Rebounding costs Braves as Illinois State sweeps season series

62	61

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.

Illinois State takes first rivalry game easily, 66-47

47	66

Most games have useful building points. But there isn't a positive spin today - Bradley got embarrassed by rival Illinois State, 66-47.

Dinma Odiakosa abused the Braves in the post en route to a career high 25 points to go along with 12 rebounds. The Redbirds' star guard Osiris Eldridge didn't do a ton (13 points on just 5-of-14 shooting) but decisive advantage in rebounding more than made up for his off game.

For the game, ISU (15-7, 6-5 MVC) had a 50-28 rebounding margin. That helped the Redbirds dominate in second chance points (24-2) and points in the paint (34-10) as well.

And for everything the Redbirds did right, Bradley (10-11, 5-6 MVC) seemed to do just as much wrong. In the first half, the Braves shot okay (9-of-21, 42.9 percent) but committed numerous lazy and sloppy turnovers. In the second 20 minutes, not as many possessions were given away. But then the shooting went dramatically south.

At the official timeout (11:28 mark), Bradley had just three points and a nine point halftime deficit had ballooned to 19. The final statistics in the second half were ugly: 5-of-28 shooting (17.9 percent) and 1-of-11 from 3-point range (9.1 percent).

Junior guard Andrew Warren was the only member of the Braves to reach double figures. But, his 11 points came on 3-of-12 shooting and he snared just one rebound. Senior guard Chris Roberts was invisible (3 points, 4 rebounds) and both sophomore forward Taylor Brown and junior guard Sam Maniscalco weren't at their best either, scoring eight and nine points respectively.

But maybe most importantly was the play of sophomore center Will Egolf. For how well he had been playing lately, this was certainly a game to forget for the young man from Alaska. Egolf was overmatched inside against Odiakosa which got him into foul trouble.

As a result, Egolf's final line didn't look good: 13 minutes, two points, 0-for-1 from the floor, two rebounds and four fouls. With the lack of nearly any other post presence, Egolf needs to be on seemingly every night for Bradley to have a shot at winning. For such a young player, and really for any player for that matter, it's an unreasonable expectation.

The Braves need, but never seem to have, a bruiser inside like Odiakosa. Maybe some can argue that these players are hard to come by, but other teams in the Missouri Valley Conference have found them. Southern Illinois had Randal Falker, Wichita State has JT Durley, Creighton has Kenny Lawson and also got great seasons from Anthony Tolliver.

So, unless the entire Bradley team commits to rebounding like it did against Creighton, the Braves are handled easily by powerful post players. Players like sophomore Anthony Thompson can't even get minutes because they'd be tossed around in the post.

Maybe the silver lining is the common concept in sports - "it's just one game". If so, Bradley needs to rebound (literally and figuratively) against Drake and Evansville this week. These are two teams that it should beat if Bradley can find its confidence and forget such a disappointing loss to a rival.

The true colors really shine through as a season goes on. Bradley isn't as good as it looks in some victories and certainly isn't as bad as it looks in losses, especially this one. The Braves are just an average team that will continue to have its ups and downs throughout the remainder of conference play.

Side note: Sophomore guard Eddren McCain returned to action after missing the last two games with a hand injury. He played just five minutes and had one rebound.

Game Twenty-Two Recap: Bradley @ Illinois State

65	69

Squandering opportunities generally results in road losses.

For as well as Bradley (11-5, 7-4) played during stretches, the Braves couldn't come up with enough big plays to defeat the host Redbirds, falling 69-65. Illinois State (18-4, 7-4) evened the season series with Bradley and kept its home record a perfect 12-0.

Credit the Braves for their usual determination, climbing back even with ISU twice after falling behind by 9-10 points in each half. Forward Theron Wilson exhibited his senior leadership throughout, scoring 17 points, grabbing nine rebounds and making 9-of-9 from the free throw line.

In fact, Bradley had been woeful lately from the free throw line, only making 60.5 percent (23-of-38) during the last two home games. But today the Braves hit 14-of-15, helping keep the game close.

Unfortunately, the only miss came after an aggressive layup by guard Dodie Dunson with 30 seconds left in the game, pulling Bradley within 1 at 64-63. Too bad for the Bloomington native, who scored all 15 of his points in the second half. The miss summed up the day for the Braves, who simply never got any of the bounces to go their way.

Bradley still had a chance to tie or win with 15 seconds to go, trailing ISU 67-65. Guard Sam Maniscalco made a drive through the Redbird defense and had an easy layup bounce off the rim. But don't lay too much blame on Maniscalco, who knocked down two 3-pointers in the last 6:15 of the game. If he doesn't make those, Bradley never has a chance to take the tying shot.

Maniscalco's miss was the final one in a long list of botched close shots, many of which came big men David Collins and Sam Singh. Collins especially had one of his poorer games, missing five shots, all of which were either layups or ill-advised attempts. When Bradley wins, the team gets solid contributions from its big men. Nine points and six rebounds simply isn't enough from this duo on a nightly basis.

Another reason why Bradley managed to stay so close in the game was the lack of turnovers. The Braves only committed five in the game, but also only had nine assists.

For the first time in awhile, both Bradley and Illinois State are good teams. Each were a few points better on its home floor. Hopefully the two will meet up again in St. Louis to break the tie.

Next game:

Bradley's second tough stretch continues as it must host conference-leading Northern Iowa on Tuesday night. The Panthers won its 10th in a row today, beating Indiana State on the road. That makes a perfect 6-0 road record in MVC play for Northern Iowa.

The Panthers now lead the Valley by three games and will be hard to catch with four of its last six at home following the Bradley game. But the Braves need this win to keep pace with Illinois State. According to the league tiebreaker formula (which I plan on releasing the totals in the next couple days), Illinois State holds a pretty wide margin over Bradley in the event the two teams finish the season tied. A victory over the number one team in the MVC would go a long way to closing that gap.

Northern Iowa @ Bradley, 7:05 p.m., Tues. 2/3

Game Fifteen Recap: Illinois State @ Bradley

52	56

After a dismal loss in Milwaukee on December 20, few could have predicted the next five games would be victories. But Bradley (10-5, 4-0) has risen to the top of Valley with a 56-52 victory over previously undefeated Illinois State (14-1, 3-1).

The first round of the "War on 74" lived up to the hype with another Bradley-ISU classic. The teams traded baskets for much of the first half, but then ISU went ice cold after the guard Lloyd Phillips made a layup with 7:50 to play, pulling the Redbirds within two at 18-16. Bradley held ISU to just five points the rest of the half, including a five minute stretch where the Redbirds didn't score.

Bradley took a 30-21 advantage into halftime, much of that caused by a great first session by center David Collins and forward Taylor Brown. Collins showed a renewed intensity on the court while Brown provided his usual energetic spark off of the bench.

Illinois State didn't fold at the break, coming out in the second half much more aggressively on both ends of the court. The Redbirds started playing zone against the Braves, which really muddled the Bradley offense for about five minutes. The home team was stuck in neutral on offense but kept the defensive pressure up.

Guard Darian Norris knocked down a critical 3-pointer for the Braves with 10:06 to play, stretching the lead to 45-33. ISU kept coming though, cutting the lead to six (45-39) at 8:17 and then to five (50-45) with 1:44.

Bradley refused to let the Redbirds get any closer, scoring off a great passing play from Wilson to forward/center Sam Singh to extend the lead to seven points. That led to the most memorable possession of the game, where both guard Chris Roberts as well as Singh had blocked ISU shot attempts. Wilson secured a rebound on a third Redbird miss, then promptly knocked down two free throws and make the score 54-47.

The Redbirds pushed to the very end, getting the game within four points at 54-50 with 8.8 seconds left. But Roberts made two free throws and Bradley kept its Valley record perfect with the 56-52 victory.

Next game:

The schedule doesn't get any easier for Bradley, who has preseason conference favorite Creighton (12-4) coming to Peoria on Saturday night. The Bluejays lost their second consecutive game Tuesday, falling 69-66 at home to Northern Iowa. Though Creighton may only be 2-2 so far in MVC games, nobody should expect this game to be easy. After knocking ISU off the pedestal, now Bradley will have the target on its back from the rest of the Valley.

In case you missed it ...

Semester exams aren't just an annoyance for students. They also keep teams off the floor for many days, making fans a bit restless.

The wait for Bradley's next game (at UW-Milwaukee, Sat.) has seemed like about a month. So for those who've been hibernating, here's the news from the Valley since Sunday's matinee:

Award-winner

Guard Sam Maniscalco received the Country Financial Bradley Scholar-Athlete of the Week award on Wednesday. The Bradley sophomore won the award for the first time in his career.

He's the first men's basketball player to have the honor since April 2, 2008. Jeremy Crouch won it that day for the eighth and final time in his career.

Maniscalco will need to have some more big games, but he could end up having as successful of a Bradley career as Crouch did on and off of the court.

Read the press release from Bradley University: here

On the mend

Forward Sam Singh had surgery on his broken nose after getting whacked in the face against Southeast Missouri State. His status for Saturday sounded uncertain at the time of the report, but don't count on Singh against UW-Milwaukee.

As expected, no progress has been shown from guard Andrew Warren. Even though his original foot fracture looks healed, another smaller break may have occurred in his foot now.

Considering how important he will be to Bradley in the coming season(s), watch for him to get a medical redshirt soon. The Braves won't want to take chances with one of their best players and Warren, who has always shown a great love for the game, wouldn't likely want to waste a year of eligibility.

Read the full story by Dave Reynolds of the Journal Star: here

Recruit in limbo

The Braves still await a decision by the NCAA on forward John Wilkins, who was hoping to transfer to Bradley at the semester.

The situation is difficult because Wilkins played a few games with a professional team in Belgium. So, even if Wilkins is allowed to play at Bradley, he'll have to sit for five games as an NCAA punishment.

If I had to place a bet right now, I'd feel pretty safe putting it on the side that he isn't in a Bradley uniform this season, maybe ever.

A few more details in the Journal Star story: here

Playing the best

Even in a loss, Evansville continues to impress. The Purple Aces (7-2) lost by 18 points at No. 1 North Carolina (10-0) tonight but managed to play the unbeaten Tar Heels even for the first 10 minutes of the game.

Sure the best team in the nation pulled away and won fairly easily, but this is also a group that beat Michigan State in Detroit by 35 points. The Tar Heels have appeared invincible so far.

The bigger story must be that Evansville competed so well in extremely challenging circumstances. Little argument can be made that the Purple Aces should be competitive again in conference play. But are they contenders along with Creighton and Illinois State?

Once MVC games begin, the intensity level gets ratcheted up and familiarity sets in. Teams don't radically change their styles on a season by season basis, so every team in the Valley comes in with a built-in advantage against one another.

This doesn't bode well for Evansville, as their talent level doesn't match up to some of the top teams in the Valley. But, with their experience against some good non-conference opponents, the Purple Aces could finish in the upper half of the MVC. Like most of the conference, Evansville is just as puzzling as the next. Only time will tell how it will stacks up against the other nine.

Birds keep flapping

Speaking of puzzles, Illinois State continued its perfect season (10-0) by bullying another weak opponent. This time though, the weakling almost got in the final blow.

The Redbirds won at Central Michigan (3-6) by three points, 72-69. Not a single opponent that Illinois State has played this season has a winning record against Div. I opponents.

The UIC Flames (7-2) head to Normal on Saturday, giving the Redbirds a chance to finally knock off a good opponent. This game will give fans across the Valley a chance to see how good Illinois State can be going into conference play.

Countdown

Only 10 more days until conference games begin!

3. Illinois State

Preseason poll: 3rd

Picking Illinois State to finish ahead of Bradley makes my stomach churn a little. But, in the sense of fairness, I have pick where I legitimately think teams are going to finish.

Any discussion about the Redbirds must begin with guard Osiris Eldridge (6'3" Jr.). He was picked as the Missouri Valley Conference's Preseason Player of the Year and with good reason. "King O" can score at will from all over the court and also rebounds well from his position (5.7 rpg in 2007-08). Eldridge's on-the-court attitude always seems a bit arrogant (the mohawk haircut might have be part of it), but there's no denying that he's a great player.

Illinois State also returns two other major contributors from last season in guard Emmanuel Holloway (6'2" Sr.) and forward Dinma Odiakosa (6'8" So.). Holloway was a member of the All-Valley bench team and will need handle the point guard duties after Boo Richardson and Dom Johnson graduated.

Odiakosa returns for his second season as a solid interior player for the Redbirds. He averaged 6.9 points and 5.5 rebounds per game last season. Odikosa will need to improve from the free throw line if he expects to make the next step in his game (49 percent).

If Illinois State has any major weakness, it is the fact that they are very thin on the interior. Outside of Odiakosa, only forward Brandon Sampay (6'8" Sr.). returns with much experience. Sampay did score in double figures four times last season and will need to have an even larger role in 2008-09.

Illinois State does have a few newcomers that should likely have an influence immediately. Transfer guard Champ Oguchi (6'6" Sr.) figures to start. Like many other power conference defections, Oguchi should finally get some major playing time with the Redbirds and show why he originally went to Oregon.

The rest of the team's roster has a series of recruits from Illinois and transfer players. We'll see who steps up and helps an already talented bunch in Normal, Ill.

Illinois State has been moving in the right direction since hiring Tim Jankovich before last season. The two rivalry War on I-74 games will have an added importance considering the potential of both Bradley and Illinois State.

(Too bad Bradley got the shaft from the MVC and will play the Peoria game when the students are on semester break.)