Record-Setting Season Comes to End for Valpo in NCAA 2nd Round

Auburn Hills, Mich. -- Before his team took the Palace at Auburn Hills court to face Michigan State in the second round of the NCAA men’s basketball tournament Wednesday, Valparaiso Coach Bryce Drew said the Crusaders had to do three things to stay with the heavily favored Spartans.

Shoot well, rebound well and keep turnovers to a minimum.

Well, the Crusaders did tie a season low with only seven turnovers.

Mission one-third accomplished.

But they missed 26 of their first 34 shots and simply got overwhelmed on the boards.

The result was a 65-54 defeat that, truly, wasn’t that close.

The Spartans, the Midwest Regional’s No. 3 seed out of the Big Ten, built a 17-point lead at halftime and pushed it to 27 early in the second half. To their credit, the 14^th-seeded Horizon League champions battled to the wire, led by little Erik Buggs, who repeatedly drove into the teeth of the Michigan State defense and got to the rim, finishing with 14 points.

But Michigan State, which starts a defensive tackle, a tight end and two linebackers (just kidding … sort of), simply had too much bulk and athleticism for Valpo.

The Spartans Windexed the glass by 49-23 advantage.  At one point, Michigan State had more offensive rebounds (18) than Valpo had in total (16).

No one was more dominating than Michigan State’s 6-9, 270-pound Derrick Nix, a native of nearby Detroit. Despite being “sick as a dog,“ according to Spartan coach Tom Izzo, Nicks made the Crusaders absolutely ill with 23 points and 15 rebounds, including nine offensive boards.

“We knew he was a load coming in,” said Drew.

And going out, they had all the up-close-and-personal evidence they needed.

It was a tough afternoon for Valpo’s Ryan Broekhoff and Kevin Van Wijk, the mainstays of the Crusaders’ super senior class. Broekhoff, Valpo’s leading scorer, managed but eight points on 2-of-11 shooting. Van Wijk, unable to practice most of the week because of a bad ankle, got to the rim but missed all six of his shots as at least four of them hung agonizingly on the rim before falling out.

Valparaiso made just 6 of 26 shots in the first half. It was more of a case of bad shooting than bad shots.

“I thought we got quality looks,“ said Drew.

Buggs, Ben Boggs (15 points) and Matt Kenney (10 points) got it going in the second half and the Crusaders gamely closed with an 11-4 rush in the last three minutes to make it respectable.

“You know, it kind of boiled down to our character and I was really proud of our guys that they dug deep and finished the game out strong,” said Drew.

The Crusaders closed the books on a 26-8 season and said farewell to their senior class of Broekhoff, Van Wijk, Buggs, Boggs, Bogan and Kenney.

“They have a lot to be proud of,” said Drew. “A school record 26 wins, two straight conference championships, and then showing their character today. And we told them this will help them in life, what they did in the last five minutes, when things are bad in life and down, you can remember this and you fight through to the end.”