Day 3 of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament

[Da Coach]

There are 4 teams left in the MVC Tournament, and #4 seed Bradley is the highest remaining seed.
Here is the Saturday, March 8 schedule-

http://mvc-sports.com/index.aspx?path=arch_madness

2:35 pm CT- #4 Bradley vs. #8 Drake
5:05 pm CT- #6 Missouri State vs. #7 Valparaiso

Both games are televised on the CBS Sports Cable Network.

Live Stats links-

http://www.statbroadcast.com/events/tournament.php?l=0&tid=205

[Bradley3342]

Nothing is easy now as both UNI and Loyola found out yesterday. We gutted out our win yesterday and hope we can bring the same intensity and toughness like we played in the second half minus our turnovers

[Da Coach]

Yes, I wonder how everyone else saw the UNI effort? To me, it looked like none of them wanted to be here this weekend, and that is hard to understand, since they were the odds-on favorite to win this year.. Every UNI player looked slow, and acted as if their head wasn't in the game. MVC POY A.J. Green had probably his worst game yesterday. He was just 8-25 shooting, but also he did not make any good passes all game. Virtually every time he had the ball, his basses went sideway or back out, and in the 2nd half, he often isolated himself toward the corners, and wasn't even involved in the offense. And fellow All MVC 1st teamer Austin Phyfe didn't look like himself either. He was bothered a lot by Liam Robbins, but Phyfe looked more like the one who had just played a tough game 14 hours earlier. He made several bad reach-in fouls, rather than moving his feet on defense, and he missed some easy shots. And Trae Berhow, the top 3-point shooter in the MVC was 0-4 from the floor and was almost invisible. And their other 2 starters, Isaiah Brown and Spencer Haldeman, were a combined 2-12 from three.
It just struck me how poorly their guys played. Anyone have a guess why?

[bigjimmy]

Not too sure why we got the effort from UNI that we did but part of it is I’m sure they thought that could just walk through Drake like they did a week before in Des Moines. They came out in the second half and looked a lot more serious and hit the lead down to 2 then inexplicably they went 10:00 without scoring a point. Drake just kicked their ass.

[Go_Braves]

Not too sure why we got the effort from UNI that we did but part of it is I’m sure they thought that could just walk through Drake like they did a week before in Des Moines. They came out in the second half and looked a lot more serious and hit the lead down to 2 then inexplicably they went 10:00 without scoring a point. Drake just kicked their ass.

I am so pleased the way that this occurred - the Bradley / Southern Illinois game followed - and that Drake / UNI game results likely "woke up" both teams (BU & SIU) - that anything is possible - and that you need to bring your A-Game. Adrenalin was over flowing with both teams during the first hald - and both coaches were telling their
teams to "settle down".

And now - what is going to be interesting to me is if the Drake Bulldogs start to fade in the second half because this is their "3rd game" in 44.5 hours. Wardle likely realizes this and it will be interesting if Bradley
plays a fast pace game.

[bigjimmy]

BU a 2 1/2 point favorite over Drake. First off defensively can’t let Robbins free reign in the paint. Koch and Ari need to be physical without fouling. We also can’t give up too many good looks from 3. On offense be aggressive but not careless. Keep Eli in the post. They do not have anyone who can guard him. Must maximize our possessions. Limit turnovers. One play at a time. Let’s do this boys! GET ER DONE!

[LittleBrave]

BU a 2 1/2 point favorite over Drake. First off defensively can’t let Robbins free reign in the paint. Koch and Ari need to be physical without fouling. We also can’t give up too many good looks from 3. On offense be aggressive but not careless. Keep Eli in the post. They do not have anyone who can guard him. Must maximize our possessions. Limit turnovers. One play at a time. Let’s do this boys! GET ER DONE!

Well we contained (I suppose) the beast Robbins, who has incredible games against us for whatever reason.
Our Bigs are normally tough in the paint.
Hopefully he doesn't average 25 pts and 10 boards against us the next 2 seasons!
Until then, hope he enjoys the MVC final from the stands!