Valparaiso (11-8, 2-4 MVC)
Game #20 - Wednesday, January 17 - 7 p.m.
at Missouri State (14-5, 4-2 MVC)
JQH Arena (11,000) - Springfield, Mo.
Next Up in Crusader Basketball: The Valparaiso University men’s basketball team makes the longest trek in Missouri Valley Conference play, heading to Springfield, Mo. to face Missouri State on Wednesday evening. The Crusaders are searching for their first road win in Valley action and will look to do so on Wednesday in a building where they’ve won twice in the last five years in non-conference play.
Last Time Out: Trailing by as many as 23 points in the second half and by 19 points with less than four minutes remaining at UNI, Valpo unleashed a furious rally, cutting the lead to single digits in just over a minute and getting as close as five points late. But the Crusaders couldn’t complete the comeback, falling by an 81-76 final in Cedar Falls, Iowa Saturday night. Bakari Evelyn paced the Crusaders with 19 points, including four 3-pointers, while Markus Golder scored a season-high 18 points as well.
Following the Crusaders: Video - The Valley on ESPN3 - Scott Warmann (PxP) and Danan Hughes (Analyst)
Radio – WVUR (95.1 FM, Valparaiso) - Todd Ickow (PxP) and Aaron Leavitt (Analyst)
Links for the live coverage will be available at ValpoAthletics.com.
Head Coach Matt Lottich: Matt Lottich (35-17) continued the Valparaiso University men’s basketball program’s run of success in his first season as head coach of the Crusaders, and is poised to keep the program at a high level as he enters his second season in charge in 2017-2018. In his first season at the helm, Lottich guided Valpo to its fifth Horizon League regular season championship in the last six years as he led the Crusaders to 24 wins and an at-large berth into the NIT.
Series Notes: Missouri State holds a 14-8 advantage in the all-time series with Valpo, but the Crusaders had won four straight in non-conference matchups this decade before the Bears captured the first meeting as MVC opponents on Dec. 31, 67-50. Max Joseph led Valpo, which shot just 34.8% as a team in the loss, with 13 points, while Jarrid Rhodes hit five 3-pointers for a game-high 15 points to lead Missouri State.
@ValpoBasketball...
...and @ValleyHoops
- Valpo was selected to finish in sixth place in the MVC preseason poll, finishing just 12 points behind Southern Illinois for fifth place.
- The Crusaders have defeated MVC preseason favorite Missouri State in each of the last two seasons.
- Valpo has not finished worse in the final standings than its preseason projection in the last seven years.
- Senior Tevonn Walker represented the Crusaders among the preseason All-Conference honorees, earning Second Team accolades.
...looking back at last year
- The Crusaders are coming off of their third consecutive Horizon League regular season title and their fifth in the last six years, posting a 14-4 mark within league play and a 24-9 record overall.
- The regular season was highlighted by a win over #21 Rhode Island at the ARC - the program’s first win over a ranked opponent since 1998 - and wins in Las Vegas over Alabama and BYU to earn the MGM Grand Main Event title.
- Valpo earned an at-large bid into the Postseason NIT for the second time in program history, falling at Illinois in a first-round matchup. The NIT berth extended the Crusaders’ string of postseason appearances to seven straight seasons.
- Alec Peters was named an NABC Third Team All-American and an AP Honorable Mention All-American and claimed the Horizon League Player of the Year award.
- Peters closed out his career as the Crusaders’ all-time leading scorer and rebounder.
- Shane Hammink was a Second Team All-League selection, while Tevonn Walker was named to the league’s All-Defensive Team.
...notes from UNI
- Valpo trailed by as many as 15 points in the first half and as much as 23 in the second half.
- The Crusaders were down 19 points with 3:52 remaining before making a run and getting as close as five points down the stretch.
- Valpo scored 24 points over the game’s final 3:35 after scoring just 52 over the opening 36:25. The loss was the Crusaders’ first of the season when scoring more than 71 points.
- Valpo ended the night with 13 steals while committing just 10 total turnovers as a team. The Crusaders have registered 23 steals over their last two games after opening MVC play with just 28 steals combined in the first four games.
- Evelyn finished with a team-best 19 points, as he hit four 3-pointers in his 38 minutes of play. The sophomore also tallied a career-best four steals.
...notes from Drake
- Valpo knocked off the previously-unbeaten Bulldogs with one of its best offensive performances of the year.
- The Crusaders led 12-5 at the first media timeout and never trailed the rest of the way, enjoying an 11-point halftime lead en route to the win.
- Valpo finished the game shooting 55.8% from the field (29-of-52) and was 12-of-24 from 3-point range.
- Senior Tevonn Walker matched his career high with 26 points, knocking down five 3-pointers.
- The Crusaders enjoyed a 30-21 advantage on the boards, led by six rebounds from Walker, who led Valpo on the glass for the third straight game.
- Valpo limited Drake’s Reed Timmer, who entered averaging better than 19 points per game, to just seven points on 3-of-7 shooting – just his second single-digit output of the season.
- Valpo tallied 25 assists on its 29 baskets, its best mark versus a D-I opponent since recording 27 assists against Chicago State on Feb. 5, 2007.
...looking ahead
- The Crusaders return to the ARC as they host Loyola this Sunday afternoon, Jan. 21 on ESPNU.
- Valpo remains at home on Wednesday evening, Jan. 24 as the Crusaders welcome in-state foe Evansville to the ARC.
...on the road
- Valpo has finished above .500 in true road games in four of the last five seasons, including a 7-6 mark in such games last year.
- Prior to this stretch, the Crusaders had not finished above .500 on the road in the previous 10 years.
- Valpo currently sits at 2-7 in true road games this year following Saturday’s loss at UNI.
@MSUBearsHoops
- Missouri State currently sits at 14-5 overall and 4-2 in Valley play following a three-point win over Indiana State on Sunday.
- The Bears had dropped back-to-back games at Illinois State and at Evansville prior to their win last time out over the Sycamores.
- Preseason MVC Player of the Year Alize Johnson leads MSU, averaging 15.5 points and 11.6 rebounds per game.
New Scoring Marks
- Over the last three games, four different Crusaders have matched or set a new career high for points scored in a single game.
- Last time out, Markus Golder set his career best at the D-I level with a basket in the final seconds, finishing with 18 points at UNI as he went 7-of-11 from the field.
- In the win over Drake, senior Tevonn Walker matched his career high as he scored 26 points, including five 3-pointers.
- Both Max Joseph and Jaume Sorolla set new career bests in scoring in the win over Southern Illinois with 17 points apiece.
- Sorolla’s performance against the Salukis was most notable, as he scored his 17 points in just 12 minutes - making him the first Valpo player to score 17 or more points while playing 12 or fewer minutes in a game in at least 30 years.
Bradford Helps Out
- After entering the game against SIU with a career best of four assists, sophomore Micah Bradford has set a new career high in the category in each of Valpo’s last three games.
- Bradford tallied six assists in the win over SIU and followed by handing out seven assists in the victory against Drake
- Last time out, the sophomore topped himself yet again, with nine assists at UNI - a season-high for any Valpo player.
- Perhaps most impressively, over the last three games, Bradford has turned the ball over just four times versus his 22 assists.
To 3 Or Not to 3
- Both of the Crusaders’ MVC wins have been characterized by sharp shooting from the 3-point line, including last week’s win over Drake.
- Valpo went 12-of-24 from deep against the Bulldogs, its highest number of 3-pointers in a single game since Feb. 26, 2016.
- The Crusaders, who hit more than half their 3-pointers against SIU as well, connected on 50% or better from deep in back-to-back games for the first time since Feb. 1 and 5, 2013.
- Overall this year, Valpo is hitting 38.8% of its 3-point attempts in wins, versus 29% in losses.
- The Crusaders started just 3-of-16 from the 3-point line last time out in the loss at UNI before hitting 4-of-7 during their run down the stretch.
Fantastic Max
- Senior Max Joseph is playing at the highest level of his career to start off his final season of conference play.
- Joseph set new career highs with 17 points and three made 3-pointers versus SIU.
- Against Drake, Joseph recorded a career-best eight assists and scored 16 points (6-7 FG; 3-3 3PT).
- Over the Crusaders’ first six MVC games, Joseph has scored in double figures five times and is averaging 12.2 points and 5.5 rebounds per game.
- He has shot at a 58.1% clip from the field and is 8-of-13 from 3-point range over the last six games after going just 2-of-16 from deep in non-conference play.
Cracking The Top-20
- With his final point at Bradley, senior Tevonn Walker moved into the top-20 in Crusader history in career scoring.
- Against SIU, Walker surpassed Lance Barker (1991-95) for 19th position.
- Walker currently sits with 1,230 career points, just 17 points away from Darryl Ashby (1974-78) in 18th position with 1,247 career points.
- Looking ahead, with at least 13 games remaining, Walker is 278 points away from a potential spot in the top-10.
Finding the Right Combination
- After using the same starting lineup for a seven-game stretch earlier this year, which included each of the team’s first six wins over Division I opponents, Valpo’s starting five has been in flux over the last few weeks.
- The Crusaders used their sixth different lineup in an eight-game span against SIU, bringing Jaume Sorolla off the bench for the first time this year and moving Derrik Smits into the starting five for the first time since Trinity Christian.
- That lineup - which also includes Bakari Evelyn, Tevonn Walker, Max Joseph and Mileek McMillan - has now started each of Valpo’s last three games.
- 10 of Valpo’s 12 players have now started at least once this season, with Micah Bradford and Marten Linssen the only Crusaders yet to start a game.
- Evelyn is the only Valpo player who has started every game this year.
We Are Young
- The Crusaders feature nine underclassmen on their roster.
- The active squad boasts two seniors, one junior, six sophomores and three freshmen.
- In its game at UC Riverside, the Crusaders suited up just one upperclassman - senior Max Joseph - among their 10 active players.
- Valpo ranks 262nd nationally in Ken Pomeroy’s experience metric, which weights the experience of each player based on minutes played - the Crusaders’ ranking is the lowest in The Valley.
Valpo in the Valley
- A new era begins this year for Valpo men’s basketball and the athletics department and University as a whole, as the 2017-18 year is Valpo’s first as a member of the Missouri Valley Conference.
- The Valley is renowned for its men’s basketball success on the national stage. Since the year 2000, The Valley has earned 33 bids to the NCAA Tournament – 18 automatic bids and 15 at-large berths – and has posted 27 tournament victories.
- Since 2010, 12 MVC programs in the NCAA Tournament have combined for 16 victories.
- The Crusaders are looking to carry over the success they’ve had in the past two-plus decades into The Valley.
- Over its last 13 years as a member of the Mid-Continent Conference (1994-2007), Valpo claimed nine regular season and eight tournament championships.
- Then, in a decade as a Horizon League member (2007-2017), the Crusaders won five regular season and two tournament titles.
Multitude of Wins
- Since the start of the 2014-15 season, Valpo has been one of the nation’s standard bearers in terms of victories on the court.
- The Crusaders have amassed 93 wins since the beginning of the 2014-15 campaign, two wins behind Notre Dame for top honors in the state of Indiana among D-I programs.
- As of the end of play Monday, Valpo was tied for 18th nationally over the same time span in terms of victories.
Non-Conference Success
- The Crusaders ended non-conference play with nine wins, missing out on double-figure victories in non-conference action for just the second time in the last six years.
- Valpo owns a 60-23 (.723) record in pre-league action over the last six years.
Third-Best Start
- The loss to Purdue capped the Crusaders’ open to the 2017-18 season as the third best in program history.
- Valpo ended up 8-0 to start this season - the only two starts in program history better than 8-0 both came from teams which boast renowned monikers.
- The World’s Tallest Team (1944-45) won 11 straight contests to open that season en route to a 21-3 record.
- The best start all-time by a Crusader squad came from the Victory Five (1923-24), which won its first 22 games of the year and finished the season 24-4.
Perfect Month
- With its win over Utah State, Valpo secured a perfect record in the month of November, finishing the month 8-0.
- It marked just the second perfect month for the Crusaders over the last 70 years (minimum three games played).
- The only other month where Valpo posted an undefeated mark came in February of 1998, as the Crusaders went 7-0 - a streak which eventually extended to a total of 13 straight wins as Valpo advanced to the Sweet 16.
Winning Big
- The first five of the Crusaders’ wins this season all came by at least 20 points, the first time in program history that Valpo has won five straight by 20+ points.
- The Crusaders’ first four wins of the year all came by at least 25 points, the first four-game winning streak in program history where all four wins came by 25+ points.
- The 25-point win at SIUE marked Valpo’s largest known margin of victory in a road opener (dating back to the mid-1940s when sites are denoted within the all-time results).
Developing Pros
- Valpo has had an entire team’s worth of talent from the past five years go on to professional basketball careers.
- Most notably, Alec Peters was selected by the Phoenix Suns with the 54th pick in the 2017 NBA Draft and is currently on a two-way contract with Phoenix and the Northern Arizona Suns of the G-League.
- Peters is currently averaging 18.6 points and 8.2 rebounds per game for the NAZ Suns.
- E. Victor Nickerson (2016) has also seen time in the G-League with the Fort Wayne Mad Ants.
- Ryan Broekhoff (2013) highlights the Crusaders’ international pros who have graduated in the last five years, as he currently stars for Lokomotiv in Russia’s VTB United League and the EuroCup.
- Shane Hammink (2017) is playing for Bilbao Basket of Liga ACB in Spain - the top division - while Jubril Adekoya (2017), Vashil Fernandez (2016) and Kevin Van Wijk (2013) are all playing for CB Peñas Huesca of LEB Oro - Spain’s second division.
- Lavonte Dority (2014) is playing for Den Helder Suns in the top division in the Netherlands, while Jordan Coleman (2014) has played for Omnia Basket in Italy’s second division.
The International Flavor
- This year’s squad continues the international pipeline that Valpo has cultivated over the past two decades.
- The Crusaders boast four international players on this year’s roster from three different countries.
- Represented are Canada (Joseph and Walker), Spain (Sorolla) and Germany (Linssen).
- Over the past 21 years, the Crusaders have welcomed 33 international players from 19 different countries.
Crusaders Sign Javon Freeman-Liberty
- One of the top prospects in the Class of 2018 in the state of Illinois, Javon Freeman-Liberty signed a National Letter of Intent during the early signing period and will join Valpo as a freshman for the 2018-19 season.
- Freeman-Liberty helped lead Whitney Young H.S. to the Illinois Class 4A state title last year as a junior, averaging 13.6 points, 5.2 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game.
- The 6’4” Chicago native is a consensus top-10 prospect in his class in Illinois and is ranked fifth overall in the state and 37th nationally among shooting guards by ESPN. He played his AAU basketball last summer for Meanstreets.
