2019-20 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 2019-20 Schedule and Results Valparaiso (13-13, 6-7 MVC) Date Opponent Time/Result at Illinois State (8-17, 3-10 MVC) Oct. 19 Cedarville (exhibition) W 85-65 Game No. 27 – Saturday, Feb. 15 – 6 p.m. CT Nov. 5 Toledo ESPN3 W 79-77 Redbird Arena (10,200) – Normal, Ill. Nov. 9 at Saint Louis FOX Sports MW/ESPN+ L 81-70 Nov. 12 at SIUE ESPN+ W 89-76 Next Up in Valpo Basketball: The Valparaiso University men’s basketball team Nov. 17 North Dakota ESPN3 W 74-60 will hit the road for the first of back-to-back away games on Saturday night at Nov. 22 vs. Grand Canyon! FloHoops W 78-74 Nov. 24 vs. Nevada! FloHoops L 84-59 Illinois State. This snaps a streak of four straight games without a hotel stay. Nov. 25 Cincinnati! FloHoops L 81-77(ot) Valpo will look to make it back-to-back wins for the first time since a three- Nov. 27 Trinity Christian# ESPN3 W 98-71 game winning streak over SIUE, North Dakota and Grand Canyon from Nov. Dec. 3 at Eastern Michigan ESPN+ L 85-79 12-22. A victory on Saturday would allow Valpo to match its Missouri Valley Dec. 8 Central Michigan ESPN+ W 77-55 Conference win total from last season with four games to spare. Dec. 16 at Charlotte 49ers TV L 67-57 Dec. 18 at High Point ESPN+ W 87-72 : Valpo established the program record for the fewest points Dec. 21 at Arkansas No Video - WVUR Only L 72-68 Last Time Out Dec. 30 Loyola* The Valley ESPN+ L 66-63 allowed against a Division-I opponent since the advent of the shot clock in a 55- Jan. 4 at Evansville* The Valley on E+ W 81-79(ot) 38 victory over Southern Illinois on Wednesday night at the Athletics-Recreation Jan. 7 at Southern Illinois* ESPN+ L 63-50 Center. Freshman forward Ben Krikke led the way with 15 points and seven Jan. 11 Drake* ESPN3 W 66-61 rebounds, helping Valpo snap the Salukis’ seven-game winning streak. Javon Jan. 15 at UNI* ESPN+ L 88-78 Freeman-Liberty had 14 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals, Jan. 18 Indiana State*The Valley on ESPN+ W 86-77 while Mileek McMillan added nine points and five boards. Jan. 23 at Missouri State*CBS Sports Network L 67-60 Jan. 26 Evansville* MVCTV Network W 67-65 Jan. 29 at Bradley* ESPN+ L 80-69 Following Valpo Basketball: Television – MVC TV Network (FOX Sports Feb. 1 Illinois State* ESPN3 W 80-70 Midwest, NBC Sports Chicago, FOX Sports Indiana) – Mitch Holthus (play- Feb. 5 UNI* ESPN+ L 63-51 by-play) and Rich Zvosec (analyst) Feb. 9 at Loyola* ESPNU L 70-68 Video - ESPN3 (out of market only) Feb. 12 Southern Illinois* ESPN+ W 55-38 Radio – WVUR (95.1 FM, Valparaiso) – Todd Ickow (play-by-play) and Ben Feb. 15 at Illinois State* MVCTV Network 6 p.m. Ariano (analyst) Feb. 19 at Drake* ESPN+ 7 p.m. Feb. 22 Bradley* ESPN+ 7 p.m. Twitter updates - @ValpoBasketball Feb. 25 Missouri State* ESPN+ 7 p.m. Links for the audio and live stats will be available at ValpoAthletics.com. Feb. 29 at Indiana State* TV TBD TBD March 5-8 MVC Tournament% TBD Head Coach Matt Lottich: Matt Lottich (67-57) is in his seventh season overall at Valpo and fourth as head coach in 2019-20. Lottich led the team to All times Central. 15 victories in his third season in charge in 2018-19, the program’s second Home games in bold and played at Athletics-Recreation Center. campaign in the Missouri Valley Conference. In his first year as head coach ! – Paradise Jam (U.S. Virgin Islands) (2016-17), Lottich guided Valpo to its fifth Horizon League regular season # - Paradise Jam non-bracketed game championship in a six-year span as he led the team to 24 wins and an at-large $ - Mountain West/Missouri Valley Challenge berth into the NIT. Lottich, hired as the 22nd head coach of the Valpo men’s % - 2020 MVC Tournament (St. Louis) basketball program in April 2016, graduated from Stanford University in 2004 * - indicates Missouri Valley Conference game and New Trier High School (Illinois) in 2000. Series Notes: Valpo and Illinois State have met just 16 times ever, with the two teams having split the first 16 meetings right down the middle. Prior to Valpo Men’s Basketball @ValpoBasketball #GoValpo 2019-20 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 Valpo’s arrival in the Missouri Valley Conference, the two teams percentage defense by any Valley team in a game against a Division-I hadn’t squared off since 1981. Valpo has won four of five over the foe since Wichita State held Cal Poly to 20.7 percent on March 21, Redbirds since joining The Valley, including a season sweep a year 2014. Valpo held SIU to 23.6 percent, the lowest single-game field ago. Last year’s ARC meeting was the memorable 58-56 victory goal percentage by an MVC team in a conference game since March on Jan. 2, 2019 when Markus Golder hit a half-court buzzer beater 2, 2007, when Creighton limited Indiana State to 23.3 percent. to seal the comeback after Valpo faced a 10-point deficit with less than two minutes remaining. The Brown & Gold followed that up Cruising to Victory: Blowout victories in league play have been by going into Redbird Arena and recording a 69-53 win on Feb. 5. hard to come by since Valpo joined the Missouri Valley Conference given the quality of the competition. But the Feb. 12 triumph over Valpo 80, Illinois State 70 (Feb. 1): Valpo defended its home Southern Illinois was a rare exception with Valpo rolling to the court with an 80-70 victory over Illinois State on Saturday, Feb. 1 55-38 win. The 17-point margin of victory equaled Valpo’s largest at the Athletics-Recreation Center. Ben Krikke had 17 points, eight since joining the conference. The team previously topped Drake rebounds and four assists, leading the team in all three areas. Javon 77-60 on Jan. 10, 2018. It was also Valpo’s second-largest margin Freeman-Liberty and Donovan Clay tossed in 12 points apiece on a of victory against a Division-I team this year behind a 22-point win night where seven Valpo players finished with seven points or more over Central Michigan. and four had five or more rebounds. Enough to Win: Valpo didn’t put on a scoring clinic in the Feb. 12 Defense Dominates: The accomplishments of the Valpo defense game against Southern Illinois, but the 55 points were more than were numerous in the 55-38 victory over Southern Illinois on Feb. enough to emerge victorious. Valpo improved to 1-4 this season and 12 at the Athletics-Recreation Center. 3-25 under Matt Lottich when scoring fewer than 60 points. Two - The 37 points were the fewest allowed against a Division-I of the three victories under Lottich when scoring under 60 have opponent since Jan. 21, 1984, when Valpo edged Green Bay 35-33. come against Southern Illinois at the Athletics-Recreation Center Wednesday set the record for the fewest points allowed by a Valpo as Valpo beat the Salukis 55-52 last season. The other such win was team since the advent of the shot clock in 1985-86. 58-56 over Illinois State to start conference play last year. Over - Valpo’s performance tied for 16th in Missouri Valley Conference the last five seasons, Valpo has just two victories when scoring 55 history since the advent of the shot clock for the fewest points points or fewer, both against Southern Illinois. The last time Valpo allowed in a conference game. prevailed with a lower point total was 54-44 over Green Bay in - The 38 points were the second-fewest scored by the Salukis (15- the 2015 Horizon League Championship to advance to the NCAA 11, 9-4) in school history since 1950 and the fewest since 36 at Tournament. Bradley in 1981. - The 38 points were the fewest scored by any Missouri Valley Setting the Tone: Valpo set the tone for the memorable defensive Conference team this season. The previous low was Loyola’s 39 on evening in the first half on Feb. 12 vs. Southern Illinois, holding Feb. 5 at Indiana State. Wednesday marked the lowest point total by a the Salukis to 16 points. Previously, Valpo’s best defensive half Valley team since Loyola had 35 on Jan. 23, 2019 vs. Missouri State. in conference play this season was allowing 23 points against - The 38 points also marked the fewest allowed by a Valley team in Evansville and the season low was 22 permitted against Central any game this year and the fewest since the aforementioned outing Michigan. The 16 points were the low for a Valpo opponent in a half by Missouri State last season. since the team held Milwaukee to 16 in the 2017 Horizon League - The 13 made baskets by Southern Illinois were the fewest by any Tournament.