Game Eleven Recap: SIU Edwardsville @ Bradley

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Clank.

Fans heard a lot of that sort of sound Tuesday night, when the Braves (6-5) only knocked off an inferior SIU Edwardsville (2-10) team by six points at home.

The inexperienced Braves showed many of the same flaws as in previous games: poor team defense, too many unforced turnovers and bad free throw shooting. Sure, "a win is a win," but going into conference play, these sorts of games don't really build confidence.

Bradley led by 12 points early in the second half, but couldn't put away the Cougars, who went on an 18-7 run to cut the Braves lead to 52-51 with 10:18 left.

SIU Edwardsville proceeded to not score for the next five minutes of the game, but Bradley only managed eight points in that span. A few good defensive stops in the last few possessions of the game helped offset an embarrassing display from the free throw line.

The Braves only hit 5-of-12 free throw attempts in the last five minutes of the game, a good way to lose a game against even an average opponent.

Center David Collins stood out this game for generally good reasons. He scored nine points, grabbed nine rebounds and also had four blocks. Collins still had his usual problems of getting stripped on rebounds by bringing the ball down to smaller defenders. But overall, he had a solid game.

Fans were treated to the full spectrum of forward Theron Wilson's skills - both good and bad. His athleticism helps him make some plays that others simply can't. He all three 3-pointers he attempted, scored 17 points and pulled down eight rebounds.

On the other side, Wilson had a series of foolish plays on offense. At one point in the first half, he had committed three of Bradley's six turnovers. He had a total of six on the game and was one of many Braves who couldn't hit free throws (2-of-6).

Both guards Eddren McCain and Chris Roberts had quiet offensive performances, but still made contributions. McCain had five assists to go along with only one turnover, while Roberts made two spectacular blocks and overall had a much bigger commitment to the defensive side of the ball.

Head coach Jim Les shortened the rotation yesterday, only playing six guys regularly. Guard Darian Norris, forward Taylor Brown and center Anthony Thompson all played under 12 minutes. Will this be a sign for the future?

For the development of the team for future season, let's hope not. Bradley will need all three of these men going forward in order to be as successful as it hopes to be in the future.

Game Ten Recap: Bradley @ Milwaukee

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Giving up 50 points in a half isn't a recipe for success in basketball, especially at the college level. Unfortunately for the Bradley (5-5), that's exactly what the team did en route to a 86-74 defeat Saturday in Milwaukee, Wis.

With a combination of slow defensive of rotations and white hot shooting by Milwaukee (6-5), the Braves dug a 50-32 deficit at halftime. Guard Avery Smith had 19 of his 21 points going into the break including five 3-pointers.

To the Braves credit, they did start the second half with greater intensity and narrowed the Panthers' lead to six points in the second half. But Bradley clearly tired as the half went on and just ran out of energy trying to come back.

As tiredness sets in, jump shots start getting shorter. This fatigue showed in the form of 3-of-16 shooting from 3-point range (18.8 percent) during the second half. Even after getting thoroughly dominated in the first 20 minutes, the Braves could have caught Milwaukee by just hitting a few outside shots.

Guards Darian Norris and Chris Roberts both went 0-for-6 from the 3-point line. Bradley simply has too many streaky shooters and not one consistent performer from beyond the arc. Maybe guard Eddren McCain will become that player, but the sample size still is too small to tell for sure.

Even though Milwaukee appeared to rebound better Bradley, the road team actually missed 22 more shots than the Panthers. So clearly, the advantage in total rebounds should have favored Milwaukee (52-46).

But, the overall commitment to rebounding was better for the Braves. The problem was that when Bradley really needed a defensive stop, those were the times that the team gave up second and third opportunities to the Panthers.

Get used to being frustrated if you're a Bradley fan this season. Six of the nine players last night in red are new to the system. Couple that with the loss of three regular contributors to injury and the frustrations seem a bit more understandable (though certainly not any less annoying).

This team continues to search for an identity and with less than a week until Southern Illinois comes to Peoria, the learning curve might be too acute for the current roster of healthy players.

Other observations:

* - Downtown Milwaukee made me feel like I was back in Peoria again with many of the main streets and sidewalks poorly cleared of snow. The showing of Bradley fans at the game was admirable, especially considering how poor the weather got to be two hours before game time.

* - U.S. Cellular Arena had a pretty good feel once fans got inside. The atmosphere certainly trumped that of Illinois-Chicago or Loyola in basketball appeal.

* - Speaking of turnout, the overall attendance (3,020) wasn't bad and most of the Milwaukee fans were into the game.

* - Hopefully all Bradley fans returned home safely today as blowing snow made driving conditions nasty for most of the ride through Wisconsin (and likely in central Illinois, too).

* - I've pulled together another slideshow of photos from the game. Enjoy!

Click the photo above to view a slideshow.