Final score: Bradley 64 Washington State 60

[Da Coach]

To be accurate, Washington State is not a Power 5 team this year. The Pac-12 dissolved after last year, and all the teams transferred to other Power Conferences, except Washington State and Oregon State. WSU is in the West Coast Conference this year, and any P5-level talent they had left via the transfer portal. So the team Bradley beat last night might be a solid mid-major, but not a great one, and not a P5-level team.

 

[abouttime]

How did we shoot so much better at ESPN Disney, where we never played and/or practiced?
Yet we practice seldom and play often at Carver

 

[abouttime]

For the record:
Vs Princeton 55 Fg%, 47 from 3, 70 FT%
Vs San Diego 42-42-73
Vs Liberty 51-44-86

 

[Da Coach]

Good observation.... the team did shoot well in Orlando, but poorly last night. I doubt we'll ever have the answer for why. It just happens.
Last season's team was a terrific shooting team. They lead the entire country in 3-point field goal percentage (39.8%)-
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-b...ffensive/sort/threePointFieldGoalPct/dir/desc
And they were a top 25 team in the country in overall field goal percentage (ranked #23 with 48.3%)-

2024-25 Men's College Basketball Team Stat Leaders - ESPN

ESPN is the place for NCAAM stats! Find a list of the team stat leaders for the 2024-25 NCAAM Regular Season.

www.espn.com

Yet, as good as that team was with 3 point shooting, there were still some low points.
They were just 7-25 (28%) from three against Valparaiso at home, allowing the 11th place team to take Bradley to double-overtime.
They were just 5-20 (25%) against Drake, resulting in a loss at home.
They went 4-18 (22%) against Illinois State at home in a game the Braves won.
And 6-24 (25%) against UIC at home, resulting in another home conference loss. Those home losses cost Bradley the regular season MVC Championship.
So even the best 3-point shooting team in Bradley history had off-nights.

 

[Stevezall]

I think when you win ugly, it shows lots of Character! We can be a top 4 Valley team if we become more consistent playing decent each game. However, we can be a middle of the road Valley team also! Which team will show up when MVC play starts? I feel like this will have to be a Brian Wardle team which clicks together by the time the tournament starts! Like the 2019 & 2020 team which used upsets to win the Valley tourney! BU most certainly won't be favored this year to win the tournament! Even though we have good teams in the Valley like Brlmont & Northern Iowa that have started with great records, there is not a dominant team like Drake was past few years! So if BU can get a 4th seed or better, anything can happen in a 1 game elimination tournament! Upsets can Happen and BW is gonna have to tell his team about his 2019 & 2020 team! I'm hoping for an unexpected run, but time will tell as it always does!

 

[tomahawk chop]

How did we shoot so much better at ESPN Disney, where we never played and/or practiced?
Yet we practice seldom and play often at Carver

Smaller gym with better background. We practice mostly in the RC which is a lot smaller then Carver arena. It takes some time to adjust when playing in larger facilities. The great shooters never have trouble adjusting for the most part. I do think it is important for our team to be able to practice a lot more on the Civic centers floor.

 

[LittleBrave]

no disrespect, but I just can’t quite agree on the tough take after a P5 win that I saw in person last night. I think the 25+ win seasons of the past few years have spoiled us a bit…. With our youth, combined with the coaching staff comments early on that this year would be “a process” tells me to calm down a bit on early season expectations. I watched a gritty win against talented and athletic competition. I’m pretty happy with the progression right now.

Thx Dub - I'm sure it was different in person, especially since you're not that far from the floor! Watching on TV, the Cougars looked a notch below the talent we faced in Orlando. And their conference is not really better (Power 5?) than the MVC and they will most likely be in the bottom half of their league.
Their 20 turnovers was partially due to our tough D, but they made a LOT of unforced turnovers.
They haven't beaten anyone good either this season and lost a lot of guys from last year's squad. Overall neither team looked very good (on TV). I know shooting isn't everything, but it looked (aside from Burch) like we hadn't taken a warm-up shot since coming back from Orlando!

 

[LittleBrave]

I think the 25+ win seasons of the past few years have spoiled us a bit…. With our youth, combined with the coaching staff comments early on that this year would be “a process” tells me to calm down a bit on early season expectations.

Very good point here Dub! We lost 4 stud seniors. I thought the 2 senior transfers would be a little better than what they've shown, but I am hopeful they'll come around. But the bigger disappointment is that Meta and Corey (especially) really haven't stepped up this season.

I question whether this team can be a contender this season...after losing our 3rd game at San Fran, and never really being in that game surprised me.

At this point, we're NOT a top 3 Valley team, but there is room for growth. The PG tandem of Ja'Quan and Tana have exceeded my expectations so far and the reason we have a winning record...and Burch is coming around as we'd hoped!

A little surprised our star-studded Freshmen from Peoria area have barely played and thought they'd both get more floor time, considering some bad stretches from our key guys...maybe Zo and D-Rich both knew they would have limited playing time this season.