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 (3-9, 0-3 MVC) Date Opponent Time/Result at Illinois State (5-8, 2-5 MVC) Nov. 27 at Vanderbilt SEC Network L 77-71 Game No. 13 – Saturday, Jan. 23 – 5 p.m. CT Dec. 1 at UIC! ESPN3 L 66-50 Game No. 14 – Sunday, Jan. 24 – 5 p.m. CT Dec. 4 at Purdue Big Ten Network L 68-61 Redbird Arena (10,500) – Normal, Ill. Dec. 6 Judson ESPN3 W 85-45 Next Up in Valpo Basketball: The Valparaiso University men’s basketball Dec. 9 SIUE ESPN3/+ W 80-58 team will look to get back on track this weekend as Valpo makes its way to Dec. 12 at Central Michigan! ESPN3 L 84-79 Dec. 17 Purdue Northwest ESPN3 W 89-71 Illinois State for a back-to-back against the Redbirds. These games were initially Dec. 19 at Toledo ESPN3 L 71-57 scheduled to occur on Jan. 2-3 but were postponed and later rescheduled for Jan. 9 Missouri State* ESPN3/+ L 81-68 this weekend. Valpo will look to snap a five-game skid and grab its first road Jan. 10 Missouri State* ESPN3/+ L 78-68 victory of the season on Saturday. Jan. 16 at DePaul FS1 L 77-58 Jan. 20 Loyola* Valley on ESPN+ Exclusive L 75-39 Last Time Out: Eron Gordon posted a season-high 14 points to lead the team Jan. 23 at Illinois State* Marquee Sports, ESPN35 p.m. in scoring for the third straight game, but Valpo went just 3-of-20 from beyond Jan. 24 at Illinios State* Marquee Sports, ESPN3 5 p.m. Jan. 28 Bradley* Valley on E3/+ Exclusive 6 p.m. the arc in a 75-39 loss to visiting Loyola on Wednesday night at the Athletics- Jan. 31 at Evansville* Valley on E3/+ Exclusive 3 p.m. Recreation Center. Ben Krikke scored 10 of his 12 points after halftime to join Feb. 1 at Evansville* ESPN3/+ 6 p.m. Gordon in double figures. Feb. 6 Drake* ESPN3/+ 1 p.m. Feb. 7 Drake* ESPN3/+ 1 p.m. Following Valpo Basketball: Television/Streaming – Marquee Sports Network Feb. 10 Bradley* ESPN3/+ 6 p.m. & ESPN3 – Kurt Pegler (play-by-play), Bob Morris (analyst – Saturday only) Feb. 13 at UNI* MVC TV Network (NBCSCH) 7 p.m. Feb. 14 at UNI* NBC Sports Chicago, ESPN3/+ 6 p.m. and Kelly Burke (analyst – Sunday only) Feb. 17 at Loyola* MVC TV Network (NBCSCH) 7 p.m. Radio – WVUR (95.1 FM, Valparaiso) – Todd Ickow (play-by-play) and Feb. 20 at SIU * Valley on E3/+ Exclusive TBD Brandon Vickrey (analyst) Feb. 21 at SIU* Marquee Sports Network TBD Twitter updates - @ValpoBasketball Feb. 26 Indiana State* Valley on E3/+ Exclusive 6 p.m. Links for video, audio and live stats will be available at ValpoAthletics.com. Feb. 27 Indiana State* ESPN3/+ 5 p.m. March 4-7 MVC Tournament% (St. Louis) Head Coach Matt Lottich: Matt Lottich (76-69) is in his eighth season overall All times Central. at Valpo and fifth as head coach in 2020-21. Just two years removed from Home games in bold and played at finishing in last place and being knocked out in the first round of the Missouri Athletics-Recreation Center. Valley Conference Tournament as a first-year Valley member, Lottich’s team ! – multi-team event did more than hold its own in 2019-2020, ascending into a tie for sixth in the % - 2021 MVC Tournament (St. Louis) league standings before finishing as the conference tournament runner-up. * - indicates Missouri Valley Conference game 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. A Fountain of Youth - Valpo has depended upon freshmen and sophomores to account for 544 of the team’s 805 points this season, 67.6 percent of the scoring. - With senior Nick Robinson opting out for the remainder of the season, a young team got even younger. Five of the team’s top six scorers among active @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 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. Illinois State Jacob Ognacevic – Og-NOSS-uh-vic All-time series: Valpo leads 9-8 Tyler Fricke – Frick-E (last part is like the letter E) At Valpo: Valpo leads 5-4 At Illinois State: Tied 4-4 Current streak: Valpo W5 Among the MVC Leaders Current streak at Valpo: Valpo W3 (Through 1/20) Current streak at Illinois State: Valpo W 2 Individual Leaders Last 10 meetings: Tied 5-5 Player Category Rank Value Last 10 Meetings Daniel Sackey Assists/G 4th 3.9 Date Site W/L Score Daniel Sackey FT% T-10th 83.3 Feb. 15, 2020 Normal, Ill. W 65-62 Daniel Sackey Steals/G 8th 1.3 Donovan Clay Blocks/G 3rd 1.6 Feb. 1, 2020 Valparaiso, Ind. W 80-70 Feb. 5, 2019 Normal, Ill. W 69-53 Team Leaders (among top 3) Jan. 2, 2019 Valparaiso, Ind. W 58-56 Category Rank Value Feb. 11, 2018 Valparaiso, Ind. W 74-58 Free Throw % 3rd .742 Jan. 27, 2018 Normal, Ill. L 76-65 3pt FG% Defense 3rd .327 Feb. 16, 1981 Normal, Ill. L 55-38 Blocked Shots/G 2nd 3.8 Jan. 19, 1981 Valparaiso, Ind. L 72-58 Steals/G 2nd 7.8 Jan. 24, 1979 Valparaiso, Ind. L 88-67 Nov. 29, 1977 Normal, Ill. L 98-81 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 players are freshmen or sophomores. When you take out Robinson’s W 82-66 at Missouri State on Jan. 5, 2019). Valpo has won its first points, 74.3 percent of Valpo’s scoring has come from freshmen or league road game in three of Matt Lottich’s first four seasons and sophomores. four of the last five years overall. - For comparison, seven of Drake’s top eight scorers are juniors or - Valpo played its first MVC games of the season on Jan. 9-10, seniors and Loyola’s top three scorers are seniors. Those two teams starting conference play at home for the third straight year, this enter this weekend at No. 1 and No. 2 in the MVC standings in a time vs. Missouri State. year where the advantage of experience has been magnified due to - The Jan. 9 start to conference play marked Valpo’s latest since head COVID-19 related disruptions to practice time. coach Scott Drew’s team commenced the Mid-Continent Conference slate on Jan. 11, 2003 vs. Western Illinois. Gordon Leading the Way - Despite the aforementioned youth, Valpo has been led in scoring Series Notes: Illinois State by senior Eron Gordon in each of the last three games.