Game Fourteen Recap: Bradley @ Missouri State

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Bradley completed a two game road sweep by gritting out another tough victory at Missouri State 63-57. The win kept the Braves (9-5, 3-0) perfect in conference play, setting up a Tuesday showdown for first place against rival Illinois State. The Bears dropped to 7-7 overall and 0-3 in conference games.

Previous Jim Les coached teams would have probably lost this game, especially considering a major disadvantage in rebounding as well as lousy officiating. But credit the Bradley head coach for making some key adjustments down the stretch in order to secure another road win.

After getting beat badly on the glass for 35 minutes and the Bears scoring at will in the post during the second half, Les switched to a 1-3-1 zone. The defensive change confused Missouri State and slowed its offense to a halt for the remaining five minutes.

The first 20 minutes had a grinding feel. For as poorly as Bradley rebounded on the defensive side, Missouri State shot even worse. The Bears hit just 8-of-32 shot attempts (25 percent) and trailed 33-24 at halftime.

As most home teams do though, Missouri State made a run at the Braves. The Bears repeatedly fed their post players and whittled Bradley's lead completely away by the 8-minute mark.

Bradley surely would have lost this game if it weren't for guard Chris Roberts, who had his best game as a Brave. The junior scored 14 of Bradley's first 21 points in the second half, knocking down important shot after important shot. He finished the game with 22 points, four blocks, three rebounds and three steals.

But even with Roberts' standout performance, the game was tied at 54 with 2 1/2 minutes to play. Good teams knock down free throws in the final minutes and the Braves did just that, hitting 9-of-10 attempts when it really mattered.

Team leaders Sam Maniscalco and Theron Wilson didn't have their best games of the season. But both made intelligent plays on both ends of the floor near the end of the game that put the Braves over the top. Wilson was the only other Bradley player to finish in double figures with 12.

Other observations:

* - This game was one of the most poorly officiated in recent memory. Bradley got the benefit of some soft calls in the first half and Missouri State got that treatment in the last 20 minutes. Players and coaches just ask for consistency and that aspect wasn't on display for this one.

Bradley was whistled for two technical fouls, one on Les and one on forward/center Sam Singh. The latter came after a questionable foul call after Singh tried to force a jump ball. A quick technical was called as well, giving Singh his fourth and fifth fouls. The disqualification didn't look warranted for Singh's on-the-court actions.

* - Speaking of Singh, this was his last time to play close to home. The senior hails from Ozark, MO, which is only 25 minutes away from Springfield. He joined the post-game show on WMBD and definitely had a lot of emotion coming from this game. Singh gave a great deal of credit to fellow big man David Collins for holding down the paint after he fouled out.

Next game:

The War on 74 resumes as Illinois State travels to Peoria to face Bradley on Tuesday. Both teams are now 3-0 in conference as Illinois State easily beat conference favorite Creighton 86-64 in Normal.

The Redbirds also boast a gaudy 14-0 record, which until the wins over Creighton and surprising Evansville, had very few good opponents on their schedule. Illinois State definitely is for real and should pose a huge challenge for Bradley.

Make no mistake about it — all records should be thrown out for this one. Every Bradley-ISU game has added intensity. The only unfortunate part will be that the Bradley students will still be on break for this one, so hopefully the rest of the crowd will pick up the slack for them.

Game Thirteen Recap: Bradley @ Wichita State

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Showing resiliency on the road is a must in the Missouri Valley Conference.

A rebound basket by forward/center Sam Singh broke a tie at 58 with 0.9 seconds left in the game. Bradley (8-5, 2-0) prevented a shot attempt from Wichita State (6-7, 0-2) in the final moments, securing the narrow victory.

This game had an edge to it, including numerous hard fouls and aggressive rebounding. But instead of being pushed around, the Braves stood tall against a scrappy Shocker team.

Talented Wichita State big man Garrett Stutz got the Shockers going early, scoring three easy baskets in paint and Wichita State led 11-4 after four and a half minutes of action.

Bradley responded quickly by going on an 11-0 run for nearly seven minutes. Five different Braves scored during the surge which included a thundering dunk by forward Theron Wilson.

A highlight film tip slam by guard Chris Roberts was sandwiched in the middle of another big run by the visitors, as Bradley extended its lead to 32-20 with 4:07 left in the first half.

The Braves' maintained a lead of nine points after Wilson hit a long two-pointer with 8:23 to play, 50-41. But, the Shockers just kept pushing.

Wichita State guard Graham Hatch sunk a 3-pointer (which was called a two on the floor, but was later corrected properly by video review) to make the score 50-46 with 7:36 left in the game.

Guard Sam Maniscalco would be the victim of two calls that could have cost the Braves down the stretch. First, he was called for a foul on a three point shot by guard Toure' Murry when he made no contact with the shooter (Murry hit two of three free throw attempts). Then, Maniscalco made a smooth drive down the lane and was fouled on a layup attempt that was good. Maniscalco clearly was in the act of shooting but the play was whistled to be on the floor.

All frustrations aside, a perfect assist by guard Eddren McCain to Theron Wilson still gave Bradley a 58-53 lead with 1:48 to go.

Wichita State would complete its comeback after a poor turnover by Singh and a transition 3-pointer by Murry with 26 seconds left.

The final play was drawn up for Maniscalco, who again did not get a foul call on his drive to the hoop. But, just as soon as his shot bounced off the rim, Singh put the second opportunity back in the basket and Bradley led 60-58.

The drama didn't end there, as the Shockers inbounds play looked to drawn a foul from center David Collins. The 7-footer was trying to guard in the pass, and as a result, ran over a Wichita State player who was trying to set a screen.

No call was made though, and after one pass was tipped out of bounds and another was thrown out of bounds directly, Bradley secured the victory.

The Braves had three players in double figures: Wilson (18), McCain (11) and Singh (10). Throw out the stats though, as this contest came down to a team effort to notch another conference win.

Some observations:

* - This was definitely the most entertaining game of the season, one that both teams did not want to lose. Head coach Jim Les deserves a lot of credit for getting his team to play better and better on the road with each new season. When he first started on the Hilltop, Les' teams were painful to watch away from Carver Arena. But at least for one Valley game, the team looked poised and confident in a hostile environment.

* - Another aspect to give Les credit should be his assessment of the current roster. Finally the Braves are getting away from their "chuck it anywhere, even from the ocean" mentality. The team simply isn't a great perimeter squad and instead of just sticking to the system, Bradley has started to take the ball into the paint more, which is definitely a team strength.

Wilson, Maniscalco and McCain are all great at getting to the basket and drawing contact. The Braves showed that they have the talent to keep this formula working, even against zone defenses (which the Shockers applied for much of the game).

* - If this team is going to continue to be successful, it must keep its commitment to rebounding. Bradley held a 31-26 advantage on the glass against the MVC's best rebounding team, statistically. What Bradley lacks in shooting ability can be made up with athleticism and a commitment to sticking to fundamentals.

* - Singh had another great game, showing his range by making jump shots from the free throw line. Maybe the broken nose knocked him into another gear, as he looks poised to be a major contributor for the rest of the season.

* - Bradley only played eight guys against Wichita State, which has worked okay for the past two games. But, will this come back to haunt the Braves as the long conference season goes on? Both guard Darian Norris and center Anthony Thompson did not play in this game. If Bradley is to make it through the rugged conference slate, these two will likely need to make a bit of a contribution.

Next game:

Bradley heads to another road site that hasn't treated the team well in awhile. Coach Les will be looking for his first win in Springfield, Mo. after falling in his first six tries. An improved Missouri State team won't be a pushover, even though it has lost its first two MVC games. The Bears dealt Arkansas (10-1) its only loss of the season Nov. 22.

One advantage the Braves may have will be not playing at Hammons Student Center. Not has Bradley not won there in the Les era, but they've often played some of their worst basketball of the season there.

Now the Bears play at the new JQH Arena, which holds roughly 2,000 more fans than Hammons Student Center (11,000 total). Maybe the Braves can break from this poor stretch in Missouri and grab another big road victory.

(Please note the reason for such a late post — Due to other commitments, I wasn't able to watch this game live. But, once it was archived on BUBraves.TV, I've now seen the game in its entirety.)

Game Twelve Recap: Southern Illinois @ Bradley

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Bradley made a big statement Sunday by pounding Southern Illinois by a 79-63 margin — and it wasn't even that close.

The Braves (7-5, 1-0) led by as many as 27 points during the second half of the game, dominating nearly every facet of the contest. These were the "good" Braves who fans surely wish would be on the court more consistently.

Southern Illinois (5-7, 0-1) hung in the game for a long time, actually taking a brief 27-26 lead with 5:16 left in the first half. But Bradley closed the session with a 15-4 run, then didn't allow a Saluki point until the 14:46 mark of the second half. In the 10-minute span, the Braves had a 26-4 advantage on the scoreboard.

Forward/center Sam Singh was the most valuable player in the game, producing one of his best performances of his Bradley career. He scored eight points, grabbed five rebounds and five steals as well as blocking two shots. Singh wore a protective mask on his face, playing in his first game since breaking his nose December 14th.

One of the biggest concerns for the Braves lately has been free throw shooting. But the team combined to hit 28 of 32 attempts (87.5 percent) against Southern Illinois. Forward Theron Wilson, who is tied for first in the conference in free throw attempts, only came into the game shooting 67.5 percent. But, Wilson knocked down 9 of 10 from the line helping him finish with 17 points.

Guard Sam Maniscalco had another great game, making three 3-pointers and all seven of his free throws. The 18-point output was Maniscalco's career best, topping his previous high of 17 (twice this season).

The team got contributions from all nine players who played at least 10 minutes. Every man had at least five points.

Southern Illinois showed a great deal of inexperience in the game, which can be understood with the amount of freshmen and sophomores that play regular minutes. The Salukis stayed in the game early because their senior leader, guard Bryan Mullins, had a great first half (11 points). But after the break, Mullins didn't score again, missing all six of his shots.

Highly touted freshman guard Kevin Dillard had a game-high 21 points for SIU, but 11 of those came in the last five minutes of the game when Bradley had really slowed down its defensive intensity.

Coming up next:

Bradley plays Wednesday at Wichita State, who lost its Missouri Valley Conference opener 68-56 at league favorite Creighton on Sunday. The Braves haven't played well at Charles Koch Arena since it opened in December of 2003. In fact, Bradley won last season in Wichita, Kan. for the first time in five tries, beating a bad Shocker team 63-54.

Fans can be happy about this win, but with two road games coming up (Saturday, Bradley plays at Missouri State), the true mettle of the Braves will be shown. Considering the difficulty of winning on the road in the Valley, Bradley should be happy with a split in these games.

Other observations:

* - The only negative of Sam Singh's great game was the loss in playing time for center Anthony Thompson. He didn't see the floor until garbage time (two minutes remaining) and clearly is the odd man out with Singh's return.

Hopefully head coach Jim Les will try to get him more minutes than he received this game. Bradley could certainly play two guys over 6'9" at a time, but Les still seems reluctant to try that.

* - Apparently the "point of emphasis" for the MVC referees this season is traveling infractions. Both teams were whistled countless times for minimal or even nothing against the rules. The incessant nature of Valley refs to call too much in games looks to be back again this year.

* - I traveled to Peoria again for this game, sitting up in the nose bleeds for the first time ever. As a result, the photos are really far away for the most part, but I'm still going to post the shots I have from the game.

Click the photo above to view a slideshow.