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World-Herald staff writer Steven Pivovar ranks the Missouri Valley men's basketball teams (with rankings from RealTimeRPI.com). Published Thursday, Feb. 9.

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1. Wichita State (21-4, 12-2, 27th)

This week: at Creighton. Guard Toure' Murry is putting the finishing touches on a career that will see him rank in the program's top 10 in scoring, assists, steals, 3-pointers, free throws and games played.

2. Creighton (21-4, 11-3, 16th)

This week: Wichita State. The Bluejays had not gone two games in a row shooting less than 33 percent from 3-point range until losses to Northern Iowa and Evansville.

3. Missouri State (15-11, 8-6, 81st)

This week: Bradley. Kyle Weems is the nation's only player who is the active career leader in his conference in points (1,775), 3-pointers (228) and rebounds (799).

4. Northern Iowa (16-10, 7-7, 51st)

This week: Illinois State. Sixty-two is the magic number for the Panthers, who are 12-0 when holding teams to 62 points or fewer and 4-10 when teams score 63 or more.

5. Evansville (12-12, 7-7, 162nd)

This week: at Drake. The Purple Aces' two games against ranked teams this season have produced a 49-point loss to North Carolina and an eight-point win against Creighton.

6. Illinois State (16-9, 8-6, 116th)

This week: at Northern Iowa. The Redbirds had the biggest turnaround since the 1990-91 season, losing to Creighton by 28 points, and then defeating Bradley by 30.

7. Indiana State (14-11, 5-9, 114th)

This week: Southern Illinois. Jake Odum continues to dirty up box scores and is one of three players nationally to average at least 10.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 5.4 assists.

8. Drake (13-12, 6-8, 120th)

This week: Evansville. The Bulldogs are one win away from matching the best conference win total in Mark Phelps' four seasons as coach.

9. Southern Illinois (8-17, 5-9, 228th)

This week: at Indiana State. Mamadou Seck is the only Saluki to start every game as coach Chris Lowery has tried a dozen lineups in an attempt to find the right combination.

10. Bradley (7-19, 2-12, 230th)

This week: at Missouri State. In an attempt to shake things up, coach Geno Ford started Charonn Woods, a walk-on who began his career as the team manager, against Illinois State.

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