Crunch Time
 Just two games separate seven teams in the standings (two teams are 7-6, three are 6-7, and two are at 5-8), and only five league games remain. Seven games before next Wednesday (Feb. 15) involve head-to-head meetings between teams that are part of that seven-team mix.

Player of the Week
Garrett Stutz, Wichita State, Sr., 7-0, Ctr., Kansas City (Mo.) North KC High
 Stutz averaged 24.5 points and 13.0 rebounds in WSU's two wins last week. His 24 points against Indiana State pushed him past the 1,000-point mark for his career, while his 15 rebounds against the Sycamores helped him to his seventh double-double of the year. For the week, he shot 57 percent (17-30) from the field and 82.4 percent (14-17) from the line. At Missouri State, he had 25 points and 11 rebounds, and against Indiana State he had 24 points and 15 rebounds.

Newcomer of the Week
Seth Tuttle, UNI, Fr., 6-8, Fwd., Sheffield (Iowa)West Fork High
 Tuttle averaged 11.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg and shot 66.7 percent from the field in leading UNI to a pair of wins over Southern Illinois and No. 12/13 Creighton. Tuttle scored nine points in UNI's 58-49 win over Southern Illinois. Tuttle made 3-of-4 shots from the field against the Salukis. Tuttle then tallied 13 points and nine rebounds on 5-of-8 shooting from the field vs. the Bluejays. Tuttle leads the MVC in field goal percentage (65.9 percent).

One Will Win
 Although five conference games remain for both clubs, either Creighton and Wichita State (or both) is mathematically assured of at least a share of the conference regular-season crown. Creighton's last regular-season title was in 2009 (when the Bluejays shared first place with UNI). Wichita State last won an MVC regular-season crown in 2006.

MVC History - Most Regular-Season Titles
15 - Oklahoma State (11 outright, 4 shared)
14 - Creighton (7 outright, 7 shared)
13 - Kansas (10 outright, 3 shared)
 8 - Southern Illinois (5 outright, 3 shared)
 7 - Cincinnati, Drake
 6 - Bradley, Louisville, Tulsa, Wichita State

Quick to 20 Wins
 Wichita State beat Indiana State, 71-66, on Feb. 4 to improve to 20-4 on the year. Coupled with Creighton (21-3), the league has two 20-win teams before the Super Bowl for the first time in Valley history.  Notably, it's only the third time in the league's 105-year history that two MVC teams reached 20 wins before Valentine's Day. (1951, 2006 are the other years). Five MVC teams won 20+ games at season's end last year.

20-Wins vs. 20-Wins
 In each of the past three seasons, the league featured one regular-season game in which two 20-win teams met. All three happened on the last day of the regular season. The home team won each time. And the winner of the game won the regular-season title.

• 2/26/11 -- Wichita State (23-6, 14-3) at Missouri State (22-7, 14-3). MSU won, 69-64 (MSU won regular-season title)
• 2/27/10 -- Illinois State (21-8, 11-6) at UNI (24-4, 14-3). UNI won, 61-55 (UNI won regular-season title)
• 2/28/09 – Illinois State (22-7, 11-6) at Creighton (24-6, 13-4). Creighton won, 74-70 (CU shared regular-season title w/ UNI)

Spreading the Wealth
 Since the 1995-96 season, every MVC member has won the regular-season title, and every member has qualified for the NCAA Tournament. No other conference in the nation has had every member accomplish both feats in that span.

One for the Road
 After games of Feb. 5, only two teams nationally owned two true road wins vs teams ranked in top-27 of the RPI; Creighton and Cincinnati. Three MVC teams Creighton (8), Wichita State (7) and Missouri State (7) each own seven or more road wins. The only BCS-member schools with six or more true road wins are Baylor (7) and Syracuse (6).

Sharp Shooter
 Creighton's Doug McDermott leads the MVC in scoring (23.4 ppg.) and in three-point percentage (.513) and is second in rebounding (8.4 rpg.) and field goal percentage (.624). The last player to lead the MVC in scoring and rebounding in the same season was SIU's Ashraf Amaya in 1991-92. No player has ever led the MVC in field goal percentage and three-point percentage in the same season.

NCAA Stat Leaders
 Creighton's Doug McDermott ranks third nationally at 23.4 points per game, while Colt Ryan of Evansville is No. 11 nationally with his 20.8 average. The MVC has not had a player average more than 20 points per game since 2001 (Illinois State's Tarise Bryson, 22.8).

Top-10 Showdown
 The MVC hasn't had a player rank in the top-10 nationally in scoring since Illinois State's Tarise Bryson finished fourth in 2000-01 (22.8). Tuesday's game in Evansville features the nation's No. 3 scorer, Doug McDermott, vs. the nation's No. 11 scorer, Colt Ryan. The MVC hasn't had two players finish in the top-10 in scoring since Bradley's Hersey Hawkins and Southern Illinois's Steve Middleton in 1987-88. Ryan's head coach, Marty Simmons, ranked sixth nationally by averaging 25.9 points per game as a senior at Evansville in 1987-88. The Purple Aces were not part of the MVC at that time.

Approaching 1,800
 The MVC has had 25 players reach 1,800 career points, but only three (below) have done it in the past 10 seasons. Kyle Weems of Missouri State enters this week just 25 points shy of 1,800.

2,012 – Kent Williams, Southern Illinois (1999-03)
1,838 – Osiris Eldridge, Illinois State (2006-10)
1,801 – Kyle Korver, Creighton (1999-03)

 The reigning MVC Larry Bird Player of the Year, Weems is the active career leader in the MVC in scoring (1,775), three-pointers (228), and rebounds (799), and no other player in the nation is the active leader in his conference in those three statistical categories. His next carom will give him 800. Only 46 previous players in the league's 105-year history have grabbed 800 career rebounds.

WSU .. The Year After
 Last season, Wichita State became the league's 7th NIT champion after defeating Alabama in the 2011 title game in Madison Square Garden. Five of the previous six finished as MVC runners-up the following season, and five of the previous six posted 20-wins seasons the year after.

Active Scoring Leaders
 Wichita State's Garrett Stutz reached 1,000 career points last week and is among six active MVC players with 1,000 or more. Indiana State's Carl Richard and UNI's Johnny Moran are approaching the mark. Meanwhile, Doug McDermott has 561 points this season and is climbing the chart for single-season scoring records by an MVC sophomore. Last year, he set the league record for freshmen (581 points).

ACTIVE MVC CAREER SCORING LEADERS
1,775 - Kyle Weems, Missouri State (Sr.)
1,436 - Toure' Murry, Wichita State (Sr.)
1,417 - Colt Ryan, Evansville (Jr.)
1,194 - Antoine Young, Creighton (Sr.)
1,142 - Doug McDermott, Creighton (So.)
1,016 - Garrett Stutz, Wichita State (Sr.)
977 - Carl Richard, Indiana State (Sr.)
967 - Johnny Moran, UNI (Sr.)

TOP SOPHOMORE SCORERS, MVC HISTORY
984 - Oscar Robertson, Cincinnati (1957-58)
918 - Larry Bird, Indiana State (1976-77)
680 - Mitchell Anderson, Bradley (1979-80)
656 - Hersey Hawkins, Bradley (1985-86)
645 - Danny Moore, Missouri St. (1996-97)
632 - Maurice Evans, Wichita St. (1988-89)
612 - Cliff Levingston, Wichita St. (1980-81)
609 - John S. Williams, Indiana St. (1983-84)

Creighton at No. 15
 Creighton has been ranked in the USA Today/ESPN Coaches poll for 12-straight weeks, reaching a season-best No. 12 (Jan. 30). Creighton is No. 15 this week and is No. 17 in the Associated Press poll. The Bluejays been ranked nine times in the past 10 weeks by the writers. Wichita State, meanwhile, is receiving votes in both polls (tied for 36th in the coaches poll, and No. 31 in the writer's poll).

MVC in the Polls
 Before this year, the last team ranked MVC team in the USA Today/ESPN coaches poll was UNI (No. 13 in the final poll following the 2009-10 campaign). UNI was also the last Valley school ranked in a regular-season Associated Press top-25 poll - No. 25 on Feb. 22, 2010. The last Valley school ranked for more than two-straight weeks in the AP poll was Drake in 2007-08 (nine-straight weeks).

Ranked in Arch Madness
 In the past 10 seasons, the State Farm MVC Tournament, affectionately known as Arch Madness, has featured four teams that entered the tournament ranked in the Associated Press poll. The league has had at least one top-25 team in a season-ending poll in seven of the past 10 years.

Teams Ranked in Arch Madness (last 10 years)
 2003 -- Creighton (19th)
 2004 -- Southern Illinois (15th)
 2007 -- Southern Illinois (11th)
 2008 -- Drake (20th)

Twice in that span a team was ranked 25 in an AP poll two weeks prior, but fell out just before the MVC Tournament started (UNI, 2006 & 2010)

Teams Ranked in Final Polls (last 10 years)
 2002 -- Southern Illinois (22nd, coaches)
 2003 -- Creighton (15th, AP; 23rd, coaches)
 2004 -- Southern Illinois (23rd, AP)
 2006 -- Wichita State (21st, coaches)
 2006 -- Bradley (24th, coaches)
 2007 -- Southern Illinois (14th, AP; 11th coaches)
 2008 -- Drake (23rd, coaches)
 2010 -- UNI (13th, coaches)