It’s a battle of teams from the Missouri Valley Conference on the hardwood in the Hawkeye State. The Valparaiso Beacons are on the road as they make the trip to face the Drake Bulldogs Thursday night. Valparaiso comes in off a 77-67 home win over Stonehill, covering as a 2.5-point favorite, in their previous contest last Wednesday. Drake steamrolled St. Ambrose 124-48 at home in their previous contest last Wednesday in a game that had no line set. In the all-time series between the schools, the Bulldogs own a 6-5 advantage and have won two straight meetings. That includes a 71-65 road win in the most recent matchup on February 23, 2022.
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Valparaiso earned their second straight win and their third in the last four games as they knocked off Stonehill at home in their most recent game. The Beacons improved to 6-7 overall but stand 0-2 in conference play, so they look to earn their first conference win of the year here. Against Stonehill, Valparaiso jumped to a 17-4 lead midway through the first half and led the rest of the way. The Beacons were up 36-20 at the half, by as many as 26 in the second half and didn’t let the Skyhawks closer than 10 en route to the win. Valparaiso shot an even 50% from the floor, including 10 of 26 from three-point range, to offset the fact that they turned the ball over 18 times. Nick Edwards paced the Beacons with 20 points in the victory.
On the season, the Beacons are 229th in the nation in scoring offense with 70.2 points per game. Valparaiso pulls down an average of 35.6 rebounds per contest while they dish out 13.1 assists a night on the year. The Beacons are struggling on the defensive end of the floor, ranking 307th in scoring defense by allowing 74.2 points a contest. Ben Krikke leads the Beacons as he averages 18.3 points plus 6.1 rebounds per game this season. Kobe King (17.6 points) and Quinton Green (11 points) each average in double figures on the year. Nick Edwards, Jerome Palm, Maximus Nelson, Ibra Bayu, Darius DeAveiro, Preston Ruedinger and Connor Barrett are other rotation pieces for coach Matt Lottich. Valparaiso shoots 44.5% from the floor as a team on the season. The Beacons knock down an average of 6.1 three-pointers a night while hitting 30.6% from beyond the arc. Valparaiso is average at the charity stripe, cashing in 70.2% of their attempts this season.