Tier Two
No. 8 – Illinois Chicago – 5-4 (0-1)
Two of the Flames five wins are against sub-D1 teams, but one of their victories is against a kenpom.com top 100 team (Yale). The Flames are hard to figure. Sparked by Ciani they lead the league in rebound margin (8.7) but none of their four losses have been close.
UIC has a balanced scoring attack, with four players averaging double-figures in scoring and two of their top four scorers are among the Valley’s top-ten in assists. Javon Jackson (12.1 ppg) averages four dimes per game and Ahmad Henderson II (11.2) hands out 3.44.
First year coach Rob Ehsan’s team likes a faster paced game and is the MVC’s fourth highest scoring team.
No. 7 – Indiana State – 6-4 (1-0)
Matthew Graves’ team has won three straight, including its Valley opener at Missouri State. Indiana State seems to be finding itself. There were some bad moments early in the season. From a metrics standpoint, they have some ‘bad’ losses, and their wins haven’t been over highly rated teams, but the signs are good.
The Valley’s third highest scoring team has a rising star. Presbyterian transfer Samage Teel is third in scoring (17.2 ppg) and in assists (4.9 per game) and ranks in the top-20 in rebounds.
The fast-paced Sycamores are twelfth nationally in effective field goal percentage and seventh in two-point field goal percentage. Five players average 9.2 points or better, so the versatile ‘Trees’ are dangerous at every position.
No. 6 – Illinois State – 5-4 (0-1)
Illinois State has turned last season’s struggles from long distance into a strength. The Redbirds are the Valley’s third best in that department (.402) and three players rank among the top thirteen among MVC sharp shooters.
Ryan Pedon’s team has been holding its own while waiting for two important rotational players to return to the lineup. North Dakota State transfer Boden Skunberg averaged over 14 points and five rebounds last season and is yet to play this year. 7’1 center Brandon Lieb is yet to play this season. Their returns are not imminent.
Sophomore big man Chase Walker and fellow sophomores Johnny Kinziger and Ty Pence are big contributors. Walker is tenth in scoring (14.2 ppg) and ninth in rebounds (6.6 per game) while making sixty percent of his shots.
Kinziger leads the Redbirds with a 14.3 scoring average.
No. 5 – Belmont Bruins 8-2 (1-0)
Remember the RPI? If we used that metric, Belmont would be the league’s third highest ranked team. Every other metric slots them fifth or worse, despite their outstanding 8-2 record.
Belmont is the Valley’s second highest scoring team, but the Bruins are allowing more points than any other MVC squad. The Bruins are typically one of the nation’s top shooting team, but so far this season they rank squarely in the middle of the Valley pack.
Belmont’s best wins are over Lipscomb, Illinois State (in overtime) and Middle Tennessee (by three points) and the Bruins have won four straight games.
Six Bruins average 9.5 points-per-game or more and Belmont leads the Valley in assists. Guard Isaiah Walker ranks in the top twenty in scoring (12.5 ppg), rebounds (5.9) and assists (3.2). Incoming transfers Jonathan Pierre (12.2) and Tyler Lundblade (12.1) also average more than twelve points per game and Lundblade leads the Valley, making 3.2 triples per game.