2017-18 Valparaiso University Men’s Basketball Contact: AARON LEAVITT Offi ce: 219.464.6953 Valpo Sports Media Relations [email protected] Cell: 219.476.6680 Athletics-Recreation Center www.valpoathletics.com 1009 Union Street Valparaiso IN 46383 2017-18 Schedule and Results Valparaiso (12-14, 3-10 MVC) Date Opponent Time/Result Nov. 2 Robert Morris [exhibition] W 117-69 Game #27 - Sunday, February 11 - 3 p.m. Nov. 4 at Chicago State [exhibition] W 77-42 Illinois State (14-11, 8-5 MVC) Nov. 10 North Park W 88-46 Athletics-Recreation Center (5,000) - Valparaiso, Ind. Nov. 13 Trinity Christian W 83-46 Nov. 15 at SIUE W 94-69 Nov. 19 Southeastern Louisiana ! W 83-50 Next Up in Crusader Basketball: The Valparaiso University men’s basketball Nov. 21 Samford ! W 88-67 team kicks off the home stretch of Missouri Valley Conference play on Sunday Nov. 24 vs. Kent State ! W 77-67 afternoon as it welcomes Illinois State to the ARC for a nationally-televised Nov. 25 vs. UNCW ! W 79-70 matchup. Valpo will play three of its next four games at the ARC. Nov. 28 Utah State # W 72-65 Dec. 7 at #21/21 Purdue L 80-50 Last Time Out: Valpo came up just short of earning its fi rst Missouri Valley Dec. 9 at Ball State L 71-70 Conference road victory Wednesday night at Evansville, eventually dropping Dec. 14 at Northwestern $ L 84-50 a 63-59 decision to the Purple Aces. The Crusaders had three shot attempts in Dec. 18 at Santa Clara W 76-68 Dec. 20 at UC Riverside L 73-60 the fi nal two minutes that would have tied the game or given them the lead, Dec. 28 at Indiana State * L 73-64 but couldn’t connect on any of them. Bakari Evelyn and Markus Golder tied Dec. 31 Missouri State * L 67-50 for team-high honors with 15 points apiece, while Evansville’s Ryan Taylor Jan. 3 at Bradley * L 80-71 led all players with 31 points. Jan. 6 Southern Illinois * W 83-72 Jan. 10 Drake * W 77-60 Following the Crusaders: TV - ESPNU - Mitch Holthus (PxP) and Malcolm Jan. 13 at UNI * L 81-76 Huckaby (Analyst) Jan. 17 at Missouri State * L 64-57 Radio – WVUR (95.1 FM, Valparaiso) - Todd Ickow (PxP) and David Huse- Jan. 21 Loyola * L 70-54 man (Analyst) Jan. 24 Evansville * L 75-65 Jan. 27 at Illinois State * L 76-65 Links for the live coverage will be available at ValpoAthletics.com. Jan. 31 Indiana State * W 69-63 Feb. 3 at Southern Illinois * L 65-59 Head Coach Matt Lottich: Matt Lottich (36-23) continued the Valparaiso Feb. 7 at Evansville * L 63-59 University men’s basketball program’s run of success in his fi rst season as Feb. 11 Illinois State * 3 p.m. head coach of the Crusaders, and is poised to keep the program at a high level Feb. 14 at Loyola * 7 p.m. as he enters his second season in charge in 2017-2018. In his fi rst season at Feb. 17 Bradley * 8 p.m. the helm, Lottich guided Valpo to its fi fth Horizon League regular season Feb. 20 UNI * 8 p.m. championship in the last six years as he led the Crusaders to 24 wins and an Feb. 24 at Drake * 2 p.m. Mar. 1-4 State Farm MVC Tournament (St. Louis, Mo.) at-large berth into the NIT. All times Central. Series Notes: Despite being a pair of mid-major programs located just 2 1/2 Home games in bold and played at hours apart, Valpo and Illinois State have met just 12 times over the years and Athletics-Recreation Center. had not played each other since 1981 prior to this season’s fi rst matchup. The ! – Savannah Invitational (Campus sites/Savannah, Ga.) Redbirds hold an 8-4 advantage in the all-time series, including a 76-65 victory # - Mountain West/Missouri Valley Challenge at Illinois State just two weeks ago. Valpo’s four wins in the series all came $ - Game played at Allstate Arena (Rosemont, Ill.) between 1943 and 1945. * - indicates Missouri Valley Conference game @ValpoBasketball Valpo Men’s Basketball #ValpoInTheValley #GoValpo 2017-18 Valparaiso University Men’s Basketball Contact: AARON LEAVITT Offi ce: 219.464.6953 Valpo Sports Media Relations [email protected] Cell: 219.476.6680 Athletics-Recreation Center www.valpoathletics.com 1009 Union Street Valparaiso IN 46383 @ValpoBasketball... - Valpo was also undone by 17 turnovers – 14 of which were committed ...and @ValleyHoops in the fi rst half. Despite turning the ball over six more times than SIU, the - Valpo was selected to fi nish in sixth place in the MVC preseason poll, Crusaders actually held a 13-11 advantage in points off turnovers. fi nishing just 12 points behind Southern Illinois for fi fth place. - Valpo has not fi nished worse in the fi nal standings than its preseason ...looking ahead projection in the last seven years. - The Crusaders make the short trip to the north side of Chicago to take on - Senior Tevonn Walker represented the Crusaders among the preseason Loyola on Wednesday. All-Conference honorees, earning Second Team accolades. - Valpo then returns home for a matchup with Bradley on Saturday night. ...looking back at last year ...at the ARC - The Crusaders are coming off of their third consecutive Horizon League - Valpo has 14 regular season home games scheduled at the ARC this season regular season title and their fi fth in the last six years, posting a 14-4 mark and is 8-3 at home so far this season. within league play and a 24-9 record overall. - Missouri State snapped the Crusaders’ 13-game home winning streak in - The regular season was highlighted by a win over #21 Rhode Island at the Valpo’s fi rst MVC home game. ARC - the program’s fi rst win over a ranked opponent since 1998 - and wins in - The Crusaders posted a 15-2 record in 17 home games last season, one Las Vegas over Alabama and BYU to earn the MGM Grand Main Event title. year after setting a program record with 17 home victories. - Valpo earned an at-large bid into the Postseason NIT for the second time in - Valpo has recorded a 55-7 record at home since the start of the 2014-15 program history, falling at Illinois in a fi rst-round matchup. The NIT berth ex- season. tended the Crusaders’ string of postseason appearances to seven straight seasons. - Since the start of the 1995-96 season, the Crusaders own a 290-63 (.822) - Alec Peters was named an NABC Third Team All-American and an AP record on their home court at the ARC. Honorable Mention All-American and claimed the Horizon League Player of the Year award. @Redbird_MBB - Peters closed out his career as the Crusaders’ all-time leading scorer and - Illinois State enters Sunday’s game with a 14-11 overall record and is 8-5 rebounder. in MVC play, tied for second in the conference standings. - Shane Hammink was a Second Team All-League selection, while Tevonn - The Redbirds have won four straight games, most recently taking down Walker was named to the league’s All-Defensive Team. Southern Illinois in overtime. - Milik Yarbrough leads the way, as one of the conference’s top all-around ...notes from Evansville players averages 16.4 points, 6.3 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game. - An 8-1 spurt from the Crusaders late in the fi rst half helped Valpo claim a 32-31 lead at the half. Strength of The Valley - Valpo led by as many as six in the second half and was still up 43-40 with - This season’s iteration of the Missouri Valley Conference has proven 12:29 to play before going scoreless for a stretch of nearly seven minutes. to be the Crusaders’ most challenging conference slate in recent history. - The Crusaders had three attempts to tie or take the lead in the fi nal two - The MVC is currently ranked eighth in conference RPI and ninth in minutes, but were unable to capitalize on any of the three. KenPom this season. - Sophomores Bakari Evelyn and Markus Golder tied for team-high honors - Each of the other nine MVC programs is ranked 165th or better in RPI with 15 points. and 166th or better in KenPom. - Sophomore Jaume Sorolla set new career highs with four blocked shots - Last year, six of Valpo’s nine league opponents ranked lower than the and three steals. lowest MVC opponent this season in both RPI and KenPom. - The Crusaders were unable to overcome a foul line disparity for a second straight game, as Valpo was just 5-of-5 from the stripe while Evansville Thievery was 16-of-23 from the free throw line. - One area where this year’s Crusader squad has excelled is in the steals category, as Valpo is averaging an MVC-best 7.8 steals/game - a mark ...notes from Southern Illinois which ranks 25th nationally. - Valpo led 31-25 at the half and held as much as an eight-point advantage - The Crusaders are on pace for their highest steals/game average for a early in the second half. single season since the 2002-03 squad recorded 8.8 steals/game. - Tevonn Walker made a pair of free throws with 2:05 to play to give Valpo - Leading the way in the steals department is Tevonn Walker, who ranks a 59-56 lead, but the Salukis would score the game’s fi nal nine points, going second in the Valley with 1.9 steals/game and is on pace to crack Valpo’s ahead for good on an Armon Fletcher 3-pointer with 44 seconds remaining.