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 UNI (6-13, 4-9 MVC) Date Opponent Time/Result at Valparaiso (7-13, 4-7 MVC) Nov. 27 at Vanderbilt SEC Network L 77-71 Game No. 21 – Saturday, Feb. 13 – 7 p.m. CT Dec. 1 at UIC! ESPN3 L 66-50 Game No. 22 – Sunday, Feb. 14 – 6 p.m. CT Dec. 4 at Purdue Big Ten Network L 68-61 McCleod Center (6,500) – Cedar Falls, Iowa Dec. 6 Judson ESPN3 W 85-45 Dec. 9 SIUE ESPN3/+ W 80-58 Next Up in Valpo Basketball: The Valparaiso University men’s basketball Dec. 12 at Central Michigan! ESPN3 L 84-79 Dec. 17 Purdue Northwest ESPN3 W 89-71 team will begin a stretch of five consecutive road tilts this weekend by paying Dec. 19 at Toledo ESPN3 L 71-57 Missouri Valley Conference preseason favorite UNI a visit on Saturday and Jan. 9 Missouri State* ESPN3/+ L 81-68 Sunday in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Saturday will mark the fourth game of a busy Jan. 10 Missouri State* ESPN3/+ L 78-68 stretch of eight games in 17 days as Valpo continues its NBA-style schedule Jan. 16 at DePaul FS1 L 77-58 necessitated by several COVID-related postponements early in the league Jan. 20 Loyola* Valley on ESPN+ Exclusive L 75-39 slate. Both games against the Panthers this weekend will be televised in the Jan. 23 at Illinois State* Marquee, ESPN3 W 69-60 Chicago market, Saturday on NBC Sports Chicago Plus and Sunday on NBC Jan. 24 at Illinois State* Marquee, ESPN3 W 70-66 Jan. 28 Bradley* Valley on ESPN3 Exc. W 91-85(2ot) Sports Chicago. Jan. 31 at Evansville* Valley on E3 Exclusive L 70-62 Feb. 1 at Evansville* ESPN3 L 58-51 Last Time Out: Sophomore Donovan Clay (16) and freshman Sheldon Edwards Feb. 6 #25 Drake* ESPN3 L 80-77 (10) combined for 26 of Valpo’s 30 first-half points on Wednesday in an eventual Feb. 7 #25 Drake* ESPN+ W 74-57 76-52 defeat to visiting Bradley. The Braves earned a split in the season series Feb. 10 Bradley* ESPN3 L 76-52 by placing six players in double figures and recording their first ever win at Feb. 13 at UNI* MVC TV Network (NBCSCH) 7 p.m. Feb. 14 at UNI* NBC Sports Chicago, ESPN+ 6 p.m. the Athletics-Recreation Center, snapping head coach Brian Wardle’s personal Feb. 17 at Loyola* MVC TV Network (NBCSCH) 7 p.m. 10-game skid in the ARC that spanned his time at Green Bay and Bradley. Clay Feb. 21 at SIU * Marquee & ESPN3/+ 4 p.m. finished with a game-high 17 points, while Eron Gordon led the team and shared Feb. 22 at SIU* Valley on ESPN Exclusive (E3/+) 6 p.m. game-high rebounding honors with eight. Feb. 26 Indiana State* Valley on E3 Exclusive 6 p.m. Feb. 27 Indiana State* ESPN3/+ 5 p.m. Following Valpo Basketball: Television (Saturday) – MVC TV Network (NBC March 4-7 MVC Tournament% (St. Louis) Sports Chicago Plus, Ch. 201 Comcast, FOX Sports Midwest Plus, FOX Sports All times Central. Kansas City Plus, FOX Sports Indiana Plus, ESPN+ out of market only) – Mitch Home games in bold and played at Holthus (play-by-play) and Adam Emmenecker (analyst) Athletics-Recreation Center. Television (Sunday) – Panther Sports Network (NBC Sports Chicago, Ch. ! – multi-team event 200 Comcast), ESPN+ – Eric Braley (play-by-play) and Brad Wells (analyst) % - 2021 MVC Tournament (St. Louis) Radio – Valpo Sports Network (WVUR 95.1 FM, TuneIn Radio App) – Todd * - indicates Missouri Valley Conference game Ickow (play-by-play) and Brandon Vickrey (analyst) Referencing Valpo Twitter updates - @ValpoBasketball Please refer to our program/department/ Links for video, audio and live stats will be available at ValpoAthletics.com. University as Valparaiso University, Valparaiso or Valpo. Please do not use “VU” or a mascot Head Coach Matt Lottich: Matt Lottich (80-73) is in his eighth season overall name. The University announced the decision at Valpo and fifth as head coach in 2020-21. Just two years removed from to retire the Crusader mascot on Feb. 11, 2021. 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 @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. UNI Jacob Ognacevic – Og-NOSS-uh-vic All-time series: UNI leads 27-3 Tyler Fricke – Frick-E (last part is like the letter E) At Valpo: UNI leads 12-3 At UNI: UNI leads 14-0 At neutral site: UNI leads 1-0 Among the MVC Leaders Current streak: UNI W3 (Entering 2/13) Current streak at Valpo: Valpo W2 Individual Leaders Current streak at UNI: UNI W14 Player Category Rank Value Last 10 meetings: UNI leads 9-1 Ben Krikke Points/G 12th 12.4 Last 10 Meetings Donovan Clay Rebounds/G 12th 5.7 Date Site W/L Score Eron Gordon Rebounds/G 14th 5.4 Daniel Sackey Assists/G 2nd 4.1 Feb. 5, 2020 Valparaiso, Ind. L 63-51 Daniel Sackey Steals/G 3rd 1.5 Jan. 15, 2020 Cedar Falls, Iowa L 88-78 Connor Barrett 3pt FG% 9th .397 Feb. 23, 2019 Cedar Falls, Iowa L 64-53 Donovan Clay Blocks/G 3rd 1.5 Jan. 19, 2019 Valparaiso, Ind. W 75-66 Steven Helm Asssist/TO Ratio 3rd 3.3 Feb. 20, 2018 Valparaiso, Ind. L 68-63 Jan. 13, 2018 Cedar Falls, Iowa L 81-76 Team Leaders (among top 3) Dec. 30, 2004 Las Vegas, Nev. L 67-49 Category Rank Value Feb. 18, 1991 Valparaiso, Ind. L 53-50 Free Throw % 3rd .732 Blocked Shots/G 2nd 3.8 Jan. 21, 1991 Cedar Falls, Iowa L 64-55 Steals/G 2nd 7.2 Feb. 24, 1990 Cedar Falls, Iowa L 90-62 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 became the first team in the history of Arch Madness to reach the 21, 2019 at Arkansas. title game after playing in the opening round. Lottich, hired as the - Seven of Morgan’s 11 rebounds this season came on Wednesday. 22nd head coach of the Valpo men’s basketball program in April - “Z-Mo” has filled the stat sheet of late, with three straight multi- 2016, graduated from Stanford University in 2004 and New Trier assist games and 11 assists against just two turnovers in his last High School (Illinois) in 2000. four contests. - Morgan has made four of his nine shots over the last two games Senior Leadership as well, accruing 10 points.