If the Valparaiso University men's basketball team hadn't already opened eyes, it did so on Saturday afternoon at the Athletics-Recreation Center. Against an always-strong UNI program, the Beacons led for the final 35 minutes of the game, controlling the contest on their way to an 80-73 victory over the Panthers behind a team-high 20 points from Jefferson De La Cruz Monegro (LaSalle / Quebec, Canada / Orangeville Prep [Western Michigan]). UNI was a top-100 KenPom team and a top-80 NET team while boasting a 3-0 league record entering Saturday.
 
How It Happened

• UNI jumped out to a 10-5 lead three minutes into the game and led 13-8 through four minutes, but Valpo scored 10 straight points to flip a five-point deficit into a five-point lead. All Wright (Durango, Mexico / Link Year) drained a 3 to start the run, and a second-chance basket by Devon Ellis (Schaumburg, Ill. / Conant) capped the run and made it 18-13 Valpo.
• The lead fluctuated between two and five until Justus McNair (Joliet, Ill. / Joliet West) hit a triple with 5:08 on the first-half clock to widen the gap to six at 34-28. The Beacons scored five straight late in the half to open up their largest lead at 41-32 after a trey by Darius DeAveiro (Kanata, Ottawa, Canada / Oranegville at the 1:27 mark.
• Valpo led 43-36 at halftime and had nine points apiece from DeAviero and De La Cruz Monegro. The Beacons shot 47 percent in the opening half.
• Sophomore Kaspar Sepp (Tartu, Estonia / Fairmont Academy) swished a 3-pointer early in the second half, giving Valpo its first double-figure lead of the game at 46-36. After UNI cut it to seven, a 7-0 Beacon burst expanded the gap to 14 at 53-39 with 15:41 left in the second half.
• UNI made a 7-0 run – its largest of the game – midway through the second half to whittle the lead to five at 55-50. De La Cruz Monegro came up with a needed basket, then eventually a 3 by Tyler Schmidt (Valparaiso, Ind. / Victory Christian Academy [Olivet Nazarene]) pushed the lead back to double figures at 63-52 with under seven minutes to play. Schmidt made another 3 with 4:22 to play to up the lead to 13. The Panthers cut it to within seven in the final minute, but could get no closer.

Inside the Game

• De La Cruz Monegro's 20 points represented his season high, three better than his previous peak on Dec. 29 at Bradley. He came within one point of a career high of 21, reached twice while playing for Western Michigan including most recently on Feb. 3 of last season.
• De La Cruz Monegro went 6-of-10 from the floor and grabbed five rebounds while handing out three assists and swiping two steals. He scored in double figures for the seventh straight game and has tallied at least nine points in all 15 games this season. His two highest rebound totals of the season have come in the last two games – Saturday and Dec. 29 at Bradley (a season-best six).
• Schmidt scored 15 points, his third time reaching double figures in the last four games. He's 8-for-8 at the free-throw line over the last two contests. He drilled three triples and was 4-for-4 at the stripe on Saturday.
• Schwieger had 13 points, his sixth straight double-figure effort. He was 7-for-7 at the free-throw line and has made 29 of his last 30 charity tosses.  
• DeAveiro posted 13 points, tying a season high set on Nov. 29 at DePaul. This marked his second double-figure performance of the season and first in the last nine games.
• Sepp secured seven rebounds, pacing the team and recording seven or more for the ninth time this season.
• Freshman All Wright (Durango, Mexico / Link Year) added seven points and a team-high four assists.
• Valpo turned the ball over just six times, the squad's second lowest turnover total of the season behind four on Nov. 27 vs. Northern Illinois. This marked the seventh time in 15 games this season that Valpo has had single-digit turnovers including each of the last two. Valpo has won or tied the turnover battle in 12 out of 15 games in 2024-25.  
• Valpo shot 87.5 percent at the free-throw line, making 21 of 24 attempts. The Beacons, who are shooting 80.1 percent at the line this year, delivered their seventh performance of 80 percent or better at the stripe this year. Valpo posted a better free-throw percentage than its opponent for the 13^th time in 15 games this year.
• Valpo was just 5-33 all-time against UNI prior to Saturday's win. The Beacons snapped UNI's four-game head-to-head winning streak by picking up their first win over the Panthers since Jan. 19, 2022 (83-80 in overtime). Valpo had dropped six of the previous seven meetings with five of those losses by double figures and the lone win requiring overtime before Saturday.
• The victory came over a UNI team that was picked second in the MVC preseason poll.
• Valpo owns its best record through 15 games since also starting 9-6 in 2018-19.

Postgame Press Conference
Click here for postgame press conference.
 
Up Next
Valpo (9-6, 2-2 MVC) will host Indiana State on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the Athletics-Recreation Center. The game will be a Gold Out with tickets available on tickets.valpoathletics.com.