Missouri Valley Basketball Monday: Loyola Chicago keeps coming back

High-scoring games everywhere

Isiaih Mosley is on a scoring tear. The 6’5 guard was last season’s Valley scoring leader (19.8 points per game) and while he started the calendar year with two sub-standard games (seven and eleven points), he has been on a scoring surge for the ages. His overall average (20.0 ppg) is outstanding, but his last three games have a historical feel.

During MSU’s last three games he has scored 43, 33, and 32 points. The Columbia, Missouri native has gone 11 for 17 from deep and connected on 19 of 22 free throws. He drives to the paint with abandon and has great range (.453 from deep).

Mosley and teammates Ja’Monta Black and Jaylen Minnett are the only trio of teammates nationally to have made at least 40 triples. His recent run is the best by an MSU player since 1978.

But Mosley isn’t the only Valley player on an offensive surge. Northern Iowa’s A.J. Green has had some uneven games returning from two hip surgeries but has produced three, 30-point performances of his own. Green scored 33 against Mosely and the Bears, the night Mosely scored 43. He has averaged over 20 points over the past three games.

Like Green, Southern Illinois’ Marcus Domask return from injury started slowly but has been scoring at a furious pace lately. After a six-point performance just before Christmas, the 6’6 junior has reached the 20-point plateau five straight times. During this string, he has made eleven of 16 shots from deep and has gone to the free-throw line 31 times.

While four Valley teams averaged 70 or more points per game last season, eight are doing so this season.