By Jonathan Lidskin
What an interesting first round we had in St. Louis. If you love defense, you got your wish as five of the eight teams that played on Thursday were excellent on that end of the floor. Three of the four underdogs pulled off upsets which is something we aren't used to seeing after the last two years of a lot of chalk. Regardless, we got impressive performances, upsets and a thriller to end the day in what was a great start to 2024 Arch Madness.
8 Murray State vs 9 Missouri State
60-35 Missouri State
What I thought was the favorite to be the best game of day one turned into what might end up being the best individual team performance of the weekend. Missouri State handled Murray State from start to finish with one of the most relentless defensive efforts I’ve seen from any team in the country this season.
The Racers were held to 21% from the field, 10% from three and the 35 points they scored were their lowest of the season. The Bears were able to make the game physical and slow as neither team hit the 60-possession mark and Dana Ford’s group outscored Murray State 26-12 in the paint.
Alston Mason finished with a game-high 22 points after being named to the All-MVC third team yesterday. The Bears also got solid contributions from Chance Moore and N.J. Benson on both ends of the floor. Damien Mayo Jr. was awesome on the defensive end and the entire Missouri State team forced Murray State into difficult shots for the entire 40 minutes.
The league champs in Indiana State await Missouri State in the first quarterfinal game tomorrow. The Sycamores are a different animal when it comes to spacing and perimeter shooting so it’ll be interesting to see if Missouri State can string together another elite defensive performance with Indiana State being well-rested.
5 Belmont vs 12 Valparaiso
86-61 Belmont
Belmont cruised to a victory and the score doesn’t even tell the whole story. When I say the Bruins could’ve scored 100 if they wanted to, what I mean is they might’ve been able to get to the century mark easily. Belmont’s lead at one point in the second half grew to 42 before Casey Alexander called off the dogs to give his starters some rest. Keishawn Davidson was the only Belmont starter that played more than 20 minutes and it allowed the younger Bruins to shine.
Malik Dia was a star finishing with 22 points and 10 rebounds in just 20 minutes of game action. Ja’Kobi Gillespie and Cade Tyson both were good at the start of the game, but neither one needed to be used much. Brigham Rogers finished with a season-high 15 points in 21 minutes and Freshman Win Miller also showed some flashes.
Casey Alexander’s group looks every bit as good as they did to end the regular season and despite the inferior opponent, proved that they can beat anyone in this league when they’re healthy and playing the way they have been.
7 Illinois State vs 10 Evansville
59-53 Evansville
If you’re a fan of defense, St. Louis on Thursday was heaven for you. Another grind-it-out game led to the second upset of Thursday with Evansville taking out Illinois State. Both programs had fantastic years, jumping over 100 spots in KenPom, but it was the healthier Evansville team that got it done.
Illinois State got a boost with Darius Burford playing for the first time since Feb. 3. Burford came off the bench and played 17 minutes, but the reason the Redbirds hung around against an Evansville team that had chances to put the game away was because of the play of Myles Foster. Foster had 18 points, nine rebounds and was single-handedly the reason for Evansville’s foul trouble.
The Purple Aces didn’t get great shooting nights from any of their three double-figure scorers, but other guys were able to step up and contribute in a defensive battle. Antonio Thomas and Gage Bobe combining for 17 points was a huge lift in a game where Evansville led throughout but was never comfortable.
David Ragland’s team emerged victorious in Arch Madness for the first time since 2017 and will now get a date with the reigning MVP Tournament champs in the Drake Bulldogs.
6 Southern Illinois vs 11 Illinois-Chicago
84-82 UIC (Double OT)
I’m not going to lie here. I did not have this one being the best game of the first round, but the Northern Illinois vs. Southern Illinois showdown was a classic. UIC was in control in the first half due to their effort level being much higher, but the Salukis turned it on in the second half and even took a seven-point lead at one point with under five minutes to play.
After surrendering a double-digit lead, Luke Yaklich’s team proved to be resilient as they fought back and CJ Jones scored with six seconds left to send the game to overtime. In overtime, Southern Illinois hit some clutch shots late and once again had a chance to win, but UIC was once again able to tie it and force a second overtime where Xavier Johnson and AJ Ferguson fouling out spelled doom for Bryan Mullins’ team.
Isaiah Rivera finished the game with 28 including 16 in the two overtime periods to lift the Flames to an upset victory. Xavier Johnson going out the way he did was disappointing as he truly played one of the best halves of basketball I’ve seen all season to get SIU back into the game in the second half. Special shoutout to the Saluki fans as well, who from what I could tell, were the loudest and traveled the best for day one.
UIC and Evansville both winning their first-round games means that we have two coaches who broke through and have won their first games in Arch Madness. David Ragland was able to do it in his second season at Evansville and Luke Yaklich was able to do it in his second season in the MVC.
Tomorrow’s Quarterfinals:
1 Indiana State vs 9 Missouri State
The league champs will open day two of the tournament against a team they swept in the regular season. Ryan Conwell had 24 and 25 points in the two games against Missouri State.
4 Northern Iowa vs 5 Belmont
These two teams split in the regular season with both teams winning on each other’s home floor by double digits. Belmont did not have Ja’Kobi Gillespie in their 83-72 loss to the Panthers in Nashville.
2 Drake vs 10 Evansville
The defending Arch Madness champs will be the biggest favorite of the day tomorrow. Drake won both regular season meetings but needed a last-second Atin Wright three to get it done in Evansville on Feb. 13.
3 Bradley vs 11 UIC
Bradley’s defense was excellent in both wins over the Flames this season. The Braves will also have the advantage of facing a team coming off an exhausting double-overtime game.