U-N-I and Drake open the Missouri Valley Conference tomorrow tonight in St. Louis. The Panthers earned the two seed after ending the regular season with a win over 15th ranked Southern Illinois. U-N-I has been on a roll late in the season but coach Greg McDermott says his team remembers what got them to this point.
The leader has been senior center David Gruber who has been playing with a broken hand.
Drake is the sixth seed and takes on Wichita State tonight. Bulldog coach Tom Davis feels there are several teams who could win the tournament. Davis says the Shockers are a tough first round draw but there were no easy draws.
The Iowa Hawkeyes have one more chance to grab at least a share of fourth place in the Big Ten race as they close the regular season at Purdue on Saturday. The Hawks are coming off a last second loss at Northwestern and stand 8-7 in the conference race.
Iowa coach Steve Alford who expects his team to bounce back from Wednesday’s loss, but expects it to be a difficult game. Greg Brunner had 19 points in Wednesday’s loss and expects an emotional battle as it will be senior night for Purdue.
The Boilermakers are 7-8 in conference play.