Game Twenty-Two Recap: Bradley @ Illinois State

65	69

Squandering opportunities generally results in road losses.

For as well as Bradley (11-5, 7-4) played during stretches, the Braves couldn't come up with enough big plays to defeat the host Redbirds, falling 69-65. Illinois State (18-4, 7-4) evened the season series with Bradley and kept its home record a perfect 12-0.

Credit the Braves for their usual determination, climbing back even with ISU twice after falling behind by 9-10 points in each half. Forward Theron Wilson exhibited his senior leadership throughout, scoring 17 points, grabbing nine rebounds and making 9-of-9 from the free throw line.

In fact, Bradley had been woeful lately from the free throw line, only making 60.5 percent (23-of-38) during the last two home games. But today the Braves hit 14-of-15, helping keep the game close.

Unfortunately, the only miss came after an aggressive layup by guard Dodie Dunson with 30 seconds left in the game, pulling Bradley within 1 at 64-63. Too bad for the Bloomington native, who scored all 15 of his points in the second half. The miss summed up the day for the Braves, who simply never got any of the bounces to go their way.

Bradley still had a chance to tie or win with 15 seconds to go, trailing ISU 67-65. Guard Sam Maniscalco made a drive through the Redbird defense and had an easy layup bounce off the rim. But don't lay too much blame on Maniscalco, who knocked down two 3-pointers in the last 6:15 of the game. If he doesn't make those, Bradley never has a chance to take the tying shot.

Maniscalco's miss was the final one in a long list of botched close shots, many of which came big men David Collins and Sam Singh. Collins especially had one of his poorer games, missing five shots, all of which were either layups or ill-advised attempts. When Bradley wins, the team gets solid contributions from its big men. Nine points and six rebounds simply isn't enough from this duo on a nightly basis.

Another reason why Bradley managed to stay so close in the game was the lack of turnovers. The Braves only committed five in the game, but also only had nine assists.

For the first time in awhile, both Bradley and Illinois State are good teams. Each were a few points better on its home floor. Hopefully the two will meet up again in St. Louis to break the tie.

Next game:

Bradley's second tough stretch continues as it must host conference-leading Northern Iowa on Tuesday night. The Panthers won its 10th in a row today, beating Indiana State on the road. That makes a perfect 6-0 road record in MVC play for Northern Iowa.

The Panthers now lead the Valley by three games and will be hard to catch with four of its last six at home following the Bradley game. But the Braves need this win to keep pace with Illinois State. According to the league tiebreaker formula (which I plan on releasing the totals in the next couple days), Illinois State holds a pretty wide margin over Bradley in the event the two teams finish the season tied. A victory over the number one team in the MVC would go a long way to closing that gap.

Northern Iowa @ Bradley, 7:05 p.m., Tues. 2/3