Valley Peeks

Bradley will have to find a way to contain Evansville’s Colt Ryan, who dropped 31 on Creighton in a loss on Wednesday. Also, from that game the Bluejays mercurial P’Allen Stinnett returned to the bench while still serving his suspension.

Frustration is setting in Normal after the Redbirds loss to Indiana State. Even the win was a loss for the Sycamores with Harry Marshall and Dwayne Lathan will both be out for to six weeks with injuries.

Creighton’s game preview with the focus on how Bradley will adjust to the Jays not having P’Allen Stinnett.

UNI trying to avenge its only loss. And the Panthers may get Johnny Moran back.

A mid-season look at the Valley from the Southern Illinoisian.

The Shockers are still looking for consistent road play as the second half of the MVC schedule begins.

MSU’s Ryan Jehle has his degree in hand, but continues to work hard for the Bears.

Evansville is finally healthy so maybe now a win will come.

The week off for the holiday has meant nearly a silent week in the Valley.

Except in Springfield, Mo. where the big news is the dismissal of Missouri State sophomore guard Cardell McFarland on Saturday after he was arrested in his hometown of Evansville, Ind.

Indiana State is probably right where the Sycamores thought they would be.

UNI’s Kwadzo Ahelegbe has kicked up his game.

The Southern Illinoisan looks at the youth in the Valley thus far.

Talk about tough openers, Wichita State and Illinois State will get a quick start in the league race by winning their game on Tuesday.

Former Farmington star Ben Wierzba gets a mention in a story on Evansville’s Colt Ryan.

With nary a game to be played on Thursday, a chance to look at a busy first-half of the week.

With a few days between games, Creighton’s Justin Carter looks forward to a homecoming on Saturday when the Jays play George Mason.

A flat start doomed Indiana State against Ball State.

Out of the starting lineup, Anthony Booker became a force inside for Southern Illinois against SEMO. But Tony Freeman played a big part as well.

Wichita State won its sixth-straight game by double-digits, beating UMKC.

Jermaine Mallett’s aggresiveness helped Missouri State stay unbeaten.

Evansville ranks in the Top 10 of worst team nicknames with its Purple Aces moniker.

The two unbeatens remained so with Illinois State beating Central Michigan and Missouri State beating Air Force.

Evansville won sloppily over Alabama State.

Drake finished third in its own tournament. Oops.

Wichita State has won five straight games now.

Southern Illinois wishes games were only 20 minutes after losing to Saint Louis.

On Sunday, Creighton plays the non-rivalry, rivalry game.

To quote (pun intnded) a Jeopardy category, a look at Friday in the Valley.

Wichita State held Texas Southern to 43 points in Thursday’s win.

“That’s something coach stresses every day in practice,” Ellis said. “Defense is what the great, great teams do to win championships.”

They’re still talking about Evansville’s double overtime win on Wednesday. Just in time for the Aces to play on Friday.

“As I went up I realized (the defender) was on me,” he said, “so I just shot faked, got him up in the air, stepped through and was able to make the shot.

Drake is spreading the scoring around in advance of the Hy-Vee Classic which started Friday night.

“We’ve all been scoring the ball really well lately, and finally it was a night like that for me,” said Hawley, a 6-foot-8 forward from Rogers, Ark. “I was able to get the ball in spots where I’m more capable of (scoring). I was getting the ball on the perimeter. And I’m able to do more with the ball from those positions.”

UNI got the better of a friendly rivalry with Iowa State.

Missouri State took the crowd out of its win over Arkansas-Little Rock early.

Wichita State needs to get more minutes out of J.T. Durley.

Northern Iowa is off to a quick start, record-wise, but the offense has slumped early. Still the Panthers have experience going for them.

It’s time for Missouri State to prove they can win on the road.

It wasn’t easy, but Evansville gutted out a double-overtime victory on Tuesday night.

With two weeks of the season down, we’re starting to get a picture of teams’ strengths and weaknesses. And at Creighton, a perennial contender, things aren’t looking good after the Bluejays’ 0-3 showing at the Old Spice Classic. In particular, Omaha World Herald beat reporter Steve Pivovar blogs that the time has come to question the talent of junior guard P’Allen Stinnett. Through his first two seasons at CU, Stinnett’s inconsistencies as a player were explained away by maturity issues. Pivovar is starting to wonder if it’s that simple.

At Wichita State, the Shockers are pleased with the play they’re getting from transfer forward Gabe Blair, who is described as a bigger, stronger version of Ramon Clemente. … Southern Illinois used a new-look, two-point-guard attack for extended minutes, with some success, and we might be seeing more of lefty freshman Kendal Brown-Surles and righty vet Kevin Dillard together. … At Indiana State, it’s worth noting the Sycamores already have won five games, after it took till Feb. 8 to achieve that feat last season.

Some quick hits…

\Creighton ran into a team that needed to bounce back worse.

Drake had a relaxing week off before facing Austin Peay on Saturday.

ISU was sluggish but got a win over Norfolk State.

UNI likes it start.

Southern’s Jack Crowder is still adjusting to playing in the backcourt.

Missouri State’s Michael Porter is back after an emergency appendectomy. Just in time to face Tulsa on Saturday.

Evansville plays Miami of Ohio. At least the Aces aren’t ‘Big Blue you know.’