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
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