#7 Valparaiso 58, #10 Evansville 55
Tonight is the first time in MVC tournament history a team has failed to connect on a three-point basket in a game and the first time it has happened in the MVC this season. Valpo was 0/10 from long range.
Valparaiso win – The Crusaders, posting their third straight win over Evansville this season, improve their record to 17-15 which is the most victories in the program since the 2016-17 team won 24 games. Valpo evens its MVC tournament record at 2-2 while advancing to the quarterfinal round for the second straight year. Valpo will play Loyola in the quarterfinals for the second year in a row.
Valparaiso Notes: Valpo had 10 or more threes in 10 games this season but failed to connect from long range tonight at 0/7 in the first half and 0/10 for the game. Valpo had been 7-3 when hitting 10 or more treys. Donovan Clay led Valpo with 16 points. Valpo’s bench, led by Ben Krikke -10 points, outscored Evansville’s reserves 18-2.
Evansville loss: The Aces have now lost 19 in a row and end their season at 9-23. The Aces are 9-26 in their MVC tourney history, including an 0-6 record as the #10 seed. After taking over the program at mid-season, Coach Todd Lickliter is 0-12 in his first year as the Aces’ head coach.
Evansville Notes: KJ Riley led the Aces with 17 points. Jawaun Newton set his career high in rebounds with 8.
First Half: The teams started out trading baskets before Valpo moved to a 17-12 edge with 12 minutes left in the half. Valpo was hitting 53 percent from the floor to 36 percent for Evansville at that point as they built a 21-15 lead the first 12 minutes of the half. The Crusaders moved ahead 27-18 with five minutes left in the half. Jawaun Newton got a backcourt steal and a layup to pull the Aces back within 29-24 with two minutes left in the half. Valpo led 31-25 at halftime. Valpo is 9-3 when leading at halftime.
Second Half: Valpo pushed its lead to eight before a 7-0 Evansville run got the Aces to within a point at 37-36. Valpo then ended a 4:10 scoring drought with a dunk by Ben Krikke to make it 39-36 at the 13:20 mark. The Aces then got two baskets and a free throw to move in front 41-39 with 11:38 to play. It was their first lead in the game since the 14:15 mark of the first half when they were in front 12-10. The teams were trading baskets and the lead for several minutes, with the Aces hitting four of six shots and Valpo hitting three of four going into the eight-minute media time out as Valpo led 47-46. A UE basket and two Valpo free throws pushed Valpo up 49-48 for what was the 10th lead change of the contest to go with six ties in the score. KJ Riley of Evansville cut a 53-50 Valpo lead to 53-52 with 56 seconds left but missed the attached free throw that would have tied the game again. Donovan Clay nailed a reverse layup with 31.1 seconds left and made it a three-point play for a 56-52 lead for Valpo. Evansville got two free throws and Valpo missed the front end of a bonus try at the stripe with 23 seconds left and Evansville’s Riley went to the foul line with 9.8 seconds left, hit the first shot but missed the second, and Valpo got a breakaway layup by John Kiser with 4.4 seconds left. Shamar Givance had what would have been a game-tying trey at the buzzer blocked by two Valpo players.
