Official Box score-
Bradley got off to a sluggish start tonight, and the game was tied 11-11 about 8 minutes into the game. Then Bradley's offense started to click, they pulled away, then scored the last 20 points of the first half to take a 46-19 lead at halftime. Their run continued into the 2nd half scoring the first 8 points to make it 28 points in a row, then eventually to a 41 point lead (83-41) before pulling out all 5 players and playing the final 4:21 with Sean Houpt, Ville Tahvanainen, Stephan Gabriel, Antonio Thomas, and Ari Boya (4 freshmen and 1 soph).
Bradley shot 60% (37-62) for the game, and 43% from three (6-14), and outrebounded Maryville 43-23. Bradley also had a season high 27 assists on 37 baskets, and a season-high 7 blocks, 4 of them by Ari Boya in just 12 minutes of playing time.
They also tied their season high with 7 steals, and their season low with 9 personal fouls (both were also achieved in the UIC game).
It was good to see Bradley take over and dominate the way they should have. Brown (8 points & 9 assists) and Childs (16 points & 8 rebounds) had great games, as usual. Bar (9 pts & 6 reb), Kingsby (8 pts, 3 reb, 4 asst, and 3 steals), and Kennell (15 pts, 4 reb, and 3 asst) also had very good games.
JaShon Henry was the Player of the Game with 15 points (6-9) and 5 rebounds. And Gabriel, Tahvanainen, Thomas, and Boya all looked good off the bench.
I think having a game like this will help boost the confidence of those bench players like Ville, Ari, Antonio, and Stephan.
Next game is at home Sunday at 4:00 against Georgia Southern University of the Sun Belt Conference.
This will be the 3rd game of a 2 for 1 series with GSU. Previous results-
11/25/17 at Bradley- Bradley won 62-57
12/18/18 at Georgia Southern- Bradley lost 79-74 in overtime
They were picked 3rd in the 2019-20 Sun Belt Preseason Poll. The GSU Eagles are coming off back-to-back 21-win seasons, and they have 68 percent of their scoring and 69 percent of their rebounding back from last season's 21-12 team, which tied for 2nd in the Sun Belt, one game behind the league's 1st place team (Georgia State).
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba.../2019/group/27
They are 6-3 so far-
https://gseagles.com/sports/mens-bas...hedule/2019-20
One other note- it was nice to see Antoine Pittman again. He did not have a great game. He scored 5 points on 2-9 shooting, and had 1 rebound, no assists, and a game-high 4 turnovers. I learned that he has a chipped bone in his wrist which has bothered him all year, and he had only played in 3 games prior to tonight. But because he cannot take another redshirt year, he is playing with the injury.
But just like we saw at Bradley, despite his athleticism, he has never been able to develop an effective perimeter game, and his skills seem more like those of a forward and not a guard. Hopefully playing at the Division II level against smaller and less athletic opponents will allow him to succeed. Good luck AP.
Bradley got off to a sluggish start tonight, and the game was tied 11-11 about 8 minutes into the game. Then Bradley's offense started to click, they pulled away, then scored the last 20 points of the first half to take a 46-19 lead at halftime. Their run continued into the 2nd half scoring the first 8 points to make it 28 points in a row, then eventually to a 41 point lead (83-41) before pulling out all 5 players and playing the final 4:21 with Sean Houpt, Ville Tahvanainen, Stephan Gabriel, Antonio Thomas, and Ari Boya (4 freshmen and 1 soph).
Bradley shot 60% (37-62) for the game, and 43% from three (6-14), and outrebounded Maryville 43-23. Bradley also had a season high 27 assists on 37 baskets, and a season-high 7 blocks, 4 of them by Ari Boya in just 12 minutes of playing time.
They also tied their season high with 7 steals, and their season low with 9 personal fouls (both were also achieved in the UIC game).
It was good to see Bradley take over and dominate the way they should have. Brown (8 points & 9 assists) and Childs (16 points & 8 rebounds) had great games, as usual. Bar (9 pts & 6 reb), Kingsby (8 pts, 3 reb, 4 asst, and 3 steals), and Kennell (15 pts, 4 reb, and 3 asst) also had very good games.
JaShon Henry was the Player of the Game with 15 points (6-9) and 5 rebounds. And Gabriel, Tahvanainen, Thomas, and Boya all looked good off the bench.
I think having a game like this will help boost the confidence of those bench players like Ville, Ari, Antonio, and Stephan.
Next game is at home Sunday at 4:00 against Georgia Southern University of the Sun Belt Conference.
This will be the 3rd game of a 2 for 1 series with GSU. Previous results-
11/25/17 at Bradley- Bradley won 62-57
12/18/18 at Georgia Southern- Bradley lost 79-74 in overtime
They were picked 3rd in the 2019-20 Sun Belt Preseason Poll. The GSU Eagles are coming off back-to-back 21-win seasons, and they have 68 percent of their scoring and 69 percent of their rebounding back from last season's 21-12 team, which tied for 2nd in the Sun Belt, one game behind the league's 1st place team (Georgia State).
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba.../2019/group/27
They are 6-3 so far-
https://gseagles.com/sports/mens-bas...hedule/2019-20
One other note- it was nice to see Antoine Pittman again. He did not have a great game. He scored 5 points on 2-9 shooting, and had 1 rebound, no assists, and a game-high 4 turnovers. I learned that he has a chipped bone in his wrist which has bothered him all year, and he had only played in 3 games prior to tonight. But because he cannot take another redshirt year, he is playing with the injury.
But just like we saw at Bradley, despite his athleticism, he has never been able to develop an effective perimeter game, and his skills seem more like those of a forward and not a guard. Hopefully playing at the Division II level against smaller and less athletic opponents will allow him to succeed. Good luck AP.
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