Bradley wins its third straight, beats Evansville 74-64

64	74

In a season that has had so many unexpected results, Bradley delivered what fans would have hoped: an easy win against the last place team in the league.

All five starters for the Braves (10-9, 5-4 MVC) finished in double figures. Junior guard Sam Maniscalco delivered another great performance, leading the Bradley attack with 19 points, making 7-of-10 from the field. Evansville's Ryan Colt, leading candidate for Freshman of the Year in the Missouri Valley Conference, was held to 12 points on 5-of-15 shooting.

The game surely wasn't perfect - Bradley committed 13 turnovers and many were unforced. But even as the Braves hit some rough patches where they couldn't score, the team defense responded by slowing down Evansville (6-13, 0-9 MVC) from making any sort of a comeback.

After the Purple Aces led 6-5 early in the game, Bradley went on a 19-4 run and opened up a 14-point lead. From that point forward, Evansville never got closer than eight points again.

Maybe after giving away so many leads earlier in the season, the Braves have finally learned to not let up and play a full 40 minutes of basketball. At least in the past couple weeks, it seems as if they've really turned the corner.

And what isn't a coincidence is that as Bradley continues to succeed, so does sophomore center Will Egolf. He has shown flashes of brilliance before his injury last season and slowly had been rounding into form as this season has progressed.

Egolf had 11 points, eight rebounds and four blocks against the Purple Aces. During the Bradley winning streak, he has put up an impressive stat line of 13.3 PPG, 7.7 RPG and 2.3 BPG.

His skill set was really evident in this game as he influenced many shots on defense while showing off his smooth outside jump shot and post moves on offense. For a guy who played on the perimeter in high school, Egolf seems to know how good he can be by having a well-rounded skill set, especially against slower, less athletic big men in the Valley.

Settling into roles has been something that the majority of the team has needed to understand. Freshman guards Jake Eastman and Dyricus Simms-Edwards only had four points in the game, but provided energy and tenacity off of the bench, like any good team needs.

Sophomore forward Taylor Brown struggled with foul trouble the whole game, but still managed to contribute 10 points and eight rebounds. And junior guard Andrew Warren had a quiet 17 (if that's really all that possible), scoring in bursts when the Braves needed baskets.

Shortened bench

Sophomore guard Eddren McCain hurt his hand in practice and was in street clothes for the game. According to head coach Jim Les, McCain wanted to play but the team decided it was best for him to sit this one out. His status for next game was uncertain.

Continuing to build

With losses by Illinois State and Wichita State this afternoon, Bradley has really put itself into a position where it can compete for the top few spots in the conference. For now, the Braves have moved into a tie for third place in the Valley and will have a chance to separate from the pack coming up in the next few games.

The next for Bradley is Creighton, who has had a really rocky season by its standards. The Bluejays having a losing record (9-10) and have struggled to stay afloat at 4-4 in conference play. Yet because of head coach Dana Altman and past history, nobody can ever really count this team out of the race.

This will be first game of the season I'll be able to attend at Carver Arena this season. I'm looking forward to catching a game in person after having to watch so many on the Internet/TV.

Bradley gets rare win at Carbondale, climbs back into MVC race

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Apparently the "Jim Les Magic Show" is back on tour and Bradley fans ought to be ready for another wild finish to the season. Bradley put together its third solid performance in a row and won for the first time in Carbondale since 2001.

Junior guard Sam Maniscalco led all scorers with 21 points (12-of-15 from the line) and added three assists in the victory. Sophomore center Will Egolf had a double-double (15 points, 11 rebounds) for the visitors.

For as frustrating as much of the season has been to watch, Les has found a way to finally get his team to commit to playing defense again. After allowing 80+ points in four straight conference games, Bradley has now held its last three opponents under 60.

Margins like that simply don't occur mid-season. Credit the Braves for finally finding an identity, one that is the real way to find success. If Bradley doesn't put together such a strong defensive performance, it doesn't survive the poor offensive performance from three of its top four scorers.

Senior guard Chris Roberts, junior guard Andrew Warren and sophomore forward Taylor Brown had been averaging a combined 30 points per game going into the contest. To think that they only scored a collective 11 total and the Braves still won is remarkable.

The Salukis were downright bad on offense, settling for a lot of poor opportunities (especially during the final few minutes of the game). Compound that problem with the fact that they also missed a lot of open looks and SIU was doomed.

SIU made just 4 of 25 attempts from beyond the arc (16 percent) and shot a poor 27 percent overall. Call it a coincidence if it were just for a game, but shutting down opposing offenses is starting to become a trend for Bradley.

Freshman guard Dyricus Simms-Edwards played 23 minutes off of the bench and chipping in eight points, three rebounds, two steals and a block. The energy and intensity that the young player gives for the team is tough to quantify, but any fan can see how important he is on both ends of the floor.

And with the rapid development of Simms-Edwards, sophomore guard Eddren McCain has seemed energized as his playing time had been slipping away. He got in the game for 10 minutes and most importantly had no turnovers and two assists.

Showing resiliency

A Maniscalco free throw gave the Braves a six point lead (54-48) with a little more than four minutes left in the game. But a series of events could have spoiled this collective team effort.

Carlton Fay hit an open 3-pointer to trim the advantage to three on the next possession. The next two offensive possessions were a contested 3-point shot by Maniscalco and a botched dunk by Roberts.

The Salukis picked up the loose ball and tried to score in transition. Warren hustled back on defense but was called for an intentional foul at 2:43. The call could have gone either way, but the choice a bit dubious considering the time and score of the game.

Before the Braves knew what hit them, SIU proceeded to hit the free throws and score two possessions later to take the lead 55-54 with 2:31 to play.

Bradley had seen this before on New Year's Day, when it had blown another late lead to the Salukis in Peoria. But this time would be different.

Two solid defensive possessions forced SIU into a traveling call on Tony Freeman and an ill-advised 3-pointer by Kevin Dillard. Maniscalco made 3-of-4 from the line in the final minute, giving the Braves the 57-55 advantage which would eventually be the final score.

The Salukis did get two good chances on its final possession of the game but failed to convert either 3-pointer.

"Trap game" ahead

Now that Bradley has evened its record in both conference play and on the season, confidence has to be pretty high. With that said, Saturday's matinee against MVC cellar dweller Evansville could be a chance for disaster.

The Purple Aces have lost all eight conference games and the Braves could easily look past this game with big showdowns against Creighton and Illinois State coming up next. This game cannot be overlooked and here's hoping that there is still a continued commitment to defensive play against an opponent Bradley is supposed to beat.

For whatever reason, the Braves have played up and down to their competition all season. Evansville ranks near the bottom of the league in most statistical categories and Bradley needs to exploit these weaknesses. Toss out the records and the Braves need to focus on continuing to hold teams under 60 points.

Changing perceptions

Though many have had knee-jerk reactions to the roller coaster ride this season has been, I've tried to stay pretty level headed about this team.

With that said, even my perception has radically changed twice now. From the beginning, this team looked talented enough to be competitive and finish in the upper half of the Valley. But after the 80-point defensive performances and crushing home losses, my hope was waning a bit about what this team was really capable of achieving. Few could have argued that Bradley was looking like a team that was headed for the play-in game at the Missouri Valley Tournament.

But, I did see some hope for optimism with a lighter schedule in the Valley once the Braves got into mid-January. That alone was reason for some cautious optimism. How could anyone have predicted the radical turnaround that the team has made since the embarrassing game at Missouri State on January 9?

Or maybe we should have seen it, since Les has done this many times before in his tenure. Make whatever excuses you want (injuries, suspensions, inexperience), but many Les-coached Bradley teams have taken seemingly too long to gel. At least fans are starting to see again that Les has gotten his players to buy in to playing team basketball again.

These are the ups and downs of Bradley basketball. If the team continues to play this way, many more wins will be coming the Braves' way. Why not have those positive feelings again like everyone did earlier in the season?

The 2010 Bradley resurrection tour is coming back to Peoria this weekend. Hopefully it can be as good as everyone expects.