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 Valparaiso (8-15, 5-6 MVC) Date Opponent Time/Result at Southern Illinois (10-10, 4-10 MVC) Nov. 27 at Vanderbilt SEC Network L 77-71 Game No. 24 – Sunday, Feb. 21, 4 p.m. Dec. 1 at UIC! ESPN3 L 66-50 Game No. 25 – Monday, Feb. 22, 6 p.m. Dec. 4 at Purdue Big Ten Network L 68-61 Banterra Center (8,284) – Carbondale, Ill. Dec. 6 Judson ESPN3 W 85-45 Dec. 9 SIUE ESPN3/+ W 80-58 Next Up in Valpo Basketball: The first stretch of five consecutive conference Dec. 12 at Central Michigan! ESPN3 L 84-79 Dec. 17 Purdue Northwest ESPN3 W 89-71 road games in the program’s Division-I history concludes this weekend as the Dec. 19 at Toledo ESPN3 L 71-57 Valparaiso University men’s basketball team makes its way to Carbondale, Ill. Jan. 9 Missouri State* ESPN3/+ L 81-68 to take on Southern Illinois on Sunday and Monday. Valpo players and coaches Jan. 10 Missouri State* ESPN3/+ L 78-68 have not had much free time on their calendars, as this wraps up a stretch of Jan. 16 at DePaul FS1 L 77-58 eight games in a 17-day period with the last five of those taking place away Jan. 20 Loyola* Valley on ESPN+ Exclusive L 75-39 from the Athletics-Recreation Center. Jan. 23 at Illinois State* Marquee, ESPN3 W 69-60 Jan. 24 at Illinois State* Marquee, ESPN3 W 70-66 Jan. 28 Bradley* Valley on ESPN3 Exc. W 91-85(2ot) Last Time Out: The term heartbreak doesn’t begin to describe Valpo’s near- Jan. 31 at Evansville* Valley on E3 Exclusive L 70-62 miss on Wednesday night at No. 22/23 Loyola. A last-second and potentially Feb. 1 at Evansville* ESPN3 L 58-51 game-tying putback by Goodnews Kpegeol was waved off due to a foul and the Feb. 6 #25 Drake* ESPN3 L 80-77 host Ramblers escaped with a 54-52 win. Although Valpo didn’t quite corral the Feb. 7 #25 Drake* ESPN+ W 74-57 program’s second straight win over a nationally-ranked team, it did continue Feb. 10 Bradley* ESPN3 L 76-52 the team’s trend of rising to the occasion against elite competition. The effort Feb. 13 at UNI* MVC TV Network (NBCSCH) W 70-57 Feb. 14 at UNI* NBC Sports Chicago, ESPN+ L 74-60 marked a significant turnaround from the first meeting between the two teams, Feb. 17 at #22/23 Loyola* MVC TV Network L 54-52 when the Ramblers rolled to a 75-39 victory on Jan. 20. Feb. 21 at SIU * Marquee & ESPN3/+ 4 p.m. Feb. 22 at SIU* Valley on ESPN Exclusive (E3/+) 6 p.m. Following Valpo Basketball: Television/Streaming (Sunday) – Marquee Sports Feb. 26 Indiana State* Valley on E3 Exclusive 6 p.m. Network, ESPN+ – Connor Onion (play-by-play) and Mike Trude (analyst) Feb. 27 Indiana State* ESPN3/+ 5 p.m. Television/Streaming (Monday) – The Valley on ESPN Exclusive – Harry March 4-7 MVC Tournament% (St. Louis) Schroeder (play-by-play) and Kelly Burke (analyst) All times Central. Radio – Valpo Sports Network (WVUR 95.1 FM, TuneIn Radio App) – Todd Home games in bold and played at Ickow (play-by-play) and Brandon Vickrey (analyst) Athletics-Recreation Center. Twitter updates - @ValpoBasketball ! – multi-team event Links for video, audio and live stats will be available at ValpoAthletics.com. % - 2021 MVC Tournament (St. Louis) * - indicates Missouri Valley Conference game Head Coach Matt Lottich: Matt Lottich (81-75) is in his eighth season overall Referencing Valpo at Valpo and fifth as head coach in 2020-21. Just two years removed from Please refer to our program/department/ finishing in last place and being knocked out in the first round of the Missouri University as Valparaiso University, Valparaiso Valley Conference Tournament as a first-year Valley member, Lottich’s team or Valpo. Please do not use “VU” or a mascot did more than hold its own in 2019-2020, ascending into a tie for sixth in the name. The University announced the decision league standings before finishing as the conference tournament runner-up. to retire the Crusader mascot on Feb. 11, 2021. 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 *Opted out of the remainder of the 2020-21 season on Jan. 21. 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. Southern Illinois Jacob Ognacevic – Og-NOSS-uh-vic All-time series: Valpo leads 6-4 Tyler Fricke – Frick-E (last part is like the letter E) At Valpo: Valpo leads 4-1 At SIU: SIU leads 3-2 Current streak: Valpo W1 Among the MVC Leaders Current streak at Valpo: Valpo W3 (Entering 2/18) Current streak at SIU: SIU W1 Individual Leaders Player Category Rank Value Date Site W/L Score Ben Krikke Points/G 13th 12.3 Donovan Clay Rebounds/G 13th 5.6 Feb. 12, 2020 Valparaiso, Ind. W 55-38 Daniel Sackey Assists/G 3rd 3.9 Jan. 7, 2020 Carbondale, Ill. L 63-50 Daniel Sackey Steals/G 6th 1.4 Feb. 20, 2019 Valparaiso, Ind. W 55-52 Connor Barrett 3pt FG% 8th .397 Jan. 12, 2019 Carbondale, Ill. W 65-61 Donovan Clay Blocks/G 3rd 1.3 Feb. 3, 2018 Carbondale, Ill. L 65-59 Steven Helm Asssist/TO Ratio 4th 3.3 Jan. 6, 2018 Valparaiso, Ind. W 83-72 Dec. 30, 1980 Valparaiso, Ind. L 60-59 Team Leaders (among top 3) Dec. 3, 1979 Carbondale, Ill. L 94-86 Category Rank Value Free Throw % 3rd .731 Dec. 1, 1956 Valparaiso, Ind. W 77-66 Blocked Shots/G 2nd 3.6 Feb. 18, 1929 Carbondale, Ill. W 26-21 Steals/G 2nd 6.8 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 - Kpegeol’s 10 points on Feb. 17 at Loyola equaled a season Rising to the Occasion watermark established on Dec. 9 vs. SIUE. His 24 minutes played - Three of Valpo’s best performances all season have come against against the Ramblers marked his second-highest total behind 27 at Top 25 competition, with the Brown & Gold earning the fourth Purdue on Dec. 4. nationally-ranked win in program history on Feb. 7 by blitzing No. - Kpegeol’s 10 points came on 5-of-7 shooting while he also boasted 25 Drake 74-57, a win that was sandwiched around one-possession four rebounds and played well on the defensive end. setbacks to Top 25 teams. - Valpo’s other boost off the bench is Jacob Ognacevic, who has - Valpo narrowly missed its first Top 25 road win in program history scored eight points or more in three of his last five games and has on Wednesday, Feb.