MVC Basketball: 2020 conference tournament preview and predictions

By Joey Loose | Mar 4, 2020

ST. LOUIS, MO - MARCH 10: Luuk van Bree #13, Luqman Lundy #2 and Antoine Pittman #3 of the Bradley Braves fight Justin Dahl #15 and Tywhon Pickford #3 of the Northern Iowa Panthers for a loose ball during the final game of the MVC Basketball Tournament at the Enterprise Center on March 10, 2019 in St. Louis, Missouri. The Bradley Braves beat the Northern Iowa Panthers 57-54 to win the MVC Championship. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /

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ST. LOUIS, MO – MARCH 9: Wyatt Lohaus #22 and Tywhon Pickford #3 of the Northern Iowa Panthers celebrate with their teammates after upsetting the Drake Bulldogs (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /

Semifinals

#1 Northern Iowa vs. #4 Bradley (March 7, 2:35pm)

The Panthers are set up well to seek revenge, knocked out last year in the finals by the resilient Braves. They’ve already taken care of Bradley twice this season, and certainly have the offensive firepower to handle that Braves defense. The play of Childs and Brown will be key for the Braves, while also is their attempts to slow Green and the rest of that resilient offense. These two haven’t played for nearly two months and anything can happen in a conference tournament. However, I think Northern Iowa has enough of an edge that they can squeak out a third win over the Braves this season.

Northern Iowa wins

#2 Loyola-Chicago vs. #3 Indiana State (March 7, 5:05pm)

This may be the matchup of the two hottest teams in the conference, with Loyola winning six of their seven regular-season games. Krutwig is a force, but that Sycamore defense has looked great in spurts. When these teams met in Terre Haute in early February, Indiana State wrecked the Ramblers 68-39, though this rematch will clearly be a closer affair. A lot of pieces are starting to work well together for Indiana State, and this just might be the closest game of the tournament. I could see the game going either way, but will give the edge to Loyola, due in large part to Krutwig’s ability and Loyola’s postseason experience.

Loyola-Chicago wins

Finals

#1 Northern Iowa vs. #2 Loyola-Chicago (March 8, 1:10pm)

Anything can happen during a conference tournament and it’s typical to expect the unexpected. Based on recent history, these are the two most successful programs in the conference, even if the Panthers are now four years removed from their most recent NCAA trip. However, if we get this matchup of the top two seeds, it will almost certainly become another classic, as each of their regular-season games necessitated overtime.

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Krutwig and Green play very different roles for their teams but it’ll be excited to watch them match up offensively for a third time. These two teams both play impressive defense and the intrigue of another Ben Jacobson vs. Porter Moser coaching matchup is very exciting. After the home team won both games, we give the edge to the team that’s better on paper. The Ramblers are very talented, but Northern Iowa has all the pieces to win their first Arch Madness title since 2016.