Valpo Tops Northern Illinois, Extends Winning Streak to Three

Valpo Tops Northern Illinois, Extends Winning Streak to Three

The Valparaiso University men’s basketball team withstood a Northern Illinois squad that would not go away and overcame a slow start to the second half, eventually defeating the Huskies 87-82 on Wednesday afternoon at the Athletics-Recreation Center. The Beacons extended their winning streak to three, the longest in the last two seasons, thanks in part to 17 points apiece by fifth-year senior Tyler Schmidt (Valparaiso, Ind. / Victory Christian Academy) and sophomore Cooper Schwieger (Overland Park, Kan. / Blue Valley Southwest [Link Year]).

How It Happened

• After freshman All Wright (Durango, Mexico / Link Year) hit a 3 for the game’s first basket, Northern Illinois scored the next seven points and held the early lead. Valpo clawed back and regained the advantage at 9-7 on Wright’s second 3 at 15:40.
• A 7-0 run extended Valpo’s edge to 10 at 27-17 with 8:04 left in the half. It was capped by a Wright steal and fastbreak layup to extend the edge to double figures.
• The lead reached as high as 12 as Devon Ellis (Schaumburg, Ill. / Conant [Maryland Eastern Shore / Link Year]). finished through contact to make it 31-19 with 7:08 left in the half. Ellis had a thunderous dunk at the 6:33 mark that boosted the lead back to 11 at 33-22, but NIU scored 12 of the game’s next 15 points to whittle to within one at 35-34 with 3:42 left in the half.
• Valpo went into the break leading 41-39 behind big first halves from Wright (13), Ellis (12) and Jefferson De La Cruz Monegro (LaSalle, Quebec, Canada / Orangeville Prep) with nine. Schwieger was limited to three minutes in the first half due to foul trouble and did not score.
• NIU took the lead with 17:06 left in the second half, setting up a sequence where the two teams seesawed back and forth by trading leads.
• Valpo faced a six-point deficit as the guests led 56-50 after hitting a 3 with 10:51 on the clock. However, the Beacons didn’t lose their composure, instead scoring the game’s next nine points to take a 59-56 lead at the 8:47 mark. Schwieger hit a big triple at the 10:25 mark to help ignite the Beacon burst.
• The Brown & Gold built up a six-point lead, but NIU tied it with six straight and then took the lead when James Dent Jr. connected from long range to put the Huskies ahead 69-68 with 3:54 to play.
• Valpo went on a timely 10-0 run to take a 78-69 lead. De La Cruz Monegro, Darius DeAveiro (Kanata, Ottawa, Canada / Orangeville Prep) and Schmidt all had key baskets. The Beacons hit their free throws down the stretch to secure the victory.

Inside the Game

• Schmidt scored 17 points on 5-of-9 shooting and 7-of-8 at the foul line, while Schwieger scored all 17 of his points in the second half while also notching seven rebounds.
• Schmidt scored 17 or more for the third time this year, while Schwieger was in double figures for the fourth time in the last five games.
• Sophomore Kaspar Sepp (Tartu, Estonia / Fairmont Academy) was the team’s top rebounder with eight.
• Wright tallied a season-high 13 points including 3-of-4 from 3, while De La Cruz Monegro and Ellis tossed in a dozen each to make it five Beacons in double figures. De La Cruz Monegro has scored in double figures in five of his six games and at least nine in all six. Ellis was in double figures for the fifth time in six games.
• Valpo has its first three-game winning streak since January 2023, wins over Evansville, UIC and Illinois. Valpo has not had a four-game winning streak since the 2018-2019 campaign.
• The 87 points marked Valpo’s highest against a Division-I opponent since 88 on Dec. 22, 2021 vs. William & Mary.
• Valpo, which entered the day ranked second nationally in free-throw percentage, went 35-of-44 at the free-throw line (79.5 percent). The Beacons have shot 79 percent or better at the line in all six games this season.
• The 35 made free throws were Valpo’s most since going 36-of-44 on Jan. 15, 2014 at Detroit Mercy.
• The 44 free-throw attempts were Valpo’s most since Jan. 10, 2017 vs. North Park (46).
• The two teams combined for 57 made free throws and 74 free-throw attempts. This was the first Valpo game where both teams had at least 30 free-throw attempts since Jan. 3, 2018 at Bradley.
• Valpo won the turnover battle 13-4, giving it away a season-low four times. Valpo has kept the turnovers to eight or fewer in four of its six games. This was the team’s lowest turnover total since Nov. 28, 2014 – four turnovers in a 66-46 victory over Drake. The Beacons held a distinct 24-7 advantage in points off turnovers on Wednesday.
• Valpo extended its head-to-head winning streak against Northern Illinois to seven.
• Valpo is off to a 4-2 start for the second straight year.

Up Next

The Beacons (4-2) will play their first road game of the season on Friday afternoon at DePaul at 12:30 p.m. The game will be televised nationally on FS1 from Wintrust Arena.