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 Judson University (0-2*, 0-0 CCAC) Date Opponent Time/Result at Valparaiso (0-3, 0-0 MVC) Nov. 27 at Vanderbilt SEC Network L 77-71 Game No. 4 – Sunday, Dec. 6 – 1 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 *Entering Saturday at St. Francis (IL) Dec. 6 Judson ESPN3 1 p.m. Next Up in Valpo Basketball: At long last, the Valparaiso University men’s Dec. 9 SIUE ESPN3/+ 6 p.m. basketball team returns to the Athletics-Recreation Center on Sunday afternoon Dec. 12 at Central Michigan! ESPN3 3:30 p.m. Dec. 16 Eastern Michigan ESPN3/+ 7 p.m. as Judson University comes to town for a 1 p.m. tipoff. Valpo will compete in Dec. 19 at Toledo ESPN3/+ 1 p.m. its home venue for the first time since winning the final three home games of Dec. 28 Bradley* the 2019-20 campaign in convincing fashion over Southern Illinois (55-38), Dec. 29 Bradley* Bradley (90-78) and Missouri State (89-74). Valpo’s first home game since Jan. 2 at Illinois State* Feb. 25 will not be open to the public as the University has announced that no Jan. 3 at Illinios State* outside spectators will be permitted at December home games due to current Jan. 9 Missouri State* Jan. 10 Missouri State* COVID-19 data. This game counts as an exhibition for Judson but a regular- Jan. 16 at Southern Illinois* season game for Valpo. Jan. 17 at Southern Illinois* Jan. 20 Loyola* Last Time Out: Valpo gave host Purdue a scare on Friday night at Mackey Jan. 30 at Evansville* Arena, holding an 11-point halftime lead over a quality Big Ten opponent. Jan. 31 at Evansville* A 15-point, six-rebound performance by Nick Robinson led the way, while Feb. 6 Drake* freshman Jacob Ognacevic came off the bench to knock down four 3s in just Feb. 7 Drake* Feb. 12 at UNI* 14 minutes of action. Valpo led as late as the game’s final eight minutes, but Feb. 13 at UNI* the hosts continued their recent history of home dominance inside Mackey Feb. 17 at Loyola* Arena and pulled out a 68-61 victory despite Valpo’s strongest performance of Feb. 26 Indiana State* the young season to date. Feb. 27 Indiana State* March 4-7 State MVC Tournament% (St. Louis) Following Valpo Basketball: Video – ESPN3 – Todd Ickow (play-by-play) All times Central. and Brian Jennings (analyst) Home games in bold and played at Radio – WVUR (95.1 FM, Valparaiso) – Alex Coil (play-by-play) and Brett Athletics-Recreation Center. Seward (analyst) ! – multi-team event Twitter updates - @ValpoBasketball % - 2021 MVC Tournament (St. Louis) Links for the video, audio and live stats will be available at ValpoAthletics.com. * - indicates Missouri Valley Conference game Head Coach Matt Lottich: Matt Lottich (73-63) is in his eighth season overall at Valpo and fifth as head coach in 2020-21. 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. @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 - Outside of Sasha Stefanovic’s 4-for-9 showing, Valpo held Purdue Home Sweet Home Again to 2-of-14 (14.3 percent) from beyond the 3-point arc. Purdue - Valpo continued its history of home dominance a year ago and entered the night eighth nationally in 3-point percentage. hasn’t finished with a losing mark at the ARC since 1991-92, - Steven Helm made his long-awaited Valpo debut and provided a extending its streak to 28 seasons. Valpo achieved a double-figure positive lift off the bench. The walk-on finished the night at +12 in home win total for the ninth time in the last 10 years. the plus/minus column. - The Brown & Gold went 11-2 at the ARC last season, finishing with - Senior Nick Robinson finished with a team-high 15 points, his two home losses or fewer for the fourth time in the last eight years. highest output since turning in 15 on Dec. 30, 2019 vs. Loyola. It - Valpo has won the home opener for 15 consecutive seasons with was four shy of his career high set on Nov. 12, 2019 at SIUE. The 13 of those victories coming by double figures. The last time Valpo fifth-year senior led the team in scoring for the first time in a Valpo started the home slate with a loss was an 85-71 defeat to Charlotte uniform. He also squeezed six rebounds to share the team lead with on Nov. 27, 2004. Donovan Clay. - Valpo not only owns a three-game home winning streak dating back - Freshman Jacob Ognacevic made four 3s in just 14 minutes to to last season, but all three triumphs have come by 12 points or more. account for his 12 points. He became the third Missouri Valley - Valpo has won five straight nonconference home games dating Conference player with four or more makes in five attempts or back to Dec. 17, 2018 vs. Ball State. fewer this season, joining D.J. Wilkins of Drake (4-4 vs. Omaha) - The Dec. 6 home opener marks Valpo’s latest since Dec. 16, 1977, and James Betz of UNI (4-5 vs. Utah State). when head coach Ken Rochlitz’s team notched a 94-87 double- - Ognacevic is 5-for-6 from 3 this season, an 83.3 percent clip that overtime win over Carthage. leads the MVC. - Goodnews Kpegeol contributed nine points and three rebounds For Starters in his 27 minutes. He had under eight minutes of action total over - Valpo is off to its first 0-3 start since dropping the first five games the first two games of the season before seeing significantly more of the 2004-05 season. run against the Boilermakers. - This marks the first time Valpo has started the season with three - Clay finished in double figures for the third time in as many games straight road games since 1996-97. Coincidentally, that season also this season, closing the evening with 10 points and six boards. The began at Vanderbilt. The 1996-97 campaign culminated with an sophomore has been in double figures eight of his last nine games NCAA Tournament berth. Before that, Valpo hadn’t started with dating back to last season. three straight true road contests since 1933-34. - Valpo was whistled for 32 fouls, its highest total since committing - Valpo had won eight consecutive season openers prior to this year’s 33 in a 99-92 overtime loss vs. Green Bay in the 2016 Horizon season-opening setback at Vanderbilt. However, Valpo had opened League Tournament in Detroit. It was the team’s highest foul total at home in each of those eight seasons. in a regulation game since Dec. 23, 2011 at IUPUI (33). - For the second time in three games this season, Valpo lost despite Close Call shooting at a higher clip than the opponent. Prior to this year, Valpo - Valpo owned an 11-point halftime lead and nearly pulled out what was 57-10 under Lottich when owning a better field goal percentage would have been a signature victory on Dec. 4 at Purdue. than the opposition. - It would have marked Valpo’s first non-forfeit win over the Boilermakers since Dec. 22, 1965. Flashing Depth - It would have snapped a 14-game losing streak against Big Ten - Valpo has had three different leading scorers in as many games with competition and marked the team’s first triumph over a Big Ten Mileek McMillan (18 at Vanderbilt), Donovan Clay (12 at UIC) and team since Dec. 28, 2004 against Penn State. Nick Robinson (15 at Purdue) each pacing the squad. - It would have snapped Purdue’s 15-game winning streak over - This is the third straight season Valpo has had three different leading winless teams and marked only the team’s 10th home loss since scorers over the first three games. the start of the 2015-16 season (currently 76-9). - A dozen players have already seen action over the first three - It would have been Purdue’s first home loss against a current contests, and 10 of them have participated in all three contests. member of the Missouri Valley Conference since Nov. 27, 1978 against Larry Bird-led Indiana State. Series Notes: Judson - This marks the first meeting between the two teams. Notes Wrapping Up Purdue (Dec. 4) - Valpo last played a Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference - Eron Gordon made his first start of the season, his fifth overall at opponent on Nov.