Final: Michigan 74 Bradley 66

[bigjimmy]

I've been saying it all along. This team will compete. I'm proud of the way the guys hung in there until the end. Pross is improving by leaps and bounds this year. Thought there were too many times that both Walt and Crawford committed too many unforced, foolish tournovers and forced up too many shots. Aggressiveness is fine but they need to be smarter about it. The atmosphere was great from the opening tip to the final buzzer. I'll be curious to see how many of those 10,000 plus fans will be at Carver on Tuesday against GW. We need to make that the rule, not the exception.

[Gary the Gargoyle]

I've been saying it all along. This team will compete. I'm proud of the way the guys hung in there until the end. Pross is improving by leaps and bounds this year. Thought there were too many times that both Walt and Crawford committed too many unforced, foolish tournovers and forced up too many shots. Aggressiveness is fine but they need to be smarter about it. The atmosphere was great from the opening tip to the final buzzer. I'll be curious to see how many of those 10,000 plus fans will be at Carver on Tuesday against GW. We need to make that the rule, not the exception.

I'll say about half.

[patrick_o'brian]

Great job by "us" fans that were there! Great atmosphere. Bottom line is that Michigan is #3 in the country and has far superior talent than us. The Valley flirted with upsets today with ISU-Louisville and BU-Michigan, just couldn't pull them off. IMHO Creighton would blow Michigan out. Bradley will have a great year if the players and the crowd can bring their "A" game every night like they did tonight! Fun ball game today! GO BU!

[LittleBrave]

I'll also add that I thought this was one of the best games that Prosser and Crawford have played while at BU. I n addition, Jake Eastman was playing with a heavy heart after losing his grandfather. My condolences go to Jake and the Eastman Family.

I agree - both played outstanding. JC should have made 1 or 2 threes and it would have been his best gamein a Bravest uni.

Very proud of this team and felt we played better than most expected. We need to bounce back vs. GW this week and keep the momentum. Right now, I feel we are close to a middle pack Valley team if we play like we did in the past 2 games.

I hoped before the game to lose by 10 or less, and would equate to a moral victory, and I still feel the same after the game...even better.

[Braves4Life]

Great job by "us" fans that were there! Great atmosphere. Bottom line is that Michigan is #3 in the country and has far superior talent than us. The Valley flirted with upsets today with ISU-Louisville and BU-Michigan, just couldn't pull them off. IMHO Creighton would blow Michigan out. Bradley will have a great year if the players and the crowd can bring their "A" game every night like they did tonight! Fun ball game today! GO BU!

I agree with everything POB except Creighton. I think BU fares better against teams like Michigan than CU. The Blue Jays always struggle with quick and athletic teams like Michigan (and us). I actually think CU would get blown out by Michigan.

[Braves4Life]

Bruce Pearl is my new favorite announcer. That is all.

I thought Pearl did a phenomenal job as the color man. He demonstrated a tremendous knowledge of Bradley Basketball and MVC history, and mid-major ball in general, and the game was a real pleasure to watch with Bruce at the helm. I almost felt as if I was listening to a "homer" announcer at times. Of course, Michigan fans probably feel exactly the opposite since he didn't kiss their "you know what" like most of the national announcers.

However, when the game cut to the halftime studio with Matt Dougherty I almost blew a gasket as Dougherty showed just how unprepared he was by referring to Bradley and the "Ohio Valley Conference".

[ancona flash]

I agree - both played outstanding. JC should have made 1 or 2 threes and it would have been his best gamein a Bravest uni.

Very proud of this team and felt we played better than most expected. We need to bounce back vs. GW this week and keep the momentum. Right now, I feel we are close to a middle pack Valley team if we play like we did in the past 2 games.

I hoped before the game to lose by 10 or less, and would equate to a moral victory, and I still feel the same after the game...even better.

I think this game is probably this biggest sign so far that the program is finally moving in a positive direction. I now feel as though we should be competitive in every game from now on. It's been a while since I've felt that way.

[AZ BU Fan]

Great job Braves... I know not the final score everyone was hoping for, but,
all played hard, no one played scared, everyone played defense, no one gave up, no one tried to do it all themselves... ALL MARKS OF A GOOD TEAM!

Excited for the future of this BU team and BU teams to come!

Please don't regress, play every team on your 2012-13 schedule as if they are Michigan cause you now know you can play with them!!

GO BU!

[Bravesfan]

I thought Pearl did a phenomenal job as the color man. He demonstrated a tremendous knowledge of Bradley Basketball and MVC history, and mid-major ball in general, and the game was a real pleasure to watch with Bruce at the helm. I almost felt as if I was listening to a "homer" announcer at times. Of course, Michigan fans probably feel exactly the opposite since he didn't kiss their "you know what" like most of the national announcers.

However, when the game cut to the halftime studio with Matt Dougherty I almost blew a gasket as Dougherty showed just how unprepared he was by referring to Bradley and the "Ohio Valley Conference".

I think Pearl is a much better analyst than he is a coach!

That said though, occasionally there are some coaches from big time conferences that know and respect mid-major basketball. Dougherty apparently does not, and you can add him to the same list as Digger Phelps and others. (My second shot at Digger tonight! See the Rick Majerus thread for the first one.).

[Bravesfan]

Great job Braves... I know not the final score everyone was hoping for, but,
all played hard, no one played scared, everyone played defense, no one gave up, no one tried to do it all themselves... ALL MARKS OF A GOOD TEAM!

Excited for the future of this BU team and BU teams to come!

Please don't regress, play every team on your 2012-13 schedule as if they are Michigan cause you now know you can play with them!!

GO BU!

Absolutely! There are not too many great teams that will beat Michigan either. So great effort by BU today. Keep beating the teams they should be beating, and they may actually have a decent record at the end of the year!

[Big Mike]

Wessler:Score showed loss but effort was winning...

http://www.pjstar.com/bradleyhoops/x1978612463/Wessler-Score-showed-loss-but-effort-was-winning

[Gary the Gargoyle]

Great job by "us" fans that were there! Great atmosphere. Bottom line is that Michigan is #3 in the country and has far superior talent than us. The Valley flirted with upsets today with ISU-Louisville and BU-Michigan, just couldn't pull them off. IMHO Creighton would blow Michigan out. Bradley will have a great year if the players and the crowd can bring their "A" game every night like they did tonight! Fun ball game today! GO BU!

Not the same Creighton team that got hammered in Omaha by Bouse State.

[electricmayhem]

My thoughts are also with the Eastman family, which brings up my question.

No disrespect meant, but do you think this game would have been different if we had played KB a bit and let him run around with Burke? JE gave us absolutely nothing yesterday, which I can understand given his situation.

I like JC's game, as long as he's inside the arc. He showed yesterday with his missed threes that he has some improving to do from distance.

I like the new, finish-around-the-basket version of JP. That could really pay dividends this season.

Pearl was outstanding. I counted at least three times when he said a call went against BU, including the lane violation. I actually thought the officiating was fair, unlike that awful ISU-UL game.

Kudos to the Braves for making this game happen - I know it's easier said than done, but a game like this every year or two boosts the spirit of the program and battle-tests these kids for a long season. Bravo, Braves - great showing for our program and our University!

[lefty]

I agree with everything POB except Creighton. I think BU fares better against teams like Michigan than CU. The Blue Jays always struggle with quick and athletic teams like Michigan (and us). I actually think CU would get blown out by Michigan.

I don't if either would blow each other out.....but each COULD blow the other out.....they both shoot well.....Michigan is very long around the perimeter and while they don't seem huge those long guys sure do well on the boards

[Gary the Gargoyle]

My thoughts are also with the Eastman family, which brings up my question.

No disrespect meant, but do you think this game would have been different if we had played KB a bit and let him run around with Burke? JE gave us absolutely nothing yesterday, which I can understand given his situation.

I like JC's game, as long as he's inside the arc. He showed yesterday with his missed threes that he has some improving to do from distance.

I like the new, finish-around-the-basket version of JP. That could really pay dividends this season.

Pearl was outstanding. I counted at least three times when he said a call went against BU, including the lane violation. I actually thought the officiating was fair, unlike that awful ISU-UL game.

Kudos to the Braves for making this game happen - I know it's easier said than done, but a game like this every year or two boosts the spirit of the program and battle-tests these kids for a long season. Bravo, Braves - great showing for our program and our University!

Bradley is working to get one more of these match-ups before Max leaves Michigan.