The following “Starting Five” points offer a quick look inside GLVC men’s basketball action this week:
STARTING FIVE
[1 | conference action crosses divisions again]
GLVC men's basketball
steps out of divisional play this week to set up some featured matchups between the top teams in the East and West Divisions. On Thursday, East leader Bellarmine (10-1 GLVC) welcomes Drury (6-5), which is currently third in the West, while UIndy (8-3), which is fourth in the East, travels to West co-leaders Truman State (8-3) and Quincy (8-3). UW-Parkside (9-2), currently tied with Southern Indiana (9-2) for second in the East, heads to Rockhurst (6-5) on Thursday to face a team tied with Drury for third in the West.
[2 | bellarmine, southern indiana, uw-parkside ranked in top 25 poll]
Three GLVC teams are represented in this week’s NABC/NCAA Division II Men’s Basketball Poll, it was announced Tuesday. No. 8 Bellarmine (18-3, 10-1 GLVC) improved two positions from 10th after defeating Indianapolis and Saint Joseph’s last week. Southern Indiana (19-2, 9-2) dropped to No. 17 in the polls while UW-Parkside (17-3, 9-2) improved three positions to No. 22 following wins over Illinois Springfield and McKendree. For a complete look at the NABC Division II Coaches Poll,
click here.
[3 | usi’s taylor named dii bulletin player of the month]
Southern Indiana senior guard/forward Jeril Taylor was named the
Division II Bulletin Player of the Month for January. The award is the first for Taylor, who becomes the seventh Screaming Eagles player to earn the honor. Taylor, who was honored with two of his four GLVC Player of the Week awards this month, averaged 24.1 points, 8.3 rebounds, 3.6 assists, and 1.4 steals in January's 10 games. He also set the USI single-game record with 50 points versus Truman State on the road and had a triple-double with 15 points, 15 rebounds, and 10 assists in the win over Bluefield State.
[4 | eagles, pumas go the distance in marathon matchup]
This past Thursday, then-No. 12 Southern Indiana defeated Saint Joseph’s 122-113 in triple-overtime, which marked the first 3OT game by a GLVC squad since Quincy beat Ferris State 109-107 on Nov. 15, 2014. It also marked the first triple-over GLVC contest since UW-Parkside bested Saint Joseph’s 109-99 on Jan. 31, 2013. Remarkably, Illinois Springfield defeated William Jewell 87-84 in three extra sessions exactly one week prior to that date on Jan. 24, 2013. For USI, the triple-overtime game was the fourth in school history with the last occurring in the 1997-98 season (134-125 win over Northern State University in the Disney Division II Tip-Off Classic). The 122 points that USI scored also tied the team high for a GLVC squad this year, but it was not the first time 122 has been scored in a game involving USI or Saint Joseph’s. The Screaming Eagles scored 122 against Bluefield State on Jan. 2, while the Pumas netted 122 points in a win over Salem International on Nov. 25. In addition, Truman State recorded 122 points against Central Christian on Dec. 31. Individually, USI’s Jeril Taylor netted 38 points in the win over the Pumas, which gave him the second-highest output by a GLVC player this season. The first, of course, is the 50 points Taylor posted against Truman State on Jan. 12.
[5 | glvc represented among ncaa statistical leaders]
In the latest
NCAA statistical report released Monday, a number of GLVC teams and student-athletes currently rank among the nation’s best in select categories. The GLVC remains the hottest shooting league in NCAA Division II, holding down the nation’s top field goal percentage this week. The GLVC as a whole leads the other 23 Division II conferences with a nation-leading 47.94 field goal percentage (9,323-19,446), ranking ahead of the Mountain East (47.36) and Northern Sun (47.25). GLVC teams have also combined for a 38.52 three-point field goal percentage (2,807-7,287), which ranks also first nationally, and a 72.74 free-throw percentage (4,781-6,573) that rates seconds overall. To emphasize that nation’s-best field-goal percentage, six GLVC programs rank in the top 18 nationally in that category, including No. 1 Bellarmine (52.9), No. 6 Quincy (52.0), No. 9 UW-Parkside (51.5), No. 11 Drury (50.7), No. 16 Truman State (50.5), and No. 18 Southern Indiana (50.1). Beyond the arc, four teams rank in the top 10, including No. 2 Truman (44.4), No. 5 Bellarmine (42.8), No. 9 USI (42.2), and No. 10 UW-Parkside (42.2). Among the other national notables, Southern Indiana is fifth overall in scoring margin (20.0), sixth in rebound margin (10.0) and seventh in scoring offense (93.5), and Bellarmine is second in free-throw percentage (80.1) and seventh in assists per game (18.9). Individually, UIndy’s Eric Davidson (92.3) is eighth in free-throw percentage, UW-Parkside’s Kendale McCullum (6.6) and Quincy’s Herm Senor (6.5) are ninth and 10th in assists per game, and Truman’s Jake Velky (3.63) is 10th in three-point field goals per game.