Q: SIU held a team under 70 points for the first time in five games on Wednesday. Good defense or bad offense by Drake?

A: A little of both. SIU plays physical defense, and the refs let them play, and Drake, honestly, just wasn’t up to the task. The Bulldogs got a little pushed around, and looked a little out of sync. Josh Young didn’t shoot well, and other than Jonathan Cox, who was magnificent Wednesday night, Drake didn’t have much.

Q: Are Saluki fans showing patience during this difficult season?

A: No. Some have called to fire SIU coach Chris Lowery, which is a little strong, but people are unhappy. I do think they understand there have been some injuries, and that it’s tough to beat juniors and seniors with freshmen and sophomores, no matter how good they are.

Q: SIU seems set in the backcourt for years. Has Anthony Booker shown enough to make people think he can be a starter next season?

A: Book has really come in the last month. He’s become a weapon at both ends of the floor, as he’s a jackrabbit of a rebounder, is strong with the ball, and can score at the other end with his jump shot, hook and post moves. He’s also a fairly good ball-handler for his size, and is showing a sense of urgency here at the end of the season.

Q: Who is viewed as Kevin Dillard’s competition for MVC Freshman of the Year?

A: I was just thinking about that last night; Toure’ Murry comes to mind as one of the favorites for the award. I think Johnny Moran from UNI and Antoine Young from Creighton will also get some votes.

Q: Will Indiana State earn the title of “Team nobody wants to play in St. Louis?”

A: I think the winner of Tuesday’s game gets that honor.

Certainly, Indiana State has righted a lot of what it had going wrong during its five-game winning streak, notably avoidance of unforced turnovers. Moreover, the Sycamores have been hard to defend with Jay Tunnell, Harry Marshall, Rashad Reed and Jordan Printy all on their game offensively … they’ve each hit double-digit scoring in four consecutive games. Four road wins in the conference is impressive too no matter how you slice it.

It’s easy to forget, and hard to fathom given the 4-19 start, that ISU has something to play for against the Shockers. ISU needs a lot of help, but it can still avoid Thursday in St. Louis.

If ISU beats the Shockers and avoids Thursday, anything’s possible, including a long stay in St. Louis. If ISU wins, but have to play Thursday anyway, I wouldn’t want to be the No. 1 or No. 2 seed that’s going to see them Friday. I think a No. 1 or a No. 2 is going to go down at St. Louis this year regardless, whether they play Indiana State, Southern Illinois, Drake, Evansville or Wichita State.

If ISU loses to the Shockers, especially if they get trucked out of Koch Arena (I don’t see it, most of the WSU-ISU games in my time at Koch have been competitive), it will be interesting to see how the team responds. The current winning streak is the first taste of success this team has had, so in return, it will be the first time they will have had to bounce back.

But to answer your question and make a long story longer, if I were an opposing Valley school, I’d rather face Missouri State, Southern Illinois, Drake, or even Northern Iowa before I’d want to face the Sycamores or the Shockers right now.

Q: Rank Jay Tunnell’s 8-of-9 three-point performance at Illinois State on the list of most incredible sports events you’ve witnessed.

A: Restricting it to my time on the ISU beat, it’s in the top three. Tunnell was one make short of Marico Stinson’s school-record 9 of 11 3-point blast-off against Drake and Tom Davis’ zone defense in 2007. The incredible thing about that game was that Stinson had most of those three’s in a 10-minute span wrapped around halftime.

What might have been more incredible than Tunnell’s 8 of 9 3-point shooting (a lot of the credit, incidentally, should go to Harry Marshall, who repeatedly found Tunnell open on the high pick-and-roll) was his 10 of 11 overall shooting the next game against Drake. Both were school records for percentage. Combine those two games and nothing can touch it since I’ve been around the team.

It brings to mind that the best thing about covering Indiana State men’s basketball — ISU conjures up these off-the-charts bizarre performances, games, and wild swings of success and failure. More than anything else, that’s what defined ISU basketball in my time covering the team, besides the losing seasons, of course.

Tunnell’s performance, the nature of that comeback win (ISU was down 12 with two minutes and change to go at Redbird Arena) and subsequent winning streak, fits perfectly in the Sycamore zeitgeist.

There’s too many examples to cite, but if you want to get a feel for what it’s like to follow ISU around, a snapshot of the 2006 season is a great example. An 8-0 start is followed by an 0-for-January. The 11-game losing skid gets broken with a victory at Southern Illinois, when SIU had the nation’s longest home-court winning streak and it was considered near-impossible to win in Carbondale. Later, ISU set the MVC Tournament record for worst and best shooting halves in the same game against Drake.

Last year’s comeback win over Wichita State at Hulman Center is another example. ISU wiped out 21-point and 10-point deficits in the same half to win the game.

Regardless of who’s coaching or who’s playing, surreal is the norm at Indiana State.

Q: How does this last week unfold in the MVC? I say Northern Iowa is done.

A: Before I go on, I picked UNI to finish 10th in the preseason poll, so my soothsaying abilities should be taken with several ba-zillion grains of salt. On a happier note for Shockwaves readers, I had WSU avoiding Thursday in St. Louis (I can’t remember if I had them fifth or sixth), so my magic 8-ball floated me some knowledge.

I agree on the current state of UNI … stick a fork in them. They’re out of gas and their schedule isn’t favorable either. Too bad, they’ve been the best story in the Valley this season.

It’s hard to go against Creighton at this point. They should take care of Missouri State and I haven’t seen any evidence that Illinois State is mentally tough enough to win at Qwest on Saturday, even if the conference title is on the line.

Of course, knowing the way this season has gone in the Valley, Illinois State will roll to the Valley regular season title with a win in Omaha, perhaps even on a buzzer-beater from prodigal son Lloyd Phillips.

The battle for fifth to ninth is equally intriguing, though there isn’t enough bandwith to discuss the myriad scenarios.

Q: Different sport – Are you surprised Indiana State is building a new baseball stadium and that the school intends to bid for the MVC Tournament? I expect more schools to cut back on baseball in tough economic times.

A: Not at all. This has been in the works for a long time. ISU Director of Athletics Ron Prettyman has been a big believer in baseball from day one. Prettyman has a baseball background — his son Ronnie scored the College World Series-clinching run for Cal State-Fullerton in 2004 — and among the reasons ISU hired coach Lindsay Meggs in 2006 was that he was instrumental in building a stadium for Cal State-Chico for the Division II program there.

Given Terre Haute’s affinity for baseball — I’ve lived all over Indiana and baseball interest is higher here than anywhere else I’ve been — as well as a thriving prep scene that has turned out Division I-caliber talent in recent years out of proportion to its population, I think it’s a sound move.

College baseball is a niche Indiana State can take advantage of. Aside from Notre Dame, and maybe, fellow Valley member Evansville, the college baseball landscape is wide open in Indiana. No one pays one iota of attention to baseball at Purdue or Indiana (I’m only slightly exaggerating when I say that IU baseball is more popular in Terre Haute because of Hautean and All-American-caliber catcher Josh Phegley than it is in Bloomington), and the rest of the state’s mid-majors are a mixed bag.

Membership in the Missouri Valley Conference has a lot to do with it … none of the other conferences that include Indiana-based schools is better, including the Big East and Big Ten. It’s one sport where Indiana State can exploit an advantage over other state schools if the program is turned around and with a new facility.

ISU is also hoping to have a summer collegiate league team play in its stadium, which will make its facility the focal point of the local sports scene during what is now a fallow Terre Haute summer and a time when ISU is off the map, so there’s a public relations bent to it too. They just want to avoid that messy Missouri State-type sharing scenario the Bears have with the Double-A team in Springfield.

The economy is the 800-pound gorilla, to be sure, and Title IX plays a role too, but I think getting rid of baseball, as UNI is doing, is short-sighted. The sport is creeping into the national consciousness via more television, etc. It will never be like college football or basketball, but I think it’s safe to say it’s gaining in popularity, not declining.

Q: Have the Redbirds emerged from a tumultuous week a better team, as the win at Drake might suggest? Or are the Redbirds in a bad spot after the Lloyd Phillips leave of absence and return?

A: I definitely saw a better team in the last week. With the Phillips leave of absence and Sead Odzic’s knee injury, the team found some depth it didn’t seem to have a week earlier plus it played more as a team. There was a chemistry on the court that was missing. Whether it had anything to do with Phillips is the big question.

Q: How do you expect coach Tim Jankovich to handle his starting lineup when Phillips returns?

A: Jankovich will probably keep Shipley in the starting lineup and bring Phillips off the bench for the next couple games and maybe the rest of the season. Phillips probably will get Odzic-type minutes, which is about 10-15 minutes a game. The interesting part will be if the game is close down the stretch, whether Shipley or Phillips get the call. Not sure right now how that would play out.

Q: WSU’s bench outscored Illinois State’s bench 23-2 in Koch Arena. Will the ISU reserves play better at home, or is that still a problem for the Redbirds?
A: Brandon Sampay has really played well in the last three weeks or so, plus now Brandon Holtz and Alex Rubin had good games last week without Phillips around. If Phillips come off the bench, that should give the Redbird reserves even more punch. ISU looked like a seven-player rotation two weeks ago, but now it could be 9-10 deep the rest of the season, especially when Odzic returns in a couple weeks. Jankovich has more confidence in some of his subs now.

Q: How much enthusiasm is there for the BracketBusters trip to Niagara around the Redbird basketball office?
A: Actually, the Redbird coaches seem to like the idea of going to Niagara. I think some of them haven’t seen Niagara Falls, so that’s one perk to the trip. Plus, they like getting on ESPN2. ISU volunteered to play on Friday night so it could have an extra day of rest because the Redbirds play Northern Iowa on the following Tuesday. ISU really has nothing to lose at Niagara. The only way the Redbirds go to the Big Dance is by winning the Valley tourney, so a loss won’t bust anything.

Matt blogs here.

Q: Is Lucas O’Rear the best sixth man in the Valley?

A: He’s definitely got to be on the short list of candidates. His impact on the team has been immeasurable. While 7-footer Jordan Eglseder has been inconsistent in conference play, O’Rear has picked up the slack. He’s averaging 6.4 and 6.3 rebounds per game in Valley play — not earth-shattering — but his toughness, ability to dive for loose balls, create extra opportunities with his rebounding and to play heavy minutes has been big. He’s shooting over 70 percent from the floor in league play. Plain and simple, UNI isn’t in this position without O’Rear.

Q: Who is Northern Iowa’s biggest threat in St. Louis? Other than Indiana State.

A: UNI wants no part of Indiana State for a third time, even if the Trees are playing on short rest. Both games have been a struggle. For some reason, Harry Marshall has picked them apart.

Aside from that, Creighton is the obvious choice. UNI was fortunate to beat Creighton in Omaha — thanks to some uncharacteristic misses at the foul line from Woodfox and Witter. The Jays are always good in March under Altman, and they’re one of the few teams in the league who has as good, if not more, quality depth than UNI. Also, Justin Carter’s improved play for CU is big. He’s a tough matchup for the Panthers.

Bradley, a potential semifinal foe, has played UNI awfully well twice, too. The Braves’ athleticism on the perimeter was tough for the Panthers to handle at times.

Q: If the Panthers make the NCAA Tournament, will Kurt Warner come to a game?

A: Not unless the Panthers are placed in the West Regional and make a run to the Sweet 16 in his home area of Glendale, Ariz. — a longshot for many reasons. Warner didn’t attend UNI’s last three appearances in the Big Dance, so I don’t expect to run across him.

His relationship with the University is a bit dicey, to say the least. I still think he’s a bit upset that he was only the starter for one year here. In addition to that, the two-time NFL MVP and a Super Bowl MVP isn’t even in the UNI Hall of Fame yet.

Q: Who is UNI’s best player, and is he a legit candidate for MVC Player of the Year? You must pick one Panther. No waffling.

A: Adam Koch is the best all-around talent, but Kwadzo Ahelegbe should be the MVP if UNI wins the league. He’s provided scoring (nearly 12.5 ppg. in Valley play), been a great distributor for a balanced offense, the unquestioned leader and one of the league’s top defenders. His ability to penetrate and kick, or create for himself is a significant reason UNI’s offense has been so balanced and effective. During the run in which UNI held five teams’ top scorers under double figures, Ahelegbe was at the center of that. He drew the assignment of Josh Young (0-for-2, 3 points), Shy Ely (2-for-15, 7 points), Osiris Eldridge (2-for-8, 4 points) and Chris Cooks (3-for-13, 9 points).

Q: Indiana State freshman Jordan Printy seems to be one positive story for the Sycamores. What is behind his recent performances?
A: Printy was inserted into the staring lineup in mid-January so the Sycamores could come to grips with their turnover problems. He’s done a reasonable job in that department and it was always known that he could shoot. His confidence has been better in recent weeks and his shooting percentage has been better along with it.

Q: How would this season be different with Marico Stinson and Harry Marshall in uniform from gavel to gavel for ISU?
A: I think Indiana State would have won a few of the 50/50 games they had in the non-conference season, if for no reason than Marshall would have run the team with less confusion. Stinson would have shot the team to a win or two. On the other hand, Stinson also shot ISU out of plenty of games too and Marshall still would have been dependent on teammates early in the season that have been inconsistent at best for the entire schedule. ISU would be better than 4-18, but many of Indiana State’s flaws would not have been mitigated by their presence, so they probably would have been sub.-500 in any case.

Q: Pick your MVC Player of the Year.
A: Every time I think I have a choice nailed down, something happens. Illinois State’s Osiris Eldridge went into a funk mid-season. Illinois State’s Champ Oguchi and Creighton’s Booker Woodfox got dinged up. Creighton’s P’Allen Stinnett is mercurial. Conference leader Northern Iowa is the epitome of team basketball, point guard Kwadzo Ahelegbe is the closest thing they have to a MVP, but is he good enough for league honors? I’m not ready to pull the trigger yet, though I may see it differently by the end of the month.
Perhaps it should be Evansville’s Shy Ely. He reminds me of David Moss ‘06, but unlike Moss, he’s having an all-everything year (and he’s stayed healthy) during a season where no one is stepping to the fore. He leads the league in conference-only scoring and is fourth in rebounding. If the Aces finish in the top half, he has to be considered.
Until then, I’ll just vote for Wu-Shock to pander for a cheap atta-boy out of the Shockwaves readers.

Q: What is behind Bradley’s recent changes to the starting lineup?

A: After a poor start at Southern Illinois, Jim Les decided the Braves
needed to develop a stronger defensive mindset at the beginning of the
game. So Dodie Dunson and Darian Norris replaced Chris Roberts and Sam
Maniscalco. The results were excellent. BU opened the Northern Iowa game
with a 13-2 burst and started the Indiana State game by forcing five
turnovers in the first six minutes. And Maniscalco has been an offensive
spark off the bench, averaging 13.5 points in the two games.

Q: Out of necessity, Jim Les remade the Braves from a three-point
shooting team to a driving team. How did he do it so quickly?

A: When Bradley didn’t have Andrew Warren available from the start, it
became apparent that the strength of the team was more driving to the
basket than shooting threes. It almost helped not having him at all because
it gave a new team a chance to find its own way. Jim did a good job
recognizing that as the non-conference season wore on and began to
de-emphasize the three and promote the players’ strengths.
As with most everything, a balance is usually best and the Braves’ best
games have come when they have knocked down enough threes to keep the
defense honest. But it’s pretty clear they don’t have the knockdown
shooters of a year ago with Warren out and the graduations of Jeremy
Crouch and Daniel Ruffin.

Q: At the halfway point, pick your MVC Player of the Year. Did Drake’s
Adam Emmenecker ruin it for every good player not on the championship
team?

A: He may have although if Northern Iowa continues its pace, I’d be
hard-pressed to pick one guy off that team who is as critical as
Emmenecker was for Drake. Kwadzo Ahelegbe would be the closest and may
well become the POY although I’m sure Osiris Eldridge, Josh Young,
Theron Wilson, Bryan Mullins and Shy Ely may have something to say about
that before it’s all said and done.

Q: When Bradley wears its 1985-86 throwback jerseys, do you wear your
Miami Vice jacket or your button-down Oxford cloth shirt with penny
loafers?

A: I was never that cool in the ’80s when I was kind of young so I’m not
going to pretend to be cool when I’m pretty old. Some might say, though,
the sweater I wore that night was kind of like those worn by Nolan
Richardson in the ’80s. Without the polka dots.

A: ISU’s players saw what Oguchi could do last season in practice. They knew what an impact he would make this season. The big question coming into the season was how he and Eldridge would co-exist together. Would they need more than one basketball to satisfy both? That hasn’t proven to be a problem at all. When one is hot, they get the other the ball and vice versa. Eldridge is in a bit of slump right now, but Oguchi is more than willing to carry the load. Oguchi has played in many hostile enviroments during his three years at Oregon and seems to like silencing an opposing crowd.

Q: Is Illinois State a little more vulnerable on the road, or did injuries and illness play a big role in their losses?

A: Early in the season, ISU played well on the road and didn’t seem fazed by it at all. But in mid-December, they squeaked out a win at Central Michigan against a mediocre team and have looked shaky at times since. Oguchi’s bad back at Bradley and Eldridge’s flu at Indiana State didn’t help in their two losses, but they have gotten rattled at critical junctures in those games which shouldn’t really happen to a veteran team. It will be interesting if that happens at Wichita State with everyone in good health. If it does, that doesn’t bode well for future road games at UNI, Evansville, Southern Illinois and Creighton.

Q: How would you put together a non-conference schedule for the Redbirds next season?

A: This is a touchy subject with Tim Jankovich. He refuses to play anyone unless they come to Redbird Arena, so there goes most (if not all) of the BCS schools. What ISU needs to do is get into a really good exempt tournament like Wichita State did in Orlando. You get marquee teams on a neutral court. Also, ISU should find some decent mid-major schools such as Creighton is doing against St. Joseph’s and Dayton and get a home-and-home there. Many ISU fans were a little peeved about this season’s non-conference schedule and lack of playing a decent name. That probably will change next season.

Q: As we near the halfway point, pick your Valley champion and player of the year.

A: With all the quality road wins that UNI has, you have to pick the Panthers to win the league. Ben Jacobson has done a great job blending in some newcomers with his veterans. The Valley Player of the Year is up for grabs. No one has separated themselves from the pack. If I had to pick one today, I would select Oguchi. That’s not being a homer, either. Once you see him, you’ll know why he was playing in the Pac-10. He’s playing out of position at the 4, but averages 6.1 rebounds. Eldridge can still sneak in there, but he’s going to have to ramp up his offense. Wichita State fans might not want to hear this, but he’s due for a big game.

Q: Johnny Moran seems like one of the better freshmen in the MVC. What role does he play for UNI?

A: He brings a level of toughness to their backcourt that was really needed. Besides his ability to score and operate in the open floor, he has a knack for being around the ball. He takes charges, gets into the passing lanes and isn’t afraid to dive on the floor for a loose ball. It’s been a process, but that competitive spirit has started to rub off on the rest of the team.

Offensively, he’s already shown that he’s not tentative to take the shot when the game is on the line. In that regard, there are some parallels to former Panther Ben Jacobson (and not the head coach). I don’t need to remind Shocker fans of that.

Q: UNI’s defensive numbers aren’t  as good as in past seasons. Is that a worry for coach Ben Jacobson?

A: The lack of consistency is his biggest concern. Thirteen games into the season, you really don’t know what you’re going to get from this club each half, let alone each game. They have really struggled at times guarding the 3-point shot, evident by Indiana State’s 41-point outburst in the first half last week. Also, 7-footer Jordan Eglseder struggles with his lateral movement and teams have taken advantage of that inside.

However, they were much better defensively in Carbondale on Wednesday, probably their best outing of the season. The question now becomes, can they sustain it for longer than a 20- to 30-minute stretch?

Q: Is the Southern Illinois era over in the MVC?

A: The Salukis won’t win the league this year and may not finish in the top four. With their youth and really no leadership other than Bryan Mullins, they are going to struggle on the road. It seems to me they’ve almost lost the identity that made their program so successful, in terms of getting into teams and frustrating them with their physical play.

Currently, they’re in the bottom half of the league in scoring defense (65.2 ppg.), field goal percentage defense (43.3), 3-point defense (37.8) and steals (5.8). Those were all categories they excelled at when their program was at a championship level.

Granted, they have talent. Kevin Dillard is a special freshman, Carlton Fay has elevated his game significantly and Ryan Hare has played well at times.  They may be down now, but Chris Lowery will have them back toward the top in a year or two.

Q: Besides traveling to Waterloo for baseball games, what is your favorite MVC road trip and why?

A: Omaha wins out narrowly over Wichita. For different reasons, I love the basketball atmosphere at both venues. In my fifth year on the beat, Wichita is the loudest environment I’ve encountered, but the Qwest Center gives you a feel of big-time basketball with more than 16,000 fans there. Wichita has the better eating establishments, but Omaha is half the distance and I won $250 on my last trip there at the casino in nearby Council Bluffs. I can’t wait to get back next week.

I’m updating this throughout the month, so check back to read new additions.

Southern Illinois freshmen Anthony Booker and Torres Roundtree stuck together in high school and college.

Creighton’s Kenny Lawson wants to play like Dwight Howard.

Missouri State’s Shane Laurie is still bothered by a concussion. A headache forced him to stop practice.

Northern Iowa is fighting injuries. Senior Carlton Reed is out for the season. New guard Ali Farokmanesh is in the spotlight right away. Don’t miss the video of coach Ben Jacobson, who thinks his guards are faster and better shooters than last season. The Panthers were painful to watch on offense last season, so the coach expects improvement. He almost cracks a smile at one point when talking about his backcourt. I guess that’s a good sign.

Creighton started its season quietly, just the way coach likes things.

Illinois State’s Champ Oguchi could team with Osiris Eldridge to give the Redbirds a dangerous 1-2 combo. Redbirds coach Tim Jankovich worked magic with an erratic juco point guard last season to help Boo Richardson turn into a reliable player. This season, Jankovich again needs to get a transfer ready to lead. The Redbirds start practice Saturday with two starting jobs on the line.

Illinois State needs its freshmen big men to progress quickly.

Siena is a possible WSU opponent in the Old Spice Classic. The Saints are definitely media darlings after beating Vanderbilt in the NCAA Tournament.

Centenary starts practice with nine scholarship players and three walk-ons.

TCU is a football school. New basketball coach Jim Christian has a lot of rebuilding to do to get the basketball Frogs on the map.

Southern Illinois coach Chris Lowery is working with nine newcomers.

At Missouri State, the Bears may be without guard Shane Laurie when practice starts Friday. He has a history of concussions and is recovering from a scooter accident. New coach Cuonzo Martin promises to work on defense and play without boundaries.

At Drake, newcomer Adam Templeton comes in with the reputation as a great shooter. New coach Mark Phelps has the toughest job in the MVC. Expectations after last season’s magical ride are out-of-whack with the program’s history.

Southern Illinois senior Tony Freeman, a transfer from Iowa, is limited to practice this season.

Creighton’s freshmen guards will get their “welcome to college” moments starting Friday.

Georgetown, WSU’s first opponent in the Old Spice Classic, figures to play faster in response to losing Roy Hibbert and other.

WSU will play one exhibition this season, not the usual two. Emporia State is starting over after losing its top six scorers. Former Kapaun Mount Carmel star Matt Boswell averaged 3.7 points last season and is the top returning scorer. Coach David Moe brought in nine newcomers, including two Division I transfers.

Q: When you start to believe that Drake was for real?

A: I think the first indications came in the opening weekend when Drake lost a close game at nationally ranked Saint Mary’s. A couple weeks later, the Bulldogs blew past Iowa State 79-44. The win at Wichita State was huge, because it got the ‘Dogs off to a good start in the Valley.

Q: Are recent losses a sign the Bulldogs will be vulnerable in St. Louis?

A: Everyone is vulnerable in St. Louis. There is no Valley team that is head and shoulders above the rest. I think the recent losses are more a statement of how deep and competitive the Valley is.

Q: MVC Player of the Year will be a tough choice for most voters – who is your choice?

A: Ok, I cover Drake so this won’t be much of a stunner: Adam Emmenecker. Drake had a lot of the parts, but it was Emmenecker who put it all together on the floor.

Q: Which title means more to Drake fans – state champs or Valley champs?

A: Drake fans waited 37 years for a Valley title. They were state champs last season. When the Bulldogs clinched Valley at Northern Iowa, I saw tears in people’s eyes.