As expected, UND traveled up to Pacific Northwest to take on a perennial power and came home with a loss and some lessons learn. UND stays on the road and heads to another Northwest, that is Northwest Indiana, where they will take on Valparaiso of the Missouri Valley Conference.
About Valpo: Longtime Horizon power Valpo is still trying to find their footing in the Missouri Valley. Entering their 3rd year in the league, they are looking to do more than finish 10th and 9th in the league, the positions they have finished the first two years in the league. They were once again projected to finish in the bottom of the league once again, but this proud basketball program will look to prove the skeptics wrong and finally make an impact in their new league.
One thing that will effect their preseason ranking was their massive departures that they suffered from last years team. They lost 4, that's right, 4 players to graduate transfers. Leading Scorer Derrik Smits, son of former NBA player Rik Smits, went to Butler. Markus Golder went to Portland State, Bakari Evelyn went to Iowa, and Jaume Sorolla went to Cincy. This was the first, 4th, 5th and 7th leading scorers from their team last year and both of their 7 footers who left. They also graduated their 6th leading scorer as well. While that is a lot of talent, if you look at the Valpo boards, this could be the definition of "Addition by subtraction"
They don't have a lot of seniors left in this squad and lots of new opportunities for players to get into the rotation. So far, they are off to a 2-1 start, but this hasn't gone without issues. Senior Ryan Fazekas suffered an injury (rumored to be a wrist injury on the Valpo board) and could be out for quite some time. It would be interesting to see how their season transpires as they could be a completely different team come March than they are right now in November.
Valpo is lead by 4th years coach Matt Lottich (54-44, 27-27 conference record in Horizon and MVC). It is hard to be the person to replace a coaching legend... but what about trying to replace a legendary coaching family? This was the situation Lottich was placed in when the last of the Drew coaching dynasty, Bryce (the man who hit the "Shot" that upset Ole Miss in the 1998 NCAA Tournament) left to take the Vandy job. His first year was a success with a Horizon League title, but didn't get to the NCAAs after getting upset in the HL tournament. This was the last year in the Horizon and the next two have been in the MVC. Still trying to find their way in the league, they are hoping that they are finally start to make some headway in this tough league. If not, you have to wonder how much longer the Valpo fans can stand to be at the bottom the of league after years of being on top. While it was expected to be a bit of a learning curve... no one could have expected this.
Series History:
UND leads the series 1-0, a matchup all the way back in 1966! This is the first ever meeting at Valpo.
Key Player:
Javon Freeman-Liberty 6'3 Sophomore (22.3 PPG, 7.3 RPG)
If there is reason for Valpo fans to be super excited, it is the play of this sophomore guard from Chicago. He is coming off a big game against SIUE, in which he had 30 points and 13 rebounds. He is quite the playmaker and his love is to attack the rim. He is a fearless player with a high motor. His shot is a work in progress but cannot afford to sag off of him as he is starting to hit some shots.
Keys:
1) Get Rebraca going early: The one weak point for Valpo is the lack of a big in the middle. This would be tailor made for a big night for Rebraca, who already had two double-doubles this season. If UND can work their offense in the "heart of the paint" like Sather wants, it could be 3 in a row.
2) Senior Class needs to lead: Marlon Stewart has gotten off to a nice start this season, the other two seniors... not so much. Brown and Walter need to step it up and give this team a solid starting lineup. Brown needs to get back to hitting 3's and Walter needs to get back inside and being more aggressive.
3) Win the TO margin: UND did a great job in only turning the ball over 6 times verses the Zags, they need a similar performance and they need to force Valpo into turning the ball over.
4) Slow down JFL: How will UND defend this dynamic guard? Could this be an assignment for Allen-Eikens? Will this be assignment by committee? Or will Sather just say: Go get your 30+, we will stop the rest.
The Call:
It is hard to know where this team is truly at: Your first two games were against a D3 school and the Zags. After Sunday Night, UND fans will have a much better idea of where this team is at. This is a very winnable game for UND, if they can hit their shots and attack Valpos weakness inside. I look for UND to get a gritty win as Rebraca gets a double-double and Moody finally get the ball going into the hoop.
UND 81-77
Game will be on the Tres. Valpo message board on their game thread is linked below
https://www.valpofanzone.com/forum/index.php?topic=3549.0
