Final score: Illinois State 70 Bradley 57

[LongTimeFan]

They still have to put the ball in the basket.

[Da Coach]

Final score: Illinois State 70 Bradley 57

http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=197150

Attendance 6,321 - not good considering their students were back on campus.

Bradley falls to 13-7, and 3-4 in the MVC.

Next game at home Saturday night, 7 PM against Evansville.

[tornado]

we had fewer turnovers and played decent defense...
but we allowed them to go to the FT line too much and they made a few more shots than we did

[bradleyfan124]

This game was very winnable tonight. It is not what ISU did. It is what we did not do.. And that is make shots.. We had good looks but you have to put the ball in the basket. They we re giving us shots but we could not make them

[MacabreMob]

Same old, same old in year 3.

I don't care about "actual start date" for Coach Wardle.

Year 1 he cleaned out the crap that was at Bradley under Ford and Cross. When hired so late in year, he couldn't recruit actual competitive D1 players. He found the best he could. We have marginal players maturing. They are in their 3rd year. Coach Wardle is in his 2nd year. Yet... since he cleaned house and filled roster with newbies and being an honorable and respectable human being, he is honoring the scholarships given for 4 years if the players continue to follow his program. So... year 2 and year 3 recruiting has left little room to add.

So all the Grumpy Gills out there need to realize HONESTLY what Bradley has decided to do and what the actual rebuilding IS.

Bradley is still 2-4 years out from seeing what Coach Wardle is building and he needs that time to show it. The steaming pile he was given is not his fault. And then having to start from absolutely nothing means he deserves more time to get this program going. And the fact he and Bradley are honorable and respectable in giving scholarships in this rebuild process to the student athletes without pulling the scholarships in place of a quick fix... this speaks louder than the record this team will have this season.

[mvcfan]

Both coaches seemed frustrated with the decision making of their teams. The decision making by both teams was pretty bad all game. Part of not making shots has to do with the shots a team is taking.

[Crusenswings]

We gotta get more athletic and physical. Hopefully that is something that coach is recruiting for.

Kennell's decision making has gone down the tank. Too many quick 3s

[BUfan39]

I don't care about "actual start date" for Coach Wardle.

Year 1 he cleaned out the crap that was at Bradley under Ford and Cross. When hired so late in year, he couldn't recruit actual competitive D1 players. He found the best he could. We have marginal players maturing. They are in their 3rd year. Coach Wardle is in his 2nd year. Yet... since he cleaned house and filled roster with newbies and being an honorable and respectable human being, he is honoring the scholarships given for 4 years if the players continue to follow his program. So... year 2 and year 3 recruiting has left little room to add.

So all the Grumpy Gills out there need to realize HONESTLY what Bradley has decided to do and what the actual rebuilding IS.

Bradley is still 2-4 years out from seeing what Coach Wardle is building and he needs that time to show it. The steaming pile he was given is not his fault. And then having to start from absolutely nothing means he deserves more time to get this program going. And the fact he and Bradley are honorable and respectable in giving scholarships in this rebuild process to the student athletes without pulling the scholarships in place of a quick fix... this speaks louder than the record this team will have this season.

Great post. People need to calm down. While it's frustrating, we are in year 3 and have significantly improved from where we were 2 years ago. It will get better.

[bigjimmy]

I don't fault our effort last night or most nights. These guys play hard. Am I a little frustrated with our inability to shoot on the road? Yup. Am I a little frustrated with our inability to play 2 good halves of defense on the road? Yup. But considering how low we've been this decade being 13-7 after 20 games this season is pretty darn good. I think we all would have taken this record at the beginning of the season. But our margin of error is still a little bit too close for comfort for me. That's a lot of pressure to win at home if you can't win on the road in conference play. Next 2 home games will tell whether we play on Thursday in St Louis or not.

[tornado]

pretty much without exception, the teams that have won on the road in MVC play sit atop the MVC standings....and the teams that have NOT won on the road occupy the lower half of the MVC.
We must hold home court and win a couple on the road.

[LittleBrave]

A little frustrating that we didn't make this one closer - expected a 5-point margin either way. ISU certainly has our number the past 10 years or so.

They played well - we played well for stretches. We played hard, but didn't get the boards in the 2nd half and gave up 2nd chance points.

Koch Barr really hurts us - Luuk, Donte, and D-Lo had solid games, and Childs did ok.

Not sure why Hodges is playing so much - what does he give us?
I liked him as a frosh, but struggling this season.

No reason to hang our heads - come back strong on Saturday and continue to improve on the road.

[pfcmsh]

I don't care about "actual start date" for Coach Wardle.

Year 1 he cleaned out the crap that was at Bradley under Ford and Cross. When hired so late in year, he couldn't recruit actual competitive D1 players. He found the best he could. We have marginal players maturing. They are in their 3rd year. Coach Wardle is in his 2nd year. Yet... since he cleaned house and filled roster with newbies and being an honorable and respectable human being, he is honoring the scholarships given for 4 years if the players continue to follow his program. So... year 2 and year 3 recruiting has left little room to add.

So all the Grumpy Gills out there need to realize HONESTLY what Bradley has decided to do and what the actual rebuilding IS.

Bradley is still 2-4 years out from seeing what Coach Wardle is building and he needs that time to show it. The steaming pile he was given is not his fault. And then having to start from absolutely nothing means he deserves more time to get this program going. And the fact he and Bradley are honorable and respectable in giving scholarships in this rebuild process to the student athletes without pulling the scholarships in place of a quick fix... this speaks louder than the record this team will have this season.

Well said. "Steaming pile" is a great description. We were in awful shape and losing awful players caused us to bottom out, yet we still won as many games as Ford's last year. Now, we are on the way back. We already have reached last years total wins. We can have a 20 win season. It is still there. Meanwhile, I suspect that Coach Wardle's sights have risen some on recruits. Just a hunch. Go Braves!

[pfcmsh]

pretty much without exception, the teams that have won on the road in MVC play sit atop the MVC standings....and the teams that have NOT won on the road occupy the lower half of the MVC.
We must hold home court and win a couple on the road.

I really believe we can do this. I think 20 wins is within our reach. It is great observation that traditionally the league upper crust wins their road games.