Playing the Back Nine
 Tuesday's Bradley-Southern Illinois contest marks the beginning of the second half of the conference schedule. In each of the last six seasons, the MVC team in first place after the first nine games (or tied for first) won the regular-season title. In fact, Southern Illinois (2004-05) is the only Valley team in the past 10 years to win the league after not leading at "the turn."

Player of the Week
Colt Ryan, Evansville, Jr., 6-5, G/F, Batesville (Ind.) Batesville High
 Ryan has moved into a tie for fifth place in the nation with 21.2 points per game on the strength of a week that saw him average 29.5 PPG while setting a career-high with 39 points against Bradley. Ryan began the week with his career performance against the Braves. He set career highs in points (39), field goals (12) and three-pointers (8) while also tying his top mark with nine rebounds. In the first half alone, Ryan scored 25 points, one point more than the Bradley team. He followed that up with a 20-point performance against Illinois State where he connected on six field goals, two threes and six free throws. For the week, he averaged 29.5 PPG, 7 rebounds, 2.5 assists and 2 steals per game.

Newcomer of the Week
Tyler Brown, Illinois State, Jr., 6-4, Gd., Owensboro (Ky.) Apollo High [Marshalltown CC]
 Brown paced the Redbirds to a 1-1 record while averaging 19.0 points per game during the week. His scoring output included a career-best 24 points against Indiana State on Wednesday. In the two games, Brown shot 54.5 percent from the field, including a 5-for-10 effort on threes. He also added nine boards and seven assists, while averaging 33.0 minutes per game.

Spreading the Wealth
 Since the 1995-96 season, every MVC member has won the regular-season title, and every member has qualified for the NCAA Tournament. No other conference in the nation has had every member accomplish both feats in that span.

MVC Ranks No. 8; Three in the Top 42
 The Valley is No. 8 among 32 Division I leagues in the Collegiate Basketball News RPI Report. Last season, the MVC ranked No. 11 in the season-ending RPI. Only Missouri State (39) and Wichita State (35) represented the MVC in the Top 80. Through games of Sunday (Jan. 22), eight schools represent the league in the Top 150 (three in the Top 50), and the league's schedule strength is No. 6. Last year the MVC's schedule strength was No. 11.

MVC vs. the Top 50
 Last year, the MVC compiled a 5-33 record against the RPI Top 50 during the regular season. This year (thru Jan. 22), the MVC has already compiled 12 top-50 victories (Creighton is 4-0 vs. the Top 50.) Wichita State also has multiple top-50 wins, including the league's best "RPI win" of the season -- UNLV (No. 8 in this week's rankings).

16-4 Means Postseason
 In 10 of the previous 11 seasons, a league team has recorded 16 or more wins in its first 20 games 14 times. All 14 teams reached post-season play (seven in the NCAA, seven in the NIT). Creighton (18) and Wichita State (17) each posted 16+ wins in their first 20 games this year.

Best After 20 Games
 Creighton's 18-2 record ranks among the top starts to a year in school history. In fact, this is just the third time that Creighton has been 18-2 or better after 20 games. Wichita State, meanwhile, is 17-3 for the third time since 2004-05.

Road Warriors
 Creighton is 7-1 on the road this year. Wichita State is 6-0 on the road this year. Nationally, only San Diego State (16-2), Wichita State (15-2) and Kansas (13-1) have had two or fewer road losses since the start of the 2010-11 season. Creighton was 3-11 on the road last season, and has the nation's best one-year turnaround for road success.

Resilient on the Road
 Missouri State is 10-3 over its last 13 Valley road games, second only to Wichita State. The Shockers’ only road loss in that span was at Missouri State (2/26/11).

Down to the Wire
 UNI and Missouri State have now played four straight one-point games over the past three seasons -- the two teams meet Saturday in a game shown on ESPNU. UNI has won three of the four decisions, including a 61-60 victory on Jan. 13.

State Champs
 UNI swept all four games this season against its in-state Division I competition - it marks the third time in school history that UNI won all four games against Iowa, Iowa State and Drake. UNI also went 4-0 against the in-state school in the 1997-98 and 2009-10 seasons.

Dynamic Duos
 Wednesday's game in Des Moines features two of the top three scoring duos in the Missouri Valley Conference. Creighton's Doug McDermott (23.2) and Antoine Young (11.9) have combined to average 34.1 points per game this year, while Drake's Rayvonte Rice (16.9) and Ben Simons (15.5) are third at a combined 32.4 per contest Second on the list is Evansville's Colt Ryan (21.2) and Kenny Harris (11.3), who combine for 32.5 ppg.