MVC Tournament Central

The Missouri State men's golf team has been picked to finish second at the upcoming Missouri Valley Conference Championship. In a pre-tournament poll of the league's coaches, Wichita State was the choice to win its ninth straight title, while the Bears were tabbed for second and Illinois State third. The tournament will be held Monday-Tuesday (Apr. 25-26) at Prairie Dunes Country Club in Hutchinson, Kan.

WSU claimed all nine first-place votes in the voting and 81 total points, while the Bears tallied 65 points, two better than Illinois State with its 63. Southern Illinois was the choice for fourth (54 points), followed by Bradley (45), UNI (36), Evansville (25), Drake (24) and Loyola (12).

The Bears, who finished sixth a year ago, have three players ranked in the top 11 in the conference in scoring average, led by senior Joey Johnson. A two-time all-conference performer, Johnson ranks fifth with a 73.73 mark and has led MSU in four of its five tournaments this spring.

Not far behind are Adam Fisher, one of the Valley's top freshmen, and senior Brik Brauburger, who missed all or part of three tournaments due to injury earlier in the spring. Fisher sports a 74.17 average and has placed in the team's top three all spring, including a team-best tie for 14th last week at the ORU Shootout. Brauburger, who's averaging 74.27, set the school 54-hole scoring record in the fall when he shot 207 and finished sixth at SIUE.

Senior Mitch Mather and freshman Kory Franks round out the lineup for the Bears. Mather was an all-conference player in 2014 and won last summer's Missouri Amateur. He brings a 74.67 scoring mark into the tournament, while Franks has a 74.74 average and posted the team's low round of the year, 67, at Austin Peay last fall.

The Bears won the Coyote Classic in the fall, and have posted top-five finishes in six other events.

Teams will play 36 holes Monday and conclude with 18 holes Tuesday, starting at 8:30 a.m. both days, with the winner advancing to NCAA Regional play.