2009 Missouri Valley Men’s Basketball Tournament Predictions
Written March 5, 2009 by Jason Lowry
The Missouri Valley Men’s Basketball tournament is set to get started this Thursday from the Scottrade Center in St. Louis MO. with the winner being crowned on Sunday. Northern Iowa and Creighton both finished the MVC season with a 14-4 record, but Northern Iowa is considered the No.1 seed based off of tie breakers. The conference looks as balanced as ever, and we could be in for one crazy weekend with unpredictable finishes and possibly a team lower than the No. 3 seed taking home the title for just the 3rd time in 33 years. Here is a look at the top 3 teams going into the tournament, and a sleeper we feel can really cause some problems this weekend. Bet Missouri Valley Men’s Basketball Tournament at Bookmaker.com.
1. Northern Iowa Panthers (20-10, 14-4 MVC)
The Panthers took home the regular season MVC title for the first time in school history, as the best finish previous to this season was a 2nd place finish in 2004, a year in which they went on to win the MVC Tournament. The Panthers didn’t exactly finish the regular season on the best of notes, as they were just 4-3 in their final 7 games, and had a span of 3 straight losses before finishing the season with wins over Illinois State and Evansville. The Panthers have a pretty balanced scoring attack with 5 players averaging between at least 8 points or more, with the leading scorer being Adam Koch, who chips in 11.9 points a game.
2. Creighton Bluejays (25-6, 14-4 MVC)
Unlike the Panthers, the Bluejays come into tournament play red hot, as they have won 10 straight games, including wins over Northern Iowa on the road, and a very tough win over Illinois State to finish off the regular season. The Bluejays are led by the scoring duo of Booker Woodfox and P’Allen Stinnett, as Woodfox brings in 15.9 points a game an Stinnett is close behind with 12.6.
3. Illinois State Redbirds (22-8, 11-7 MVC)
The Redbirds are not flying high into the conference tournament, as they lost 3 straight to finish off their season, but on the bright side they lost two of those games to Northern Iowa and Creighton by a combined 6 points. This Redbirds will have to get hot at just the right time to win this tournament, but if you look back to the 86-64 beating of Crieghton you have to think this team has the talent to get it going. The Redbirds are led by Champ Oguchi and Osiris Eldridge, as the two combined for just over 18 points and nearly 12 rebounds a game.
Sleeper: Drake Bulldogs (17-14, 7-11 MVC)
The Bulldogs are the defending champions of this tournament, and though they struggled to really get it going this season, they are the only team in the conference to record wins over both Norther Iowa and Creighton, and even more impressively they won both those games on the road. Drake is playing much better basketball of late, and though they lost their final two games, they lost those two games by a combined 3 points. The Bulldogs are led by Josh Young and his 15.6 points per game.
Prediction: Creighton Bluejays
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