One MVC game Tuesday, Feb. 13

[Da Coach]

There is one MVC game Tuesday, Feb. 13-

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/scoreboard/_/group/18/date/20180213

Evansville at Northern Iowa - 7 PM on ESPN3.com

[BUfan39]

We don't need Evansville creeping any closer. Go Panthers.

[tornado]

The stands are just barren at UNI - are their fans that fair-weather and just bail when their team is having a bad year?

[Da Coach]

Those empty areas on the sides are the seats normally occupied by UNI season ticket holders. So their announced attendance probably won't reflect how few fans are actually there.

So far, the game is low-scoring and staying close in the first half-

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore?gameId=400989739

[braves16]

UNI wins 47-41.

[Da Coach]

The low-scoring continued as neither team managed to score more than 18 points in the 2nd half.
Northern Iowa pulled out to a 15 point lead midway through the 2nd half but then failed to score a field goal in the last 10 minutes of the game.
Evansville then slowly chipped away at the lead and closed to within 2 points (43-41) with under 2 minutes. But then Evansville went cold, and UNI made several free throws in the final couple minutes to hold on for the 47-41 win-

http://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore?gameId=400989739

Evansville's Ryan Taylor had 26 points, but the other 4 starters combined only totalled 6 points, and they only got 9 points from their bench.
UNI only shot 27.8% for the game, and Hunter Rhodes was their leading scorer with 12 points. They were just 5-22 from three.
UNI got 31 of their 47 points from their 3 senior starters, and they only got 16 points on 4-25 shooting from everyone else. UNI could be in trouble again next year when Koch, Carlson, and Rhodes are gone. They really are hurting for shooters and playmakers and don't have much offense returning next year.

[braves16]

This might have been the worst college game I've seen this year, or maybe for a few years.

[Da Coach]

It definitely was not a good advertisement for exciting play in the MVC. The announcers did a pretty good job of hyping the MVC and the two programs, and trying to make the game seem more interesting, but there was only so much they could do.

One other interesting stat- UNI was 12-19 on free throws, but Evansville did not attemp a single free throw in the game.
And one unusual stat- neither team had a single fast break point.

[tornado]

attendance 3346, but it looked like half that were actually there
3346, by far their worst crowd for a conference game this year - and I'm guessing for quite some time.

[bigjimmy]

Evansville losing is certainly a big help to keep us out of Thursday at Arch Madness. Looking more and more like we'll be battling ISU Blue for 6th so it sure would be nice if the Sycamores lose at Drake tonight and then when we beat the Redbirds we'll have a 2 game lead on both Evansville and ISU Blue with 3 to go. GO BU!

[BUfan39]

Evansville losing is certainly a big help to keep us out of Thursday at Arch Madness. Looking more and more like we'll be battling ISU Blue for 6th so it sure would be nice if the Sycamores lose at Drake tonight and then when we beat the Redbirds we'll have a 2 game lead on both Evansville and ISU Blue with 3 to go. GO BU!

That would be fantastic! If that happens, I think we'll all feel pretty good about avoiding Thursday night.

[Da Coach]

That would be fantastic! If that happens, I think we'll all feel pretty good about avoiding Thursday night.

Though like most fans, I was hoping for more than just escaping the Thursday games, it would still be slight progress.
Although replacing Wichita State with a last place Valparaiso would have pushed Bradley up a notch and kept them out of the Thursday games last year, so just barely staying above the 7th seed isn't very much of an improvement.

[BUfan39]

Though like most fans, I was hoping for more than just escaping the Thursday games, it would still be slight progress.
Although replacing Wichita State with a last place Valparaiso would have pushed Bradley up a notch and kept them out of the Thursday games last year, so just barely staying above the 7th seed isn't very much of an improvement.

While a slim chance, still a shot at finishing 4/5. But we'd certainly have to finish 3-1 or 4-0 which I don't think anyone here would expect. Especially after how poorly we've played recently. I would be pretty happy with that personally. I have to continue to remind myself how bad we actually were two years ago. I can't remember the last time we sniffed an RPI around 100.

[Da Coach]

Here are the current RPI's of the MVC teams.

http://warrennolan.com/basketball/2018/conference/Missouri-Valley

Bradley's RPI is 106.

Here are the previous years' RPI's, and it is pretty clear that the previous administration's overhaul of the basketyball program which started with the firing of the assistant coaches in 2010 is what lead to the downfall of the basketball program these last 7 years. The RPIs were not too bad during the Jim Les years.

Year__RPI
2017- 220
2016- 306
2015- 288
2014- 269
2013- 191
2012- 264
2011- 233
2010- 105
2009- 98
2008- 104
2007- 39
2006- 32
2005- 185
2004- 154


The MVC is still the 8th in Conference RPI-

http://warrennolan.com/basketball/2018/conferencerpi

[BUfan39]

Here are the current RPI's of the MVC teams.

http://warrennolan.com/basketball/2018/conference/Missouri-Valley

Bradley's RPI is 106.

Here are the previous years' RPI's, and it is pretty clear that the previous administration's overhaul of the basketyball program which started with the firing of the assistant coaches in 2010 is what lead to the downfall of the basketball program these last 7 years. The RPIs were not too bad during the Jim Les years.

Year__RPI
2017- 220
2016- 306
2015- 288
2014- 269
2013- 191
2012- 264
2011- 233
2010- 105
2009- 98
2008- 104
2007- 39
2006- 32
2005- 185
2004- 154


The MVC is still the 8th in Conference RPI-
http://warrennolan.com/basketball/2018/conferencerpi

Thanks for that info Da Coach. It sure has been a long 7 years...