ITTA BENA, Miss. – The Mississippi Valley State University men’s basketball program will square off with the Wildcats of Bethune-Cookman Saturday afternoon for just the fifth meeting all-time and the first as conference rivals.
Records: Mississippi Valley State (1-13, 1-3 SWAC) | Bethune-Cookman (3-12, 1-2 SWAC)
Location: Itta Bena, Mississippi – R.W. Harrison HPER Complex
Series History: Series Tied 2-2
Last Meeting: 1981-82 | Bethune-Cookman 69, Mississippi Valley State 68 | Daytona Beach, Florida (Moore Gymnasium)
Winning Streak: Bethune-Cookman (W2) | Mississippi Valley State’s Last Win: 1980-81 (90-82)
Mississippi Valley State Overview
The Green and White have played solid defense and jacked up a ton of threes, ranking top-40 nationally for turnovers forced (16.29), second in the SWAC regarding turnover margin (2.1), and has attempted the second-most triples in the conference (336).
Daniel Umoh is looking to build off his breakout performance at Texas Southern where he posted his first career double-double with 11 boards and 10 points against the Tigers.
Elijah Davis has been the main distributor for the offense, averaging 3.4 assists (5th in SWAC) and holding an assist-to-turnover ratio of 1.60 (3rd in SWAC). He can also get the job done on the defensive end of the floor with 1.43 steals on average.
David McCoy is the top thief and rebounder for Coach Hunter, swiping 1.64 steals a contest to crack the top-ten leaguewide and posting a team-best 49 rebounds.
Caleb Hunter is the squad’s leading scorer at 12 points per game and is one of the better three-point shooters in the conference, making the fifth-most so far at 29 triples.
Scouting The Opponent: Bethune-Cookman Wildcats
The Maroon and Gold’s transition to the SWAC has not gone according to plan, beating only Bryant, Johnson (Florida), and fellow newcomer Florida A&M in 15 games.
Bethune is the most disciplined ballclub in the conference, losing the ball only 12.9 times per contest to lead the SWAC.
Damani McEntire has been an elite defender in 2021-22, contributing 2.07 steals a night to rank top-40 in the NCAA and fourth in the SWAC.
Joe French is the scorer of the bunch, fronting the Wildcats with 14.9 points (3rd in SWAC), a top-five field-goal percentage (43.4%) and is one of the few players with more deep balls than Hunter (31).
Dylan Robertson is the post presence for B-CU, hauling in 5.7 rebounds and rejecting 1.46 shots on average with the latter being good for third in the Southwestern Athletic Conference.
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