Final score: UNI 65 Bradley 47

[Da Coach]

Bradley's next game is Wednesday, January 2, at 7:00 PM against Northern Iowa. It is the first Missouri Valley Conference game of the season for both teams.
Bradley is 8-5 in the non-conference part of the schedule, and UNI is 5-8 after their home loss Saturday night to Stony Brook. They have lost 6 of their last 8 games, and one of the 2 wins in that span was a come-from-behind win at home against Division III University of Dubuque in which they trailed by double digits with under 10 minutes left in the game.
Bradley was picked 4th in the MVC Preseason Poll, and UNI was picked 5th.

The game is televised only on ESPN+ - http://www.espn.com/watch/schedule/?...&type=upcoming
Radio- WMBD 1470 AM and 100.3 FM, and online at www.1470wmbd.com
Live stats- https://bradleybraves.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Chat Room- http://www.chatzy.com/bradleyfans

UNI website- https://unipanthers.com/index.aspx?path=mbball&
UNI schedule and results- https://unipanthers.com/schedule.aspx?path=mbball
UNI Roster- https://unipanthers.com/roster.aspx?path=mbball
UNI stats- https://unipanthers.com/cumestats.as...ball&year=2018

UNI is usually a good 3-point shooting team, but this year they have struggled. They are shooting under 32% from three on the season so far.
UNI is last in the MVC in team offense averaging just 66.6 ppg. Bradley ranks 7th with 71.2 ppg.
UNI also ranks last in many other statistical categories in the MVC. They are dead last in average scoring margin (-4.3 ppg), Field Goal percentage (39.4%), 3-point percentage (31.9%), Blocked shots (2.0 bpg), Assists (11.5 apg), Steals (4.4 spg), and assists to turnover ratio (0.89).

Leading scorers are freshman point guard A.J. Green (15.2 ppg) and redshirt senior guard Wyatt Lohaus (10.4 ppg). They have not gotten consistent scoring from anyone else.
Last season's runner-up Freshman of the Year Tywhon Pickford averaged 9.1 ppg and 7.8 rpg last season, but this year he is averaging only 4.2 ppg and 3.2 rpg.

Bradley stats-
https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sit...dley_stats.pdf

MVC stats-
Team leaders-
http://www.mvc.org/mbb/stats/CONFLDRS.HTM#conf.wkt

Individual Leaders-

http://www.mvc.org/mbb/stats/CONFLDRS.HTM#conf.wki

[Go_Braves]

This December 29th game for Northern Iowa gives Northern Iowa a "edge" over the Braves come their January 2nd game. Northern Iowa will not be "as rusty" as I expect the Braves to be on January 2nd - with 11 days since the Braves last game.. Remember the Eastern Illinois game.... The Braves had a 11 day lag since their previous game before playing Eastern Illinois. Wardle "how are you preparing for this first Valley "home" game and to assure the "rust" for not playing in the last 11 days is "not" there or at least minimized ?

I am going to repost what I shared earlier in the " 3 MVC games Saturday, Dec 29 " and then also share

Northern Iowa loses a "buy game" to Stony Brook 73-63 to fall to 5-8. Ben Jacobson's experiment of benching Lohaus and Brown in favor of Pickford and Wentzien the last 3 games doesn't seem to be working..

We'll see how much "rust" Bradley shows this Wednesday against Northern Iowa..... Ben Jacobson is a brilliant coach with many impressive wins and this years team may be his biggest career challenge. Northern Iowa appears to be vulnerable. With the weaknesses that Northern Iowa is showing Bradley "should" win this game. I state "should" - because Bradly "should have" won the Eastern Illinois game also "at home" If Bradley looses to vulnerable Northern Iowa "at home".... Then I don't give Bradley much of a chance this Saturday at Indiana State. Bradley was preseason picked 4th, Northern Iowa 5th, Indiana State 6th - Anyone following Indiana State should realize they are scary and in my view now will finish higher than 6th this season. "Come on Bradley".

[Da Coach]

Pregame story with links to Game Notes, etc., from BradleyBraves.com-
https://bradleybraves.com/news/2018/...hern-iowa.aspx

[Bradleyfan1]

This game sets the tone for the mvc season in a bad way if we lose. Win and youve done nothing. Isu blue is forreal. Drake im not as sold on. The mvc preseason pics may be off more this season then ever lol gonna be fun to watch. Bu. Isu red , blue. Msu. Loyola. Siu .drake. Whos going to win the most road games ? I think we will see a bunch of splits. scary i think any of those teams could win it and one has to play thursday . hope its not us. Anyone know how practice has been? Boyas progress?

[Da Coach]

Video from Bradley basketball-
https://twitter.com/bradleyumbb/stat...61890712604672

[tornado]

MVC season begins....

-SIU's top scorer Armon Fletcher is still suspended - and Barry Hinson refuses to say when he will return, saying only that he is hopeful that Fletcher will play again this season
-Missouri State's Obediah Church has been suspended for the last two games and will not travel with the team to play tonight - no reasons given
-ISU's Taylor Bruninga has been cleared to practice but is limited to less than an hour a day so it is pretty unlikely he'd play yet
-the SIU media is talking like this is Barry Hinson's final year there unless he makes the NCAA - https://thesouthern.com/sports/colle...ome-the-latest


Bad news for Missouri State - their top incoming recruit for next fall just tore his ACL and will be out for his entire high school senior season

http://www.ozarkssportszone.com/2018/12/17/parkviews-tyem-freeman-to-miss-rest-of-season-with-torn-acl/

[tornado]

in a new article from the Missouri State press- it sounds like Obediah Church may not want to play for new head coach Dana Ford at all!
If that is the case then I guess he's done - since this is his senior season and he's got no eligibility left

https://www.news-leader.com/story/sports/college/msu/2018/12/27/missouri-state-basketball-obediah-church-still-not-team/2407692002/

I think when transfer Tulio Da Silva, who was not expected to play this year due to transferring in - when he got his waiver and started playing
it suddenly relegated Obediah Church to a lesser role - and when he only played 8 minutes against Arkansas State while a bunch of bench players played way more...
apparently he decided he no longer wanted to play for Dana Ford. A couple of the MSU fans posted similar thoughts...
"Obi and his mother sat just a few rows in front of us at the William Woods game ....Obi sat there with headphones in his ears
My impression was, Obi was there because his mother made him go a....I'd say he is done. I believe it's a combination of new system, better players in his position..."

[BUSongwriter]

I'm so excited about the start of conference play!

Yes, I expected us to have a better record going in. But there are three championships to be won this year. We got one in Cancun. Now we begin our quest for the Valley conference title, which I believe we have a reasonable shot at claiming. And the final one is the Valley tournament and making the Big Dance.

The first step to Championship No. 2 is tonight. Go Braves!

[BUfan39]

New season begins tonight. Back to 0-0. It's time to correct the things we struggled with in December and look forward to bigger and better things. It starts with dominating a bad UNI team on our home floor. If we can get back to playing defense like we did last year and in Cancun, we'll be in most games. We know who we are offensively. It's not ideal that we struggle to score but the identity of this team is rebounding and defense. If we can combine those things with timely scoring we'll get back to winning a lot of games. IMO, DLO is the key to our success in conference play. We need a leader. Is he going to step up his play and vocally? We'll find out soon. Go Braves!

[Go_Braves]

Interesting - The last Northern Iowa article in the Cedar Falls sports section is dated December 31 - titled: "UNI basketball: Panthers face tough climb in Valley" and the following portion of that article that caught my eye states " A lack of game experience is the most glaring reason for UNI's struggles to date " - The Peoria Journal Stars article this morning is tilted: " Bradley's Valley opener foe has become ordinary of late ". The oddshark website (https://www.oddsshark.com/ncaab/nort...2-2019-1051128) has the score for tonight's game - Bradley 72 Northern Iowa 58. My view >>>> This game will be closer than what oddshark suggests. Northern Iowa played their last game 4 days ago - Bradley played their last game 11 days ago. I believe Bradley will be rusty just like they were against Eastern Illinois after a 11 day break between games. Bradley was picked 4th in the MVC preseason - Northern Iowa 5th. Bradley's "experience" should shine tonight against Northern Iowa as mentioned in the Cedar Falls sports section as a NIU glaring weakness. We'll see - We'll see how "rusty" the Braves are at the beginning of the game, if the "rust" continues through the game, and if Northern Iowa continue to "hang close" towards the end of the game. Bradley needs to "defend their home court" - The Mo Valley team that wins at their home and can also win games on the road will win the Valley. I am looking forward to watching tonight game. Come on Bradley !!!

[tornado]

betting odds people are currently listing Bradley as a 7.5 to 8 point favorite..

I would be ecstatic if we win by 8 but I have a strong feeling the score will be low and the outcome will be much closer

[ihatetea]

Did I miss the reporting of Jayden being injured? Where is Henry? Strange things afoot at the Bradley campus.

[Da Coach]

UNI played good defense and hit their shots. That doesn't excuse an awful performance tonight by Bradley. They shot the ball terribly, were outrebounded, turned it over too much, and made a ton of crappy passes. This team has regressed big time. The MVC was there for the taking this season, but I don't see us contending.
UNI 65 Bradley 47
https://bradleybraves.com/sidearmsta...mary;team=home

Attendance 5,252

[Vent]

Pathetic!! Wonder what the excuse will be after this debacle.

[Da Coach]

Did I miss the reporting of Jayden being injured? Where is Henry? Strange things afoot at the Bradley campus.

Both Jayden and JaShon were sick today. Henry stayed home and was not at the game. Jayden was on the bench, but did not dress. It was said that Jayden had food poisoning.