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.