Loyola, Northern Iowa On Collision Course In Missouri Valley Conference Tournament

CHICAGO (CBS) -- Before March Madness, there must be Arch Madness. The Missouri Valley Conference tips off its tournament Thursday evening in St. Louis, with eighth-seeded Drake taking on ninth-seeded Illinois State and then seventh-seeded Valparaiso facing 10th-seeded Evansville. Top seed and tournament favorite Northern Iowa will face the winner of the first game the next afternoon, and second-seeded Loyola gets the winner of Thursday's second game afterward.

Northern Iowa and Loyola are on a collision course for the conference tournament finals, should they make it there. Both teams should make it there. UNI would be the clear favorite in this likely matchup, though Loyola did hand them one of their four conference losses back in mid-February. This conference finals matchup, should it transpire, will air Sunday at 1 p.m. CT on CBS.

Northern Iowa (25-5) piled up 14 wins in the Missouri Valley Conference this season, with 10 of those coming by 10 or more points. They've won three in a row by at least 20 points. The Panthers' offense runs behind Larry Bird Trophy winner and MVC Player of the Year AJ Green. The 6-foot, 4-inch sophomore guard is averaging 19.7 points per game on 42.2 percent shooting from the field. His awkward stroke, which starts with the ball behind his head, nonetheless gets the job done. The team's scoring leader missed double-digits just three times all season and scored 25 or more points on nine different occasions. He's shooting an impressive 39.5 percent from the arc and 91.5 percent from the free throw line. Green has some help on defense, with fellow guard Isaiah Brown, who was named MVC Defensive Player of the Year.

Loyola (21-10), defending regular-season MVC champion, trails UNI by just one game in the conference standings going into the tournament. The Ramblers' offense flows through an MVC Player of the Year candidate of their own. Junior center Cameron Krutwig finished second behind Green in the voting and chalked up MVC first-team honors for the second season in a row.

The 6-foot, 9-inch Krutwig played his high school ball at Jacobs High School in Algonquin and was part of the Loyola team that made the Final Four two seasons ago. As the focus of the offense, he's filled up the stat sheet all season long, averaging 15.3 points, on 56.9 percent shooting, and eight rebounds. Krutwig also leads the team in assists with 4.2 per game, which is a bit unusual for a center, and creates matchup issues for opposing defenses. It also shows his central role in Loyola's success. He has become an efficient passer, both around the key and off of defensive rebounds.

Junior Tate Hall has been a key beneficiary of Krutwig's improved passing. The six-foot, six-inch guard is averaging 13 points per outing, with much of that coming from beyond the arc, where he's shooting an efficient 42.9 percent. (The Ramblers second-leading scorer contributes on defense as well, leading the team with 1.5 steals per game.) The team, on the whole, doesn't toss up a ton of threes, opting instead for higher-percentage shots closer in.

To make the NCAA Tournament, Loyola will probably need to win the MVC Tournament. The MVC figures to receive one NCAA Tournament bid, which will go to the conference tournament winner. To win the MVC, they'll probably need to take down Nothern Iowa. While UNI is the favorite, they're hardly unbeatable. Porter Moser's squad is playing some of it's basketball of the season, and they know what it takes to beat the conference leaders, having already done it once this season.

Can they go out and get it done when it matters?

The Missouri Valley Conference semifinals air Saturday, March 7 @ 2:35 and 5:05 pm CT on CBS Sports Network.

The Missouri Valley Conference finals air Sunday, March 8 @ 1:05 pm CT on CBS.