All four of the other teams that have three wins or less are in action tonight against teams higher in the standings. I guess at this point, we are rooting for LU to finish 6th, so it would help if SIU, Drake, Bradley, and Evansville all lose tonight, as that would tie us for 6th again, with Drake and Evansville a game behind us.

Evansville is at UNI. The other three are at home: ISUr at Bradley, ISUb at SIU, and MOSt at Drake.

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Four evenly matched competitive games tonight in the Valley, and it has big repercussions for Loyola in the standings:

Evansville at Northern Iowa
Illinois State at Bradley
Indiana State at Southern Illinois
Missouri State at Drake

I think I'm rooting for UNI, ISUr, ISUb, and MSU tonight, which would put Loyola tied with Evansville and Bradley for 6th place, at 3-6. Sounds bad, but it would create some separation with Drake and SIU in ninth place at 2-7. Plus we have two remaining games with Bradley and a home game with Evansville. It would make the next group of teams above us-- UNI, MSU, and ISUr-- tied for third at 5-4. Again, sounds bad, like they're running away from us, but winning our remaining games at Missouri State and at UNI would be an uphill battle-- only the Illinois State home game seems like a solid possibility.

With a win at SIU on Saturday, home wins next week against Bradley and ISUr, and a home win against Evansville on the last day of the season, that's 7 wins in the league-- possibly good enough for 6th, given WSU/ISUb dominance throughout the league, UNI's play on their home court, general strength from MSU, and weakness among the bottom four. A second road win at Drake or Bradley would probably seal the deal or compensate for a loss at home to ISUr.

As of now Vegas favors UNI (by 12), ISUb (by 4), Bradley (by 1), and Drake (by 3).

EDIT: I was writing this during your post and moved it here. Obviously, we're thinking the same thing...

Great minds!

We are halfway through the conference season with three wins. It's not inconceivable that we could win five more. Six might even be a possibility, but we we absolutely have to win on the road. If we don't, we are looking at a 5-13 season and a Thursday night date in downtown St. Louis.

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Plus, our remaining schedule is a bit easier-- ISUb is totally out of the way, and three of our five remaining road games are against teams near the bottom of the standings: SIU, Bradley, and Drake. Of our four remaining home games, only WSU is highly unlikely to win.

63 .. i agree. We need big crowds for the remaing home games ... made such a difference in the UNI win!

Indiana State in trouble down in Carbondale, trailing SIU 30-16 early in the second half....

This is an old one in the Valley, I am sure--BUT the Trees are getting chopped midway through 2nd half---Verrrrry interesting !

Yikes! Now 39-21 SIU. Odum scoreless, and Indiana State is even 1 of 7 on free throws....

OK All this proves now is LUC must win--Simple as that---We arrived here perhaps a year early , but here we are ! Keep winning starting Saturday--as tough as it will be on the road--but our guys I am sure will do well with a fine chance to get a win--

This conference can be had--maybe not for us this go round--but we will be ready soon.

For the record--Ramblers are better than THEY thought we were !

SIU in command with 3 min left. 60-44.

UNI in charge with 3 min left, 93-74 (But Balentine with a HUGE game...39 points)

Bradley in charge with 4 min left, 56-40.

Drake about to win (under 1 min), 81-73.



Looks like we got little help. Only UNI helped us.

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Cigarboy sucks!