St. Louis, Missouri:

In-state rivals Indiana State and Evansville provided us with one of the best games so far of Arch Madness. This was a game that went back and forth before Indiana State closed the door on Evansville to advance to Saturday’s Semifinal matchup with Loyola Chicago.

It was an ugly, physical, defensive basketball game. But at the end of the day, all that matters is having that opportunity to play another day. Indiana State had to overcome the adversity of off-court chatter and the struggle of playing an in-state rival for the third time in a winner takes all matchup.

For Indiana State, they were led in scoring by Tyreke Key, who led the Sycamores with 19 points.

Indiana State shot 19-47 from the field (40%) and 4-12 from three-point land. They also outrebounded Evansville by a slim margin of 33-31.

Indiana State closed the game out in the last 4:43 on a 7-0 run to defeat Evansville.

Indiana State will take on Loyola Chicago on Saturday for the right to play in the Missouri Valley Championship game on Sunday.

Saturday’s matchup will be the third matchup between the two this season, with the two teams splitting the regular-season series. Both those games came in Terre Haute, Indiana. Indiana State won the first game of the series by a score of 76-71 before falling 58-48 in the second game.

Saturday’s game will come down to a defensive battle as two of the best defensives in the Missouri Valley square off for a spot in the Arch Madness championship game on Sunday.

It will be interesting to watch the battle between the backcourt of Loyola and the frontcourt of Indiana State.

In the first meeting between the two, Tyreke Key scored 31 points in the win over Loyola.

Saturday’s Semifinal game between Indiana State and Loyola Chicago will tip-off at high noon on the CBS Sports Network.