School Databank:
Location: Itta Bena, Mississippi (two hours south of Memphis)
Enrollment: 3673
Famous sports alumni: Jerry Rice, Ashley Ambrose, Deacon Jones
Last game: Lost at #19 Pitt, 78-45
Last game vs Creighton: Lost in Omaha 78-42
Series: Creighton leads 5-0, with all five wins taking place in Omaha
The defending SWAC Champions won 18 games a year ago and return two starters, including preseason all-conference pick Stanford Speech. Last year they were picked to finish seventh in the SWAC, which most ranking metrics say is the worst conference in America, but overachieved to win the conference. However, they lost in the title game of the SWAC tourney to Jackson State, and were relegated to the NIT, where they dropped a 19-point decision to Mississippi State. For the record, Jackson State lost 112-69 to eventual champion Florida as a 16 seed in the Midwest Region.
For whatever reason, people seem to be overlooking Mississippi Valley State, or worse, underestimating them. Most predictions I've heard from fans indicate they predict a 30-point blowout, which is a mistake, I think. MVSU is a decent team that plays hard for their coach, and if Creighton overlooks the Delta Devils, this game will be much closer than it ought to be. Be forewarned.
That said, Creighton won last year's matchup 78-42, which was the season opener for both teams. Here's what I wrote about that game:
The Jays started quick, used a 15-2 run to go up 30-16 at the half, and then ran off 48 second-half points including a 13-3 run to begin the half. They led by more than 30 points for nearly the entire second half.
Sounds like the classic mismatch, doesn't it? Maybe so. We all know Creighton struggled mightily early in the season last year, and yet the game with the Delta Devils was a blowout.
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The Delta Devils are the midst of trying to build a solid program, and coach James Green took a step in the right direction with their SWAC title and NIT berth a year ago. The former Southern Miss coach was a respectable 123-111 in eight years on their bench, a stint which included two NIT berths and the 2000 Conference USA regular season championship.
Stanford Speech was a preseason all-SWAC guard, and averaged 12 points and 5 boards a year ago. He was in the top 20 in the conference in an astonishing six categories (points, field goal percentage, rebounding, assists, free throw percentage and steals). A versatile player, he played three positions at various times during the season last year, and will likely do so again this year.
Junior Michael Clark should allow Speech to stick to playing point this year, if he progresses from a solid, if unspectacular, sophomore campaign.
Senior Carl Lucas played sparingly in last year's game in Omaha, but became one of MVSU's better players by March. Lucas led the team in scoring in their first game this year, a 97-63 loss to Mississippi.
Thursday night, MVSU played at #19 Pitt and lost 78-45. They fell behind 11-3 just 150 seconds into the game, and trailed 35-19 at halftime. Pitt scored the first six points of the second half to go up 41-19, and subsequently gave their starters an early shower.
I'd love to sit here and tell you this is going to be an exciting game, worthy of your early Saturday evening entertainment dollars. If you enjoy blowout victories and big minutes for Dustin "The Nickel" Sitzmann, this is your ticket. But if you're only going to make it to one Creighton game this year, you might want to consider holding off until later in the season for a more competitive game.
Prediction: Creighton 81, MVSU 52
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