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