Post Game thread-- siu 46 BU 48!

[Big Mike]

Maybe it's just me........but I classify this as our biggest and most important game of the year! For the Braves to make a run at the top 3 in the Valley this game is a must....beating a top team at home! Key to this game IMO is to jump out to an early lead and let them try and play catch-up all night! Keep the crowd going(siu will have a good # of fans at the game) and take care of business! This is a game the Braves can win regardless of what Dave Reynolds said in the pick with siu winning.......... Stand up for the team and cheer your A** off tonight......it will be a fun game!

Braves by 10!

[lightsout]

Cant agree more with everything you said Big Mike. HUGE game for us tonight i know i will be at the game going nuts all night!!


I think Warren will step up again and have a solid game and braves win in a close one, by 3.

[Da Coach]

I think you are right, Mike.

Is anyone else going early to the Braves Club pregame party?

It is from 5-7 in the Civic Center Theater lobby. It's free to Braves Club members, there is a small charge for non-member guests. They will have complimentary beer, wine, soda and snacks. There is also a "Carved Sandwich Buffet" available for purchase.

See you there!

[Grassman]

Big Mike,
As I posted on another post, so this is a double post.
SIU has 3 consistent scoresrs, Tatum, Shaw, and Falker.
If Falker gets in early foul trouble and Young doesn't show up, which he is prone to do.
SIU has 0 bench.
Bradley pulls away to a BIG W.

[Big Mike]

I hope your right G.......last time when JC went down I predicted DA for 8 3's.......and he hit 6.......tonight I'll go with 6 3's for DA and 4 for AW who will play good at home.....DR and WF will be match-up problems for the dogs but we still need MS and ZA to play aggessive....but smart! Maybe even 10 minutes from SS tonight!

[Big Mike]

One more Key before I head to the CC...........let's call the game fair refs.......if they mug a player....call it and not just the ticky-tac calls on the Braves.......siu guards hand check all night long....it should be called!

[Big Mike]

What a college atmosphere......that was nice! ZA's dunk was something I need to see again to believe ,.........and my man WF is Mr. Clutch at the end......that ball hit every part of the rim and sat for just a little before dropping in! NICE!

[Big Mike]

Also nice dunk by JJ when we needed some points!

[it's boogie time]

That last possesion wasn't pretty, but it got the job done. Will is the man.

[Fyrebyrd]

Just got back...one of the most incredible games I've ever been too. This ranks up there with the two games in Auburn Hills and the one home against Northern Iowa last year. Huge defensive outing and can we please have Will stay for a fifth year? PWEEZ???

[Da Coach]

What a fantastic game!

Box score--

http://www.bubraves.com/ViewArticle.dbml?SPSID=19332&SPID=1498&DB_OEM_ID=3400&ATCLID=745279

Who would have thought Bradley could shoot 36.7% (24% in the first half), and get outrebounded 39-23, get only 8 assists against one of the best defensive teams in the country and still win! Bradley's defense was even better than SIU's. 20 turnovers by SIU, 12 steals by Bradley, and clutch shooting by Will Franklin!
The best guards on the floor tonight were wearing white uniforms!

Here is an amazing stat-- Daniel Ruffin handled the ball flawlessly against possibly the best defensive pressure you will see anywhere. He had ZERO turnovers! So though he did not have a good game offensively, his steady, mistake-free play had a lot to do with Bradley's win.

Zach had 5 steals, and both Zach and Matt had 7 deflections each (this is not an official stat, but coach Les mentioned it on the postgame show).

[Big Mike]

Best move of the game.......Braves drop into a ZONE and this took some momentum from the siu O'......great move by the staff IMO!

[real fan]

Just got home from the big B.U. victory; the best thing I can say is we beat them at their own game; it was not the best played game but we won and that is the only thing that matters; that was a big time shot by Will as Mullens was all over him, great team effort.

[mike radigan]

My DSL has been down most of the day as there was a network outage in Peoria. I tried rebooting everything when I got home and still no DSL although they said it would be fixed by 6:30. So I called them. They said the hardware was fixed now and would get a software guy. Well, I pretty much knew what they were going to have me try and I fixed it myself while waiting. I only include this as it illustrates what a shallow life I (we all) lead. My goodness, no DSL, no internet, no life, what will I do?

Well, back to the game. Great game to win. Talked briefly with Gator, good to see you, Gator. I thought the refs allowed too much hand checking, too many moving screens, and too much backing down in the low post.

Hats off to JJ for gutting it out. We were much better in a zone against SIU. Not saying we shouldn???‚¬?„?t play man-to-man against most teams, but a zone definitely works better against SIU.

One thing I don???‚¬?„?t understand. Ruff got his defender up in the air when Ruff faked a three. He had to dribble out of the way to keep the defender from falling on him. Why not put up a shot as it???‚¬?„?s a sure three shot foul. I???‚¬?„?ve seen this many times before. I don???‚¬?„?t get it.

Great offensive rebound by Danny Adams late in the game. Rebounds were at a premium anyway and SIU just failed to block out as DA just came right down the lane to get the board. And obviously every possession was huge.

Anyway, great victory, but no time to rest. On to Indiana State.

[Da Coach]

Mullins fouled Will on that last shot with an obvious hard body bump. But the officiating crew called a very loose game all night letting a lot of 2-handed hand checks, and forearm checks by the SIU defense. So I didn't expect them to call that foul on Mullins at the end. Thank goodness the ball dropped through.

This is one game the crowd definitely made a difference. It seemed to bother SIU down the stretch, and they really struggled to score.