played in the NBA since 2008 and is currently a member of the Houston Rockets... Enjoys editing videos and podcasting.
• #11 Emil Freese-Vilien – Civil engineering major who spends a lot of time drawing blueprints and houses... His first basketball practice came at age 14... Played serious badminton growing up.
• #12 Kevion Taylor – High school teammates with Tyler Herro of the NBA’s Miami Heat.
• #13 Sheldon Edwards – Has six siblings... Enjoys listening to music... Played for his uncle Louis Graham at TLAP Sports Academy for one year prior to coming to Valpo.
• #15 Luke Morrill – Walk-on who enjoys wakesurfing.
• #20 Tyler Fricke – Walk-on whose father Scott coached Matt Lottich in high school and brother Zach pitches for the Valpo baseball team.
• #21 Trevor Anderson – Father Scott was his high school coach at SPASH and played at UW-Stevens Point... Enjoys visiting coffee shops, traveling and cheering for the Dallas Cowboys.
• #22 Brock Pappas – Walk-on who is majoring in nursing and hopes to one day become a pediatric nurse and work at Riley Children’s Hospital.
• #23 Ben Krikke – Spent over 100 days in quarantine before and during the 2020-2021 season... Enjoys mountain biking and chess, which he learned from his grandfather... Credits his father’s Michael Jordon DVD set for helping hone his skills.
• #32 Joe Hedstrom – Is an avid fisherman and Valpo’s proximity to Lake Michigan added to his desire to play at Valpo... Grandfather Burt Hedstrom played basketball, football and baseball at Northwestern University (1944-47) and both of his parents played college basketball, mother Sharon (Bethel) and father Peter (St. Olaf).
• #33 Trey Woodyard – Maintained a 4.0 GPA throughout high school, earning a place on the honor roll every year.
• #35 Kobe King –Enjoys making music and writing song lyrics.

Forward Trajectory

• Valpo has improved its conference tournament seeding in each of its four Missouri Valley Conference seasons.
• The team entered Arch Madness as a No. 10 seed in 2017-18, a No. 9 seed in 2018-19, a No. 7 in 2019-20 and a No. 6 in 2020-21.
• With Year 4 in The Valley now in the books, Valpo has surpassed Loyola’s conference win total over its first four seasons in the league. Valpo garnered its 29^th MVC victory in the 2020-21 regular-season finale vs. Indiana State.
• The Ramblers went 27-45 over their first four seasons before going 57-16 over the following four seasons.
• Valpo has improved its conference finish in each season during the four-year transitional period after elevating to the prestigious and competitive conference.

More on 2020-21

• The 2020-21 season was highlighted by an upset victory over previously-undefeated Drake, the nation’s No. 25 team, 74-57 on Feb. 7, 2021 at the Athletics-Recreation Center, the fourth win over an AP Top 25 team in program history and second under Lottich. The Bulldogs were one of three undefeated teams in the nation prior to that setback, joining Gonzaga and Baylor.
• Valpo came close to two other victories over ranked foes, falling 80-77 vs. No. 25 Drake on Feb. 6 and 54-52 at No. 22 Loyola on Feb. 17.
• Valpo closed the regular season with a stretch of 16 Missouri Valley Conference games in a 39-day span. By comparison, Valpo had played three games over the previous 31 days before beginning the stretch of seemingly nonstop competition. Six of Valpo’s first eight MVC games were postponed due to COVID-19, causing the backlog of makeup games during the busy stretch.

2021-22 Preseason Picks

• Ben Krikke was named to the Preseason All-MVC Second Team.
• Valpo was picked seventh in the 10-team league based on a preseason survey of the conference’s head coaches, media members and sports information directors.
• Drake was tabbed the preseason favorite to win the league, while UNI’s AJ Green earned Preseason Player of the Year accolades.

Sustained Home Success

• The Athletics-Recreation Center has provided a distinct homecourt advantage over the years as Valpo has not finished with a losing mark at the ARC since 1991-92.
• Thanks to a victory in the 2020-21 home finale vs. Indiana State, the program finished with a record of .500 or better at home for the 29^th consecutive season.
• Valpo enjoyed double-figure home win totals in nine of 10 seasons prior to the unusual, pandemic-altered 2020-21 season. Due to health and safety regulations, fans were unable to pack the ARC as they have in years past.
• The ARC is back open to spectators without any capacity restrictions during the 2021-22 season, restoring the home court advantage Valpo has come to expect over the years.

Home-Heavy Schedule

• The historic home success is good news for Valpo this season, as the team will play 17 home games.
• The nonconference slate will be comprised of eight home dates, two road games and three neutral-site contests.
• Valpo most recently played 17 home games during the 2016-17 season. This will mark the team’s busiest home calendar since joining the Missouri Valley Conference.

Big Ten U

• Prior to this season, Valpo had just a pair of Big Ten transfers join the program over the last two decades (Bakari Evelyn and Bobby Capobiano).
• This year, the program has been bolstered by four additions from the Big Ten Conference. Trevor Anderson, Joe Hedstrom and Kobe King have all come in from Wisconsin, while Thomas Kithier joins the fold after beginning his career with three seasons at Michigan State.
• Four of the five transfers that have come in join the team from the Big Ten, while a fifth impact transfer began his career with four seasons at Division-II Winona State. Kevion Taylor was a three-time all-conference performer and was his conference’s preseason player of the year in 2020-21.
• King started all 19 games he played at Wisconsin in 2019-20, Anderson appeared in 60 of Wisconsin’s 62 games over the last two seasons and Kithier appeared in 86 games and made 19 starts for Tom Izzo’s team over his three seasons in East Lansing.

Who’s Back

• Although the team features five freshmen and the five aforementioned transfers, five scholarship players do return from last season.
• The squad brings back 47.9 percent of its scoring and 42.4 percent of its rebounding.
• Four of the team’s top six scorers are back.
• A pair of MVC postseason award winners remain in the fold for the Beacons as Sheldon Edwards was a member of the 2020-21 MVC All-Freshman Team, while Ben Krikke earned All-MVC Third Team, MVC Most-Improved Team and MVC Scholar-Athlete First Team, the lone player in the league to receive all three honors.
• Seven letter winners are back from last year’s team, while nine have departed. Three starters return and three left. (Note: Starters based on top five players in number of games started. Six players were considered starters due to a tie for fifth).

Staff Sidebars

• Associate head coach Luke Gore is in his 20^th year on staff and has served under four different head coaches. The Valpo veteran has helped the team to eight postseason berths in the last 11 years and was on staff for the three winningest seasons in program history. He serves as the team’s defensive coordinator in addition to leading Valpo’s scheduling and scouting efforts.
• Assistant coach Matt Bowen returned to Valpo’s staff in 2018-19 after previously spending four seasons with the Brown & Gold from 2002-2006. He was the head coach at the University of Minnesota Duluth from 2012-2018. Bowen coordinates the team’s offense.
• Assistant coach Rob Holloway is back for his fourth season after spending the previous two years on staff at Eastern Illinois, his alma mater.
• Director of Basketball Operations Peter Funk is in his first season in that role after spending the previous two years as a graduate assistant and the three years prior to that as a student manager.
• Bob Brooks is in his 18^th year as Valpo Director of Strength & Conditioning at Valpo and returned to oversight of men’s basketball strength & conditioning in 2020-21. He has worked with Valpo teams since 1994.
• Athletic trainer Ken DeAngelis is in his third season full-time at Valpo after previously earning his master’s degree from the University in 2012 while spending two years as a graduate assistant athletic trainer.

Tradition of Excellence

• Valpo has 14 NCAA Tournament appearances and four NIT berths in the program’s proud history, with the team’s postseason success highlighted by a Sweet Sixteen run in 1998.
• The program has produced nine All-Americans, won 18 regular season conference championships and 10 conference tournament crowns.
• Valpo also boasts eight NBA players, 10 conference players of the year and 20 20-win seasons.
• Nine of the team’s NCAA appearances have come since 1996.
• Valpo has qualified for the postseason eight times in the last 11 years, including 2019-20 where Valpo accepted a postseason berth but the tournament was not played due to COVID-19.
• Valpo has developed a myriad of professional basketball players over the last quarter century, most notably a pair of NBA players in the last four years. Ryan Broekhoff (class of 2013) signed a contract with the Dallas Mavericks in the summer of 2018 after spending five seasons playing internationally in Russia and Turkey. Alec Peters (class of 2017) was the 54th pick in the 2017 NBA Draft by the Phoenix Suns. Peters appeared in 20 games for the Suns in 2017-18, highlighted by a 36-point performance in the season finale against Dallas – a new single-game high by a Valpo alum in the NBA. He has gone on to a successful career overseas with CSKA Moscow (2018-2019), Anadolu Efes (2019-2020) and Kirolbet Baskonia (2020-present).
• Valpo has produced over 50 professional players in the last 25 years.