2017–18 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball season

2017–18 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball season
LeagueNCAA Division I
SportBasketball
Number of teams10
TV partner(s)ESPN3, CBSSN, CBS
Regular season
2018 MVC ChampionsLoyola
Season MVPClayton Custer
Tournament
ChampionsLoyola
  Runners-upIllinois State
Finals MVPDonte Ingram, Loyola
Basketball seasons
2017–18 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Loyola Chicago † 15 – 3   .833 32 – 6   .842
Southern Illinois 11 – 7   .611 20 – 13   .606
Illinois State 10 – 8   .556 18 – 15   .545
Drake 10 – 8   .556 17 – 17   .500
Bradley 9 – 9   .500 20 – 13   .606
Indiana State 8 – 10   .444 13 – 18   .419
Missouri State 7 – 11   .389 18 – 15   .545
Evansville 7 – 11   .389 17 – 15   .531
Northern Iowa 7 – 11   .389 16 – 16   .500
Valparaiso 6 – 12   .333 15 – 17   .469
† 2018 MVC tournament winner

The 2017–18 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2017, followed by the start of the 2017–18 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play began in late December 2017 and concluded in March with the Missouri Valley Conference tournament at Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri.

With a win against Evansville on February 18, 2018, Loyola clinched at least a share of its first-ever Missouri Valley Conference regular season championship.[1] With a win over Southern Illinois on February 21, the Ramblers clinched the outright MVC championship.[2]

Loyola defeated Illinois State in the championship game to win the MVC tournament and received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.

This season marked the first season with Valparaiso as a member of the conference.[3] The Crusaders were invited to join the conference after Wichita State left the conference to join the American Athletic Conference.[4]

Loyola received the conference's only bid to the NCAA tournament and advanced to the Final Four before losing to Michigan.[5][6]

Drake was the only other conference school that received a bid to a postseason tournament,[7] receiving a bid to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament where they went 1–1.[8]

Head coaches

Coaching changes

Drake's fourth-year head coach Ray Giacoletti resigned on December 6, 2016 after the first eight games of the season.[9] Assistant coach Jeff Rutter was named interim head coach.[9] Following the season, the school chose not to keep Jeff Rutter as head coach and hired Niko Medved, former head coach at Furman, as the Bulldogs' new head coach.[10]

Coaches

Team Head coach Previous job Years at school Overall record MVC record MVC titles NCAA tournaments
Bradley Brian Wardle Green Bay 3 38–60 19–35 0 0
Drake Niko Medved Furman 1 17–17 10–8 0 0
Evansville Marty Simmons SIU Edwardsville 11 184–175 82–116 0 0
Illinois State Dan Muller Vanderbilt
(Asst.) 		6 122–80 75–48 1 0
Indiana State Greg Lansing Indiana State
(Asst.) 		8 133–126 73–71 0 1
Loyola Porter Moser Saint Louis
(Asst.) 		7 121–111 42–58 1 1
Missouri State Paul Lusk Purdue
(Asst.) 		7 106–121 52–75 0 0
Northern Iowa Ben Jacobson Northern Iowa
(Asst.) 		12 250–150 130–86 2 4
Southern Illinois Barry Hinson Kansas
(Adm.) 		6 99–96 47–55 0 0
Valparaiso Matt Lottich Valparaiso
(Asst.) 		2 39–26 6–12 0 0

Notes:

  • All records, appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only.
  • Overall and MVC records are from time at current school and are through the end of the season.
  • Lottich and Moser's conference records only includes MVC play, not prior Horizon League records.

Preseason

Preseason poll

Source[11]

Rank Team
1. Missouri State (30)
2. Northern Iowa (8)
3. Loyola (1)
4. Illinois State (1)
5. Southern Illinois
6. Valparaiso
7. Bradley
8. Indiana State
9. Evansville
10. Drake
(first place votes)

Preseason All-MVC teams

Honor Recipient
Preseason Player of the Year Alize Johnson, Missouri State
Preseason All-MVC First Team
Donte Ingram, Loyola
Brenton Scott, Indiana State
Bennett Koch, Northern Iowa
Reed Timmer, Drake
Aundre Jackson, Loyola
Preseason All-MVC Second Team
Thik Bol, Southern Illinois
Darrell Brown, Bradley
Klint Carlson, Northern Iowa
Phil Fayne, Illinois State
Tevonn Walker, Valparaiso

Source[11]

Regular season

Conference matrix

This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play. Each team played 18 conference games, playing each team twice.

  Bradley Drake Evansville Illinois State Indiana State Loyola Missouri State Northern Iowa Southern Illinois Valparaiso
vs. Bradley – 2–0 1–1 1–1 0–1 1–1 0–2 1–1 1–1 1–1
vs. Drake 0–2 – 1–1 1–1 0–2 2–0 0–2 1–1 1–1 2–0
vs. Evansville 1–1 1–1 – 2–0 2–0 2–0 1–1 1–1 1–1 0–2
vs. Illinois State 1–1 1–1 0–2 – 1–1 2–0 0–2 1–1 1–1 1–1
vs. Indiana State 1–1 2–0 0–2 1–1 – 1–1 2–0 0–2 2–0 1–1
vs. Loyola 1–1 0–2 0–2 0–2 1–1 – 1–1 0–2 0–2 0–2
vs. Missouri State 2–0 2–0 1–1 2–0 0–2 1–1 – 1–1 2–0 0–2
vs. Northern Iowa 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 2–0 2–0 1–1 – 2–0 0–2
vs. Southern Illinois 1–1 1–1 1–1 1–1 0–2 1–0 0–2 0–2 – 1–1
vs. Valparaiso 1–1 0–2 2–0 1–1 1–1 1–0 2–0 2–0 1–1 –
Total 9–9 10–8 7–11 10–8 7–11 15–3 7–11 7–11 11–7 6–12

Player of the week

Throughout the regular season, the Missouri Valley Conference named a player and newcomer of the week.

Week Player of the week Newcomer of the week
November 13, 2017[12] Brenton Scott, Indiana State Kavion Pippen, Southern Illinois
November 20, 2017[13] Keyshawn Evans, Illinois State Marques Townes, Loyola
November 27, 2017[14] Donte Ingram, Loyola Tywhon Pickford, Northern Iowa
December 4, 2017[15] Bennett Koch, Northern Iowa Kavion Pippen (2), Southern Illinois
December 11, 2017[16] Dru Smith, Evansville Cameron Krutwig, Loyola
December 18, 2017[17] Milik Yarbrough, Illinois State Milik Yarbrough, Illinois State
December 26, 2017[18] Alize Johnson, Missouri State Milik Yarbrough (2), Illinois State
January 2, 2018[19] Milik Yarbrough (2), Illinois State Milik Yarbrough (3), Illinois State
January 8, 2018[20] Reed Timmer, Drake J. T. Miller, Missouri State
January 15, 2018[21] Alize Johnson (2), Missouri State Tywhon Pickford (2), Northern Iowa
January 22, 2018[22] Donte Ingram (2), Loyola Cameron Krutwig (2), Loyola
January 29, 2018[23] Clayton Custer, Loyola Milik Yarbrough (4), Illinois State
February 5, 2018[24] Reed Timmer, Drake

Ryan Taylor, Evansville

Kavion Pippen (2), Southern Illinois
February 12, 2018[25] Alize Johnson (3), Missouri State Kavion Pippen (3), Southern Illinois
February 19, 2018[26] Reed Timmer (2), Drake Milik Yarbrough (5), Illinois State

Conference Awards

Award Recipients
Larry Bird Player of the Year Clayton Custer, Loyola[27]
Coach of the Year Porter Moser, Loyola
Newcomer of the Year Clayton Custer, Loyola
Freshman of the Year Cameron Krutwig, Loyola
Defensive MVP Ben Richardson, Loyola
Sixth-Man of the Year Tyler Smithpeters, Southern Illinois
All-MVC First Team Clayton Custer, Loyola
Alize Johnson, Missouri State
Ryan Taylor, Evansville
Reed Timmer, Drake
Milik Yarbrough, Illinois State
All-MVC Second Team Jorand Barnes, Indiana State
Phil Fayne, Illinois State
Armon Fletcher, Southern Illinois
Donte Ingram, Loyola
Donte Thomas, Bradley
All-MVC Third Team Darrel Brown, Bradley
Bennett Koch, Northern Iowa
Cameron Krutwig, Loyola
Kavion Pippen, Southern Illinois
Brenton Scott, Indiana State
All-Newcomer Team Bakari Evelyn, Valparaiso
Cameron Krutwig, Loyola
Tywhon Pickford, Northern Iowa
Kavion Pippen, Southern Illinois
Milik Yarbrough, Illinois State
All-Freshmen Team Elijah Childs, Bradley
Tyreke Key, Indiana State
Cameron Krutwig, Loyola
Tywhon Pickford, Northern Iowa
Lucas Williamson, Loyola
All-Defensive Team Obediah Church, Missouri State
Dwante Lautier-Ogunleye, Bradley
Sean Lloyd, Southern Illinois
Ben Richardson, Loyola
Tevonn Walker, Valparaiso

Source[28]

Postseason

Missouri Valley Conference tournament

Main article: 2018 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball tournament

Teams were seeded by conference record, with ties broken by record between the tied teams followed by overall adjusted RPI, if necessary. The top six seeds received first-round byes.

First round
Thursday, March 1
MVC TV/ESPN3 		Quarterfinals
Friday, March 2
MVC TV/ESPN3 		Semifinals
Saturday, March 3
CBSSN 		Championship
Sunday, March 4
CBS
            
1 Loyola–Chicago 54
9 Northern Iowa 50
8 Evansville 50
9 Northern Iowa 60
1 Loyola–Chicago 62
5 Bradley 54
4 Drake 61
5 Bradley 63
1 Loyola–Chicago 65
3 Illinois State 49
2 Southern Illinois 67
7 Missouri State 63
7 Missouri State 83
10 Valparaiso 79
2 Southern Illinois 68
3 Illinois State 76*
3 Illinois State 77
6 Indiana State 70

* denotes overtime period

NCAA tournament

Main article: 2018 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament

The winner of the MVC tournament, Loyola, received the conference's automatic bid to the 2018 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.

Seed Region School First Four First round Second round Sweet Sixteen Elite Eight Final Four Championship
11 South Loyola N/A defeated (6) Miami 64–62 defeated (3) Tennessee 63–62 defeated (7) Nevada 69–68 defeated (9) Kansas State 78–62 lost to (3) Michigan 69–57
W–L (%): 0–0 (–) 1–0 (1.000) 1–0 (1.000) 1–0 (1.000) 1–0 (1.000) 0–1 (.000) 0–0 (–) Total: 4–1 (.800)

References

  1. ^ "Loyola-Chicago vs. Evansville - Game Recap - February 18, 2018 - ESPN". ESPN.com. Retrieved February 19, 2018.
  2. ^ Greenstein, Teddy. "Loyola clinches Missouri Valley title with 75-56 win over Southern Illinois". chicagotribune.com. Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  3. ^ Osipoff, Michael. "Valparaiso makes it official, accepts Missouri Valley Conference invitation". Post-Tribune. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  4. ^ "AAC votes to add Wichita St. for '17-18 season". ESPN.com. Retrieved July 7, 2017.
  5. ^ Beaton, Andrew (March 25, 2018). "Loyola-Chicago Beats Kansas State to Advance to the Final Four". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved May 4, 2018.
  6. ^ "Loyola-Chicago heading to Final Four with K-State win". SI.com. Retrieved May 4, 2018.
  7. ^ "Drake basketball accepts bid to CIT, will host game Monday at Knapp Center". Des Moines Register. Retrieved May 4, 2018.
  8. ^ "Drake men's basketball: Bulldogs' season ends with 81-72 loss to Northern Colorado in CIT". Des Moines Register. Retrieved May 4, 2018.
  9. ^ a b "Drake's Giacoletti resigns: 'I think it's time for a new voice'". Des Moines Register. Retrieved February 8, 2017.
  10. ^ "Jeff Rutter feels he was treated 'fairly and seriously' during Drake search". Des Moines Register. Retrieved May 10, 2017.
  11. ^ a b "Missouri State Picked to Win MVC Men's Basketball". Retrieved October 24, 2017.
  12. ^ "MVC MBB Weekly Notebook (Nov. 13)". Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  13. ^ "MVC MBB Weekly Notebook (Nov. 20)". Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  14. ^ "MVC Weekly MBB Notebook (Nov. 27)". Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  15. ^ "MVC Men's Basketball Notes (D4)". Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  16. ^ "MVC MBB Weekly Notes (Dec. 11)". Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  17. ^ "MVC Men's Basketball Notes (D18)". Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  18. ^ "MVC Men's Basketball Notes (Dec. 26)". Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  19. ^ "MVC MBB Weekly Notes (Jan. 2)". Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  20. ^ "MVC MBB Weekly Notes (Jan. 8)". Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  21. ^ "MVC Men's Basketball Weekly Notes (J15)". Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  22. ^ "MVC MBB Weekly Notes (Jan. 22)". Retrieved January 23, 2018.
  23. ^ "MVC MBB Weekly Notes (Jan. 29)". Retrieved January 30, 2018.
  24. ^ "MVC MBB Weekly Notes (Feb. 5)". Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  25. ^ "MVC Men's Basketball Weekly Notebook (Feb. 12)". Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  26. ^ "MVC Men's Basketball Weekly Notebook (Feb. 19)". Retrieved February 22, 2018.
  27. ^ "Loyola's Clayton Custer Earns Larry Bird Player of the Year Trophy". Retrieved May 4, 2018.
  28. ^ "MVC Announces Men's Basketball All-Conference Teams". Retrieved May 4, 2018.