2018–19 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball season


The 2018–19 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball season began with practices in October 2018, followed by the start of the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season on November 6, 2018. Conference play began in late December 2018 and concluded in March with the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament at Enterprise Center in St. Louis, Missouri.
Defending regular season and tournament champion Loyola shared the regular season title with Drake at 12-6.
Bradley defeated Northern Iowa in the championship game to win the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament and thereby received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Bradley received the conference's only bid to the NCAA Tournament and lost to Michigan State in the first round, 76-65. Loyola-Chicago received a bid to the NIT and lost in the first round at Creighton, 70-61.
Drake was the only other conference school that received a bid to a postseason tournament, receiving a bid to the CollegeInsider.com Tournament where they lost in the first round at Southern Utah, 80-73.

Head coaches

Coaching changes

On March 3, 2018, Missouri State announced that head coach Paul Lusk had been fired. He finished with a seven-year record of 106–121. The school announced that former Tennessee State head coach Dana Ford had been named head coach of the Bears on March 21.
On March 13, 2018, Evansville fired head coach Marty Simmons. He finished at Evansville with an 11-year record of 184–175. On March 22, the school hired Boston Celtics assistant coach, former Kentucky player and Evansville native Walter McCarty as head coach.
On March 22, 2018, Drake announced that head coach Niko Medved had accepted the head coaching position at Colorado State, where he had previously served as an assistant. A week after Medved's departure, Drake hired Creighton assistant and Iowa native Darian DeVries for the head coaching job.

Coaches

TeamHead coachPrevious jobYears at schoolOverall recordMVC recordMVC titlesNCAA Tournaments
BradleyBrian WardleGreen Bay338–6019–3500
DrakeDarian DeVriesCreighton
10–00–000
EvansvilleWalter McCartyBoston Celtics
10–00–000
Illinois StateDan MullerVanderbilt
6122–8075–4810
Indiana StateGreg LansingIndiana State
8133–12673–7101
LoyolaPorter MoserSaint Louis
7121–11142–5811
Missouri StateDana FordTennessee State10–00–000
Northern IowaBen JacobsonNorthern Iowa
12250–150130–8624
Southern IllinoisBarry HinsonKansas
699–9647–5500
ValparaisoMatt LottichValparaiso
239–266–1200

Notes:

Preseason poll

Source

Preseason All-MVC teams

HonorRecipient
Preseason Player of the YearClayton Custer, Loyola
Preseason All-MVC First Team-
Preseason All-MVC First TeamJordan Barnes, Indiana State
Preseason All-MVC First TeamClayton Custer, Loyola
Preseason All-MVC First TeamPhil Fayne, Illinois State
Preseason All-MVC First TeamArmon Fletcher, Southern Illinois
Preseason All-MVC First TeamMilik Yarbrough, Illinois State
Preseason All-MVC Second Team-
Preseason All-MVC Second TeamDarrell Brown, Bradley
Preseason All-MVC Second TeamKeyshawn Evans, Illinois State
Preseason All-MVC Second TeamCameron Krutwig, Loyola
Preseason All-MVC Second TeamKavion Pippen, Southern Illinois
Preseason All-MVC Second TeamMarques Townes, Loyola

Source

Regular season

Conference matrix

This table summarizes the head-to-head results between teams in conference play. Each team will play 18 conference games, playing each team twice.

Postseason

Missouri Valley Conference Tournament