Three was a fortuitous number for the Valparaiso University men’s basketball squad on Wednesday evening at the Athletics-Recreation Center.
Three Valpo athletes surpassed 20 points in a single game for the first time in 11 years, with jersey number three All Wright (Durango, Mexico / Link Year) leading with a game-high 25 points, and most critically, the team’s winning streak stretched to three on a night where the victory margin was – you guessed it – three, 98-95 in overtime against defending Missouri Valley Conference regular-season champion Indiana State in a contest that displayed 11 ties and 22 lead changes. With 15 matches left, Valpo has already equaled its MVC win total from the previous season.
How It Transpired
Sophomore Cooper Schwieger (Overland Park, Kan. / Blue Valley Southwest [Link Year]) landed a three-pointer in the early moments to put Valpo ahead at 6-4, but it was a fluctuating contest from the start. A turnaround jumper by Wright at the 16-minute mark leveled the game at 10 at the first media timeout.
Fifth-year senior Tyler Schmidt (Valparaiso, Ind. / Victory Christian Academy [Olivet Nazarene]) sunk a three-pointer at the 14:23 mark to give Valpo a 13-12 lead, but the advantage continued to ebb and flow. Valpo managed to extend the lead to five at 25-20 after a driving layup by Schwieger with 10:02 remaining in the opening half, but the Sycamores replied with the next eight points to claim a three-point lead.
Valpo was trailing 40-38 with under two and a half minutes remaining in the first half, but the hosts concluded the half with a 7-0 run, including a Schwieger three-pointer from long range in the dying seconds of the half, to reach 45-40 at halftime.
The Beacons doubled the Sycamores 14-7 in the initial four minutes of the second half, expanding the margin to 12 at 59-47 on a precise shot from three-point range by Wright with 15:27 left on the clock.
Indiana State chipped away at the deficit by netting the following five points, yet Valpo restored it to a double-digit lead when Jefferson De La Cruz Monegro (LaSalle, Quebec, Canada [Orangeville Prep [Western Michigan]) made two free throws at 11:42 to make it 66-56, and the gap swelled back to 12 when Schwieger nailed another three at 10:38 to make it 71-59.
Valpo still held a nine-point lead with 7:10 to go, but Indiana State rattled off the next eight points to cut the deficit to one. Valpo stopped the run when Schmidt converted two free throws to make it 80-75 at 3:44, and another basket from Schmidt once again increased the margin to five with 3:09 left.
The Sycamores responded with the next five points to equal the game at 82, then a basket by Aaron Gray with 46 seconds remaining after Valpo had missed two free throws put Indiana State ahead 84-83, marking the first lead of the second half for the visitors. Wright delivered a critical shot with 39 seconds left to reclaim the lead for Valpo, but Indiana State regained it when Samage Teel scored with 21 seconds on the clock.
Valpo split two free throws with 14 seconds remaining and secured a defensive stop in the closing seconds to tie the game at 86 and send it into overtime.
The two squads exchanged baskets early in OT, with De La Cruz Monegro and Schmidt both contributing for the hosts. The Sycamores held onto the lead from the 2:33 mark of OT until the 1:11 mark, but it stayed a one-possession game throughout. Senior Darius DeAveiro (Kanata, Ottawa, Canada / Orangeville Prep) leveled it with a driving layup at the 1:11 mark, making it 95-95.
After a defensive stop by Valpo, Schmidt’s floater gave Valpo a 97-95 advantage with 29 seconds remaining. Valpo achieved another stop, split two free throws with 14 seconds left, and then got one final stop to clinch the victory.
Valpo managed to prevail while playing without two starters in the closing moments, as Kaspar Sepp (Tartu, Estonia / Fairmont Academy) fouled out with 1:28 remaining in regulation, and Wright followed suit with 2:33 left in overtime.
Game Insights
Wright (25), Schwieger (23), and Schmidt (23) became the first trio from Valpo to score 20 points or more in a single game since Lavonte Dority (31), Bobby Capobiano (23), and Alec Peters (22) on Nov. 29, 2013, against Mercer in a triple-overtime match.
Valpo has matched its conference victory total from the prior season with 15 games yet to play.
The Beacons have a 5-1 record over their last six games, with the sole loss occurring in double overtime against MVC preseason favorite Bradley.
The Beacons currently stand at 3-2 after five Valley games, following two seasons of starting league play at 0-5. The team is 3-2 or better after five league matches for thefirst occurrence since 2019-20.
Valpo has a three-game winning streak in conference play, the first since January 2023 (Evansville, UIC, Illinois State).
Valpo achieved 10 victories in the initial 16 games of a season for the first time since 2018-19.
The Beacons enhanced their record to 8-2 at home, matching the program’s home win total from 2022-23 and just one away from equaling the program’s highest home win total since 2019-20.
Valpo has secured regular-season victories against Indiana State, Missouri State, and UNI all in the same season for the first time since becoming a part of the Missouri Valley Conference.
Wednesday’s victory ended a four-game head-to-head losing streak, as Valpo defeated Indiana State for the first time since Feb. 5, 2022 (W 79-72, 2OT). The Sycamores had won the previous four matchups by 18 points or more, with an average winning margin of 24.8 points per game in those contests. The win on Wednesday occurred less than a year after a 40-point defeat by the Sycamores (101-61 on Feb. 7 of last season in Terre Haute).
Valpo triumphed over the reigning conference regular-season champions for the first time since Feb. 13, 2020, achieving a 70-57 victory against UNI, breaking a six-game losing streak against the defending MVC regular-season champions.
Wright ended the game just one point shy of his seasonal best, scoring 26 on Dec. 14 against Central Michigan. He crossed the 20-point threshold for the third time this season, marking his first in conference play on Wednesday. Additionally, he matched his season high with four rebounds.
Wright joined Cooper Schwieger (2023-24) and Alec Peters (2013-14) as the sole Valpo freshmen in the past 15 years to have multiple 25-point games.
Schwieger’s 23 points marked his fourth occasion exceeding 20 in his last five games. For the third time this season, he made three 3-pointers in a game while also grabbing eight rebounds, his seventh instance this year with eight or more. The sophomore maintained his exceptional free-throw shooting, going 8-for-8 from the line, extending his successful free-throw streak to 23. Schwieger is 37-for-38 from the free-throw line in his last nine games.
Schmidt’s 23 points represented a seasonal high, surpassing his previous best of 21 against Central Michigan on Dec. 14. This was his third 20-point performance of the year and his third consecutive game scoring in double figures. He registered seven rebounds, marking his second-highest total of the year, and converted 7-of-8 at the foul line.
De La Cruz Monegro finished with nine points, a feat he has achieved in all 16 games this season.
Both teams recorded 12 turnovers, marking the 13th occurrence in 16 games this season that Valpo has either won or tied the turnover battle.
The Beacons shot 74.4 percent from the free-throw line (32-of-43) while the Sycamores went 18-of-31 (58.1 percent). Valpo achieved a superior free-throw percentage than the opponent for the 14th time in 16 games this season.
The 32 successful free throws were Valpo’s second-highest of the season, trailing only 35 against Northern Illinois. Prior to this, the last time Valpo made 32 or more free throws in a game was on Jan. 14, 2017, at Cleveland State (32).
The 43 free throw attempts were Valpo’s highest since 44 against Northern Illinois on Nov. 27 of this season. Before this game, the last time Valpo recorded 46 attempts was on Nov. 10, 2017, against North Park.
The 98 points represented Valpo’s highest scoring performance against a Division-I opponent since a 117-108, triple-overtime defeat against Mercer on Nov. 29, 2013. Wednesday’s output marked Valpo’s highest scoring in a Missouri Valley Conference game and the highest in a league game since Feb. 2, 2006, a 99-73 Mid-Continent Conference victory over Centenary.
This was the first occasion Valpo allowed 95 points or more in a victory since Dec. 21, 2010, a 103-102 triumph at Oakland. The Beacons had lost their previous eight contests when conceding 95 points or more.
Valpo improved to 3-44 historically when allowing 95 points or more. Besides Wednesday and the previously mentioned game against Oakland, Valpo defeated Western Illinois 104-100 on March 1, 1993.
Indiana State ended a 15-game winning streak when scoring 95 points or more. The Sycamores last loss when scoring 95+ was 104-96 in double overtime at Loyola Chicago on Jan. 30, 2016.
This was the highest points allowed by the Sycamores in a conference matchup since Jan. 20, 2016, at Loyola Chicago (104).
Valpo concluded a five-game overtime losing streak, achieving its first overtime victory since Nov. 27, 2022, against James Madison and its first in league play since Feb. 5, 2022, against Indiana State (2OT).
Up Next
Valpo (10-6, 3-2 MVC) is set to engage in consecutive road games, commencing on Saturday afternoon in Murray, Ky., as Valpo challenges Murray State at a 3 p.m. start. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.