Bradley sweeps both games from Evansville to improve to 9-4, 3-1

[Da Coach]

Bradley is now 7-4, and 1-1 in the MVC after their split of 2 games at Northern Iowa. The next games are Saturday, Jan. 16 and Sunday, Jan. 17 at home vs. Evansville.
The January 16 game is at 3:00 pm on ESPN3- direct link-
https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id...b-570e37751468

The January 17 game is also at 3:00 pm on ESPN3- direct link-
https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id...9-fc371ee685c7

Bradleyfans Chat Room-

http://www.chatzy.com/bradleyfans

Live Stats link-

https://bradleybraves.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary

Evansville is 6-6 overall, and a surprising 4-2 in the MVC. They had won 4 league games in a row (SIU, UNI[2}, and ILSU), before losing their last game to Illinois State.
Evansville Schedule & results- https://gopurpleaces.com/sports/mens...tball/schedule
Roster- https://gopurpleaces.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster
Stats- https://s3.amazonaws.com/gopurpleace...UEMBBSTATS.pdf

The Aces are a decent three point shooting team (37.6%), but they have 4 of their regular players who shoot 40% or better from three. They lack depth inside, and are not a great rebounding team. So far, they have been outrebounded by an average of 5.3 rebounds per game (34.7 rpg to 29.4 rpg).
New Head Coach Todd Lickliter has done a good job so far, but UE appears to lack depth overall. Only 6 players average more than 13 minutes per game for Evansville. For comparison, Bradley has 9 players who average 15 minutes or more.

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

MVC stats- http://www.mvc.org/mbb/stats/CONFLDRS.HTM
MVC Conference-only stats- http://www.mvc.org/mbb/stats/CONFONLY.HTM

[Tommy]

Any word on Boya returning? We sure could use his help on the boards as we really struggled against UNI without him.

Also, what's up with McAdoo not getting any playing time recently? Is he in the doghouse for some reason?

For the upcoming game, we need to get Ville going and continue to let Nolan and Childs lead us by taking the bulk of the shots.

[Da Coach]

Coach Wardle is often secretive about those kinds of issues. I think it might be good news that we haven't heard anything about a stress fracture with Ari, as that would mean sitting out for a minimum of 4-6 weeks, and sometimes longer. Still, the "week to week" phrase that the Coach has used a couple times concerns me.
And there has to be more to McAdoo missing both UNI games than just rewarding others who had good practices. But if I had to pick one player who has underachieved so far this season in games, it would be Kevin. In his sophomore season (2018-19) at Eastern Michigan, he averaged 8.6 ppg in 23.2 minutes per game. He shot 41% overall, and 33% from three, and was a play-maker for them. He was also 2nd on the EMU team with 45 assists in 31 games (19 starts).
This season, he is really struggling to find playing time on a guard-rich Bradley team. He's averaged 15.2 minutes per game in 9 games, scored 4.0 ppg, shot 30.2% overall, and 25% from three. I think he is much better than those numbers, and hopefully he'll bounce back and be an important contributor as the season progresses.

[Da Coach]

Pregame article from BradleyBraves.com-

https://bradleybraves.com/news/2021/1/15/mens-basketball-braves-host-evansville-saturday-and-sunday.aspx

[LittleBrave]

Coach Wardle is often secretive about those kinds of issues. I think it might be good news that we haven't heard anything about a stress fracture with Ari, as that would mean sitting out for a minimum of 4-6 weeks, and sometimes longer. Still, the "week to week" phrase that the Coach has used a couple times concerns me.
And there has to be more to McAdoo missing both UNI games than just rewarding others who had good practices. But if I had to pick one player who has underachieved so far this season in games, it would be Kevin. In his sophomore season (2018-19) at Eastern Michigan, he averaged 8.6 ppg in 23.2 minutes per game. He shot 41% overall, and 33% from three, and was a play-maker for them. He was also 2nd on the EMU team with 45 assists in 31 games (19 starts).
This season, he is really struggling to find playing time on a guard-rich Bradley team. He's averaged 15.2 minutes per game in 9 games, scored 4.0 ppg, shot 30.2% overall, and 25% from three. I think he is much better than those numbers, and hopefully he'll bounce back and be an important contributor as the season progresses.

I would say McAdoo and Kingsby have underachieved. I thought Kingsby would be an X-factor for us, but I guess our newcomer guards have been very solid that it leaves Kingsby without a ton of minutes. I like Danya a lot on both ends of the floor, and hope he finishes his senior season strong.

[Dub]

Danya plays some energized D and his effort level is always at top end. Where he struggles (to me) is on offense. When he tries to create, often the ball will pop on him and scramble the play. His shot mechanics are sometimes off as well, and you can see the ball actually leaves his hand rotating horizontally instead of vertically. Still, he helps in a lot of areas and is capable of a great performance on any given night. Danya is a fighter and I enjoy watching him play.

[BRAVE82]

Danya forced a few turnovers in the 1st half against NI and blocked shot in the 2nd half. Had a good game defensively. Ville was getting beat on D (leading to some easy baskets). Couldn't stay with Born... the kid was killing us.

[Dub]

Yeah, Ville has had a rough start to the year in my opinion. However, he’s a GAMER and will settle back in as a first rate performer. Bet on V-Tav!

[LittleBrave]

Yeah, Ville has had a rough start to the year in my opinion. However, he’s a GAMER and will settle back in as a first rate performer. Bet on V-Tav!

We see this happen quite often in Braves' country - the daunted Sophomore slump. Happens to most of our great players unfortunately.
For how long during the season remains to be seen.

Ville will likely become BU's all-time leading 3-pt bomber when all said and done!

[Tommy]

Danya plays some energized D and his effort level is always at top end. Where he struggles (to me) is on offense. When he tries to create, often the ball will pop on him and scramble the play. His shot mechanics are sometimes off as well, and you can see the ball actually leaves his hand rotating horizontally instead of vertically. Still, he helps in a lot of areas and is capable of a great performance on any given night. Danya is a fighter and I enjoy watching him play.

Dub pointed this out to me, and he is dead on. Watch the ball's rotation today when Danye shoots, and you'll notice something is really off as the ball rotation is all over the place and is not coming out of his hand straight. That might be why he's struggling so badly on offense, but honestly, Danye's real worth is on defense and he is probably still the best defensive guard on the team.

I really like him and hope he figures out his shooting problems, because a healthy and centered Danye would make us REALLY tough to beat.

[Canton BU fan]

It can't be just me...I often get error messages trying to watch on ESPN 3. It will work fine for a few games then like today it tells it's not part of my package. Same thing on both roku and phone.

[BRAVE82]

Nice first half by Hannah, Thomas, and Mast. Squandered half of their lead due to turnovers. Would like to see more of Hannah in the 2nd half. Also... don't want to see Henry and Childs on the floor together with their foul situation (unless it's late). Glad to see Ville hit a three, hopefully he can pop a few more. Let's close it out strong, Bradley!

[Classof77]

Glad to see a good finish by Ville. Especially that big 3 with about three minutes to go. Good win for the Braves.

[Da Coach]

It can't be just me...I often get error messages trying to watch on ESPN 3. It will work fine for a few games then like today it tells it's not part of my package. Same thing on both roku and phone.

Everyone should save this link in case you have problems with ESPN3 or ESPN+-

https://sporthub.fun/enx/basketball-live-streams/

Scroll down and you will usually find someone who has posted a link to the Bradley games (and most other games, too). Click on the link, then scroll down and select one of the uploads on the next page. This site works pretty well.

[Da Coach]

Bradley did not play their best, but after a slow start, they pulled ahead midway in the first half, and maintained the lead the rest of the way.
Bradley beats Evansville 69-60 to take the first of 2 games this weekend at Carver Arena-
Box score- https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sit...nsville_60.pdf

Elijah Childs had 19 points to lead Bradley, and he had 8 rebounds. Rienk Mast had 8 points and a team-leading 9 rebounds. Terry Noland, Jr. had 16 points, and Ville Tahvanainen had 13 points. Bradley was just 3-11 from three, and Ville was 3-4 by himself. Bradley outrebounded Evansville 38-20, but they had 16 turnovers which allowed UE to stay close. Bradley had 40 points in the paint to just 12 for Evansville.

Bradley and UE play again Sunday at 3:00 pm.
Here is the direct link to ESPN3- https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id...9-fc371ee685c7

Bradleyfans Chat Room-

http://www.chatzy.com/bradleyfans

Live Stats link-

https://bradleybraves.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary