Drake Basketball opens Arch Madness against Southern Illinois in 50th MVC tournament
Drake Basketball will face No. 8 Southern Illinois in the opening game of Arch Madness at 3: 30 p. m. ET, a matchup that kicks off the Missouri Valley Conference’s 50th conference championship tournament in St. Louis where eleven teams are competing for the league’s automatic NCAA bid.
Southern Illinois and Drake set for 3: 30 p. m. ET tip
No. 8 Southern Illinois and No. 9 Drake meet in what the schedule lists as Game 1 at 3: 30 p. m. ET. The opening-round slate features three first-day games, with No. 7 Valparaiso taking on No. 10 Indiana State at 6 p. m. ET and No. 6 Northern Iowa facing No. 11 Evansville at 8: 30 p. m. ET.
Belmont the top seed, Lundblade leading the charge
The tournament’s No. 1 overall seed is Belmont, fresh off the MVC regular-season title and led by graduate guard Tyler Lundblade, who averages 15. 8 points per game and has made 112 three-pointers this season. Lundblade was named the Larry Bird Player of the Year, an honor announced on March 4. Belmont’s redshirt sophomores Sam Orme and Drew Scharnowski are second and third in scoring for the Bruins; Scharnowski averages six rebounds per game while Orme averages 5. 1.
Bradley’s physical front and backcourt strengths
Bradley projects as one of the tournament’s tougher teams under coach Brian Wardle, who has guided his seventh 20-win squad and his fourth straight 20-win season. Sophomore guard Jaquan Johnson leads Bradley with 17. 4 points per game and 2. 6 steals per game; Johnson was named team captain on March 3. Graduate guard Alex Huibregtse averages 12. 6 points per game after transferring from Wright State, and 7’1" center Ahmet Jonovic leads the Braves in rebounds (5. 4) and posts a 52. 5% field-goal percentage.
The bracket pairs Belmont with the 8/9 winner at noon, and other bracketed matchups include No. 4 Murray State vs. No. 5 Illinois-Chicago at 2: 30 p. m. ET and No. 2 Bradley vs. the 7/10 winner at 6 p. m. ET.
Arch Madness is the conference’s 50th championship and the 35th time the event will be staged in St. Louis; eleven teams will vie for the Missouri Valley Conference’s automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The next confirmed schedule items are the 3: 30 p. m. ET opener between No. 8 Southern Illinois and No. 9 Drake, followed by the 6 p. m. ET and 8: 30 p. m. ET first-day games.
