Game Nineteen Recap: Bradley @ Northern Iowa

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(Sorry for the late post. Another commitment kept me from watching the game live, but I did check the game tonight on archive via BUBraves.tv.)

Some losses make you angry. Others are just disappointing.

Bradley's 66-61 loss to league-leading Northern Iowa (13-6, 7-1) certainly was the latter. The Braves (11-8, 5-3) led most of the game but simply couldn't hit enough shots down the stretch to secure another road win.

As much as people try to avoid mentioning them, the referees were a big story Wednesday night. Both teams were whistled way too closely throughout the game and had the benefit/hindrance of numerous lousy calls.

Unfortunately, the biggest call of the game went against Bradley with 22 seconds left in the game. The Braves trailed by only two points and were attempting to defend Northern Iowa's inbounds pass. Bradley's Dodie Dunson got called for an intentional foul before the ball was put into play, apparently holding up a Panther player from moving toward the baseline.

These sorts of decisions are really unfortunate, because both Northern Iowa and Bradley had battled so hard through the tightly contested game. There's no way a game should be decided on a call like that. UNI's Kwadzo Ahelegbe made both free throws, putting the Braves down by two possessions and effectively ending any hope for a comeback.

But, the focus can't entirely sit on the men in stripes. After a Dunson 3-pointer, Bradley held a 50-40 lead with 10 minutes to play in the game. How did the Braves get so far ahead on the road?

Hot shooting put Bradley ahead 10-0 and 15-5 in the first half of the game. The Braves hit 5-of-9 attempts from beyond the arc and shot 50 percent overall for the first 20 minutes. Team defense was also really good, forcing the Panthers into many bad turnovers and holding a good shooting team to just 7-of-21 shooting.

As the game wore on though, the shots started falling for UNI and not for the visitors. Bradley still held a 50-45 lead when forward/center Sam Singh, who had been having a pretty good game, missed an easy layup. UNI quickly countered with a layup by forward Adam Koch.

Things only got worse from that point forward as the Braves committed three turnovers during their next three possessions. Bradley looked as if it were just holding on for dear life.

Guard Sam Maniscalco had a very good game coming off the bench with 16 points. The sophomore had hit his first 22 free throw attempts in conference play, but missed with the score tied at 53 and about 3 minutes left.

A phantom foul call on guard Eddren McCain allowed Ahelegbe to make two free throws and give the Panthers the lead for good.

Individual observations:

To think Bradley had a chance to beat the UNI when leading scorer Theron Wilson got shutout is almost amazing. But, the Panthers did focus their attention on Wilson and really prevented him from getting many offensive looks at the basket. Wilson did contribute eight rebounds and a remarkable hustling play that resulted in a Bradley steal.

Dunson had another big game scoring, putting in 20 and making five 3-pointers. He hit a few important shots and helped Bradley have a chance.

It's a little worrisome how tentative McCain has been on the offensive side of the floor. He's shown the ability to knock down jump shots and slash to the hoop. Yet he passed on a couple wide open looks that he certainly could have made. He's still doing a good job of running the Bradley offense, but he (along with Maniscalco) needs to shoot more.

Forward Taylor Brown continues to show signs of why he'll be a starter by his sophomore or junior year at Bradley. His minutes have been limited because he plays Wilson's position, but his athleticism alone resulted in a great rebound basket. Given the opportunity, Brown continues to look like he'll be a great player at Bradley.

Next game:

The intense part of the schedule finally ends for the Braves. After a rigorous stretch (five of seven on the road with Creighton and Illinois State sandwiched in the middle at home), Bradley needs to get healthy on its next two opponents, Indiana State and Wichita State.

Both of these teams are clear bottom feeders in the league and Bradley has already beaten both on the road this season. To lose to either team at home would be inexcusable.

Indiana State at Bradley, Sat. 1/24, 6:05 p.m.

Game Eighteen Recap: Bradley @ Southern Illinois

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Revenge isn't so sweet when you're on the receiving end of it. Southern Illinois answered Bradley's drubbing in Peoria with a lopsided victory in Carbondale.

Even though the final score doesn't reflect it, Southern Illinois (8-10, 3-4) soundly beat the visiting Braves 68-62 at SIU Arena on Sunday night. Bradley (11-7, 5-2) trailed by as many as 21 points in the second half before chipping away in the final minutes.

Credit the Braves for the typical resiliency that every one of Les' teams have shown. With 1:39 to play, SIU led 57-43. Yet, when most teams would have begun warming the bus, Bradley kept fighting and got the game as close as four points with seven seconds left.

Unfortunately, that's where the positives ended.

Some of the most troublesome numbers included 20 turnovers, seven assists and 9-of-19 from the free throw line (47.4 percent). These stats don't lead to many road wins, especially at SIU arena.

Bradley led 12-9 going into a media timeout with 11:47 left in the first half. Sloppy offensive play and stifling SIU defense resulted in the Braves getting outscored 23-5 for the rest of the half. Guard Sam Maniscalco made a jumper (his only basket of the game) with 6:17 in the first half, which ended up being Bradley's last hoop from the floor until halftime.

Guard Chris Roberts had his third straight game where he failed to score more than five points. He only contributed four for the Braves, as well as committing six turnovers and securing only two rebounds.

Even high scorer Theron Wilson didn't have a spectacular game. He had to take 20 shots in order to get to his 22 point total. The senior forward's performance on the glass was impressive though, grabbing a career high 16 rebounds.

Bradley did get a pretty solid performance from guard Darian Norris. He continues to play his role of "disruptor" on defense, swiping more three steals. In his six conference games playing limited minutes, Norris now has eight steals.

Next game:

The team won't have long to dwell on this loss. The brutal stretch for Bradley finally ends with one more road game, this one at conference leader Northern Iowa. The Braves could move back into first place with a victory at a place where they've played fairly well overall. Bradley has won two of its last three games in Cedar Falls.

Bradley at Northern Iowa, 7:05 p.m. Wednesday (1/21)

Bradley's doing the MVC shuffle

Apparently the Braves are an Internet sensation with their modified version of the 1985 Chicago Bears "Super Bowl Shuffle." Gauging from the comments out there on this video, most other MVC fans hate it and Bradley fans love it. There's a shocker.

This one has been going around en masse for a couple days, but I'd be remiss if I didn't put a link to the video up here.

So let's all just relax a little and have fun. True, I'm a Bradley fan but I'm not sure how people can't find this at least somewhat entertaining. Silly, yes ... but humorous, too? Absolutely.

Enjoy.

Game Seventeen Recap: Bradley @ Indiana State

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When Bradley plays strong defensively, the team is unbeatable — literally. The Braves are now 11-0 when holding opponents under 70 points.

Bradley's effort included 10 steals and held Indiana State (4-13, 2-4) to 34 percent shooting en route to a 63-52 victory in Terra Haute, Ind. The Braves (11-6, 5-1) continue to hold a share of first place in the Missouri Valley Conference with Northern Iowa, who also won tonight at Evansville.

The rugged pressure applied by the Braves helped cover up many offensive inefficiencies. Bradley made just 2-of-13 attempts from beyond the 3-point line (15.4 percent) as well as hitting just 13-of-24 free throws (54.2 percent). If either of these statistics are at a normal percentage, Bradley probably blows out the Sycamores.

The teams traded baskets for much of the first half until center David Collins scored three straight baskets, the last putting Bradley up 22-16 with 7:36 to play. The Braves would maintain that same advantage going into halftime at 28-22, though it could have been a much wider margin.

Bradley called a timeout with 40 seconds in the half to set up a play. But, the Braves made a bad turnover and allowed Sycamore forward Jay Tunnell to make a wide open 3-pointer as the final seconds were ticking away.

Once the second half rolled around, the game had a similar feel to the last game against Creighton. The Sycamores would constantly be trying to make a run and close the gap. But Bradley always seemed to have an answer.

Indiana State cut the lead to 32-30 with 15 minutes to play, but guard Chris Roberts answered by nailing an open jumper in the lane on the next possession. Fellow guard Sam Maniscalco followed that with a dazzling reverse layup to push the Braves lead back to six.

The Sycamores trimmed the Bradley advantage to 40-37 after a sparkling individual effort resulting in a slam dunk by forward Josh Crawford. Again, the Braves would answer.

Guard Dodie Dunson scored five of his game-high 15 points to help Bradley go up by eight at 45-37.

The Braves finally took control of the game with more defensive intensity. Leading only 51-48 with 6:39 to go, Bradley held the Sycamores without a field goal for almost the rest of the game.

Maniscalco hit 4-4 from the free throw line, keeping his percentage in conference play at 100 percent (19-for-19).

For all of the players who made contributions above, the two most important players on the floor were forward Theron Wilson and guard Eddren McCain. Wilson (10 points, 7 rebounds) displayed the leadership needed from a senior, finding seams along the baseline all night and getting critical points when Bradley really needed them.

McCain also scored some big baskets in his eight point effort, but shined more importantly as the Bradley point guard. The freshman had seven assists, zero turnovers and two steals. He's already more under control than a young Daniel Ruffin was, a player Bradley fans won't forget anytime soon from that position.

Overall, head coach Jim Les should be very pleased with this performance. Sure, the shooting was bad, but that isn't this team's strength anyway. Even Les acknowledges that at this point and it has a direct correlation upon how well this team is succeeding. The players are contributing with their strengths and not being forced into a "system" that doesn't suit them.

Next game:

No Valley road game is easy, but so far the Braves have taken care of business in all three. Arguably though, the wins are over the worst three teams in the conference. The other "play-in" team may be Southern Illinois, Bradley's next opponent.

Make no mistake about it though, the SIU arena is another house of horrors for the Braves. No matter how down the Salukis are this year, this will be the toughest Valley road test yet.

Luckily most of the current roster hasn't played in Carbondale, so the intimidation won't be as great. Sunday's game will be televised on ESPNU at 6:05 p.m.

Game Sixteen Recap: Creighton @ Bradley

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No Woodfox? No problem.

A short-handed Creighton team showed why it was picked to win the Missouri Valley Conference Saturday at Carver Arena, handing Bradley (10-6, 4-1) its first loss in MVC play. The Bluejays (13-4, 3-2) didn't have leading scorer Booker Woodfox (16.8 PPG), but still produced a solid team effort to secure a 73-64 road win in Peoria.

Bradley never really got in a good rhythm the entire game on either side of the floor. The defense wasn't terrible, but when the team needed stops, Creighton scored. The offense looked disjointed and the Braves got back into "chuck" mode, launching 18 attempts from beyond the 3-point line.

Post player Kenny Lawson Jr. as well as guard Cavel Witter helped Creighton stretch its first half lead to 10 points with 5 minutes left in the half at 27-17. But the lackadaisical Braves awoke for the last five minutes, scoring the last nine points and trailing 27-26 at the break.

Bradley even stretched that run into the second session, taking a 30-26 lead after a Eddren McCain layup and Theron Wilson dunk. But the Braves wouldn't make another field goal for eight minutes, letting Creighton build its lead back up to seven points.

This game had the classic feel of one that Bradley simply would never get over the hump. Creighton hit big shot after big shot, never allowing the Braves to make a run.

The biggest back breaker might have come with just under 12 minutes to play and Bradley within three points. The Braves had a great defensive possession, forcing the Bluejays to use the entire shot clock. As the buzzer sounded and guard Josh Dotzler threw up a wild shot in the lane, Lawson was there to tip the ball right back into the basket, pushing the score back up to 40-35.

Though the game felt almost unwinnable at that point, the lead was still five points with five minutes to play. A critical four possessions iced the game for Creighton.

First, guard Chris Roberts made a bad decision and committed a turnover. Bluejay star guard P'Allen Stinnett, who was having a terrible game up until that point, nailed a tough jumper to put Creighton up seven. Then McCain made another turnover and Stinnett would take the ball in transition, score and get fouled by guard Sam Maniscalco. In less than a minute, Bradley went from down five to down 10 and the game was essentially over.

And though some Bradley players had good stat lines, nobody really had two good halves. Maniscalco had a huge first half, scoring 11 of Bradley's 26 points. But then Maniscalco was nearly invisible in the second half, making only 1-of-5 attempts.

Conversely, nobody else really showed up for the Braves in the first half. Guard Dodie Dunson had all but three of his 16 points during the final 20 minutes. Nine of McCain's 12 points also came in the second half.

Bradley also only got a combined three points from inside players Taylor Brown, Sam Singh, and David Collins. When the Braves have been successful, they've gotten major contributions from the big men.

Overall, this was a very disappointing loss and a frustrating game to watch. Luckily this wasn't a bottom feeder in the league and nobody expected Bradley to go 18-0 in conference play.

Up next:

The schedule doesn't get any easier for awhile as the Braves now go on the road for three straight (at Indiana State, Tues., at Southern Illinois, Sun., at Northern Iowa, Weds. 1/21). Bradley needs to win two of these if it really wants to continue to consider itself a contender for the conference title.

Any road win is great in the Valley, but the Braves two road wins were against two of the worst teams in the league. Bradley needs to take care of business against Indiana State and SIU, as the Braves are clearly superior on the talent side.

More pictures:

Check out the slideshow of pictures I took at the game.

Click the photo above to view a slideshow.

(Updated at 11:45 PM with full recap.)