Missouri Valley Tournament 2012: Illinois State Falls Short, Creighton Wins Title In Overtime

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Game Date/Time: Sunday, March 4th, 2:00 p.m. ET

Venue: Scottrade Center, St. Louis, Missouri

Wichita State’s shocking loss in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semifinals to Illinois State on Saturday opens the door for Creighton to win the conference’s automatic bid to the 2012 NCAA Tournament with a win in the MVC Tournament final on Sunday. And teams on the NCAA Tournament bubble will be hoping the Bluejays close the door on the Redbirds’ chances.

That’s because while Creighton is likely going to be dancing no matter what the Bluejays do on Sunday, there is no chance that Illinois State makes it to the third weekend in March without a win in the MVC Tournament final. If Creighton, which thumped Evansville 99-71 in its semifinal, falls to the Redbirds, Illinois State will likely become the first “bid thief” of 2012.

The Aces beat the Bluejays and lost in overtime in their two regular season meetings, and played a solid game offensively; they scored 71 points in 40 minutes, for pete’s sake. They did, however, pull down an embarrassing 15 total rebounds, while the Bluejays had 39 of their own. That’s no way to pull an upset.

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The Aces have also been dominated on the boards, grabbing just five rebounds all half. They’re being led in scoring by guard Troy Taylor with six points.

The No. 1 seed Wichita State Shockers were upset on Saturday in the semifinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament. The Redbirds of Illinois State pulled off the 65-64 upset at Arch Madness, sending the No. 14-ranked team in the country home early. The Shockers have already locked up an at-large berth, but Illinois State is still fighting for its tournament life and an automatic berth to the dance.

With Selection Sunday a week away, read more here on SB Nation’s bracketology projections.

If their previous contests are any indication, the Arch Madness semifinal between Creighton and Evansville is going to be a fantastic one. Creighton probably do not need to win to get into the NCAA tournament, but they are not a stone-cold lock at the moment. The Ivy League, Ohio Valley Conference and West Coast Conference are far from settled, and if the best teams from those conferences don’t win auto-bids, the bubble gets bigger. The Jays should probably make sure to leave no doubt for the selection committee.

Game Date/Time: Saturday, March 3, 5:00 p.m. ET

The Shockers were the No. 1 seed entering the tournament and are hoping to reach the finals to cap off a winning season. The Redbirds were the No. 4 seed coming into this week’s MVC tournament. Both of the top seeds on this half of the bracket had little trouble dispatching their opponents to advance. Wichita State topped Indiana State on Friday, while Illinois State defeated Northern Iowa.

Saturday’s semifinal game between the Shockers and the Redbirds begins at 2:35 p.m. and will be televised on the MVC TV Network.

Missouri State struggled from the floor and was significantly outrebounded during the game. Evansville spread the ball around well, while the Bears relied too much on Kyle Weems. Weems led all scorers with 23 points, but none of the other Bears starters scored more than seven points.

Kenneth Harris led the Aces with 20 points, while 6’0” Troy Taylor was able to grab 13 rebounds while also dishing out five assists. Evansville moves on to face Creighton in the semifinals, and if their earlier games are any indication, that should make for a fantastic matchup. The Aces pushed the Jays to overtime in Omaha and defeated them at home in Evansville in the regular season.

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Carmichael finished with a double-double, adding 15 rebounds to go along with his 16 points. He was the only Illinois State player in double-figures.

The road doesn’t get any easier for Illinois State, as they take on No. 15 Wichita State in the MVC Tournament semifinals on Saturday at 1:35 p.m. Wichita State secured the No. 1 seed in the tournament and easily won its quarterfinal matchup.

Both teams finished the conference season with identical 9-9 records while their overall records stayed similar as each team won just one more game than they lost during the regular season. Evansville swept the season series, but considering both games were decided in overtime, Friday’s game should be close.

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Wichita State received a first-round bye and will be a tough opponent for Indiana State. Indiana State finished their season with an 8-10 record in the MVC, with an overall record of 17-13. Wichita State had a much easier time in 2011-12, wrapping up the regular season with a 26-4 overall record, going 16-2 in conference play.

Thursday’s game will tip off at 1:05 p.m. ET and will be televised on the MVC TV network. You can find the full MVC Tournament schedule by clicking right here.

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Drake was part of the big logjam in the middle of the MVC, finish at an even .500 in conference play. After a somewhat complicated series of tiebreakers, though, the Bulldogs were given the No. 7 seed in the MVC Tournament and forced to play in the first-round -- essentially a play-in game.

Drake’s first-round opponent, Bradley, was the MVC’s favorite punching bag this season, finishing with just two conference wins and an overall record of 7-24. The Braves haven’t won since Feb. 8 and finished a whopping 14 games off the pace of MVC regular season champion Wichita State in the final standings.

Indiana State finished one game behind the five-way tie for third-place in the MVC, resulting in a play-in game matchup with Southern Illinois on Thursday. After a rough start to the conference schedule, the Sycamores began to hit their stride, though a loss to last-place Bradley looms large and kept them from a first-round bye in this weekend’s tournament. It’s an uphill battle for Indiana State, and it all begins on Wednesday in St. Louis.

Southern Illinois was never in the MVC race, finishing the season with a 5-13 conference record and an 8-22 mark overall. The wins have been few and far between, and the Salukis haven’t notched a victory since Feb. 4, when they beat Evansville at home. It’s been a rough road all year, resulting in a ninth-place finish in a conference that was quite balanced, all things considered.

The Missouri Valley Conference tournament, “Arch Madness,” runs from March 1-4 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. The early rounds typically run on Fox Sports Midwest, with the finals taking place at 1:05 p.m. ET, Sunday on CBS.

The MVC utilizes the standard 10-team bracket, with the top six teams earning a bye into the quarterfinals while the seventh through tenth teams face off in a preliminary round.