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NCAA Tournament Cheat Sheet: Getting to know Valparaiso

Ryan Broekhoff

Read through the rest of the Cheat Sheets here.

Conference: Horizon

Coach: Bryce Drew

Record: 26-7, 13-3

Rankings and Ratings:

- Kenpom: 67
- RPI: 61
- AP/USA Today: N/A

Seeding?: Our Dave Ommen had Valparaiso as a No. 13 seed in Monday’s bracket projection.

Names you need to know: Ryan Broekhoff (16.2 ppg, 7.4 rpg), Kevin Van Wijk (12.8 ppg, 5.3 rpg)

Stats you need to know: Valpo is a very good shooting team, finishing fifth in the country in effective field goal percentage and hitting 37.7% of their threes.

Tendencies: Valpo’s strength is on the offensive end of the floor. More specifically, they can flat out shoot the rock, enough so that it makes up for the fact that they turn the ball over too much and struggle to get to the offensive glass.

Big wins, bad losses: Valpo’s best win this season came against Detroit in league play, as they whiffed on a couple big non-conference wins. They don’t have any truly awful losses, however.

How’d they get here?: First, Ryan Broekhoff did this in the semis. (Watch Bryce Drew’s reaction.) Then, they knocked off Wright State, 62-54, in the title game, giving them dual Horizon League titles.

Outlook: The Crusaders are good enough to pull off an upset if they get the right matchup. They have a pair of really good forwards in Broekhoff and Van Wijk that can create matchup problems. Particularly Broekhoff, the 2012 Horizon Player of the Year, who shoots 44.0% from beyond the arc.

How do I know you?: You might remember this shot. That’s Bryce Drew giving Valpo an upset win over Ole Miss. 15 years later, Drew is now Valpo’s head coach.

You can find Rob on twitter @RobDauster.