Valley Peeks

Thursday is dark in the Valley after two games on Wednesday.

Creighton has quite a find in freshman Ethan Wragge.

Drake’s problems in the 0-2 start have been from the defensive end.

Northern Iowa is ready for the Virgin Islands and the Paradise Jam.

Tony Freeman has been as advertised for the Salukis.

Wichita State had little trouble with D-II Arkansas-Monticello.

Evansville sophomore James Haarsma still isn’t 100 percent, but that didn’t stop him from scoring 22 in UE’s win over SIU-E.

I was glad to see no Valley schools participated in the 24-hour ESPN hoopsfest on Tuesday. My reasons are spelled out in a column I wrote for the Journal Star.

The nut of my objection is that college games in the middle of the night — games that by design will finish well after midnight or start before dawn — are inherently anti-student, especially on a school day. The games between 8 a.m. and mid-afternoon aren’t any better, because that tends to be prime class time.

The secondary problem is the inequity in who has to cope with nonsensical hours: Of the 14 teams involved in the seven games played at hours counterproductive to being a good student, the only one representing one of the six BCS power conferences was Clemson. All 12 games played between 4 p.m. and 9:30 p.m., local times, involved BCS schools we already see every night in prime time.

While working on the column, I called the MVC to see if any member schools had been offered a chance to play in the game. Unfortunately, I didn’t get a return until after the newspaper deadline, but in a subsequent e-mail followup, I was told this by Mike Kern, associate commissioner for communications:

ESPN did reach out to us and asked about a couple of time slots, but none of them prime time … Of course, it’s flattering and a good opportunity, but an afternoon slot isn’t in the best interest for the fans, the student-body, or the team.   A Tuesday afternoon with school in session just doesn’t allow us to put our best foot forward for a national TV audience.

Good for the Valley.

Two Valley schools get victories after losses, while another will need to do that…

Creighton wins its home opener by 25 but still needs a consistent effort. And, Antoine Young tweaked his knee, but should not miss any time.

File this away for when Bradley plays Iowa State, don’t play zone and let Lucca Staiger fire away like Drake did.

The Sycamores bounced back from an opening round loss to LSU by beating Wisconsin-Milwaukee.

Southern Illinois beat a Division II, Indianapolis. But there’s still questions about what kind of team the the Salukis will be.

A look at Wichita’s J.T. Durley before the Shockers play Arkansas-Monticello, their D-II opponent.

Evansville’s Marty Simmons coaches tonight against the program where he got his collegiate coaching head start.

With football pro and college dominating the weekend, not much to report save for the late Saturday games.

A busy day in Carbondale with the the football team clinching the Missouri Valley Football Conference title followed up with a season-opening men’s basketball win. Putnam County’s Carlton Fay led the way for the Salukis by coming off the bench.

Another reserve came in to help Evansville beat Oakland City.

The season’s now officially underway so let’s jump right in.

Creighton dropped its opener Saturday at No. 21 Dayton, allowing a 10-point halftime lead to turn into a 10-point loss.

Drake was without Josh Young and lost to IUPUI at home on Saturday afternoon.

With a Friday win over Nebraska-Kearney almost a fait accompli for Indiana State, getting Dwayne Latha’s suspension reduced to one game was the real victory.

Cousins will meet in Evansville opener on Saturday night.

Northern Iowa survived at Denver on Friday night.

Anthony Booker will get the start for Southern Illinois against Tennessee-Martin.

Wichita State’s Clevin Hannah gets three games from the NCAA. The Shockers open Sunday against Fairleigh Dickinson.

Illinois State opens on Sunday at Southern Illinois-Edwardsville and needs some veteran leadership.

In honor of Bradley opening the season at BYU in the hometown of Marvin and Velma Stanwyk, a themed version tonight of what’s going on around Valley. Play along and guess the reference, the answer is at the end.

Ever seen a spleen that large?: Creighton’s Antoine Young has been checked out and should play in the Bluejays opener at Dayton after injuring his knee in practice on Wednesday

Hey! It’s all ball bearings nowadays.: Patience will be the key for the Redbirds this year.

Well, there we’re in kind of a gray area. How gray? Charcoal: Indiana State considers itself a Valley contender.

He draws the foul!: Wichita State’s Clevin Hannah is still waiting for a ruling on his eligibility regarding his amateur status.

There’s sure to be more tomorrow after BU, Indiana State and Northern Iowa open up tonight with three schools set for Saturday openers.

BTW-the move was Fletch.

A busy 36 hours as some teams are now less then 24 hours to the regular season but also since Wednesday was the first day of the national signing period.

Creighton added yet another big man.

As expected Kenyon Smith once again signed with Illinois State on Wednesday. On Thursday, they added 6-foot-10 Jordan Threloff. Oh, and the Redbirds also beat Quincy on Wednesday night.

Steve McWhorter, a 6-foot-2 guard signed with Indiana State, which also got a verbal commitment from 6-8, 250-pound Jake Kitchell.

Northern Iowa is looking ahead to its Friday opener at Denver.

The Southern Illinoisian adds its piece on what apparently is the theme this year in the Missouri Valley.

Wichita State once again gets a letter from 7-footer Ehimen Orukpe. Wichita Eagle beat writer Paul Suellentrop takes a look at a variety of fives from the Valley. Among Peoria-area mentions, Friday’s Bradley game with BYU, Putnam County’s Carlton Fay, Andrew Warren and Hoops Pub and Pizza.

Coach Cuonzo Martin is pleased with Missouri State’s signings on Wednesday. I’d be concerned if they didn’t. They also signed their last recruit, Aaron Cooper, on Thursday. Freshman Michael Porter had an emergency appendectomy, but don’t look for him to redshirt.

Just one exhibition game last night, Missouri State beat Henderson State, 79-52.

Already down Justin Carter in the post, Casey Harriman might miss Creighton’s opener as well.

The Redbirds play Quincy in an exhibition game tonight, the perfect chance get the newcomers a taste of game action.

Indiana State got some bad news from the NCAA: Dwayne Lathan is ineligible for the first two games. Lathan, who transferred from Louisiana Tech, played in a charity 3-on-3 event in April 2008 (after his last game with La Tech and before his transfer). The event was not sanctioned, and because Lathan played two games, he’ll sit two real ones for the Sycamores — including a visit to LSU.

Elsewhere in the Valley, Jim Benson of the Bloomington Pantagraph chimes in with his version of how the MVC will try to return to multi-bid land and breaks down the MVC race, team-by-team. (Sneak preview: He has ISU third and Bradley sixth — the Braves behind Indiana State and ahead of Wichita State. … And the Springfield News-Leader offers this feature on Will Creekmore, who has gained 25 pounds, growing to 6-8, 260.

Creighton forward Justin Carter will miss two-to-four weeks with a slightly torn medial collateral ligament in his left knee. Carter injured the knee in the second half of the Bluejays’ exhibition game on Sunday. According to Carter, he won’t need surgery and will start rehab immediately.