Valpo Basketball Reveals 2024-25 Nonconference Schedule
The Valparaiso University men’s basketball program has announced its 2024-25 nonconference schedule, highlighted by seven regular-season home games and one home exhibition at the Athletics-Recreation Center.
After hosting Saint Mary-of-the-Wood College in an exhibition on Oct. 30, the Beacons will tip off the 2024-25 campaign with a neutral-site matchup vs. Liberty on Monday, Nov. 4 at John Wooden Family Fieldhouse in Xenia, Ohio as part of an Athletes in Action season-opening showcase. The Beacons and Flames will face off for the first time since Dec. 30, 2003, a 72-54 Valpo victory as part of the Fiesta Bowl Classic in Tucson, Ariz. Liberty, a member of Conference USA, is coming off a winning season that featured an 18-14 record in 2023-24.
The Beacons will open up the home portion of the regular season by facing Concordia University Ann Arbor on Friday, Nov. 8 at the ARC. That begins a stretch of five straight home games. Valpo welcomes former conference foe Cleveland State on Nov. 12, renewing a series that has seen the two teams match up on 50 occasions with the Vikings holding a 30-20 edge. That will mark the first showdown between Valpo and Cleveland State since the final Horizon League meeting between the two teams on Feb. 9, 2017, a 78-57 Valpo victory at the ARC. Valpo owns a seven-game head-to-head winning streak. The two schools shared Horizon League affiliation from 2007-2017 after previously sharing Association of Mid-Continent University / Mid-Continent Conference affiliation from 1982-1994. The Vikings are coming off a year that featured upward of 20 wins as they went 21-15 and qualified for the postseason with a Ro College Basketball Invitational (CBI) appearance, and a first-round win in that tournament for the program’s first postseason victory since 2015.
Valpo and Lindenwood will get together on Thursday, Nov. 21 at the ARC, the first ever collision between the two teams. The Lions, entering their third year of competing at the Division-I level, are members of the Ohio Valley Conference. The contest begins a stretch of four games in nine days with the final three games of the month taking place as part of the DePaul Classic multi-team event. The Beacons will get a pair of home games in the event, welcoming Eastern Illinois (Sunday, Nov. 24) and Northern Illinois (Wednesday, Nov. 27) to the ARC leading into Thanksgiving. The day after the holiday, Valpo visits DePaul at Wintrust Arena in Chicago to round out the MTE on Friday, Nov. 29.
Eastern Illinois, an OVC member, appears on the schedule for the first time since 1995-96, when Valpo beat EIU three times including a 78-65 win in the semifinal round of the Mid-Continent Conference Tournament in Moline, Ill. The Beacons own an eight-game head-to-head winning streak against the Panthers, with whom they shared AMCU/Mid-Con affiliation from 1982-1996. EIU possesses a 20-16 lead in the all-time set.
Northern Illinois, a member of the Mid-American Conference (MAC), leads the all-time series with Valpo 14-11. The Brown & Gold won the most recent matchup 69-46 on Nov. 13, 2012 at the ARC. Valpo’s six-game winning streak in the series goes back to 1994, the final year of the two teams sharing Mid-Con affiliation from 1990-1994.
DePaul leads the all-time series with Valpo 17-8, most recently winning 77-58 on Jan. 16, 2021, a game that was added late when both teams had the need for an additional game midseason during the year that was altered by COVID-19. The Blue Demons extended their head-to-head winning streak to eight in the first matchup between the two teams since 1980. DePaul, a member of the Big East Conference, is entering its first season under the direction of head coach Chris Holtmann.
After opening Missouri Valley Conference play with an early-December contest that will be announced at a later date, Valpo will step back outside of league action to host Central Michigan on Saturday, Dec. 14. The Beacons fell to the Chippewas of the MAC 71-67 last season and trail the all-time series 6-4.
A familiar face to Valpo fans will sit on the opposing bench on Tuesday, Dec. 17 as Valpo visits Ohio State, under the direction of first-year head coach Jake Diebler, a former Valpo player and assistant coach. Diebler, who earned his bachelor’s degree from Valpo in 2009 and his MBA in 2011, got his start in coaching on Valpo’s staff with one year as a graduate assistant, one year as a Director of Basketball Operations and two years as an assistant coach from 2009-2013. Diebler and Valpo head coach Roger Powell Jr. overlapped for two seasons as assistant coaches under Bryce Drew.
Valpo’s trip to the Schottenstein Center in Columbus, Ohio to face the Buckeyes of the Big Ten Conference will be the team’s first matchup with Ohio State since Nov. 25, 2011. This will be the fourth ever meeting between the two teams, the first of which was won by Valpo 67-64 on Nov. 25, 2000 at the Great Alaska Shootout. Ohio State went 6-2 in eight games with Diebler as interim head coach last season including two wins in the National Invitation Tournament (NIT).
The Beacons visit Western Michigan on Friday, Dec. 20 for the final road game of nonconference play. The Broncos, members of the MAC, lead the all-time series 38-31 but Valpo has won the last three matchups, most recently in November 2022.
The final tune-up for MVC play is slated for Sunday, Dec. 22 vs. Calumet College of St. Joseph, an NAIA program based in Whiting, Ind. The Crimson Wave are under the direction of first-year head coach Jason Hawkins, a 2003 Valpo graduate and former Valpo player and assistant coach. Hawkins coached against Valpo many times during his six-year tenure as the head coach at Trinity Christian College.