Creighton is not sure it has the advantage against Bradley.

Don’t count on a team playing Thursday to be playing on Saturday, let alone Sunday. That being said, Southern Illinois is keeping its hopes up.

UNI coach Ben Jacobson loves the atmosphere of Arch Madness.

Evansville wants to show its improvement at the tournament.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.

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.”

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.

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.

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.

\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.’

Elsewhere, Indiana State is smarting over its double-digit loss to Coastal Carolina. On a neutral court, that’s not a good loss for the Valley. … Wichita State got too sloppy for its own good and lost to Pitt; the Shocks will play Iowa Tuesday night. …  And Illinois State players seem to believe the Redbirds’ comeback win at UIC will pay toughness dividends down the road.

Good thing for Osiris so ISU gets by North Florida.

Southern Illinois comes up short against UNLV.

Missouri State hits 3-0 with a win over the Citadel.

Evansville came close to beat No. 11 Butler.

Wichita State has the weekend off, but has Pittsburgh looming on Monday.

Nothing is guaranteed for Missouri State’s Isaiah Rhine.

In Friday’s action…

Josh Young helped Drake hold on to beat Georgia State.

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.

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.

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.

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.