Next game: SIU at Bradley, Tuesday 7:05 pm

[Da Coach]

Game: Southern Illinois (7-6, 1-1) at Bradley (6-7, 0-2), Tuesday 1/4/11 at 7:05 pm.
This game will be televised by WTVP World (channel 47.2, Comcast 218 ).
SIU's leading scorer and rebounder is 6'8" center Gene Teague. He has not played in the Saluki's last 2 games because of an ankle injury, and he is reported to be questionable for the game Tuesday at Bradley.
SIU is shooting only 28.7% as a team from three, easily the worst in the MVC. Carlton Fay is shooting only 16.3% for the season.
Bradley's 42.9% is #1 in the MVC in 3-PT% in conference games.

SIU website-

http://siusalukis.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/silu-m-baskbl-body.html

Roster-

http://siusalukis.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/mtt/silu-m-baskbl-mtt.html

Schedule/results-

http://siusalukis.cstv.com/sports/m-baskbl/sched/silu-m-baskbl-sched.html

SIU stats-

http://www.mvc.org/mbb/stats/SIU.HTM

BU stats-

http://www.mvc.org/mbb/stats/BU.HTM

MVC stats-
Overall- http://www.mvc.org/mbb/stats/CONFLDRS.HTM
Conference only- http://www.mvc.org/mbb/stats/CONFONLY.HTM

[Future Walk-On]

Bu - 65
siu - 64.75

[chitown fanatic]

the conf season's first must-win to avoid Thursday.(it will take a lot more than this, but lose this and we're toast cuz SIU is almost certainly playing in)

[shaunguth]

the conf season's first must-win to avoid Thursday.(it will take a lot more than this, but lose this and we're toast cuz SIU is almost certainly playing in)

I really think it's in the air as to who the four play-in teams are this season. I know it's early, but it seems to me there are more than four teams with the credentials to be playing on Thursday. I expect all the home teams to win tomorrow night, leaving six teams with losing conference records.

[Da Coach]

Pregame notes from BradleyBraves.com-

http://www.bradleybraves.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=3400&ATCLID=205070514

PDF Version of Bradley's Pregame Notes Package Audio and Video Streams Live Stats

2010-11 Bradley Basketball Game Notes

Game 14 - Southern Illinois (7-6, 1-1 MVC) at Bradley (6-7, 0-2 MVC)
Tuesday, Jan. 4 - 7:05 p.m. CST - Peoria, Ill. - Carver Arena (11,164)
Series History - Bradley leads 41-37

Television: WTVP World (Central Illinois over the air 47.2, Comcast Digital Cable 218, Mediacom Digital Cable 121) - Frank Bussone (play-by-play) and Chad Kleine (analyst)
Radio: 1470 AM WMBD -- Dave Snell (play-by-play), Danny Adams (analyst) and Dan DiOrio (in studio pregame host)
Online: BradleyBraves.com - subscription video streams, free audio streams, live stats
Mobile: BravesMobile.com - live stats
Tickets: $8-20 General Public; $4-10 BU faculty/staff; $1 BU students -- available at Carver Arena Box Office, all TicketMaster outlets or online at http://www.ticketmaster.com/artist/8...0&list_view=1..
THE STORYLINE
Bradley will be searching for its first Missouri Valley Conference win of the season Tuesday when the Braves host in-state Valley rival Southern Illinois in a 7:05 p.m. tip at Carver Arena ... Bradley also will be searching for a bit of momentum before playing seven of its next 11 games on the road after Tuesday night's game ... Senior guard Andrew Warren leads The Valley in scoring at 19.4 points per game and needs to make his next seven free throw attempts to set the school record for consecutive made free throw attempts (44 by James Gillingham in 2003).
WITH A WIN
Bradley will ... Earn its 1,600th all-time victory ... Earn its first Valley win of the season and its first victory of 2011 ... Improve to 6-3 at home.
Southern Illinois will ... Earn its third two-game winning streak of the season ... Snap a six-game Valley road losing streak, which dates back to a 65-57 win Jan. 16, 2010 at Evansville ... Earn its second straight win at Carver Arena and its sixth win in the last 10 years on Bradley's home floor.
SHOOTING FOR 1,600
Bradley enter's Tuesday's game against Southern Illinois with a 1,599-1,028 record in its 107th season ... The 1,599 wins are the most in Valley history and rank 26th among all NCAA Division I teams.
AGAINST THE SALUKIS
Tuesday's game will be the 79th meeting in the all-time series between the Braves and Salukis ... Bradley owns a 41-37 record in the all-time series, including a 25-11 advantage in home games against Southern Illinois ... The series began with a 31-23 Bradley victory in Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference action Dec. 21, 1927 at the old Peoria Armory, but did not resume until Southern Illinois joined the Missouri Valley Conference for the 1975-76 campaign ... Ninth-year Bradley head coach Jim Les is 6-13 all-time against Southern Illinois, 4-4 at home against the Salukis, 5-10 head-to-head against SIU head coach Chris Lowery and 3-3 at home against Lowery.
WARREN'S STREAK
The Valley's leader in free throw percentage (.921), Bradley senior guard Andrew Warren also leads the league in free throw attempts (76) and has made his last 38 attempts from the charity stripe ... Warren's streak is the second-longest in program history, six short of the school record, and is the eighth-longest in Valley history.
WARREN TOPS THE MVC
Bradley senior guard Andrew Warren leads The Valley in scoring at 19.4 points per game ... Warren's 252 points through 13 games represent 30.8 percent of Bradley's overall offensive output (818 points), easily the largest individual scoring ratio in the league ... Warren's individual scoring ratio ranks as the largest by a Brave since Curtis Stuckey (25.1 ppg) scored 34.5 percent of Bradley's points during the 1990-91 season and currently ranks as the seventh-greatest ratio at Bradley since World War II.
GETTING TO THE LINE
Not only does Andrew Warren lead the MVC in free throw percentage (.921), he also ranks 12th nationally ... Warren's 70 free throws made are more than any other player in The Valley has attempted.
MORE THAN A SCORER
Not only is Andrew Warren leading The Valley in scoring, but the 6-foot-6 senior guard also leads the Braves in rebounding (5.8 rpg) and steals (1.3 spg) ... Currently tied for third with 1.3 steals per game, Warren has a chance to become the first player to lead The Valley in both scoring and steals since Drake's Curt Smith in 1992-93 ... Warren owns both of Bradley's point-rebound double-doubles this season ... In the Nov. 30 game at Western Carolina, Warren led the Braves in points (22), rebounds (, assists (4) and steals (2) ... In the Dec. 4 game versus Utah, Warren led the Braves across the board -- points (27), rebounds (10), assists (2), blocked shots (2) and steals (4).
DUNSON STEPS UP
With the season's top two point guards, Sam Maniscalco and Dyricus Simms-Edwards, unavailable, senior Dodie Dunson had just one day to prepare to handle the point guard duties Dec. 8 at #1 Duke ... Dunson was up to the challenge, finishing with eight points, six rebounds, three assists, two steals and, perhaps most notably, zero turnovers in 38 minutes at Cameron Indoor Stadium ... In five games as the starting point guard, Dunson has averaged 7.8 ppg, 5.8 apg, 4.2 rpg and 1.4 spg ... Although he has played little at the point in his three years at Bradley, Dunson was a point guard in high school and handled the position at times during his freshman season at Iowa State (2006-07) and throughout his sophomore year at Vincennes (2007-0.
LOCALS START MVC HOT
Bradley's two local products have started the Valley season with some hot shooting ... Sophomore guard Dyricus Simms-Edwards (Peoria, Ill./Washington H.S.) is averaging 14.0 ppg on 66.7 percent (12-1 shooting from the field in the first two league games ... Redshirt freshman center Jordan Prosser (Goodfield, Ill./Eureka H.S.) has made three of his first four Valley field goal attempts and is averaging 6.0 rpg in the first two league games.
THE TURNOVER STORY
Turnovers have been a telling statistic in Bradley's outcomes this season ... Bradley is 6-1 when it commits fewer turnovers than the opposition ... The Braves are 0-6 when they commit more turnovers than the opposition this year ... In Bradley's six wins, the Braves have averaged only 13.0 turnovers per game, while forcing an average of 19.0 turnovers by the opposition ... In the seven losses, however, Bradley has averaged 16.1 turnovers and forced only 12.0 miscues.
FOUL TROUBLE
Bradley is 6-3 this year when it does not commit more fouls than the opposition, but 0-4 when it commits more fouls ... In the six wins, Bradley has been called for only 16.3 fouls per game, leading to just 14.3 free throw attempts per game by the opposition ... In the seven losses, Bradley has been whistled for an average of 19.7 fouls per game, sending the opposition to the free throw line for 22.9 charity attempts per game.
PAINT POINTS
Bradley is 4-2 this season when it outscores the opposition in the paint ... The Braves are 2-5 when outscored inside.
LOOKING AHEAD
Following Tuesday's game versus Southern Illinois at Carver Arena, Bradley will play seven of its next 11 games on the road, beginning with a two-games-in-three-days trip to Iowa ... Bradley will visit Drake Friday night and Northern Iowa Sunday evening ... The Braves will return home for a two-game home stand: Jan. 12 for the return game against Indiana State and Jan. 16 against Missouri State.

[Da Coach]

SIU does not have the depth Wichita State has. They have only 3 scorers who average more than 6.6 ppg, and one of them (Teague) might not be able to play.
The other interesting thing I noticed is that with their shortage of depth, everyone expected Wisconsin transfer Diamond Taylor to step right in and be a major contributor. He transferred over a year ago and has been practicing with SIU since then. But he has now appeared in 3 games since he became eligible, and he has played in fewer minutes each game (12 min against NIU, 9 min against Drake, and 1 min against UNI). His only points (7) came in his first game against NIU, and he has been scoreless the last 2 games.
Here are SIU's team stats-

[LittleBrave]

Coach Les tweets:
Your production on O..makes/misses cant determine how hard u work on D/ Reb. A team wide mentality change in order by Tues nite.

Glad he's sticking to the plan to emphasize D, but why hasn't it stuck with the players in league play? Didn't see the game on Sat., but surrendering 79 at home is not good.
I suspect we'll see the guys respond well tomorrow night. I predict we'll either be 2-2 or 0-4 by Saturday - hinges on SIU game.

Looking f/w to see DSE continuing to play well, WE making an impact, and see if AW can continue his F.T. streak. BUT - individual efforts WON'T get a W for BU this season - it's a whole team effort. We should be the team that goes on mini-runs instead of the opposition. Turn the tide Braves!!!

[real fan]

the conf season's first must-win to avoid Thursday.(it will take a lot more than this, but lose this and we're toast cuz SIU is almost certainly playing in)

Your correct in if we lose at home to SIU we will plat thurs. night, however if SIU wins then they most likely will not be playing thurs. night, SIU is not a good 3 point shooting team so we need to force them into taking contested shots, we score 65 points we should win.

[cpacmel]

I really think it's in the air as to who the four play-in teams are this season. I know it's early, but it seems to me there are more than four teams with the credentials to be playing on Thursday. I expect all the home teams to win tomorrow night, leaving six teams with losing conference records.

Agree completely with you shaunguth. And we know that doesn't happen often if ever.

[BradleyBrave]

the conf season's first must-win to avoid Thursday.(it will take a lot more than this, but lose this and we're toast cuz SIU is almost certainly playing in)

Agreed on this being a 'must win' game. This team can't afford to go 0-3 with two roadies coming up.

Not to look ahead, but Drake is a 'must' road game as well. I don't see a lot of road wins for this team, and with Missouri St and Creighton within the next two weeks, this thing can get out of hand real quick.

[LittleBrave]

Agreed on this being a 'must win' game. This team can't afford to go 0-3 with two roadies coming up.

Not to look ahead, but Drake is a 'must' road game as well. I don't see a lot of road wins for this team, and with Missouri St and Creighton within the next two weeks, this thing can get out of hand real quick.

I can see our record at 1-6 two weeks from now if things don't change. With that kind of a start, it's almost inevitable to play on Thursday - maybe even contend for the #10 seed. We NEED a win in the worst way tomorrow. Don't know why I remain hopeful that this team can pull off a 9-9 record in the Valley.

[BradleyBrave]

I can see our record at 1-6 two weeks from now if things don't change. With that kind of a start, it's almost inevitable to play on Thursday - maybe even contend for the #10 seed. We NEED a win in the worst way tomorrow. Don't know why I remain hopeful that this team can pull off a 9-9 record in the Valley.

Bradley opens as a 2.5 favorite tomorrow night. I like the Braves.

Other MVC lines...

ISU Blue -5.5 v ISU Red
UNI -11.5 v UE
CU +2 v Missouri St
Wichita St -18.5 v Drake

I like ISU Blue, UNI, CU, and Drake to cover.

[Bravesfan]

I really think it's in the air as to who the four play-in teams are this season. I know it's early, but it seems to me there are more than four teams with the credentials to be playing on Thursday. I expect all the home teams to win tomorrow night, leaving six teams with losing conference records.

And this is exactly why Bradley has as good a shot as anyone to play their way out of the play-in round. There about five teams Bradley has a chance to sweep (I say chance because that probably won't happen, but they are capable of sweeping at least a couple of teams in the Valley). Let's just that they will get some wins for sure, but home wins against these four or five teams are an absolute must if they want to avoid Thursday night.

That said, it starts tomorrow night against an SIU team that is not only short handed but was an awful shooting team even before their injury issues (sound familiar?). Despite our similar problems, this is a game we absolutely must have! And I think it will happen, at least that's my hope!

[Bravesfan]

Bradley opens as a 2.5 favorite tomorrow night. I like the Braves.

Other MVC lines...

ISU Blue -5.5 v ISU Red
UNI -11.5 v UE
CU +2 v Missouri St
Wichita St -18.5 v Drake

I like ISU Blue, UNI, CU, and Drake to cover.

ISU Red is absolutely terrible! We are very capable of sweeping ISU Red, UE and Drake, maybe even SIU again. If we could win on the road against at least three of these teams, we should be able to get six wins at home. I can see at least one upset win at home against the upper division of the Valley, so 9 wins is still not entirely out of the question.

[Da Coach]

Dave Reynolds' pregame article-

http://www.bradleyhoops.com/news/x1049173742/A-slower-steadier-Saluki-at-SIU

Chris Lowery says he is not planning on playing Gene Teague.

also- article from the Southern Illinoisan, but the SIU beat writer-

http://www.thesouthern.com/sports/college/basketball/mens/article_f8577618-17b4-11e0-9634-001cc4c002e0.html