Valpo’s Jefferson De La Cruz Monegro looks for someone to pass to, while UIC’s Ahmad Henderson defends during Game 4 of Friday’s Arch Madness games at Enterprise Center. (Photo courtesy: MVC-Sports.com)
Jason Barnes
Special to the Editor
ST. LOUIS, MO — Day 1 of Arch Madness — the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament at Enterprise Center — ended with a finish no one expected, as No. 11 seed Valparaiso knocked off No. 6 seed Illinois-Chicago to advance to the quarterfinals on Friday.
Valpo’s dynamite combo of All Wright and Cooper Schwieger put on a show to lead the Beacons to an upset win.
Wright, the MVC Freshman of the Year, poured in 22 points, while Schwieger added 17 points, 11 rebounds and six blocked shots to lead Valpo.
Illinois-Chicago, on the other hand, had one of its worst shooting nights of the season — making just 17-of-57 shots (a .298 percentage), on its way to scoring just 50 points.
Valparaiso will face No. 3 seed Northern Iowa in the MVC Tournament quarterfinals. That contest will be the final game of the day at Enterprise Center on Friday and is scheduled to tip off at 8:30 p.m.
Game 3 — Murray State 74, Evansville 53
Terrance Harcum scored a career-best 31 points and set the Missouri Valley Conference single-game tournament record for 3-point field goal percentage by draining all seven of his attempts from beyond the arc, leading seventh-seeded Murray State (16-16) to a 74-53 win versus No. 10 seed Evansville (11-21) in the third game of first-round action at the 2025 State Farm MVC Tournament Thursday night at Enterprise Center.
Murray State advances to the Arch Madness quarterfinals and a 6:00 pm matchup against No. 2 seed Bradley (24-7).
Harcum’s 7-for-7 effort from 3-point range topped the previous record, set 23 years earlier by Illinois State’s Shawn Jeppson, who was 6-for-6 March 2, 2002 versus Drake. His 31 points were the most scored in an Arch Madness game since Bowen Born dropped in 34 versus Bradley March 3, 2023.
Kyler Milton joined Harcum in double-figures with 14 points, while Nick Ellington shared game-high honors with nine rebounds.
Tayshawn Comer led Evansville with 22 points, draining 12-of-13 free throw attempts. Connor Turnbull added 16 points for the Purple Aces, while Joshua Hughes snared nine rebounds.
Game 2 — Illinois State 70, Missouri State 54
Fifth-seeded Illinois State (19-13) ended No. 12 seed Missouri State’s final Missouri Valley Conference season with a 70-54 win in the second game of first-round action at the 2025 State Farm MVC Tournament Thursday afternoon at Enterprise Center.
Illinois State advanced to the quarterfinal round Friday for a 2:30 pm matchup versus fourth-seeded Belmont (21-10) at Enterprise Center. Illinois State split its regular-season series versus Belmont in a pair of tight games, winning 81-78 Jan. 29 at home after dropping a 99-97, overtime decision Dec. 4 in Nashville.
In Cuonzo Martin’s return season as Missouri State head coach, the Bears end their final Missouri Valley Conference season with a 9-23 overall record, sliding to the finish on a six-game losing streak.
Johnny Kinzinger led five Illinois State players in double figures by scoring all his 13 points in the first half. Dalton Banks added to the balanced ISU attack with 12 points, followed by Chase Walker with 11, Malachi Poindexter with 11 and Landon Wolf with 10.
Vincent Brady II and Michael Osei-Bonsu paced Missouri State’s offense, each with 10 points.
Game 1 — Southern Illinois 86, Indiana State 85
Reserve guard Davion Sykes’ layup with 4.1 seconds left lifted No. 8 seeded Southern Illinois to an 86-85 victory past No. 9 seed Indiana State in the opening round of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament at Enterprise Center Thursday.
The Salukis, avenging a 95-77 loss at Indiana State Sunday, improved to 14-18 overall while advancing to Friday’s noon quarterfinal game against top-seeded Drake.
There were 15 lead changes and 11 ties in the game before Sykes’ heroics. Indiana State’s K’mani Doughty missed a half-court heave with 1.2 seconds remaining.
A layup by Samage Teel gave Indiana State an 85-84 edge with 1:09 left. After a traveling violation on Jarrett Hensley with 49.6 seconds left, the Sycamores missed an opportunity to extend their lead, but Jaden Daughtry misfired on a three-point shot with 28 seconds left.
Guard Ali Dibba led the Salukis with a game-high 30 points, while tying his season-high with nine rebounds. His scoring effort was the first 30-point effort by any player in the MVC Tournament since a trio of players went for at least 30 in the UNI-Bradley quarterfinal game March 3, 2023.
Sophomore forward Kennard Davis, Jr. finished with 22 points, five assists and five rebounds for Southern Illinois. Hensley, held to three points last Sunday against Indiana State, scored 10 points.
