Bradleys dominates second half, knocks off No. 18/19 Northern Iowa

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Students rarely have the opportunity to storm in the court at Carver Arena. But after Bradley stormed back from a nine point halftime deficit, the "Red Sea" was able to wash onto the court in euphoria.

Junior guard Andrew Warren scored all 15 of his points in the second half to help the Braves (13-12, 8-7 MVC) shock the No. 18/19 team in the country. Four Bradley players finished in double figures as it was the first time the Braves have knocked off a ranked opponent in downtown Peoria.

Considering how much the Braves struggled to score in the first 20 minutes, the turnaround out of the break was nothing short of amazing. Northern Iowa methodically changed an 11-11 tie at the 10:27 mark into a 32-23 lead at the half. The team's patient offense got plenty of good looks and second chance opportunities. Combine that with how the Panthers (22-3, 13-2 MVC) put the clamps on the Bradley offense and it looked like another home loss was coming.

A few Northern Iowa fans remarked in the concourse at the half how if they could hit a three (3-of-14), they'd be up thirty. Few could have argued the impressive fact that a team which didn't even play its best ball was still nearly up double digits on the road.

If it wasn't for sophomore center Will Egolf, the Braves almost certainly would have been buried. Ten of Egolf's 12 points came before halftime, showing his athleticism against a bigger defender (talented Panther center Jordan Eglseder).

But for as many times as Bradley has come out of the break flat and allowed other teams back into games, the Braves finally returned the favor to an opponent. On both ends of the floor, the home squad looked like a completely different team.

Warren, who had been completely invisible in the first half, was active on defense and scored five of Bradley's first nine points. Before the under first television timeout, the Braves had tied the Panthers at 32-32.

The game seesawed back and forth for the next eight minutes, lacking a ton of flow due to the whistle-happy referees, coined by some as the "best" the Valley has to offer - John Higgins, Mike Sanzere, Gene Grimshaw. In a game that had only eight fouls called between both teams in the first half, suddenly had become boxing match in the referees eyes.

This stretch from 13:56 to 8:15 had an astonishing 13 fouls called between the teams. All players and coaches want is a consistent philosophy that is used throughout the game. Both coaches had plenty to gripe about but luckily, this didn't determine the outcome of the game.

In fact, both teams were unbelievable from the line. The Panthers made their first 11 free throws of the game, finishing 17-of-18 overall (93.3 percent). Bradley bested that total by making all but two attempts in the game (22-of-24, 94.4 percent).

And it was a free throw by senior guard Chris Roberts on a three-point-play opportunity that capped a decisive 9-1 run at 4:53. Roberts, who arguably had his best game of the season, had 13 points, no turnovers and finished his driving layups, which has been a problem at times this year.

Head coach Jim Les experimented a bit with a zone defense in the first half and then used it more frequently as the game progressed. The switching of defenses had the Panthers' offense confused and they frequently settled for contested outside shots.

And for as good as Northern Iowa can be from the perimeter, this was a game where the long bombs weren't falling. The Panthers made just 6-of-30 from beyond the arc, accounting for more than half of their 55 shot attempts.

That kind of result continues to leave fans scratching their heads as this Bradley team can knock off opponents like Northern Iowa and Illinois and drop puzzling decisions to Loyola and Western Carolina.

There's no way to guess how the rest of the season will go for the Braves. They could easily sweep their last three games and finish in the upper half of the conference. Just as possible, Bradley could overlook Indiana State on Tuesday and fall back into the play-in mess in the Valley standings.

No matter what happens the rest of the way, today was a good day to be Bradley fan.

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Rebounding costs Braves as Illinois State sweeps season series

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Sometimes great games are spoiled by disappointing outcomes. This home loss has extra bitterness since it came against a longtime nemesis.

Jackie Carmichael scored on a second putback opportunity to give Illinois State a 62-61 lead with 49 seconds to play in the game. The Redbirds (17-8, 8-6 MVC) erased a 10-point halftime deficit and won for the first time in eight tries in the Jim Les era at Carver Arena.

Bradley (12-12, 7-7 MVC) had two opportunities to regain the lead in the waning moments, but a contested layup by junior guard Sam Maniscalco and a long two-pointer by sophomore forward Taylor Brown didn't fall.

Not only was it a devastating home loss against the hated Redbirds, but this was also a pivotal game in the MVC standings. Now Illinois State holds the tiebreaker against the Braves and pushes Bradley deeper into the muddled middle of the Valley.

Make no mistake about it, even through the television you could feel the atmosphere of another classic Bradley-ISU rivalry game. Bradley, as well as most of the arena, wore black for the first time in history. But just as the previous seven games had finished, the team in white won in Peoria.

The environment seemed to aid a fast start by the Braves, who got out to a 7-0 lead and prompted an early timeout by Illinois State coach Tim Jankovich. The Redbirds kept the game close for most of the half, but a 15-9 run helped Bradley go into halftime leading 35-25.

The teams traded runs to start the second half as Illinois State closed to within two at 37-35 with 17:34 left. But the Braves answered by extending the lead to 12 points (51-39) on a short shot by Brown at the 12:11 mark.

As it has plagued Bradley the entire season, the inability to finish a game came back to haunt the home squad again. The Braves were frozen on 54 points for almost six minutes (9:15 to 3:18), not able to score for seven consecutive possessions.

Consider that Illinois State shot just 39.3 percent for the game (24 of 61) and star guard Osiris Eldridge had a really poor performance (seven points, 3-of-12 shooting, one rebound). But the Redbirds stayed close by crushing Bradley on the glass again, 41 to 32 and that included 17 on the offensive end.

But this should be expected with the matchup problems that Illinois State presents. Dinma Odiakosa, Austin Hill and Carmichael are all big bruisers that the Braves cannot guard effectively.

Junior center Will Egolf did his best, but he shouldn't have to be counted upon to rebound against guys who have 10-20 pounds on him. On the other side of the spectrum, senior center Sam Singh has the size but lacks the foot speed to keep up with the more athletic bigs from Illinois State.

And even though the Redbirds led 18-7 in second chance points, the play of Maniscalco almost bailed out the Braves again. The junior has transformed this conference season from an important starter on his team to one of the more clutch players in the entire league.

For the game, Maniscalco finished with 17 points, four rebounds, two assists and one turnover in 37 minutes of action. For as great as he was (including two shots either tied or gave Bradley the lead in the final two minutes), he will likely look to his missed layup with 20 seconds left as one that got away. Hopefully he doesn't that too hard, as the Braves don't even have a chance to win without him.

Brown might feel similarly, as the final taste in his mouth was a missed shot that he can easily knock down. Yet he did nearly have another double-double, scoring 13 points and grabbing 9 rebounds.

Maybe the lack of depth is really starting to catch up with the Braves. During the second half timeouts, the team looked visibly gassed. For as energetic and tenacious this team usually is during the first 20 minutes of games, it can look just as visibly lethargic during segments of second halves.

Junior guard Andrew Warren disappeared again for long stretches after such a great game at Evansville on Saturday. To his credit, he sparked the run to end the first half, scoring all nine of his points in less than a three minute stretch. But Warren then went 0-3 in latter 20 minutes and never really got into the flow of the offense. For such a talented player, he just seems to get lost in the mix at times and needs to take more charge.

Back to the bench

Sophomore center Anthony Thompson, who was coming off one of his best games in a Bradley uniform, didn't see the floor again tonight. The reason seems obvious: If Egolf and Singh can't play exceptionally well against the Illinois State beef, how will the lanky Thompson fare any better?

That said, maybe he could have blocked a few shots or at least altered them. Nobody would argue that Thompson is Hakeem Olajuwon, but why not give the kid a few minutes to see how he can stack up? If nothing else, it provides Bradley with a few extra fouls to put the poor free-throw shooting big men from Illinois State on the line.

Strengthening schedule

This game ended a stretch of seven winnable games for the Braves. They did manage to go 5-2, which helped them get back into the conference race. But now the finish is arguably as difficult as the start of conference play.

Bradley has one game against each of the top three teams in the conference (vs. No. 18 Northern Iowa on Saturday, vs. Wichita State on 2/24 and at Creighton on 2/27). Possibly the most important of all will be a road game in Terre Haute, Ind., against Indiana State. The Sycamores are now just one game behind Bradley in the standings and may be fighting with the Braves to stay out of the play-in game.

But that's how crazy this season has been in the Valley. Only three games separate second place from ninth place, so nothing is really decided yet. Bradley lost by two points at Northern Iowa in mid January, so it certainly would not be a shock if the Braves pulled the upset.