Jan. 2—All Wright was an eighth grader the last time Valparaiso defeated Missouri State in a men’s basketball game. Now, he is a freshman for the Beacons and helped them to outlast the Bears 73-72 on Wednesday night inside Great Southern Bank Arena in Springfield, Missouri.
It marked Valpo’s first win over MSU since March of 2020.
Wright went on a spree over the span of three minutes scoring or assisting on 13 straight points for Valpo (8-6, 1-2 MVC) to take a 46-40 lead to a 59-50 advantage.
“It was amazing. Especially to get our first conference win right here in Springfield, close to my hometown,” Wright said. “It means a lot. I feel like I was able to show out for my home crowd.
“I was just taking what the defense was giving me. The first half was a little slow for me but came out in the second half, stayed ready, shots came my way and I just knocked them down.”
That he did. The former Joplin Eagle shot 6 for 8 overall in the game and 4 for 5 in the second half. He knocked down his only 3-point attempt and was 1 for 2 on free throws.
Wright was on the court for all but about two minutes of the second half as head coach Roger Powell Jr. showed the trust he has in his point guard in a tight game from start to finish.
“I’ve given him it. He’s earned it. He’s a leader. He’s going to be a staple for our program. He’s going to be a special player in The Valley (Missouri Valley Conference) and he’s going to be a special player at Valpo,” Powell said. “I see it in him. He has that type of confidence. One of my things as a coach is to let your players be great. I know he’s young, but, he’s well ahead of his years.”
Part of what Powell is speaking about “giving” to Wright is the ability for the freshman to lead huddles during timeouts. Wright could be seen talking vehemently to his teammates after a timeout. More than once, he was expressing his thoughts from the game on what the team should do.
“My guys trust me and I really believe in my guys so I just try to give them every little detail that I see out there. You know, they give me feedback as well. That’s just part of being a team,” Wright said. “This group is super close. One of the closest groups I’ve ever been a part of.”
Wright’s run in the second half spanned from the 15:13-mark to 12:05 in the second half. He hadn’t taken a shot in the second half but caught a pass in the corner around the 3-point line and took a dribble in and rose up for an open jumper on the baseline. He buried the shot and the Beacons went up 48-40.
The next possession he responded by attacking his man one-on-one and getting by him for a reverse layup to make it 50-42. Leading 50-43, Wright had a chance to get downhill for another layup but used the separation to step back and drill a 3-pointer to make it 53-43.
Later he notched his third steal of the game and was fouled on a breakaway layup and converted 1 of 2 free throws. The next time on offense, he properly read the defense on a pick-and-pop play with teammate Cooper Schwieger and dished the ball back to the 6-foot-10 forward for a 3-pointer to make it 57-47. Wright converted a scoop layup to end the 13-point run and put the Beacons up 59-50.
“He’s grown a lot in that. He could really score it in high school and prep school and one of the things I told him is ‘we have to get you to be a facilitator’ and he’s really grown into that,” Powell said. “He’s learning how to get guys involved. He’s making the right reads on ball screens and it’s fun to see him kind of grow and learn how to do both.”
He finished with 14 points, three steals, two assists, two rebounds and just one turnover.
It was a battle the rest of the way still, but, that run played a large part in the visiting team from Valparaiso, Indiana, to pull off the victory on the road in a key conference matchup.
MSU cut the score to 73-71 with two minutes left in the game but only scored one more point in the final moments of the game after Tyler Schmidt was called for a foul on a 3-point shot by Zaxton King. King made just 1 of 3 free shots allowing the Beacons to hang on for the win.
“This is a special group. I’m excited to see us grow,” Powell said. “It’s great. It’s another win in the league. It’s hard. This conference is tough. We’ve had three games and two of them we could’ve won.”
With the win, the Beacons moved out of the cellar of the Missouri Valley Conference. The Bears and Southern Illinois are now the only two MVC teams without a conference win.
Valpo hosts Northern Iowa (9-5, 3-0 MVC) on Saturday at 3 p.m. looking to start a run in conference play. Its two losses are each by six points to Drake (12-1, 2-1 MVC) and Bradley (12-2, 3-0 MVC) in double overtime.
“We’re turning this program around. I really believe in our head coach, coach Roger (Powell) and his plan for me,” Wright said. “We just have to keep building. … This is definitely the start of something great here at Valpo. That’s one of our motto’s to get better every day and just take it game-by-game and go 1-0.”
NEW VALPO
Valparaiso hadn’t beaten Missouri State in its last nine tries and was losing the all-time series 28-10 coming into Wednesday’s game. Now it has bragging rights until they meet again on Feb. 19.
Powell is now 1-2 against the Bears. The Beacons had lost the last four matchups in Springfield and the last win there was in Jan. of 2019.
AMONG THE VALLEY’S BEST
Coming into Wednesday, Wright ranked ninth in free throw percentage at 81.8% and he was 1 for 2 Wednesday. He’s second with an assist-to-turnover ration of 3.17. He had two assists to just one turnover against the Bears.
Wright doesn’t care that he’s just a freshman. He expects those types of numbers out of himself.
“It’s just a part of my job as a point guard. I don’t really look at myself as a freshman, I look at myself as a leader for this team,” he said. “That’s part of the point guard’s job — directing traffic, not turning the ball over and getting guys open shots.”
The team leads the conference with a 79.9% on charities.
RINGING IN THE NEW YEAR
For the first time since 1945, Valpo won a game on New Year’s Day. This was only the third game to ring in the new year since that win. The Beacons lost in 2011 and in 2023.
STARTING STRONG
Wright has been able to be a part of the best non-conference start since 2017 (9-4, .692) for Valparaiso. They went 7-4 (.636) in non league play this year.
A BEACON, NOT A BEAR
Wright was not recruited by the Bears while he was in high school at Joplin or in prep school at Link Academy in Branson. But, current head coach Cuonzo Martin was not with the Bears during that time.
Either way, Powell is glad they didn’t recruit him.
“I have a ton of respect for Cuonzo (Martin). He’s somebody I look up to. Kind of like a mentor for me. Obviously (Martin) wasn’t here (Missouri State) but I’m happy that they didn’t recruit him (Wright),” Powell said.
