Busting Brackets
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Missouri Valley Basketball: 5 key questions for opening night of 2021-22 season

By Harry Schroeder

Northern Iowa guard A.J. Green takes the ball up court during a NCAA Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball game on Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019, at the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls, Iowa.190105 Uni S Illinois 016 Jpg
Northern Iowa guard A.J. Green takes the ball up court during a NCAA Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball game on Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019, at the McLeod Center in Cedar Falls, Iowa.190105 Uni S Illinois 016 Jpg /
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Missouri State Bears’ Isiaih Mosley (1) . Tbears Siu00479
Missouri State Bears’ Isiaih Mosley (1) . Tbears Siu00479 /

Significant returners and several new additions

Missouri State is uber-talented and should battle for the Valley title. Not many people are giving Evansville respect in preseason polls, but their top four players are back and they’ve added some key pieces.

Both of these teams struggled with depth last season.

Missouri State had two all-conference players in their starting five and finished third in the Valley race. The Bears were 0-5 against the top two teams and coach Dana Ford suggested that depth was of key concern. Center Gaige Prim and guard Isiaih Mosley are the best tandem of players in the league and now there is greater depth of talent around them.

All five Bear starters are back, but so are former Valparaiso starter Donovan Clay, former IUPUI star Jaylen Minnett and 3,000 point prep scorer Isaac Haney. Missouri State is as talented and just about as deep as any Valley member.

All five Purple Aces starters are back, but Evansville has been digging out of a hole. The Purple Aces won five of thirty-six conference games before last season, so winning seven of 18 league contests was a huge step forward. Head coach Todd Lickliter’s team had four solid starters but lacked much production beyond those four players who played 29 or more minutes every game.

Those four, Shamar Givance, Noah Frederking, Evan Kuhlman, and Jawaun Newton have combined to play in 401 Evansville games, but who will join them this season? Adding Incarnate Word transfer Antoine Smith and the health of Emmette Page is critical for Lickliter’s rebuilding job to progress in the right direction.

Page was a 1,000 point scorer at Northeast Community College and Smith averaged over seven points per game during his freshman season at UIW, scoring double figures in his final four games. His size (6’7) and athleticism will be huge for UE this season.

With five starters back and at least two veteran contributors, Evansville has a much better opportunity to be competitive in the Valley. The Purple Aces open at Cincinnati and the Bears entertain Southeast Missouri.

Burning question number four asks, do Missouri State and Evansville have enough depth to take the next step in their program’s progress?