Warren helps Bradley to win over Drake in conference opener

67	59

All wins are not really equal. So while Bradley (6-5 overall, 1-0 MVC) didn't put together its best performance against Drake, any road victory is huge in Missouri Valley Conference play.

Junior guard Andrew Warren carried the team in the second half, finishing with 24 points (8 of 12 from the floor) and eight rebounds. Sophomore forward Taylor Brown responded after a couple of poor games with a double-double for the Braves (17 points, 11 rebounds).

For as balanced as Bradley generally is on offense, this game had all but 12 points scored by three players - Warren, Brown and junior guard Sam Maniscalco (14 points, 5 assists). In some situations this might have been a bad plan, but the ineffectiveness of the rest of the team facilitated those results.

Maybe the best thing that came from the game was that the Braves finally closed out a game with good free throw shooting. Drake (5-8 overall, 0-1 MVC) went into "foul mode" with about 1:30 to play and could have come back from a 10-point deficit if it weren't for Bradley making all eight attempts from the line in the closing minutes.

For the game, Bradley made 18-of-21 (85.7 percent) and limited the Bulldogs to just 10 free throw attempts.

Some of the other concerning traits of this team still persist. Overall, the Braves still are taking too many forced and quick shots in its half-court offense. And on the other side, Drake had way too many open looks but simply didn't knock them down.

Against the better teams in the Valley (since Drake will likely be near the cellar), these problems will be exploited more often. So while numerous problems need to be ironed out if Bradley expects to finish in the upper half of the conference, this was not a bad game. Progress was made and the team is looking better, not worse (which couldn't be said after the last three games).

Tough week

The first week of conference play continues with a Friday evening game at home against Southern Illinois. Then Bradley has a very quick turnaround and has to play Wichita State in Kansas on Sunday afternoon.

Both teams were in lopsided conference openers Tuesday. Southern Illinois outscored Indiana State 44-24 in the second half win by 18 at home 70-52, while Wichita State was handled easily by Illinois State in Normal, 72-57.

Some good information going into conference play

I was going to go through all of the teams before conference action starts tonight, but USA Today has done a really impressive job of providing information about each team in this article:

http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/mensbasketball/mvc/home.htm?csp=34

Bradley heads to Drake tonight for its first game of the conference season. Nobody can really be too sure what to expect. Will the team that beat Illinois and looked good against BYU show up? Or will the squad that had two bad home losses (Western Carolina, Loyola) and a road beatdown (at Iowa State) wimper out of Des Moines with another loss?

It's anyone's best guess really, but after some intense practices over Christmas break, I'd expect a pretty good response from the Braves. Outside of the Iowa State game, most of Bradley's best basketball has actually been away from Carver Arena so far this season.

This will truly be a "measuring stick" game, as if the Braves hope to compete for the upper level of the conference, a victory is the only acceptable result. Drake should be a "play-in" team this season in the Missouri Valley Conference, so Bradley should be able to take care of business. If they don't, who knows where the Braves may finish?

Prediction: Bradley 76 Drake 70

Iowa State cruises to easy victory against Bradley

68	87

The combination of a great Iowa State performance and a horrible Bradley one led to lopsided and disappointing game in Ames, Iowa today.

Marquis Gilstrap led the Cyclones (8-3) with 25 points and NBA prospect Craig Brackins added a double-double (16 points, 12 assists). The Braves (5-5) had no answer for either of these big men, nor did they against the quicker, more-talented Iowa State guards.

Junior guard Sam Maniscalco was exposed repeatedly as being a step too slow to guard Diante Garrett, Iowa State's speedy floor general. Maniscalco's performance wasn't any better on the offensive end as he missed all six shot attempts and committed three turnovers with no assists.

The problem is that Maniscalco isn't really a point guard. He's an undersized shooting guard who can get really hot from the beyond the arc. But Bradley has to play him there for the lack of better options.

The backup to Maniscalco is sophomore Eddren McCain, who has been so spooked by his lost shooting touch that he can't provide anything other than quickness on defense at this stage. McCain has looked better the past few games, but in reality, he can't be trusted yet to be the starter.

Maybe the silver lining might have been recently "unredshirted" freshman guard Jake Eastman. Though he was seeing his first action of the season and made just 1-of-8 shot attempts, Eastman did provide a burst of energy and led the Braves with five rebounds.

But the majority of players that Bradley needs a contribution either had bad games or were completely invisible. Senior guard Chris Roberts had a hollow 12-point game as he made numerous mental errors (five turnovers) and only secured one rebound.

At least that was something as opposed to Bradley's leading scorer Taylor Brown provided. The sophomore forward scored just four points and pulled down three rebounds. In Brown's defense, his defensive numbers were limited as he was saddled with the unenviable task of guarding Brackins, who played the majority of the game on the perimeter despite his 6'10" size.

And even though junior guard Andrew Warren led the Braves in points (16), all but four of these points were when Iowa State had built a 20+ point lead. Overall, this was just a bad performance from top to bottom.

Starting spots up for grabs?

Head coach Jim Les sounded as agitated as ever on the radio after the game. He said that he was "embarrassed" by his veteran players' performances. Les said that he'd start two freshman (Eastman and forward Milos Knezevic) and walk-on guard Ryan Phillips if it meant he'd get a better effort from his team.

Though this comment was said to be more of a message than a statement of what he's going to actually do, don't be surprised if Bradley does have some differences in starters when they head to Drake for the opener of the conference season.

Les has done this before, making all starting spots "up for grabs" and it has had some positive results. Hopefully that will get the team to find itself after this stretch of three poor losses in a row.

Loyola's buzzer beater sends Bradley to second straight loss

68	65

Bradley (5-4) made three turnovers in its final four possessions and Courtney Stanley threw in a half-court shot to shock the Braves at home 68-65.

A layup by junior guard Sam Maniscalco gave Bradley a 50-38 lead with 17 minutes to go in the game. But the Braves were stuck on 50 points for the next seven minutes and allowed Loyola (7-2) to close the gap to five points.

The second-half collapse was caused by a combination of poor offensive flow and atrocious free-throw shooting. For the game, Bradley made just 9-of-18 free throws while Loyola shot 18-0f-23 (78 percent).

The problems snowballed after some questionably close officiating. The Ramblers went to the line on five out of seven possessions. Certainly this loss can't be pinned on the referees but they contributed to the problem (for the first time this season).

But even as badly as the game was going, the Braves still led 65-60 with the ball and less than two minutes to play. Maniscalco turned the ball over once and then sophomore forward Taylor Brown traveled and threw the ball away on successive possessions.

Brown did have a chance to redeem himself in the closing seconds but missed a jumper near the free-throw line with the clock winding down. After a Loyola timeout with 2.5 seconds left, Stanley caught the inbound pass and tossed in an awkward looking heave near the sideline for a Rambler victory.

Whereas Western Carolina came in and really stole a win on Bradley's home court last week, this one has to sit squarely on the Braves' shoulders. They gave it away.

Consider the fact that Bradley made 10-of-19 attempts from 3-point range and this game should have been a double-digit victory. Though junior guard Andrew Warren played pretty well (17 points, 4-of-8 on 3-point attempts and five rebounds), the rest of the team leaders didn't do enough.

The brightest spot in the game had to be the performance of freshman forward Milos Knezevic. He played a significant role in helping Bradley get up to such a big lead, scoring all 11 of his points in four minute stretch. He looked like he couldn't miss out there from long range.

If there's anything to specifically hang on the coaching staff it was not getting Knezevic more playing time and shot opportunities in the second half.

Other frustrations

If this game weren't bad enough, Bradley also played without freshman guard Dyricus Simms-Edwards, who was diagnosed with a stress reaction in his left foot and will miss a minimum of three to six weeks.

Simms-Edwards had been developing into an important contributor on both ends of the floor. But if this problem is anything like what sidelined Warren, he could certainly miss the rest of the season.

Bradley should consider a medical redshirt option if his condition doesn't improve quickly. He has played in few enough games that he'd likely qualify for the classification.

In a corresponding move, freshman guard Jake Eastman had his redshirt removed and was active for this game. Eastman didn't play as he was also nursing an injury from practice.

Coaching spots

After Steve Merfeld surprisingly left the coaching staff on December 6, Bradley had yet to fill his role until today. Kyle Vogt was promoted to Interim Assistant Coach and former Brave Jeremy Crouch was named Interim Director of Basketball Operations (Vogt's former role).

These moves were to be expected as Bradley wasn't about to find any sort of experienced coach to join the program mid-season. The result of these promotions may be minimal as this is still Jim Les' team.

Some have speculated that Merfeld and Les may not have gotten along though the true details will likely never be revealed publicly. Now Les essentially has full control and Vogt won't likely change that.

Moving forward

Bradley heads back out to the road to face Iowa State on Sunday. For how they've played up and down to their competition, expect the Braves to have a much better effort. Maybe getting away from Carver Arena will force Bradley to not get so complacent when they get a lead.

Western Carolina shocks Bradley at home

75	67

Bradley found out that even "no-name" schools can beat you if you don't play a complete game. Western Carolina used a 20-2 run to erase a nine point second half deficit and stun the Braves at home 75-67.

Though Bradley (5-3) got another big game from sophomore forward Taylor Brown (18 points, 8-of-10 shooting), the rest of the team simply didn't play well enough to beat a tough, undeterred Western Carolina (8-1) team.

Bradley had nine point leads in each half but atrocious free throw shooting allowed the visitors to stay close. For the game, the Braves made only 15-of-33 attempts from the line (57.6 percent). Conversely, Western Carolina came into the game shooting just 56 percent as a team and knocked down 10-of-12 (83.3 percent).

Even as some of the regular problems crept up (like missing too many layups), Bradley still had control of this game. At the 9:49 mark and trailing 56-49, Western Carolina burned a timeout to stop a 13-4 run. But after Brown made a layup on the next possession, everything began to unravel.

The Catamounts scored on six straight possessions before head coach Jim Les took a timeout with 5:46 left. The ugly sequence ended with Western Carolina going on a 15-0 run, tossing in two wild shots and leading 64-58.

The Braves still had a chance with four minutes to play but allowed two critical offensive rebounds and nearly two full minutes to run off the clock. Junior guard Andrew Warren had a chance to tie the game at 69 with a minute to play but his 3-pointer clanked off the rim.

Warren had an ugly shooting performance (3-of-12 overall, 0-of-5 from 3-point range) and senior guard Chris Roberts was even worse (1-of-8). If these two players struggle, generally the team does as well.

If there were any positives to take from the game, it had to be from guards Dyricus Simms-Edwards and Eddren McCain. Simms-Edwards provided his usual energy off the bench, scoring eight points and grabbing four rebounds. McCain played with more confidence and didn't commit any turnovers in the reserve point guard role.

Where to go from here

Bradley will have plenty of time to digest this loss as its next game isn't until Dec. 16 against Loyola. Plenty of time will surely be spent on defense and free throw shooting.

Western Carolina isn't a bad team and surely played one of its better games of the season. The Catamounts were picked to win the Southern Conference and may have a really good record going into March.

But Bradley simply can't lose to lower level teams at home if it wants to ever get an NCAA at-large bid. Just like Illinois expects to always beat schools of the caliber of Southern Illinois and Bradley, the Braves should always think that they ought to beat any low-major school, especially on their home floor.

The season certainly isn't lost with one game. But after all of the positive steps forward lately, this one just stings a little bit more.

Back at Carver Arena tonight

Bradley hosts Western Carolina tonight at 7:05 p.m. I'll be sure to post a full recap after the game as well as a reaction to the Steve Merfeld issue.

This is supposed to be a pretty decent team (6-1 on the season), but I think Bradley's due for a great performance.

Prediction: Bradley 72 Western Carolina 60

Bradley uses second half surge to pull away from NIU

63	49

Scoring only 19 points in a half doesn't generally translate into many victories. Luckily for Bradley, the second half was as good as the first one was bad.

The Braves (5-2) shot an absurd 68 percent (17-of-25) from the floor during the final 20 minutes en route to a 63-49 victory at the NIU Convocation Center. Junior guard Andrew Warren led three Bradley players in double figures, helping erase a 20-19 halftime deficit.

Forget about poor rebounding, turnovers or any other reason a score might be that low. Simply put, neither team could hit anything in the first half. Bradley shot 36 percent (9-of-25) and Northern Illinois was worse at 33.3 percent (9-of-27).

Part of the issue could have been that the referees weren't calling any fouls on either team for the first 10-12 minutes. In fact, NIU didn't commit a personal foul until under the 8-minute mark. This fact certainly didn't coincide with how the Huskies had been committing 24 fouls per game this season.

If either team could have had more free-throw opportunities, that might have broken up the flow (or in this case, lack thereof) and possibly gotten someone into more of a rhythm.

The offense was generally getting good shots except for the surprising amount of turnovers. Maybe some of those issues could be explained by a little jet lag after flying home from Las Vegas this past weekend and having to take a bus back north to DeKalb.

For a team that doesn't play the biggest lineups, NIU (1-5) did rebound pretty well (33-32 overall) and limited Bradley to only six offensive boards. But when a team shoots 1-of-20 from 3-point range, it is going to lose unless it can get an large amount of second chance points. NIU only had eight.

The Braves had to get more minutes than usual from center Anthony Thompson and forward/center Sam Singh. Starting center Will Egolf struggled with foul trouble the entire game and only played 16 minutes. Singh did manage to grab five rebounds, but overall the duo didn't contribute enough for Bradley.

Part of this apparent lack of production has to do with the way Bradley runs its offense, though. The Braves have talented slashers with good mid-range shooting abilities. As a result, the low post players and point guards (especially when the threes aren't falling) don't score as much. But in the case of this current Bradley roster, the best players play the 2/3/4 positions and the offense is in place to suit their abilities.

Warm up the bus

As expected, Bradley fans traveled very well to this game. If this were a weekend contest, there probably would have been more people actually. But for a Wednesday evening game, Bradley fans still had at least a third of the total crowd (3,064 overall).

Even more important was how vocal the Bradley crowd was. This made for a pretty lively environment considering the small overall crowd size. The nastiness was kept to a minimum (which can't always be said for other intrastate schools) and made for an enjoyable college basketball atmosphere.

Game pictures

Unfortunately a lot of my game pictures turned out very blurry. Maybe it was the lighting because my current camera generally takes good indoor shots. The shots I do have though will be uploaded tomorrow for your enjoyment. Thanks!

Bradley's back in the Chicago area

Selfishly, this is one of the most important games to a segment of Bradley fans. No, not because Northern Illinois is a great opponent. But, it's an opportunity for alumni/parents/fans to see the Braves without having to make a 2-3 hour drive.

Jim Les has seemed to make a concerted effort to schedule at least one game in the area (recent opponents have included UIC, Loyola, Wisconsin-Milwaukee) per season. Sure, some of these were return games for BracketBuster matchups, but the end result is still the same. Otherwise, why would Bradley schedule Northern Illinois anyway?

Similar to the Bradley v. Illinois scenario, the Braves have little to gain by playing Northern Illinois. Yes, road experience is always important but outside of that, a lot more would be lost if somehow the Huskies can pull out a win.

That's not to suggest that Bradley shouldn't play interstate schools. If my nonconference schedule was Northern Illinois, Eastern Illinois, UIC and Western Illinois, would it really be any weaker than playing teams from the Big Sky, MAAC and SWAC conferences? At least this way, teams can have a little bragging rights within the state.

Maybe this is something worth going into more detail, but for now, let's get to tonight's game. I'll be in attendance for the first time this season and will try to take and post pictures afterward like last season.

Northern Illinois press release: here
Bradley Press release: here

Interesting facts

• Bradley holds a 7-1 all-time record against NIU, having won the last seven matchups
• NIU has played two Bradley opponents, at Illinois (lost 61-80) and at Northern Iowa (lost 45-52)
• NIU has averaged 24 fouls per game, so Bradley will need to get to the line and convert its opportunities (69.3 percent on the season)

Final score

I think Bradley avoids the "trap game" and shows up well in front of a large road crowd in red. Bradley 71 Northern Illinois 64

Analogies

Apparently Andrew Warren buys into my analogy from the game preview I wrote from yesterday.

From my writeup:

"The combination of two bad games, a crazy finish and maybe a little luck were all contributing factors into why Bradley gets a chance to face its "big brother" to the east, the University of Illinois."

"But, when you finally get a chance against your big brother (who refuses to ever play you), you must bring a little extra than a normal game."

And now Warren's postgame comments (from the Chicago Tribune story, here):

"We don't get to play each other too often and they're kind of like the big brother to Bradley," Warren said. "Any time the younger brother beats up on the big brother it's a good feeling."

I was happy to make the wrong prediction on the final score but be right about how at least one player thought about the game.

Minor sidenote: Sam Maniscalco said on the postgame show that he definitely shot free throws in his driveway growing up, thinking about end of the game situations. He also admitted to rooting for the Illini at the time, but was really happy where he's at now with Bradley.

Warren's 3-pointer helps Bradley stun Illini

68	72

One win certainly doesn't make a season. But when that win is over a team like Illinois, it will certainly be remembered for a long time.

Bradley (4-2) stunned the No. 20/21 team in the country 72-68 in the consolation game of the 2009 HoopTV Las Vegas Invitational. Junior guard Andrew Warren connected on a 3-pointer with just over 30 seconds to play giving the Braves a 68-66 lead that would never be relinquished.

All five Bradley starters scored in double figures as Warren led the team with 16 points and hit 4-of-8 from behind the 3-point line. For as much as he's struggled early in the season, Warren is the type of player that Bradley expected to round back into past form. For at least one game, Warren was back to his old self.

Equally as impressive was the play of sophomore center Will Egolf, who scored 12 points, grabbed nine rebounds and blocked three shots. This game suited Egolf's skills well, as he could play more on the perimeter like the Illinois big men prefer. Even though he was at a size disadvantage against Mike Tisdale and Mike Davis, Egolf consistently showed that he could play with them on both ends of the floor.

Even though Illinois (4-2) did outrebound Bradley 45-32, the defensive effort was truly inspired by the Braves. The Illini only made 4-of-18 (22.2 percent) from behind the arc and the majority of these were contested opportunities.

At times, Illinois was its own worst enemy. Sloppy passing, unforced turnovers and rushed shots killed many offensive possessions. Demetri McCamey hit 4-0f-13 from the field (10 points) and committed 5 turnovers.

But even as Bradley had been playing so well and the Illini were struggling, the orange and blue still had opportunities to put the game away in the last few minutes. Illinois was scoring at will and finally took the lead.

Instead of trying to deliver the knockout blow, the Illini reverted into playing "not to lose". Multiple possessions were wasted as they just tried to run down the shot clock and eventually forced up a poor opportunity.

As much as the Illini gave it away, credit Bradley for taking the victory. The Braves hadn't been able to put anyone away this season, even while playing weaker opponents like Presbyterian and Idaho State.

Scoring easy buckets

Some aspects of Jim Les' coaching style have been criticized at times (lineups, substitution patterns, etc.). But one thing that cannot be disputed is his remarkable ability to diagram successful in-bounds plays.

On opportunities where Bradley has the ball in the offensive side of the court, the Braves seem to score an easy basket almost every time. Certainly, the percentage isn't that high, but it is amazing how often someone will be sprung for a layup under the basket or spotted up for a wide open three-pointer.

This game in particular had two set plays out of Bradley timeouts that resulted in baskets in the final three minutes of the game.

Raising expectations

Sophomore forward Taylor Brown has the potential to be an All-Conference player - not when's an upper classman, but now. Brown's stat line (12 points and seven rebounds) might make fans think that he had one of his "weaker" games of the season. But that's just an indication of how far he has come in one season.

Last year, Brown averaged only three points and three rebounds per game. But now he's bulked up more and has shown the athleticism that might make you believe he would be an high-major, Illini-type player if the jersey names weren't visible.

These chances don't come often

Bradley's win tonight was its first since January 24, 1974 over the Illini. The Braves also won that on a neutral court (Chicago) by a score of 105-88.

The big boys from Champaign still hold a 13-3 series advantage. The numbers are a little better for Bradley in the modern era of basketball with Illinois winning four out of six since that 1974 game.

If Illinois had been ducking Bradley and other in-state universities in the past, imagine how difficult it will be for any of these schools to get a chance at the Illini now.

The road ahead

Bradley was able to get one game from its challenging non-conference opponents (BYU, Oklahoma State, Illinois). Now the team needs to build off of this momentum and carry it over to DeKalb against Northern Illinois on Wednesday.

No matter who the Braves were playing next would be the potential for a letdown. But in a somewhat similar concept to this game, Northern Illinois will surely be looking forward to getting a shot against one of the superior in-state teams.

Bradley gets eagerly anticipated shot at Illini

Bradley press release: none
Illinois press release: Here

The combination of two bad games, a crazy finish and maybe a little luck were all contributing factors into why Bradley gets a chance to face its "big brother" to the east, the University of Illinois.

Utah stunned No. 20/21 Illinois on a last-second shot (which might have been after the buzzer) during the final game of Friday's HoopTV Las Vegas Invitational.

Make no mistake about it: The Illini have better shooters, more size and quicker players than Bradley. To make matters worse, Illinois blew a 16-point lead yesterday and will be out for blood this evening.

But, when you finally get a chance against your big brother (who refuses to ever play you), you must bring a little extra than a normal game.

The feud between fans has been well documented. Bradley supporters (generally) hate the Illini because they usually have soft non-conference schedules and never will play any of the better in-state schools. Illini fans respond that they have nothing to gain by playing Bradley, Southern Illinois, etc., since a win won't really "help" on an NCAA resume and a loss looks bad.

And in Illinois, this rivalry (if you can call it that) is a microcosm of the smaller schools always feeling like they get the shaft by the bigger, BCS programs. This problem has been made worse in the past few seasons as fewer mid-major teams have received at-large bids to the NCAA tournament.

Yet even though a game like this can get fans really riled up, it's hard to say how big of a deal it is to the players. For Bradley, only two players (Sam Maniscalco and Dyricus Simms-Edwards) who will see any time in the game are even from Illinois. Possibly you could count Andrew Warren as well, who is from Indianapolis.

But even if the players don't hate the Illini like so many fans do, they certainly should revel in the opportunity to beat another big name school.

Looking at the Illini

Illinois has started the same lineup all five games this season:

G - Demetri McCamey (6'3" Junior, 13.2 PPG, 4 RPG, 6.4 APG)
G - D.J. Richardson (6'3" Freshman, 10.4 PPG, 1.8 RPG, 3.2 APG)
G - Brandon Paul (6'4" Freshman, 12.2 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 1.8 APG)
F - Mike Davis (6'9" Junior, 10.8 PPG, 10.4 RPG, 1.0 APG)
C - Mike Tisdale (7'1" Junior, 10.6 PPG, 4.8 RPG, 0.8 APG)

Every one of these guys is really talented. McCamey can do it all and has the ability to drive to the hoop at will. Both Richardson (who had Bradley on his short list before committing to Illinois) and Paul are solid from the perimeter. Davis and Tisdale are not true "post players" as they rely more on outside shooting than back-to-the-basket moves.

But when the Illinois do need a bruiser, they turn to Dominique Keller (6'7" Senior, 7.0 PPG, 2.8 RPG, 1.8 APG). He's a potential matchup problem for any of the Bradley post players. This might be an opportunity for Bradley's Sam Singh to see some extra minutes and throw a little bulk around.

Opportunities for a win

Obviously Bradley will have to play much better than yesterday in order to beat the Illini tonight. Three-point shooting will likely be a key for both sides. Illinois made nearly 41 percent of its threes during the first four wins of the season (29-of-71). But against Utah, the Illini only made 1-of-9 attempts.

Bradley hasn't really been shooting treys well all season. But between Maniscalco, Warren, Simms-Edwards and freshman Milos Knezevic, the Braves have enough guys out there who can knock one down.

Illinois will hold a size advantage in most matchups and as a result, Bradley needs to focus heavily on rebounding. The more the Braves crash the boards and slow the game down, the better. Similar to Oklahoma State, Bradley simply doesn't have the athletes to get into a running game with the Illini.

An interesting aspect of the rebounding battle will be how Bradley can box out properly if Tisdale or Davis pull the Braves' big men outside the paint. For smaller players, Bradley does have adequate rebounding from the guard position, but we'll see how that turns out when both teams are actually on the floor.

Prediction

The pace of the game will be critical here. If Bradley can keep this game in the 50s or 60s, they might have a chance. But if the pace gets too quick, the game could get ugly. The Braves' resiliency will keep it relatively close but look for the "big brother" to beat the "little guy" yet again.

Illinois 68 Bradley 58

Mistakes cost Braves as Oklahoma State wins 68-57

57	68

Credit Jim Les' teams for one thing: they never quit. Unfortunately, that alone doesn't translate into victories.

Oklahoma State (5-0) took a 20-point lead in the second half and withstood a Bradley (3-2) run to secure a 68-57 victory. Sophomore forward Taylor Brown posted another career-high of 21 points in the losing effort.

The Braves had a promising first four minutes of the game, leading Oklahoma State 9-5. But the Cowboys answered with a 17-5 run and weren't pushed too hard until the last ten minutes of the game.

The frustrating takeaway from this effort was that even though Bradley didn't do anything really poorly tonight (other than shoot free throws), the team didn't flourish in any area either.

The Braves played okay defensively, but as the shot clock ran down, Oklahoma State secured too many second chances. Both teams turned the ball over 15 times, but it was a few costly Bradley turnovers that prevented any opportunity to make a complete comeback.

The deficit was cut to nine (57-48) with 5:27 left on a sequence when Brown would not be denied on the interior and eventually got to the line and made two free throws. But the next six possessions ended all hope: Will Egolf hits 1-of-2 free throws, Egolf commits a moving screen, Egolf makes a bad pass for a turnover, Andrew Warren steps out of bounds, and Warren hits 1-of-2 free throws.

In summary, there were three turnovers, no shots attempted and just 2-of-4 free throws made. The Cowboys pushed the lead back to 13 points and the game was basically out of reach.

Warren's performance was one of the worst of his career, making only 1-of-8 from the floor (four points) and committing five turnovers. If the Braves are going to be successful this season, he must play a whole lot better than he did tonight.

But don't lay the blame just on Warren. Senior guard Chris Roberts played inspired defense on OSU star James Anderson. He also missed all four of his attempts from the floor and made just 5-of-10 from the free-throw line.

For the game, Bradley only made 14-of-24 free-throw attempts (58.3 percent).

And for all the Braves' ineptitude, Oklahoma State didn't really have that great of a game either. The Cowboys got completely out of their offense during the Bradley run, settling for contested 3-pointers and poor jump shots.

Junior guard Sam Maniscalco had an encouraging game with eight points and three rebounds. He looked less tentative than in previous games and showed no signs of discomfort after his awkward fall against Presbyterian.

Moving ahead

Luckily for Bradley, it can quickly forget about the subpar performance against Oklahoma State. The Braves will play the loser of Utah-Illinois tomorrow at 7:30 p.m. This trip can still be successful with a win against either of these teams tomorrow.

Wild West Shootout: Cowboys v. Indians (Er, Braves)

Bradley press release: none

Oklahoma State press release: here

As is what might be expected of most BCS schools early in the season, Oklahoma State has dominated its early opponents. Also not surprising is that all four of the Cowboys wins have been against substantially inferior competition (Seattle, Southern, North Texas, Prairie View A&M).

But, mocking the schedule provides an unfair picture of the talent level of this team. The man Bradley must stop is NBA prospect and Preseason All-Big XII Team selection James Anderson. The 6'6" junior guard is a matchup nightmare for most teams, possessing the ability to shoot the three (sixth in Big XII in three-point shooting percentage) as well as get to the basket (he's already shot 30 free throws in only four games). Even though he's an inch shorter than junior guard Andrew Warren, look for 6'4" senior Chris Roberts to be assigned the task of slowing down Anderson.

If the Braves can slow Anderson, hopefully they can take advantage of the two small guards for Oklahoma State. Both Keiton Page and Ray Penn are 5'9" guards who have the ability to make three pointers in bunches. Though Penn is off to a slow start in his freshman season (2-of-15, 13 percent), Page has picked up where he left off last season (12-of-29, 41 percent). The Braves can't get caught sagging down low like against Wofford, otherwise this duo could be really problematic.

Maybe the most interesting matchup to watch will be Oklahoma State's Obi Muonelo (6'5" Senior Guard/Forward, 11.5 PPG, 7.0 RPG) versus Bradley's Taylor Brown (6'6" Soph. Forward, 17.5 PPG, 9.0 RPG). Both players will be two of the best rebounders on floor and if the Braves are to have a chance at winning, Brown will need to hold the upper hand here.

From a pure size perspective, Bradley might actually have a slightly bigger starting lineup. But with how well Muonelo and Anderson (9.0 RPG) crash the glass, Oklahoma State surely has the rebounding advantage on paper. The Braves will need to be aware of long rebounds with how often the Cowboys shoot threes (22.5 per game).

Much of this will come from the tempo of the game. Similar to the breakneck speed of the Wofford game, anticipate that both teams will push the floor for quick baskets. Even though they've had a series of blowout victories, Oklahoma State has just eight players averaging more than 10 minutes per game. Bradley has eleven guys who have put in double-digit minutes - contributions from the deep bench will be important.

Final Outcome

This is the first game of the season that is difficult to predict. Though the Cowboys have a talent advantage over the Braves, the similarity in lineup size should an advantage for Bradley. Oklahoma State has also been turning the ball over too much (54 assists to 47 turnovers) and if the Braves can force some mistakes, they should be able to keep this game close.

I expect the Cowboys to win this game but not by a significant margin. Also, don't be surprised at all if Bradley pulls the upset.

Oklahoma State 79 Bradley 73

Braves handle Presbyterian, 71-58

58	71

Even though the end result was never really in doubt, this game proved that

Sophomore forward Taylor Brown put together another superb effort, scoring a career-high 19 points and grabbed ten rebounds. Junior guard Andrew Warren added 16 points.

Bradley got a major spark from freshman forward Milos Knezevic. He hit his first three 3-point attempts, finishing with 11 points and four rebounds. Like most freshman, he had a few lapses that cost him an opportunity at a couple more baskets. But overall, his lauded outside shooting certainly showed on the floor tonight.

As anticipated, the Braves dominated on the glass (33-22), but only managed to force 14 turnovers. The most worrisome problem with Bradley tonight was perimeter defense. Though Presbyterian only made 8-0f-21 attempts (38.1 percent), approximately eight or nine could have been considered "wide open" shots.

The slow defensive rotations allowed Presbyterian to hang around in the game. Bradley led 42-28 at halftime and looked ready to turn it into a blowout after going up 18 points with 13 minutes to play.

A lethargic five minutes let the Blue Hose climb back into the game (56-46), but back-to-back layups by Brown and sophomore center Will Egolf restored the Bradley stranglehold.

Better minutes

All nine players in the Bradley lineup played at least ten minutes and only Warren and senior guard Chris Roberts had more than 30 minutes.

Lost on the scoresheet might be sophomore guard Eddren McCain, who still doesn't appear to have a ton of confidence in his shooting. But, McCain did run the offense well, dishing out six assists and committing only one turnover.

Minor injury

Junior guard Sam Maniscalco had another tough game (six points), but did hit an big 3-pointer that helped seal the game in the waning minutes. Unfortunately, Maniscalco landed awkwardly on an already sore ankle on the play.

According to head coach Jim Les in the post-game show, he was being attended to by medical staff and should likely be ready to go on Friday.

Looking ahead

This game wasn't the best performance, but it showed growth from the Wofford game Sunday. The challenge gets significantly raised this weekend as Bradley plays at 7 p.m. Friday night against Oklahoma State. Depending upon the outcome of that game, the Braves will also play either Utah or Illinois on Saturday evening.

Bradley would surely be pleased with a split on the trip, but there's no reason it can't win both games.

Presbyterian at Bradley: Game Notes

Presbyterian official release

Bradley official release

Bradley (2-1) will try to pick up its third consecutive victory on the season when it hosts Presbyterian College (0-3) tonight at 7:05 pm. This will also be the second game of the 2009 HoopTV Las Vegas Invitational. Bradley will play the other two games in the tournament in Las Vegas this weekend.

Presbyterian is a really small school (1,200 enrollment) and the team is making the transition to Div. I basketball. Though games against the Blue Hose do count for RPI calculation, next season will be the first year that Presbyterian is eligible for postseason play.

As a result, the team appears to be somewhat "throwing away" this season. No starters return from last season's 12-17 team and there are no seniors on the entire roster. The Blue Hose have already been blasted by both Illinois (94-48) and Clemson (84-41).

Other stats are pretty ugly, too. They've committed 63 turnovers to only 33 assists and have been outrebounded by more than 11 per game. These are the two areas Bradley should try to exploit the most.

If Bradley doesn't settle for outside shots and forces this inexperienced team into bad mistakes, this could get ugly early. This matchup is much different than the Wofford team who came to Peoria on Sunday.

Though competitive basketball is always more enjoyable, an easy 20+ point victory would help Bradley have some confidence going into the challenging games in Las Vegas.

Score prediction: Bradley 72 Presbyterian 54

Warren's dunk seals close victory over Wofford

54	56

Bradley almost learned a tough lesson on playing a full 40-minute game Sunday. But the Braves (2-1) held on to beat a resilient Wofford (2-2) team 56-54.

Junior guard Andrew Warren made the crucial play of the game as Wofford had the ball for a potential winning shot. Instead, Warren jumped a passing lane and ran down the court for a dunk with 4.3 seconds left.

Just seven minutes earlier, Bradley had one of its largest leads of the game at 48-36. Sophomore guard Eddren McCain tossed in a banked shot from just outside the free-throw line and that looked like all of the breaks were falling the Braves' way.

A dry spell lasted nearly four minutes and the Terriers closed the gap to 48-46. But credit the Braves for never letting the visitors ever get all the way back from the deficit. Important baskets by sophomore forward Taylor Brown, senior guard Chris Roberts and junior guard Sam Maniscalco on three of the next four possessions helped keep Bradley ahead for good.

The game had a frenetic pace that was certainly not indicative of the final score. Wofford only shot 33.3 percent for the game and Bradley wasn't much better at 41.7 percent. The Braves also only made 2-of-16 from 3-point range (12.5 percent). Both teams played well defensively, but there were also plenty of open looks that were missed, too.

Rebounding clearly was a focus after the poor performance on the glass against Idaho State. The Braves were +7 overall (40-33) and only allowed six offensive rebounds to the Terriers.

Maybe the return of Brown had a big effect or possibly it was just the fact that Wofford played a very small lineup. Either way, we'll have to see how Bradley rebounds against bigger teams coming up on the schedule.

Clearly this team is a lot better with Brown on the floor than when he was suspended. Expectations were high for him coming into the season and he didn't disappoint, scoring a game-high 16 points and also grabbing six rebounds. If he continues to develop, this team will forget about departed senior Theron Wilson pretty quickly.

Head coach Jim Les generally kept a bigger lineup (for Bradley, at least) on the floor, which was refreshing. Sophomore center Will Egolf began showing some of the brilliance fans saw before his season-ending injury last season. He showed the ability to shoot his smooth mid-range jumper as well as work in the post. Egolf had eight points and four rebounds, but more importantly had three blocks and played great defense on Wofford's Noah Dahlman.

But even in a broader view of the playing time, Les seemed to distribute the minutes pretty effectively. Brown, Roberts and Warren all logged 30+ minutes and both Egolf and Maniscalco had over 25. Sophomore center Anthony Thompson had a few nice baskets and was rewarded with 11 minutes of playing time.

Les also made the proper observation about some of the players who were having "off" games. McCain didn't contribute much and only played 16 minutes. Pleasant surprise freshman guard Dyricus Simms-Edwards never really seemed into the flow of this game and only played for ten minutes. These sorts of things should be expected from a freshman and it's good that Les didn't overexpose Simms-Edwards.

Bradley should be commended for finishing off a pesky Wofford team, but the team needs to shoot better if its going to beat better teams. The Presbyterian game tomorrow shouldn't be much of a challenge, but hopefully it will get the Braves some confidence in their shooting going into Las Vegas over the weekend.

Wofford should provide a good barometer

Wofford, though most fans probably have never heard of the school, has looked good early in the season. They've already beaten a SEC team (Georgia) and may present more of a challenge then most would have imagined originally when this game was put on the schedule. Sorry for the short update, but I'll be sure to provide the full recap later.

Bittersweet victory for Braves in home opener

69	74

Post-game discussion should have been focused on Bradley (1-1) wining its home opener Sunday against a relentless Idaho State (0-2) team, 74-69. But instead, the Braves will have to deal with the loss of yet another player to injury.

Senior guard Dodie Dunson will miss the remainder of the season after breaking two bones in his left forearm during a painful two-play sequence in the second half of Sunday's game.

First, Dunson tried to make a steal and crashed hard to the floor with Idaho State's Donnie Carson. On the next possession, Dunson slashed down the baseline and the Bengals' Austin Kilpatrick bumped him in the air and the Bradley senior fell awkwardly onto his arm with 12:28 left.

He laid on the floor in obvious pain and needed assistance to get up and head to the locker room. Dunson is expected to make a full recovery and will apply for a medical redshirt in order to return to the Braves lineup in 2010-11.

The scary incident really overshadowed what had been a great game for Dunson. He finished the game with as the team's co-leader in points with 16, making 4-of-6 attempts from 3-point range. After Bradley got down 10-4 early, Dunson had 14 of the Braves next 19 points, helping the team turn a six-point deficit into a six-point lead, 23-17.

The talented duo of Broderick Gilchrest (19 points, 4 assists) and Amorrow Morgan (18 points, 4 rebounds) consistently kept the Bengals in the game. Though these guards were indeed talented, the Braves had too many breakdowns where they got beat one-on-one defensively.

The contribution from freshman guard Dyricus Simms-Edwards stood out more than any other player in the game. Simms-Edwards had a night where he really filled up the stat sheet: 12 points, two rebounds, two assists, one block, and one steal.

He aggressively took the ball to the hoop and finished strong on multiple occasions. Simms-Edwards also knocked down two critical free throws that gave Bradley a 64-63 lead it would never relinquish. He capped off the stellar effort by making an acrobatic save of a ball going out of bounds to junior guard Sam Maniscalco in the final minute.

Like any freshman, Simms-Edwards will likely have his moments where he struggles. But if he can provide an effort like this on a consistent basis, the loss of Dunson (at least in an on-the-court manner) will be greatly lessened.

The other Bradley guards also had good games, with junior Andrew Warren leading the way with 16 points. His slashing ability looked sharp and opened up many good looks from his accurate mid-range game.

Senior Chris Roberts had 12 points, including an important three-point play to extend the Braves' lead to 67-63. And even though he had a bad shooting night, Maniscalco hit a big 3-pointer on the next possession to extend the lead out to five points. The junior had 13 points on 3-of-11 shooting.

Lack of interior presence

The Braves played its second straight game without Taylor Brown, who was serving his final game of a suspension. Without the team's best rebounder, it clearly had an effect on Bradley's performance on the glass. Idaho State won the rebounding battle 36-26 with 17 coming on the offensive side of the court.

This disadvantage resulted in 42 points in the paint and 21 second-chance points for the Bengals. Surely some of the problem can be attributed to Brown's absence, but this aspect simply has to get better if Bradley is going to win on a consistent basis.

Head coach Jim Les' four-guard lineup may have been out of necessity but this just isn't a recipe for winning games. Sophomore Will Egolf and senior Sam Singh grabbed four rebounds each, but this just isn't enough when the Braves are playing such small ball.

Hopefully Egolf will continue to improve and Bradley can get something out of young players like Milos Knezevic and Anthony Thompson. The Braves have size on the roster for once but it is uncertain how the rotation will shake out as the season goes on.

Next up for Bradley

The Braves will have a week off and play again Sunday against the Wofford Terriers. Who? Well, a team most fans probably haven't heard of took Pittsburgh down to the wire before losing 63-60 on the road.

True, Pittsburgh is very inexperienced and likely will take time to gel as a team. But, any team that can go into an environment like that cannot be taken lightly. Unlike Bradley, Wofford will be playing its third game in six days when it comes to Peoria.

Interestingly enough, Wofford also started four guards in its last game, so that would appear to favor Bradley. A full preview will be coming soon.

(Note: Due to the game recap being pushed back to tonight, I will be publishing my first conference ratings tomorrow, Tuesday, Nov. 17.)

Recap to come

Just in case anyone is looking for my recap, I wasn't available to watch the game live last night. But, I've got it on the bubraves.tv archive and will watch it this evening and provide a full recap. How's about my prediction for the final score - almost nailed it exactly!

Idaho State comes to Peoria for home opener

The Bengals from Idaho State will be Bradley's first home opponent of the season. Both teams coming off road losses on Friday night square off at Carver Arena tonight.

Bradley's press release: (.pdf)

Idaho State lost its opener 88-68 against future Bradley opponent, Iowa State. This game wasn't really close as the Cyclones led early and never looked back. The Bengals started three guards and had nine guys play at least ten minutes in the game. Two of those guards finished in double figures, senior Amorrow Morgan (15 points, 4 turnovers) and junior Broderick Gilchrest (21 points, 9-11 FT, 5 turnovers).

Morgan finished as a first-team all-conference player in the Big Sky last season, while Gilchrest is a transfer who started his career at Middle Tennessee and played last season in junior college.

It's tough to analyze just one box score from a team, but Iowa State seemed to rattle a veteran squad from Idaho. The Bengals had just five assists but committed 14 turnovers.

Here's the official release from Idaho State: (.pdf)

"Idaho State returns four starters and seven letterwinners from last years’ 13-19 team that advanced to the semifinals of the Big Sky Tournament for the second consecutive year. While the Bengals lost a couple of important cogs in Matt Stucki and Lucas Steijn, they return six seniors, including Amorrow Morgan, who led the team in scoring a year ago with a 13.6 average, and he also added 13.6 assists. Also back is leading rebounder Demetrius Monroe, who averaged 5.3 rebounds per game but has been slowed by an injury in the preseason. ISU also returns their leading shot blocker in Deividas Busma (29 blocks) and leading three-point shooter in Austin Kilpatrick (34 threes, but .417 percentage in conference play)."

Some matchup information:

"Idaho State has faced off just once against Bradley, and it was so long against John F. Kennedy was the President. The Bengals lost to Bradley in their only meeting in November of 1963, with Bradley winning 101-70 in Peoria. Joe O’Brien has not faced off against a Missouri Valley Conference Team. Overall against the current configuration of the MVC ISU is 3-9 all-time, and 1-7 on the road (Bradley 0-1, Creighton 2-5, Drake 0-1, Illinois State 2-2, Indiana State 1-0). The only road win came ion January 3, 1953 when Idaho State defeated Creighton in Omaha 69-68."

Tips to victory

This appears to be the kind of game Bradley should be able to win fairly easily. The Braves should have confidence after their positive showing at BYU on Friday. As long as they don't overlook Idaho State and just continue to play solid defense, this should be the first win of the year.

Final Score: Bradley 76 Idaho State 68

In Case You Missed It

Missouri Valley

Indiana State 88
Nebraska Kearney 58

Local story (Tribstar.com)
Statistics (.pdf, University website)

Northern Iowa 71
Nebraska Kearney 65

Local story (WCFcourier.com)
Statistics (University website)

National

The first big upset, as Rider wins at No. 18 Mississippi State, 88-74.

BYU's coach gets an contract extension.

Considering his track record and how the Cougars looked against Bradley tonight, it appears well-deserved.

Northwestern star forward Kevin Coble may need surgery.

Arkansas goes crazy, including an incredible shooting performance by Rotnei Clarke.

SI.com writer Michael Rosenberg writes an interesting article about players being "forced" to attend college.

BYU holds off determined Braves in season opener

60	70

Normally double-digit losses leave fans angry, disappointed and frustrated. But as BYU (1-0) left the court with a 70-60 victory, the road team had to feel pretty encouraged about the upcoming season.

Consider the circumstances: Bradley (0-1) had to open up the season against a team that has only lost three home games in the past four seasons. BYU was picked to win the Mountain West Conference and some think the team could win a few games in the NCAA tournament as well. Then starting forward Taylor Brown was listed as ineligible ▬ this could have been a blowout.

The Braves couldn't shoot in the first half (6-of-22, 27.3 percent) and only trailed 32-25 at the break. After a timeout, head coach Jim Les ran one of his familiar alley-oop plays for senior guard Chris Roberts. The slam tied the game at 39-39 with 14:48 left.

The Cougars responded with a 15-6 run that was the defining moment of the game. The 5 1/2 minute stretch included two Bradley turnovers, a missed free throw (the team only hit 4-of-10 in the second half) and huge momentum swing.

Les' teams always seem to have one last push in them and in this game, that allowed Bradley to keep the game within 7-8 points for most of the remaining half. Other teams may have folded after that run but credit Bradley for hanging in there against a very good team.

The combination of BYU's star players, forward Jimmer Fredette and forward Jonathan Tavernari, were too much for Bradley to handle. Fredette made 12-of-14 free throw attempts and scored a game high 25 points. Tavernari didn't have his best shooting game, but still hit three 3-pointers and finished with 13.

Though not as dynamic, Bradley's top trio also had a pretty good game. Roberts had a team-high 16 points, but still showed why he can be such a frustrating player. The good certainly outweighed the bad, as he had five rebounds, two steals, a block and that big dunk. But, at a critical stretch in the game where Bradley trailed by 5-7 points, Roberts missed three opportunities at the free-throw line.

Junior guard Sam Maniscalco had 15 points, hitting 3-of-5 attempts from behind the 3-point line and all six of his free throws. Fellow junior guard Andrew Warren, who played in his first regular season game since sitting out all of 2008-09 with a foot injury, also finished in double figures with 13. Warren was clearly a bit rusty, but the potential is obviously still there for a big comeback season.

From a team stats perspective, these teams played very evenly. Bradley hit 7-of-18 and BYU hit 7-of-19 from 3-point range. The Cougars held a slight advantages in rebounding (24-22) and turnovers (11-15). If the home team could have shot better from the free-throw line (70.4 percent), it might have won more easily.

BYU simply hit more shots than Bradley did (22-of-55 versus 18-of-50 for the Braves). In a game where most other factors were even, that was the difference.

Noteworthy performances

Sophomore forward Taylor Brown was held out of the game by head coach Jim Les as a result of a violation of team rules. This likely is a result of an on-campus incident in September where Brown was arrested on a battery charge. In the big picture, this was a good move by Les as he continued to show that inappropriate conduct (no matter the severity, circumstances, etc.) needs to be handled with proper discipline. Brown surely would have helped tonight but most likely woudn't have changed the outcome. All indications at this point are that this will be the only game Brown will miss.

Freshman guard Dyricus Simms-Edwards surprised with a very good performance in his first game. His stat line doesn't look gaudy (two rebounds, two assists, two turnovers), but he really provided valuable minutes, especially on the defensive side of the ball. Expect him to continue to receive 10-15 minutes per game if he continues his steady play.

Sophomore center Anthony Thompson really needs to start turning the corner this season. After a disappointing rookie season, he started out 2009-10 with a two-point, three-rebound performance. Again, nothing eye-dropping here but his play showed some early progress that should hopefully lead to more regular minutes.

Senior guard Dodie Dunson was nearly invisible, getting shut out from the scoreboard in 25 minutes and grabbing just two rebounds. But the good news most Bradley fans know about Dunson is that he's a streaky player and could go for 18 on Sunday against Idaho State.

Coming up next

After an encouraging performance on the road, the Braves come home looking for their first win of the season on Sunday against Idaho State. The Bengals lost tonight to another common Bradley opponent, Iowa State, 88-68 in Ames, Iowa.

Late breaking news ...

Looks like Bradley may be short-handed tonight. Not a good omen ...

Dave Reynolds of the Journal Star: http://pjstarpeoria.com/bradleyhoops/pressrow/2009/11/13/taylor-browns-status/

Bradley opens season at BYU

Here's the preview for game one of the season. This will be a very tough test for Bradley as the opening game of the Mountain West-Missouri Valley Challenge.

Statistical Comparison (Stats from 2008-09)

6th		2009-10 Conf. Poll	1st
3/2		Starters Returning/Lost	4/1
21-15		Record (Overall)	25-8
10-8 (4th)		Record (Conference)	12-4 (t-1st)
67.1/66.3		Points/Game (Off./Def.)	77.1/65.2
32.2		Rebounds/Game (Defense)	36.2
12.6		Assists/Game (Defense)	16.3
7.8		Steals/Game (Defense)	7.3
3.5		Blocks/Game (Defense)	3.6
14.5		Turnovers/Game (Defense)	11.4
44.0.4/43.3		FG% (Offense/Defense)	48.4/40.7
32.8/34.5		3PT% (Offense/Defense)	38.1/30.1
6.0		3PT/Game (Made)	7.2
71.9		FT% (Defense)	72.9

(Statistics in bold are points of emphasis for this game.)

On paper, this doesn't look too promising for Bradley. Not only is BYU a dynamic scoring team but the Cougars also held their opponents to a meager 40.7 percent from the floor and 30.1 percent from the 3-point line.

BYU notes (.pdf): Here

Bradley notes (.pdf): Here

Some other reasons for concern, from the BYU press release:

"The Cougars are coming off a season in which they finished 25-8 overall and 12-4 in the Mountain West Conference to claim their third-straight regular season league title and earn a third-straight trip to the NCAA Tournament."

This team was really good last season and they've got four of five starters back. Two were named to the preseason all-conference team, senior forward Jonathan Tavernari and junior guard Jimmer Fredette. The latter was also named as the Mountain West's Preseason Player of the Year.

"Since [Head Coach Dave] Rose took over as head coach of BYU basketball, the Cougars are 61-3 in the Marriott Center, including a 53-game winning streak from 2005 to 2008 — the longest in school history. The Cougars were 14-2 at home last season."

Beating BYU on a cruise ship in the Caribbean would be difficult, but winning in Provo, Utah is nearly impossible the past few seasons for any team.

After their final preseason game, coach Rose noted:

“We still have a lot of evaluation left to do. We’ll watch Bradley and our lineup up may be determined by their personnel but I think we have eight or nine different players who could start.”

This team does indeed have depth, but one aspect that bodes well for Bradley is the size of BYU's four returning starters. The Cougars go 6-2, 6-3, 6-6 and 6-11, with Tavernari as an undersized post player at 6-6. So, the prospective lineups might be:

Sam Maniscalco (6-0)/Eddren McCain (5-11) vs. Lamont Morgan Jr. (5-10)
Dodie Dunson (6-3) vs. Jimmer Fredette (6-2)
Andrew Warren (6-5)/Chris Roberts (6-4) vs. Jackson Emery (6-3)
Taylor Brown (6-6) vs. Jonathan Tavernari (6-6)
Will Egolf (6-9) vs. Chris Miles (6-11)

So, if that's really how it shakes out, Bradley won't be dominated with a huge size disadvantage as they often are against good opponents. Of course, what really matters is what both sides can do on the floor. Height only makes a small difference if the talent level is drastically different.

Tips to victory

If Bradley's going to take down such a good opponent, the Braves are going to need to really play good defense and take care of the basketball. These seem like two very simple facts, but generally it has provided a formula for success. If somehow Bradley can keep this game in the 60s, there's a chance at winning. But, if Tavernari starts raining 3-pointers (he's second on the all-time BYU list) and the Braves get into a running game, this could get ugly.

Final score: BYU 82 Bradley 68

Initial Thoughts, Changes for the Season

Opening night is tomorrow! That should be a pretty good reason to get the blog going in full swing.

First, let me begin by announcing some changes to the blog this season. For anybody who read the game-by-game reactions from 2008-09, these will return. The format will be retained, focusing on a combination of game flow description and reaction to individual player performance.

Some new additions:

• Game previews - At least an hour before game time (preferably the night before), I will be providing some information on the upcoming Bradley game. As many of you know, the game notes provided by schools are filled with data but are often a little cumbersome to read. I'd like to provide a "cheat sheet" for anyone looking to quickly get useful information. I will provide a link to each press release and pull out any important facts. Hopefully these snippets can help people looking for a brief synopsis, but also allow anyone to take a deeper look at the great work that is done by the sports information directors. Lastly, I will provide some keys to victory and make a prediction.

Date/time to be published: Varies; At least one hour before tip-off and most likely the night before the next game

• Missouri Valley Conference rankings - This was a project I thought about mid-season last year and now I'd like to implement it. Many websites/blogs post polls on how they rate the teams in a conference, nationally, etc. In reality, I have yet to find anything that is more than a popularity contest, especially on the national level. Teams get honored/ignored because of who gets seen on ESPN and not necessarily because of their on-the-court performance. For the first few weeks, I will rely on my unbiased look at the conference to rate the teams. Once a solid set of statistics have been established, look for an incorporation of a rating system to help support (or possibly refute) my rankings.

Date/time to be published: Weekly on Monday

• "In Case You Missed It" - Even though it isn't as long as the Major League Baseball season, college hoops is truly a grind. Teams play 1-3 games per week for 4 months (the good ones play for five!). If your favorite team is Bradley, that can be enough of a homework assignment just to keep up with them. What about other teams in the MVC? Are there any big national games? What about scandals, suspensions, and other major news stories?

Certainly, I can't keep up with everything either, but hopefully I can provide a rundown of stories you need to read. In many cases, this might just be a short blurb and a link, but I'm hoping this can be a useful way of sifting through all of the information we get inundated with through different news outlets, blogs and websites. If I notice something interesting, I'll try to put it in here.

Date/time to be published: Daily, on non-game days (in the evening) as my schedule permits

Hopefully if you're reading this post, you're excited as I am for the start of college basketball and the improvements to this blog. As always, please let me know if you have any suggestions/comments about new ideas for this season.

Coming up next: Bradley at BYU preview

In case you're wondering ...

The blog is definitely still alive and will be continued this season. I haven't decided on a lot of particulars yet, but I hope to have a more regular publishing schedule and try to write about some different topics as the season progresses. As is with a lot of us, basketball hasn't been a big priority for a while. But as the season previews start coming out, the banter has already begun. Anyway, look for some interesting content coming up this season!

Chris Roberts' miracle shot stuns Oakland

75	76

Something about Oakland University brings out historic events for the Bradley basketball program.

Any Bradley fan remembers 2006 - the Sweet 16 season. Well, even though the games were played at the Palace at Auburn Hills (Detroit Pistons arena), the host school for the first two games was none other than Oakland University. That looked like the last time there would be any connection between the two schools.

But, as a result of Bradley playing the inaugural CollegeInsider.com tournament, the schools came together again, this time with both playing on the court. The Braves looked to be saddled with a disappointing home loss after Oakland's Johnathon Jones made a shot with 0.9 seconds left.

Then junior guard Chris Roberts threw the ball the length of the court and made one of the most improbable buzzer beaters in Bradley history.

Here's a link to the video provided by WEEK-TV: Here

Bradley advances to the semifinals of the CIT and will face Pacific on Wednesday.

MVC tournament quarterfinal: No. 4 Bradley vs. No. 5 Southern Illinois

55	67

For once, the thuggery of Southern Illinois didn't prevail. In fact, those tactics actually helped ignite a huge effort from the Bradley team to take a quarterfinal victory over the Salukis 67-55.

After playing seven minutes of bad basketball, Bradley trailed SIU 10-3 and were slipping into some of the bad habits that had plagued the team earlier in the season — too many 3-point attempts and turnovers. The game looked like one of the typical kinds of performances Bradley seems to put up against the Salukis once or twice a year.

But then with 12:39 to play in the half, forward Theron Wilson got thrown to the ground on a fast break attempt by SIU's Anthony Booker. After the unnecessary cheap shot, Wilson looked woozy and missed both free throw attempts after an intentional foul was called.

Bradley would score later that possession after a few misses by forward Taylor Brown on a classic "Sam-to-Sam" play. Guard Sam Maniscalco hit forward/center Sam Singh near the hoop for a layup and the Braves got off of three points, their first in more than six minutes.

The numerous opportunities on that one possession showed that Bradley wasn't going to get bullied by SIU anymore this game. Trailing 17-9 after a Carlton Fay jumper with eight minutes left in the half, the Braves went on 13-0 run during the next four minutes. Guard Darian Norris had five of his seven points during the run, including a 3-pointer that gave Bradley its first lead since 3-2 early in the half.

Bradley continued to play well into halftime, leading 34-25 and forcing the young SIU team into numerous turnovers. The second half wasn't much different.

The Braves led by as many as 15 points and never allowed the Salukis to close within seven. One of the biggest keys was understanding SIU's tight, pressuring defense. As the Salukis continually tried to push guards away from the basket, Bradley adjusted and began taking the ball into the defense, not letting the opponent dictate the style of the game.

Bradley also used the Salukis' pressure against them by drawing a ton of fouls and getting its best free-throw shooters to the line. Maniscalco, who had the highest free-throw percentage during conference play (89 percent), made all 14 attempts in the game. The sophomore's game-high 21 points and three assists show why he's a team leader.

Up and down the lineup, the Braves got contributions. Singh looks better every game he's healthy, showing good footwork and contributing eight points and five rebounds. Guard Chris Roberts had six points, seven rebounds and a dynamic block that further shows his unbelievable athleticism.

Even Wilson, who seemed to be out of sorts for awhile after the throw down, made some important shots. Wilson had 14 points and nine rebounds, showing the senior leadership that helped earn him all-conference honors.

Though disposing of the hated Salukis tastes sweet, Bradley's road to the NCAA tournament gets much more difficult today. The top-seeded, co-conference champion Northern Iowa Panthers will certainly give the Braves all that they can handle. UNI won both meetings in the regular season, but those only came by a combined eight points. In fact, Bradley led both games with five minutes to play. The Braves will need to finish off the dynamic 3-point shooters from Cedar Falls in order to advance to the tournament's championship game.

No. 4 Bradley vs. No. 1 Northern Iowa, 1:35 p.m. (CST), Sat. 3/7, St. Louis, Mo.

Game Twenty-Nine Recap: Bradley @ Evansville

49	56

Individual games can be a microcosm of a season.

Wednesday night felt like just that as the up-and-down Braves fell on the road to Evansville (17-11, 8-9) by a score of 56-49. Bradley (16-13, 9-8) didn't play well and again showed its vulnerability when the team shoots poorly overall and takes too many 3-point shots.

The Braves made 6-of-24 from behind the arc, only 25 percent. Bradley hasn't shot that many threes in any conference game this season, and it was the most since the dismal performance at Milwaukee on Dec. 20 (6-of-27, 22 percent).

Compare the results in wins versus losses and the discrepancy is even more evident. In nine conference wins, Bradley has made 51-of-130 attempts from the 3-point line, good for 39 percent. In the eight losses, the Braves have not only shot a much lower percentage (30 percent) but they've also taken 15 more shots (145) in one less game. This team simply can't keep trying long range shots at the rate of previous teams.

As for this particular game, Evansville showed the emotion expected on senior night. After a dunk by Bradley center David Collins, the Purple Aces went on 8-2 run to pull ahead 17-7. Most of the half was pretty sloppy overall and Evansville maintained its 10-point lead going into halftime at 30-20.

The Braves never could put together enough scores in a row to close the lead within four points until late in the second half. Often this was attributable to lax defensive possessions. Though the overall defensive effort looked good on paper (Evansville shot only 40 percent from the floor), too many times the Braves were beaten off the dribble or were too slow to rotate. This led to numerous layups and free throw opportunities by the Purple Aces.

The game may have been more one-sided if Evansville had hit more than 15-of-24 free throws (62.5 percent). And at this point, it almost goes without saying that a Jim Les-coached team would give 100 percent effort. That certainly wasn't in question tonight, but without a go-to scorer, Bradley couldn't make enough shots to win.

Collins needs to be singled out for Bradley. He led the Braves in scoring for the first time this season with 10 points. Anyone who knows this team should understand though, that if Collins is the high-point man, Bradley is probably going to lose the game.

That shouldn't take away from Collins' game. He showed a tenacity that fans have rarely seen from him in road games this season. Collins grabbed 10 rebounds and was credited with five blocks (though it surely looked like 6 or 7 when watching).

Another thing to like about Collins tonight is that he generally made good decisions with the ball. When he had man-to-man coverage, he took the ball to the basket aggressively. But when Evansville doubled down on him, Collins found the open man — helping contribute to his four assists.

Nobody else really stepped up for Bradley. Guard Sam Maniscalco and forward Theron Wilson have generally been the guys to do it, but they finished with just nine and six points respectively.

The Braves were also at a disadvantage as guard Dodie Dunson played the whole game with a heavily wrapped right hand. The injury greatly affected his ability to make any offensive contribution, therefore putting more pressure on Maniscalco and Wilson.

Jason Holsinger had a great game for Evansville on his senior night. The sharpshooting guard led all scorers with 19 points.

Next game:

As noted in my post about the MVC standings, Bradley needs to forget about this loss quickly. The Braves will likely finish 4th in conference, but they need some momentum going into the conference tournament in St. Louis.

Drake comes to Peoria for the final game of the regular season after a heartbreaking home loss to Southern Illinois tonight. Bradley definitely appears to be the better team, but that doesn't mean much in the Valley this year. The Braves put up a terrible performance Feb. 7 in Des Moines, falling to the Bulldogs 68-54.

A win secures the 4th seed in the conference tournament. But it's hard to guess who Bradley will play until all games are complete.

Next game: Drake @ Bradley, Sat. 2/28, 7:05 p.m.

Missouri Valley Picture Gets Clearer

Northern Iowa's big win at Illinois State assures the Panthers of finishing in the top two in the Valley, while ISU has locked up the third seed in the tournament.

Let's check out the full standings after 17 of 18 league games:

			Conference		Tiebreaker Pts.
		Place	Wins	Losses	Max.	Earned
Northern Iowa		1	13	4	173	125 (+18)
Creighton		1	13	4	173	107 (+11)
Illinois State		3	11	6	179	91 (+1)
Bradley		4	9	8	183	62 (+3)
Wichita State		5	8	9	189	75 (0)
Evansville		5	8	9	189	50 (+8)
Drake		7	7	10	197	72 (+2)
Southern Ill.		7	7	10	197	48 (+8)
Indiana State		9	6	11	201	65 (-1)
Missouri State		10	3	14	207	26 (-1)

Just like last time, I'll remind those who read breakdown that we're merely talking about tournament seeding. If Northern Iowa and Creighton both win Saturday, they'd be crowned conference co-champions. But UNI would be the top seed.

The Panthers split with Creighton, so they would win any tie by virtue of an insurmountable advantage in tiebreaker points. Even with a Creighton win over Illinois State this weekend, it would not be enough to catch UNI.

So with things pretty simple at the top, it's still very foggy in the middle of the Valley. Bradley's disappointing performance at Evansville drops the Braves much closer to the pack. A win would have clinched the 4th seed, but now Saturday's home finale against Drake has even greater importance than just senior night.

Bradley could make it very simple and just win at home, which would lock up the 4th seed. The Braves might be able to back into that same seed by Wichita State (at Southern Illinois) and Evansville (at Northern Iowa) both losing, which is very plausible.

If we have some ties, here's how it will look:

-If Bradley ties Wichita State at 9-9, then the Braves take the 4th seed (head-to-head, 2-0)

-If Bradley ties Evansville at 9-9, then the tiebreaker points would get extremely close. I've ran through some of the more likely scenarios of outcomes and it looks like the Purple Aces would claim the 4th seed — barely. The key is all of the points that Evansville would be making by knocking off one of the top two teams in the league. But what are the chances that Evansville can go into Cedar Falls and knock off a team that is trying to clinch a conference championship?

-If there's a tie at 9-9 between all three teams, Bradley wins this tiebreaker as well. The league adds together the head-to-head records against all tied opponents. Bradley won three of four, while Evansville was 2-2 (and would earn the 5th seed) and Wichita State would be 1-3 and be seeded sixth.

Looking at all of those possibilities, it seems almost certain that Bradley's going to be seeded 4th in the Valley tournament. Wichita State, Evansville and even Southern Illinois could be potential opponents.

The seeding from 5th to 8th is even worse than 4th to 6th. There's a definite possibility that there could be a three- or four-way tie at 8-10. If all of the home teams win this weekend, then Wichita State, Evansville and Southern Illinois would be tied (Drake would fall to 7-11 and be seeded 8th or 9th). Southern Illinois would actually win this tiebreaker, securing two wins over Wichita State.

The team that has no idea where it is going has to be the Salukis. SIU could finish as high as 5th (if that four-way tie were to happen) but could drop as low as 9th! Wichita State has almost as confusing of a situation, looking at somewhere between 5th and 8th.

With so many possibilities still out there, keep in mind a few things:

-Evansville and Wichita State stay out of the play-in game with wins.

-SIU is the only team in this bunch that is at home, which is certainly an advantage.

-Wichita State would lose a head-to-head tie with SIU, but otherwise has the most tiebreaker points at the moment.

-Anything can happen - the Valley is really mediocre this year and nothing surprises me anymore!

Looking near the bottom of the standings, Indiana State is locked in the play-in game, but could finish anywhere between 7th and 9th still. Missouri State will be the 10th seed, having already clinched the cellar in the conference.