# 2016–17 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball season

The 2016–17 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2016, followed by the start of the 2016–17 NCAA Division I men's basketball season in November. Conference play began on December 28, 2016, and concluded in March.
Illinois State and Wichita State shared the regular season championship with matching records of 17–1. Due to tiebreakers, Illinois State received the conference's No. 1 seed in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament.
Illinois State's Paris Lee was named Conference Player of the Year and Dan Muller was named Coach of the Year.
The MVC Tournament was held from March 2–5 at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis, Missouri. Wichita State defeated Illinois State to win the tournament championship. As a result, the Shockers received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. No other MVC team received a bid to the NCAA Tournament. Illinois State received a bid to the National Invitation Tournament.
The season marked Wichita State's final season as an MVC member. Shortly after the end of the NCAA Tournament, the Shockers announced their departure for the American Athletic Conference, effective July 1, 2017.

## Head coaches
### Coaches

| Team | Head coach | Previous job | Year at school | Overall record | MVC record | MVC championships | NCAA Tournaments |
| Bradley | Brian Wardle | Green Bay | 2 | 18–47 | 10–26 | 0 | 0 |
| Drake | Jeff Rutter | Drake (asst.) | 1 | 6–17 | 5–13 | 0 | 0 |
| Evansville | Marty Simmons | SIU Edwardsville | 10 | 158–155 | 75–105 | 0 | 0 |
| Illinois State | Dan Muller | Vanderbilt (asst.) | 5 | 104–65 | 57–33 | 1 | 0 |
| Indiana State | Greg Lansing | Indiana State (asst.) | 7 | 120–108 | 65–61 | 0 | 1 |
| Loyola | Porter Moser | Saint Louis (asst.) | 6 | 89–105 | 27–45 | 0 | 0 |
| Missouri State | Paul Lusk | Purdue (asst.) | 7 | 88–106 | 45–64 | 0 | 0 |
| Northern Iowa | Ben Jacobson | Northern Iowa (asst.) | 10 | 234–134 | 123–75 | 2 | 4 |
| Southern Illinois | Barry Hinson | Kansas (admin.) | 5 | 77–80 | 36–48 | 0 | 0 |
| Wichita State | Gregg Marshall | Winthrop | 10 | 261–90 | 132–46 | 5 | 6 |
Notes:
* All records, appearances, titles, etc. are from time with current school only.
* Year at school includes 2016–17 season.
* Overall and MVC records are from time at current school and are through the end of the 2016–17 season.
* Fourth-year head coach Ray Giacoletti resigned on December 6, 2016 after the first eight games of the season. Assistant coach Jeff Rutter was named interim head coach.

## Preseason
### Preseason poll

Source
| Rank | Team |
| 1. | Wichita State (37) |
| 2. | Illinois State (4) |
| 3. | Northern Iowa (1) |
| 4. | Missouri State |
| 5. | Southern Illinois |
| 6. | Indiana State |
| 7. | Loyola |
| 8. | Bradley |
| 9. | Evansville |
| 10. | Drake |
| (first place votes) ||

### Preseason All-MVC teams

| Honor | Recipient |
| Preseason Player of the Year | Jeremy Morgan, Northern Iowa |
| Preseason All-MVC First Team |
| Preseason All-MVC First Team | Paris Lee, Illinois State |
| Preseason All-MVC First Team | MiKyle McIntosh, Illinois State |
| Preseason All-MVC First Team | Markis McDuffie, Wichita State |
| Preseason All-MVC First Team | Jeremy Morgan, Northern Iowa |
| Preseason All-MVC First Team | Brenton Scott, Indiana State |
| Preseason All-MVC Second Team |
| Preseason All-MVC Second Team | Milton Doyle, Loyola–Chicago |
| Preseason All-MVC Second Team | Dequon Miller, Missouri State |
| Preseason All-MVC Second Team | Shaquille Morris, Wichita State |
| Preseason All-MVC Second Team | Sean O'Brien, Southern Illinois |
| Preseason All-MVC Second Team | Reed Timmer, Drake |
Source

## Regular season

According to college basketball statistical guru Ken Pomeroy, the MVC had "the most unusual conference table in the land" for the season. The co-champions Illinois State and Wichita State were the only two teams that finished above .500 in conference play, each finishing with only one conference loss (splitting their two regular-season matchups). This made the MVC the first Division I conference to have two men's teams finish with no more than one conference loss since the MEAC in 2013, and also marked the first time that a Division I conference with 10 or more members had only two teams with winning league records since the MVC itself in 2012 (which had a five-team tie for third place at 9–9).

### Head-to-head results

| | Bradley | Drake | Evansville | Illinois State | Indiana State | Loyola | Missouri State | Northern Iowa | Southern Illinois | Wichita State |
| vs. Bradley | – | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| vs. Drake | 2–0 | – | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| vs. Evansville | 2–0 | 1–1 | – | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 |
| vs. Illinois State | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | – | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 |
| vs. Indiana State | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | – | 2–0 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| vs. Loyola | 0–2 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | – | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| vs. Missouri State | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 1–1 | – | 1–1 | 2–0 | 2–0 |
| vs. Northern Iowa | 1–1 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | – | 0–2 | 2–0 |
| vs. Southern Illinois | 1–1 | 1–1 | 1–1 | 2–0 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 2–0 | – | 2–0 |
| vs. Wichita State | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 1–1 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | 0–2 | – |
| Total | 7–11 | 5–13 | 6–12 | 17–1 | 5–13 | 8–12 | 7–11 | 9–9 | 9–9 | 17–1 |

## Player of the week

| Week | Player of the week | Newcomer of the week |
| Nov. 14 | Alize Johnson, Missouri State | |
| Nov. 21 | Jeremy Morgan, Northern Iowa | Aundre Jackson, Loyola–Chicago |
| Nov. 28 | Darrell Brown, Jr., Bradley | Aundre Jackson, Loyola–Chicago |
| Dec, 5 | Paris Lee, Illinois State | Aundre Jackson, Loyola–Chicago |
| Dec. 12 | Jeremy Morgan, Northern Iowa | Alize Johnson, Missouri State |
| Dec. 19 | Paris Lee, Illinois State | Ryan Taylor, Evansville |
| Dec. 26 | Jaylon Brown, Evansville | Alize Johnson, Missouri State |
| Jan. 2 | Alize Johnson, Missouri State | Alize Johnson, Missouri State |
| Jan. 9 | Milton Doyle, Loyola–Chicago | Landry Shamet, Wichita State |
| Jan. 16 | MiKyle McIntosh, Illinois State | Aundre Jackson, Loyola–Chicago |
| Jan. 23 | Shaquille Morris, Wichita State | Alize Johnson, Missouri State |
| Jan. 30 | Milton Doyle, Loyola–Chicago | Phil Fayne, Illinois State |
| Feb. 6 | Conner Frankamp, Wichita State | Thik Bol, Southern Illinois |
| Feb. 13 | Paris Lee, Illinois State | Ryan Taylor, Evansville |
| Feb. 20 | Deontae Hawkins, Illinois State | Alize Johnson, Missouri State |

## Conference Awards

| Award | Recipients |
| Larry Bird Player of the Year | Paris Lee, Illinois State |
| Coach of the Year | Dan Muller, Illinois State |
| Newcomer of the Year | Alize Johnson, Missouri State |
| Freshman of the Year | Landry Shamet, Wichita State |
| Defensive MVP | Paris Lee, Illinois State |
| Sixth-Man of the Year | Aundre Jackson, Loyola–Chicago |
| All-MVC First Team | Milton Doyle, Loyola–Chicago Alize Johnson, Missouri State. Paris Lee, Illinois State Markis McDuffie, Wichita State Landry Shamet, Wichita State |
| All-MVC Second Team | Jaylon Brown, Evansville Deontae Hawkins, Illinois State MiKyle McIntosh, Illinois State Jeremy Morgan, Northern Iowa Sean O'Brien, Southern Illinois |
| All-MVC Third Team | Conner Frankamp, Wichita State Donte Ingram, Loyola–Chicago Shaquille Morris, Wichita State Brenton Scott, Indiana State Reed Timmer, Drake |
| All-Newcomer Team | Phil Fayne, Illinois State Aundre Jackson, Loyola–Chicago Alize Johnson, Missouri State Landry Shamet, Wichita State Darral Willis Jr., Wichita State |
| All-Freshmen Team | Koch Bar, Bradley Jordan Barnes, Indiana State Darrell Brown Jr., Bradley Spencer Haldeman, Northern Iowa Landry Shamet, Wichita State Dru Smith, Evansville |
| All-Defensive Team | Thik Bol, Southern Illinois Zach Brown, Wichita State Obediah Church, Missouri State Paris Lee, Illinois State Jeremy Morgan, Northern Iowa Tony Wills, Illinois State |
Source

## Postseason
### Missouri Valley Conference tournament

Teams were seeded by conference record, with ties broken by record between the tied teams followed by overall adjusted RPI, if necessary. The top six seeds received first-round byes.
| Game | Time* | Matchup | Final score | Television |
| First round – Thursday, March 2 |||||
| 1 | 6:05 pm | No. 8 Evansville vs. No. 9 Indiana State | 83–72 | ESPN3/FSMW/CSNC |
| 2 | 8:35 pm | No. 7 Bradley vs. No. 10 Drake | 67–58 | ESPN3/FSMW/CSNC |
| Quarterfinals – Friday, March 3 |||||
| 3 | 12:05 pm | No. 1 Illinois State vs. No. 8 Evansville | 80–69 | ESPN3/FSMW/CSNC |
| 4 | 2:35 pm | No. 4 Southern Illinois vs. No. 5 Loyola–Chicago | 55-50 | ESPN3/FSMW/CSNC |
| 5 | 6:05 pm | No. 2 Wichita State vs. No. 7 Bradley | 82–56 | ESPN3/FSMW/CSNC |
| 6 | 8:35 pm | No. 3 Northern Iowa vs. No. 6 Missouri State | 64–70 | ESPN3/FSMW/CSNC |
| Semifinals – Saturday, March 4 |||||
| 7 | 2:35 pm | No. 1 Illinois State vs. No. 4 Southern Illinois | 63–50 | CBSSN |
| 8 | 5:05 pm | No. 2 Wichita State vs. No. 6 Missouri State | 78–63 | CBSSN |
| Championship – Sunday, March 5 |||||
| 10 | 1:05 pm | No. 1 Illinois State vs. No. 2 Wichita State | 51–71 | CBS |
| *Game times in CT. Rankings denote tournament seeding. |||||

### NCAA tournament

The winner of the MVC tournament received an automatic bid to the 2017 NCAA Division I men's basketball tournament.
| Seed | Region | School | First Four | First round | Second round | Sweet Sixteen | Elite Eight | Final Four | Championship |
| 10 | South | Wichita State | N/A | defeated (7) Dayton 64–58 | eliminated by (2) Kentucky | | | | |
| | | W–L (%): | 0–0 (–) | 1–0 (1.000) | 0–1 (.000) | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) Total: 1–1 (.500) |

### National Invitation tournament

One MVC team, Illinois State, received an invitation to the National Invitation Tournament.
| Seed | Bracket | School | First round | Second round | Quarterfinals | Semifinals | Finals |
| 1 | Illinois State | Illinois State | defeated (8) UC Irvine 85–71 | eliminated by (4) UCF | | | |
| | | W–L (%): | 1–0 (1.000) | 0–1 (.000) | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) | 0–0 (–) Total: 1–1 (.500) |