MVC Basketball: Conference tournament preview and predictions

By Doug Winkey | Mar 1, 2016

Mar 8, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; Northern Iowa Panthers head coach Ben Jacobson reacts in the game between the Illinois State Redbirds and the Northern Iowa Panthers during second half in the championship game of the Missouri Valley Conference basketball tournament at Scotttrade Center. Northern Iowa Panthers won 60-69. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports /

8 of 11

Dec 13, 2015; Bowling Green, KY, USA; Indiana State Sycamores guard Everett Clemons (0) passes the ball away from Western Kentucky Hilltoppers guard Chris McNeal (1) during the second half at E.A. Diddle Arena. Western Kentucky Hilltoppers won 75-62. Mandatory Credit: Joshua Lindsey-USA TODAY Sports /

4: Indiana State Sycamores

The Sycamores from Terra Haute, IN finished sixth in the MVC after finishing 8-10. As mentioned above, I believe this team will upset Illinois State in their first game to probably play Evansville in the semifinals.

Indiana State is 177th in KenPom, with the 265th AdjO, 105th AdjD, and 182nd in RPI. The team does posses the 71st best adjusted tempo, averaging around 71 possessions a game. Devonte Brown, Brenton Scott, and Kristian Smith lead the team in scoring.

As with many mid-majors, this team plays a lot of bodies and go about nine deep, but nobody shoot particularly well. The team compensates with solid rebounding numbers, 93rd in American per ESPN.

The dangerous part of Indiana State’s game is, aside from just 40% shooting as a team, is that they play a lot of hero ball. The Sycamores are one of America’s worst distributing teams, so they are in big trouble if shots don’t fall with their pace. I believe they have enough firepower to upset the Redbirds, but there aren’t enough numbers to indicate more than one win, especially over the second-seeded Evansville Aces.

Next: 3: Wichita State Shockers