Semifinal #2- Wichita State 65 ISU 61

[Da Coach]

Wichita State pulled away late, and barely held on to beat Illinois State 65-61 .

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/scoreboard?d=2010-03-06&refresh=0&c=mvc

Toure Murry lead WSU with 17 points.
Odiakosa with 15 points, Phillips with 13.
Osiris Eldridge with a terrible game, 2-10 from the floor for 8 points. He was MIA in the second half.

[Bravesfan]

Wichita State pulled away late, and barely held on to beat Illinois State 65-61 .

http://rivals.yahoo.com/ncaa/basketball/scoreboard?d=2010-03-06&refresh=0&c=mvc

Toure Murry lead WSU with 17 points.
Odiakosa with 15 points, Phillips with 13.
Osiris Eldridge with a terrible game, 2-10 from the floor for 8 points. He was MIA in the second half.

The best team won IMO and will give UNI all they can handle tomorrow. Let's hope for the sake of multiple Valley bids that the Shockers get the job done.

Yeah, Eldridge really has not had that great of a year. Best of luck to him getting a first round draft spot in the NBA this summer!

[Braves4Life]

I have felt all along that WSU could be the surprise team. I think WSU and BU have the two most athletic teams in the Valley.

[shaunguth]

The best team won IMO and will give UNI all they can handle tomorrow. Let's hope for the sake of multiple Valley bids that the Shockers get the job done.

Yeah, Eldridge really has not had that great of a year. Best of luck to him getting a first round draft spot in the NBA this summer!

Definitely agree with the first point! Go Shockers!

As for "king o".......he had a great season and is clearly one of the best five players in the league.

[Grassman]

I have felt all along that WSU could be the surprise team. I think WSU and BU have the two most athletic teams in the Valley.

And just think, three years ago they had to replace Turgeon,2 years
ago they were awful. Now their NEW coach has them in the CHAMPIONSHIP GAME.
Amazing is it not What you can do in two years

[Stryker]

Wichita went out and got a good coach after Turgeon. 3 years is a good window, just like the NFL. If you have a true game plan, know how to coach, and have the support and facilities, that is about the time frame you should be looking at.

Anyway, I was pretty sure WSU was going to have a pretty good year this year, not quite what they have, but I thought they would be top 4 or 5. The have some young good players from last year that stepped up and really grew this year.

[Fetz86]

Not like the cupboard was completely bare or anything when Turgeon left either though, not like the program collapsed after their S16, they just had that drama filled year, and he left for the B12.

[amckillip]

Definitely agree with the first point! Go Shockers!

As for "king o".......he had a great season and is clearly one of the best five players in the league.

But Shaun, he won so much at ILSU... Or so I've been repeatedly told.

[tornado]

Osiris Eldridge with a terrible game, 2-10 from the floor for 8 points. He was MIA in the second half.

I have been saying this for the last 20 games, the guy has not only disappeared, but he has disappeared totally at the end of games, especially big games...

http://bradleyfans.com/vb/showthread.php?p=166295#post166295

He basically hasn't scored in the final 3-4 minutes of any game this season...the only time he seems to have even hit the rim in the final 3-4 minutes of any game was the loss at Drake when they were behind by 20 points and OE was still in there launching 3's against Drake's subs.

Here's one more stat on OE - since that Jan. 17 blowout loss at Drake, Eldridge over the subsequent 14 games, has shot 22-85 from 3-pt (25.8%) and 62-180 (34%) overall...

Even his full conference season shooting numbers are not even inside the Top 25 Valley players....
brings up the question, should he have leftschool last year...did he stay too long?

[Da Coach]

Pantagraph story-

http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/basketball/men/article_9320e9f0-2980-11df-8860-001cc4c002e0.html

Osiris Eldridge is reported to have had a sprained wrist-

http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/basketball/men/article_4a91637a-29a0-11df-a46c-001cc4c002e0.html

The 2nd link has a brief bit about Jordan Prosser, who was the Bloomington Pantagraph Player of the Year last year-

Prosser??™s progress: Bradley freshman forward Jordan Prosser redshirted this season after earning Pantagraph Player of the Year honors last year at Eureka High School.
The 6-foot-8 Prosser said Saturday he has benefited from the opportunity to ease into college basketball.
???Sitting out all year and watching Sam (Singh), Will (Egolf) and Sticks (Anthony Thompson), I learned a lot,??? Prosser said following a semifinal loss to Northern Iowa. ???I??™ve gained strength, and going against them every day in practice has helped me.???
Prosser said he initially hoped to contribute this season, but soon focused on turning the redshirt year into a positive.
???I was like, ???OK, this gives me an extra chance to work harder and get in the weight room and just learn,??™ ??? he said. ???When I watch the games I??™m like, ???I want to be out there just as much as they do.??™ But you know you just have to wait. It??™s all for the better.???

[Big Mike]

Pantagraph story-

http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/basketball/men/article_9320e9f0-2980-11df-8860-001cc4c002e0.html

Osiris Eldridge is reported to have had a sprained wrist-

http://www.pantagraph.com/sports/college/basketball/men/article_4a91637a-29a0-11df-a46c-001cc4c002e0.html

The 2nd link has a brief bit about Jordan Prosser, who was the Bloomington Pantagraph Player of the Year last year-

Prosser??™s progress: Bradley freshman forward Jordan Prosser redshirted this season after earning Pantagraph Player of the Year honors last year at Eureka High School.
The 6-foot-8 Prosser said Saturday he has benefited from the opportunity to ease into college basketball.
???Sitting out all year and watching Sam (Singh), Will (Egolf) and Sticks (Anthony Thompson), I learned a lot,??? Prosser said following a semifinal loss to Northern Iowa. ???I??™ve gained strength, and going against them every day in practice has helped me.???
Prosser said he initially hoped to contribute this season, but soon focused on turning the redshirt year into a positive.
???I was like, ???OK, this gives me an extra chance to work harder and get in the weight room and just learn,??™ ??? he said. ???When I watch the games I??™m like, ???I want to be out there just as much as they do.??™ But you know you just have to wait. It??™s all for the better.???

Thats good to read....I really look forward to what JP can add to the mix next season!

[Disturbed]

At least now that ISU lost they have extra time to concentrate on getting into the Big 12.

I don't see them being very good next year. They had two legitimate POY candidates this year and didn't win anything.

[BUfan14]

Thats good to read....I really look forward to what JP can add to the mix next season!

Now if only he could grow 2-3 inches, all our problems would be solved. Right now at his height I think he will have to be a 4 not a 5. Still he sounds like if we can get a 5, we will have 2 actual back to the basket guys to play.

Any chance AT gains like 40 more pounds of muscle and develops into the center we need?? Maybe Prosser could be the "beef" guy that scores some post points and gets rebounds at the 4 if he gets strong enough, and AT can just be a tall (stronger) shot disrupter at the 5 giving us 2 post players. Both probably have a long way to go to be our 4 and 5 next year, but is there at least a chance, or am I being too optimistic that we can develop from the inside? We will need to get a post from the outside anyway, but does this person have to come and be our starting center or else??

[Future Walk-On]

Not to offend anyone...but...

I really hope JP is learning more about basketball than from just watching SS WE and AT...

[Braves4Life]

Not to offend anyone...but...

I really hope JP is learning more about basketball than from just watching SS WE and AT...

And to add to that......... I really hope he was able to dominate against at least 2 of those 3.