Men's Basketball Game Notes
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2020-21 Men’s Basketball Game Notes Contact: BRANDON VICKREY Office: 219.464.5396 Valpo Sports Media Relations [email protected] www.valpoathletics.com Athletics-Recreation Center 1009 Union Street Valparaiso IN 46383 2020-21 Schedule and Results Loyola (10-3, 5-1 MVC) Date Opponent Time/Result at Valparaiso (3-8, 0-2 MVC) Nov. 27 at Vanderbilt SEC Network L 77-71 Game No. 12 – Wednesday, Jan. 20 – 6 p.m. CT Dec. 1 at UIC! ESPN3 L 66-50 Athletics-Recreation Center (5,000) – Valparaiso, Ind. Dec. 4 at Purdue Big Ten Network L 68-61 Dec. 6 Judson ESPN3 W 85-45 Next Up in Valpo Basketball: After having six of its first eight scheduled Dec. 9 SIUE ESPN3/+ W 80-58 Missouri Valley Conference games postponed, the Valparaiso University Dec. 12 at Central Michigan! ESPN3 L 84-79 Dec. 17 Purdue Northwest ESPN3 W 89-71 men’s basketball team will begin a busy stretch of Valley action on Wednesday Dec. 19 at Toledo ESPN3 L 71-57 night. The team is scheduled to play 14 games in a 33-day span starting with Jan. 9 Missouri State* ESPN3/+ L 81-68 Wednesday’s home date with nearby foe Loyola. This is a rematch of last year’s Jan. 10 Missouri State* ESPN3/+ L 78-68 MVC Tournament quarterfinal, when Valpo came from 18 down to upset the Jan. 16 at DePaul FS1 L 77-58 Ramblers 74-73 in overtime on a last-second layup by Eron Gordon. Jan. 20 Loyola* Valley on ESPN+ Exclusive 6 p.m. Jan. 23 at Illinois State* Marquee Sports 5 p.m. : After this past weekend’s scheduled series with Southern Jan. 24 at Illinios State* Marquee Sports 5 p.m. Last Time Out Jan. 28 Bradley* Valley on E3/+ Exclusive 6 p.m. Illinois was postponed due to positive COVID-19 test results within Southern Jan. 31 at Evansville* Valley on E3/+ Exclusive 3 p.m. Illinois’ team personnel, Valpo added a nonconference game at DePaul on Feb. 1 at Evansville* ESPN3/+ 6 p.m. Saturday, a 77-58 setback at Wintrust Arena. The game came together on Feb. 6 Drake* ESPN3/+ 1 p.m. Wednesday after DePaul’s matchup with Georgetown was postponed and was Feb. 7 Drake* ESPN3/+ 1 p.m. announced on Thursday morning, just two days before the contest. It was the Feb. 10 Bradley* ESPN3/+ 6 p.m. first time Valpo and DePaul had matched up since 1980. Feb. 13 at UNI* MVC TV Network (NBCSCH) 7 p.m. Feb. 14 at UNI* NBC Sports Chicago, ESPN3/+ 6 p.m. Feb. 17 at Loyola* MVC TV Network (NBCSCH) 7 p.m. Following Valpo Basketball: Video – The Valley on ESPN Exclusive (ESPN+) Feb. 20 at SIU * Valley on E3/+ Exclusive TBD – Jordan Bernfield (play-by-play) and David Kaplan (analyst) Feb. 21 at SIU* Marquee Sports Network TBD Radio – WVUR (95.1 FM, Valparaiso) – Todd Ickow (play-by-play) and Zach Feb. 26 Indiana State* Valley on E3/+ Exclusive 6 p.m. Collins (analyst) Feb. 27 Indiana State* ESPN3/+ 5 p.m. Twitter updates - @ValpoBasketball March 4-7 MVC Tournament% (St. Louis) Links for video, audio and live stats will be available at ValpoAthletics.com. All times Central. Home games in bold and played at Head Coach Matt Lottich: Matt Lottich (76-68) is in his eighth season overall Athletics-Recreation Center. at Valpo and fifth as head coach in 2020-21. Just two years removed from ! – multi-team event finishing in last place and being knocked out in the first round of the Missouri % - 2021 MVC Tournament (St. Louis) Valley Conference Tournament as a first-year Valley member, Lottich’s team * - indicates Missouri Valley Conference game 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. @ValpoBasketball #GoValpo 2020-21 Men’s Basketball Game Notes Contact: BRANDON VICKREY Office: 219.464.5396 Valpo Sports Media Relations [email protected] www.valpoathletics.com Athletics-Recreation Center 1009 Union Street Valparaiso IN 46383 2020-21 Valparaiso Men’s Basketball Roster # Name Pos. Ht. Wt. Yr. Hometown/High School [Prev. School] 0 Goodnews Kpegeol G 6-5 200 R-So. St. Paul, Minn./North [Southwest Mississippi CC/Kansas St] 1 Sigurd Lorange G 5-11 185 So. Trondheim, Norway/Metis Videregaende Skole 2 Zion Morgan G 6-5 190 R-Sr. Chicago, Ill./Kenwood [Wabash Valley College/UNLV] 3 Steven Helm G 6-2 180 R-So. Valparaiso, Ind./Valparaiso [Carroll] 4 Daniel Sackey G 5-9 175 Jr. Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada/Thornlea 5 Donovan Clay G/F 6-7 205 So. Alton, Ill./Alton 10 Eron Gordon G 6-3 205 R-Sr. Indianapolis, Ind./Cathedral [Seton Hall] 11 Emil Freese-Vilien C 6-10 255 So. Copenhagen, Denmark/Falkonergarden Gymnasium 12 Tyler Fricke G/F 6-1 170 Fr. Arlington Heights, Ill. / Buffalo Grove 13 Sheldon Edwards G 6-4 180 Fr. West Palm Beach, Fla./Palm Beach Lakes[TLAP Sports Academy] 15 Luke Morrill G 6-2 200 So. Lombard, Ill./Montini Catholic 20/21 Brock Pappas F 6-4 205 Jr. Valparaiso, Ind./Washington Township 22 Mileek McMillan F 6-8 230 Sr. Merrillville, Ind./Merrillville 23 Ben Krikke F 6-9 230 So. Edmonton, Alberta, Canada/Jasper Place 25 Nick Robinson G 6-5 215 R-Sr. Chicago, Ill./Kenwood [Saint Joseph’s] 34 Jacob Ognacevic F 6-8 210 Fr. Sheboygan, Wis./Sheboygan Area Lutheran 35 Connor Barrett G/F 6-6 200 Fr. Chicago, Ill./Loyola Academy Coaching Staff val-puh-RAY-zo Pronunciation Guide Head Coach: Matt Lottich (Stanford, 2004) – 5th season Matt Lottich - lot-ICK Associate Head Coach: Luke Gore (Bethel [Tenn.], 2001) – 19th season Mileek McMillan - muh-LEEK Assistant Coaches: Rob Holloway (Eastern Illinois, 2005) – 3rd season Emil Freese-Vilien – uh MEAL FRACE Vil-ee-EN and Matt Bowen (Indiana, 1995) – 3rd season, 2nd stint Ben Krikke – Crick-E (last part is like the letter E) Director of Basketball Operations: Jason Karys (Valparaiso 2017) – 2nd season Sigurd Lorange – SIG-erd Lor-ANG Graduate Assistant: Peter Funk (Valparaiso 2019) – 2nd season Eron Gordon – Aaron Kpegeol – Peh-gay-OLE (K is silent, last syllable rhymes with mole) Valpo vs.Loyola Jacob Ognacevic – Og-NOSS-uh-vic All-time series: Loyola leads 41-16 Tyler Fricke – Frick-E (last part is like the letter E) At Valpo: Loyola leads 20-7 At Loyola: Loyola leads 20-8 Neutral: Tied 1-1 Among the MVC Leaders Current streak: Valpo W1 (Through 1/19) Current streak at Valpo: Loyola W4 Individual Leaders Current streak at Loyola: Loyola W3 Player Category Rank Value Last 10 meetings: Loyola leads 7-3 Daniel Sackey Assists/G T-4th 4.0 Daniel Sackey FT% T-10th 83.3 Last 10 Meetings Nick Robinson Steals/G 4th 1.5 Date Site W/L Score Donovan Clay Blocks/G 4th 1.5 March 6, 2020 St. Louis, Mo. W(ot) 74-73 Feb. 9, 2020 Chicago, Ill. L 70-68 Team Leaders (among top 3) Dec. 30, 2019 Valparaiso, Ind. L 66-63 Category Rank Value March 8, 2019 St. Louis, Mo. L 67-54 Free Throw % 3rd .745 Feb. 10, 2019 Valparaiso, Ind. L 56-51 Blocked Shots/G 3rd 3.8 Jan. 15, 2019 Chicago, Ill. L 71-54 Steals/G 1st 8.3 Turnover Margin/G 2nd +2.82 Feb. 14, 2018 Chicago, Ill. L 80-71 Jan. 21, 2018 Valparaiso, Ind. L 70-54 Feb. 19, 2013 Chicago, Ill. W 85-76 Jan. 2, 2013 Valparaiso, Ind. L 63-54 Feb. 21, 2012 Valparaiso, Ind. W(ot) 66-62 2020-21 Men’s Basketball Game Notes Contact: BRANDON VICKREY Office: 219.464.5396 Valpo Sports Media Relations [email protected] www.valpoathletics.com Athletics-Recreation Center 1009 Union Street Valparaiso IN 46383 Noteworthy Trends Notes Wrapping Up Jan. 16 at DePaul - Reaching 80 points has been the key number for Valpo this season, - Goodnews Kpegeol, who returned after missing the previous as the team is 3-0 when scoring 80 or more, but 0-8 when scoring two games due to COVID-19 protocols, had a season-high seven fewer than 80. The 80-point precipice has led to victories throughout rebounds to share the team lead with Eron Gordon. After entering the Matt Lottich Era, as the team is 34-2 when scoring 80 during his the game with 11 total rebounds this season, the junior college tenure. Valpo was 25-15 under Lottich when scoring 70-79 points transfer nearly doubled that total against the Blue Demons. Kpegeol entering this season, but is 0-3 in such games this year. also went 6-for-6 at the free-throw line to finish with eight points - Eron Gordon has led the team (outright or tied) in rebounding in in addition to swiping three steals. three straight games and four total this season after not doing so at - Eron Gordon led the team with 12 points, pacing the squad in all a year ago. He has upped his rebounding average from 2.3 per scoring for the second straight game after not doing so in any of game in 2019-20 to 4.2 per game this season and is second on the his first 44 career contests at Valpo.