Final: SIU 75 Bradley 64

[Da Coach]

Bradley continues with another road game at Southern Illinois on Tuesday, Feb. 18 at 7:05 PM. The game is televised by WSIU, and will be picked up and broadcast in Peoria by WOAE.

Bradley is now 11-16 overall and 6-8 in the MVC and tied for 6th with SIU (10-17, 6-8 ).
Bradley beat SIU in Peoria 66-60 back on January 17. That was the breakout game for Mason Alwan, who had 12 points off the far end of the bench which help lift Bradley to the win.

http://www.bradleybraves.com/pdf9/2613323.pdf?ATCLID=209377125&SPSID=25965&SPID=1498&DB_LANG=C&DB_OEM_ID=3400

Since that game, both teams have gone 4-4. The Salukis have played well. They are coming off road losses at Wichita State in which the played them close until the end, and Indiana State in which they lead almost all the way, but lost in the final seconds.

SIU website-

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

[LongTimeFan]

DC,

Any place for us fans who do not live in the Peoria (West Coast) to see the game. I notice that video is not indicated on BU.tv. I thought I had seen games from SIU in some other years.

[Da Coach]

It is being televised by WSIU in Carbondale, and it will be picked up and broadcast locally in the Peoria area by WAOE.
Because SIU contracts with CBSSports for their internet streaming, and Bradley is with a competitor, Neulion, I do not expect the game to be available on the Bradley All Access. So I do not see any legitimate options for out-of-town viewers. But there are often some non-legitimate video streams that become available, though none are listed yet.

If anyone makes a video stream available on the internet, I'll post it here.

[schefftech]

It looks like the game will be on ESPN3. I would assume this is the same WSIU feed the Peoria viewers will see on WAOE.

Brian

[Da Coach]

It looks like the game will be on ESPN3. I would assume this is the same WSIU feed the Peoria viewers will see on WAOE.

Brian

Yes, and it looks like we will get the SIU broadcast crew of play-by-play man Scott Warmann and color analyst Darren Kinnard

Here is much more from Bobby Parker-

http://www.bradleybraves.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=3400&ATCLID=209409384

[Da Coach]

Dave Reynolds agrees this is a huge game for Bradley-

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20140217/SPECIAL-REPORTS/140219159/10963/SPORTS?rssfeed=true

[Da Coach]

Dave Reynolds agrees this is a huge game for Bradley-
http://www.pjstar.com/article/201402...S?rssfeed=true

Just looking again at the comments in Dave Reynolds' article, I found this portion interesting-

Bradley needs such a 3-point injection Tuesday.
“We’ve got to get Omari (Grier) and KD (K’Darryl Bell) shooting better,” Ford said. “We need production out of that spot.”
That shooting guard duo has combined to make just five of 29 3s (17 percent) in the last four games.
“We were efficient against their zone the first time,” said Ford, noting that, aside from shooting 49 percent overall, BU was 6-for-11 from 3. “Since they’ve been mainly playing 2-3 zone, I’m anticipating that’s what we’ll see again.”

So it sounds like Bradley is hanging it's hopes of beating SIU in this huge game tomorrow on a game plan that boils down to a couple of 32% three point shooters (only 17% in the last 4 games) suddenly breaking out and becoming like Hersey Hawkins.

I hope we have a backup plan.

The Vegas betting line just was posted- SIU is a 7 point favorite! That is the largest spread of any of Bradley's last 10 games!

http://www.vegasinsider.com/college-basketball/teams/team-page.cfm/team/bradley

[LongTimeFan]

Thanks for the info about ESPN3. I can access it since I have Time Warner.

[bigjimmy]

Just looking again at the comments in Dave Reynolds' article, I found this portion interesting-

Bradley needs such a 3-point injection Tuesday.
???We??™ve got to get Omari (Grier) and KD (K??™Darryl Bell) shooting better,??? Ford said. ???We need production out of that spot.???
That shooting guard duo has combined to make just five of 29 3s (17 percent) in the last four games.
???We were efficient against their zone the first time,??? said Ford, noting that, aside from shooting 49 percent overall, BU was 6-for-11 from 3. ???Since they??™ve been mainly playing 2-3 zone, I??™m anticipating that??™s what we??™ll see again.???

So it sounds like Bradley is hanging it's hopes of beating SIU in this huge game tomorrow on a game plan that boils down to a couple of 32% three point shooters (only 17% in the last 4 games) suddenly breaking out and becoming like Hersey Hawkins.

I hope we have a backup plan.

The Vegas betting line just was posted- SIU is a 7 point favorite! That is the largest spread of any of Bradley's last 10 games!
http://www.vegasinsider.com/college-...m/team/bradley

So you're saying we have a chance.

[Da Coach]

Prediction from Dave-

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20140217/SPORTS/140219175/10963/SPORTS

Strange that the earlier article with the quotes where Geno says what we need to do to beat SIU never mentioned the star of the first BU-SIU game, Mason Alwan. Maybe we are trying to maintain our stealth weapon.

[tornado]

thus far we have been fortunate - our squad has had essentially no injuries -
SIU has had some guys out due to injuries, same with ISU, MSU, and others...but has anyone on our team missed any playing time due to injury??
Certainly can't use that as an excuse...

[wizard1]

Next Game - Bradley at SIU

Coach...Re: Game Plan:
1. Get down the floor FAST on inbounds and on defense. Don't have Walt walk the ball up the floor.
2. Now and then...PRESS.
3. Be patient..Several passes in the half court and move the ball quickly and often.
4. Get the ball inside especially to Pickett
5. Don't dribble so much!
6. More movement away from the ball.
Wiz

[AZ BU Fan]

thus far we have been fortunate - our squad has had essentially no injuries -
SIU has had some guys out due to injuries, same with ISU, MSU, and others...but has anyone on our team missed any playing time due to injury??
Certainly can't use that as an excuse...

No excuses, BU players have to play up to their abilities.
Does BU have a team leader willing to step up and lead this team?

[BUSongwriter]

<Does BU have a team leader willing to step up and lead this team?>

That's a great question. Somebody needs to be vocal and unrelentingly excited tonight -- and especially if things aren't going well. No head-hanging. Get the job done!

I'll be disappointed if BU loses tonight. But I will be majorly disappointed, and a little angry, if we don't play with fire in our bellies. Because of how the conference is shaking out, this team finds itself a game out of third place. We're also a loss away from being in Thursday play-in position. I know this is a road game, but we have to come out ready for the fight and take it to the Salukis.

I hope Geno has a fiery pre-game talk ready. Play angry works for the Shockers. Play with urgency, passion and pride works for me. Let's get this win!

[Da Coach]

Agree! This is really a critical game despite neither team having a chance to catch the leaders or get a post-season bid. lose this game and the liklihood of playing on Thursday skyrocket.
And as I have harped on all year, our weak non-conference schedule is threatening to hurt us (in the MVC Tournament seeding). That is something we have control over, but scheduled too many weaklings. Let's learn from it next year.