Missouri Valley Conference men’s basketball has been around for more than 100 years. Membership has fluctuated greatly. A conference champion never has had six or more defeats: At least until last weekend.
Drake University and Loyola Chicago, came into last weekend’s games leading the Missouri Valley race, each with a 10-5 record. Both suffered road setbacks. Drake fell, 67-60, at Illinois State University (ISU) in Normal and Loyola lost, 63-53 at Southern Illinois in Carbondale.
The shakeout left Drake, Loyola, and Missouri State on top of the Missouri Valley, each at 10-6. A conference champion will have six or more defeats.
The Missouri Valley plays an 18-game schedule which will end in the upcoming weekend. Illinois State fell to 8-8 in the Missouri Valley.
Last year, Loyola had the Missouri Valley race locked up early. The Ramblers finished 15-3 and captured the Conference tournament championship. They found national attention by reaching the NCAA Tournament Final Four. Loyola ended 32-6 overall. Head coach Porter Moser’s charges were 17-12 entering this week’s game and part of the leader logjam.
If the Ramblers are to capture at least a share of the conference championship, victories at Northern Iowa Wednesday and as host to Bradley Saturday likely will be needed.
Drake’s loss at Illinois State Saturday surprised few insiders despite the fact that Drake was on a four-game winning streak and the Redbirds had lost five straight. In an earlier meeting between the two teams in Des Moines, ISU won convincingly, 69-55.
Illinois State led the Bulldogs, 33-24, at the halftime break. Drake clamped down defensively at the start of the second half and within five minutes had tied the score at 33. Free throws led to the ISU victory
Drake head coach Darian DeVries, in his first year at the school, after serving 20 years as an assistant at Creighton University, is the older brother of Jared DeVries, a former football star at Iowa who played 12 seasons in the NFL with the Detroit Lions.