Games of Interest, Tuesday 12/4

[shaunguth]

Bradley opponents coming into today.......

Non-Conference: 49-44 (.527)

Missouri Valley: 41-20 (.672)
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George Washington (4-3) @ Bradley (5-2), 7:00pm CT (WMBD Radio)

Wyoming (8-0) @ illinois state (5-2), 7:00pm CT (WJBC Radio)

Western Michigan (6-1) @ (3)Michigan (7-0), 7:30pm CT (Big Ten Network)

(21)UNLV (5-1) @ Portland (3-4), 10:00pm CT (ESPNU)

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[shaunguth]

Wyoming (8-0) @ illinois state (5-2), 7:00pm CT (WJBC Radio)

O U C H ! ! !

isu gets outscored 52-24 in the 2nd half and lose at home 67-81.

[Da Coach]

ISU appeared to have this game won with a big lead. They lead by 19 points in the 2nd half. But then they stalled out while Wyoming got hot and went on an extended run. ISU also turned the ball over 20 times, and Wyoming scored 29 points off the turnovers. This is a really bad loss for ISU, even though Wyoming came in 8-0.
Box score-

http://grfx.cstv.com/photos/schools/ilsu/sports/m-baskbl/auto_pdf/2012-13/box_score/stats_20121204aaa.pdf

[shaunguth]

This is a really bad loss for ISU, even though Wyoming came in 8-0.

Before tonight, the only team with a winning record that Wyoming had beaten was Colorado. Wyoming's other six opponents have a combined record of 8-26.

[tornado]

O U C H ! ! !

isu gets outscored 52-24 in the 2nd half and lose at home 67-81.

and 50-17 down the final 17 minutes...
"took their foot off the gas pedal"

with very few exceptions the Valley schools have failed to win the ones we NEED to win to improve our standing in the eyes on those who will award at-large bids...

we have a very poor record thus far against teams from the other Top ten rated conferences...


also - I saw one comment that ISU must have been tired down the stretch...
but look at the box score - Wyoming played their starters the whole way - one guy played all 40 minutes and all five starters played more than 36 minutes -
while not one ISU starter played over 31 minutes..if anything the Wyoming players had to be leg-weary and yet still blew them out...not comforting...

[Braves4Life]

I'm already resigned to the fact that The Valley is going to be no better than a 2-bid league this year. Too many blown games by ISU and UNI already. The problem will be if one of those two teams wins the MVC Tournament. What will the Selection Committee do with CU and WSU? These are the only two teams that I expect to have both exceptional conference and overall records this year. No doubt the MVC is top heavy this year which bodes well for Bradley and gives us a chance to leapfrog several teams.

[Bravesfan]

and 50-17 down the final 17 minutes...
"took their foot off the gas pedal"

with very few exceptions the Valley schools have failed to win the ones we NEED to win to improve our standing in the eyes on those who will award at-large bids...

we have a very poor record thus far against teams from the other Top ten rated conferences...

Agreed. But there still have been a couple of teams who have taken care of business, and a couple of others who still have a shot. Creighton has solid wins against the BCS, and while that home loss to Boise St. hurt, the fact that they did not plummet in the rankings this week shows that most voters dismissed this loss as one bad game. But they can't afford too many more losses like that. And unfortunately for St. Joesph's, they had the misfortune of playing Creighton in the wrong place at the wrong time as they got slaughtered by Creighton last weekend.

Wichita St. is now ranked in the AP poll at #24 this week thanks to their perfect record and solid wins over Iowa and especially VCU. As long as they finish at least second in the Valley and split their games against Creighton, they should have no problem making the NCAA Tournament as an at-large team.

ISU blew any chances of an at-large bid with their close loss to then #5 Louisville and after last night's debacle against Wyoming. They need to finish first in the Valley with at least a split of their games against Creighton and Wichita St. if they have any shot of an at-large bid.

UNI blew some great chances for wins against BCS teams in their tournament a couple of weeks ago while coming out winless. However, they still have plenty of chances for solid wins with a home game against George Mason, a neutral site game against Iowa, and road games at #21 UNLV, St. Mary's and #24 Wichita St. coming up before the end of the year. They need to win at least one of those three road games (if not two) and probably take care of business against Iowa and George Mason. If they can do that, and split their games against Creighton and Wichita St., they would still have a pretty solid chance at an at-large bid if they finish in the top 3 in the Valley.

Even Bradley still would have a shot at an at-large bid if they beat a red hot Virginia Tech team in Vegas later this month. But of course I don't think many people believe they will be consistent enough to challange for the top half of the Valley, but you never know. That's why they play the games. That said, an upset of VT would at the very least help the Valley RPI and help Bradley's growth process.

So the Valley still definitely has shots at solidifying their ranking, but teams definitely have blown chances, including two one possession losses to Louisville, a close loss to Michigan, and an overtime loss to New Mexico, all ranked teams. And that's the difference between being a solid upper end mid-major conference, and a top tier mid-major conference that finishes ahead of some BCS conferences. Hopefully we can still get a few quality wins (I think Drake still plays UNLV as well), and position ourselves as one of the top non-BCS conferences in the country.

[tornado]

I saw a few other scores I found interesting last night...

Purdue has been struggling at 3-4 and losses to Bucknell, Xavier, Oregon State, Villanova...
..and yet they absolutely annihilated Lamar - 72-39 ..and it could have been way worse ..with starters playing only about 20 minutes...
How much more puny does our close win at IUPUI look now when Lamar is THIS BAD, and the ONLY win they have in their 1-7 record is their win AT IUPUI
..and how long before Pat Knight has no more of his inherited players and gets fired! (meanwhile the program Knight left behind in shambles,
Texas Tech, struggled last night to beat transitioning DII Northern Kentucky!)

Illini get a win over WCU but one stat stands out - only 8 assists for 65 shot attempts...their bigs down low barely ever touch the ball - how's that gonna play in the physical Big Ten?

And St. John's - losng to San Francisco?

[Bravesfan]

I saw a few other scores I found interesting last night...

Purdue has been struggling at 3-4 and losses to Bucknell, Xavier, Oregon State, Villanova...
..and yet they absolutely annihilated Lamar - 72-39 ..and it could have been way worse ..with starters playing only about 20 minutes...
How much more puny does our close win at IUPUI look now when Lamar is THIS BAD, and the ONLY win they have in their 1-7 record is their win AT IUPUI
..and how long before Pat Knight has no more of his inherited players and gets fired! (meanwhile the program Knight left behind in shambles,
Texas Tech, struggled last night to beat transitioning DII Northern Kentucky!)

Illini get a win over WCU but one stat stands out - only 8 assists for 65 shot attempts...their bigs down low barely ever touch the ball - how's that gonna play in the physical Big Ten?

Well we did beat IUPUI by double digits despite some of our typical sloppy play. But for Bradley, any road win is improvement over last year, and they still looked a lot better, mistakes notwithstanding. I'm more concerned with how they failed to close things out last night, but at least we won. Sometimes teams learn good lessons even after wins.

And there's that darn Western Carolina again! They seem to give Illinois teams fits everytime they play them.

Yeah, I think Knight needs another meltdown right about now to get his team going again!

[Braves4Life]

How much more puny does our close win at IUPUI look now when Lamar is THIS BAD

Did anyone really make our win over IUPUI out to look like it meant much of anything? It was a road win for a team that couldn't buy a win last year... A confidence booster... A step in the right direction... Nothing more than a win... Nothing les.

[Braves4Life]

I'm more concerned with how they failed to close things out last night, but at least we won. Sometimes teams learn good lessons even after wins.

Really? I'm not surprised. How many times in the past three years has this team had to close out games? This is a learning process for them and, hopefully, they picked up some things to make it easier when things really count during the MVC season. Remember, a win is a win! Next!

[tornado]

Well we did beat IUPUI by double digits ..

I'll take a win even if by a buzzer beater in OT - but BU did not beat IUPUI by double digits

http://www.bradleybraves.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPID=1498&DB_OEM_ID=3400&ATCLID=205748860

[Bravesfan]

I'll take a win even if by a buzzer beater in OT - but BU did not beat IUPUI by double digits
http://www.bradleybraves.com/ViewArt...CLID=205748860

My mistake. I must have been thinking of the Central Michigan game.

But I agree. If we can win three Valley road games in overtime, that would be great this year!

[Bravesfan]

Really? I'm not surprised. How many times in the past three years has this team had to close out games? This is a learning process for them and, hopefully, they picked up some things to make it easier when things really count during the MVC season. Remember, a win is a win! Next!

I think we agree. That's why I said I'll take the win. I think that after their relatively easy earlier wins, I was a little concerned that they took half a step back last night as they apparently thought the game was wrapped up. I don't know how good GW will be this year, but I don't think they will challange for the top half of the A-10. So obviously we will have a consistently tougher schedule once the Valley season starts (and before that in Vegas). So I hope when we get a big lead we can close things out quicker. That's my only concern.

[tornado]

.....Purdue has been struggling...
..and yet they absolutely annihilated Lamar - 72-39..

Lamar's season has gone south in a hurry...not only are the losing - they are losing to bad teams and getting blown out by enormous margins...

plus head coach Pat Knight has been hearing boos and even losing it and getting thrown out by officials...
Last night was a game they had hoped was winnable (a struggling Louisiana-Lafayette) and they still got blown out falling behind by almost 20 in the 1st half.
Lamar is now 1-8 - and their only win is over IUPUI - beating them by roughly the same margin Bradley did! Next up is Baylor so likely they're gonna fall to 1-9 before any other winnable games come along.


BTW - can someone tell me why "Ragin Cajuns" isn't considered every bit as offensive as "Fighting Sioux"