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Loyola 69 Bradley 56 in Sunday's game; Next game Monday @ 6 pm

Great effort in the 1st 33 minutes but oh that last 7 was not good. They outscored us 21-8 and in the end we couldn't handle their physical nature on either end. They made 6 of their next 8 shots, 3-4 from 3, and on their 2 misses they got the offensive rebound and scored and in the last minute they were 6-8 from the FT line. We were 2-10 with 5 turnovers. We really missed Boya's and especially Henry's inside presence in this game. I'm not going to panic, yet. Get those 2 back and then we'll see where were at.
 
Frustrating to see our team collapse at the end of the game like we did, but I keep reminding myself we were without Boya and Henry, and having McAdoo out leaves us that much more depleted. Is McAdoo ever coming back or is he done for the year?

A couple highlights from the game: I am excited to see our freshman getting so much playing time and that can only help us in the future. I thought the few minutes that Linke got showed that he plays some pretty good defense as he seemed to do a good job of putting a big body up against Krutwig. From the little I've seen of him, I've got to say that I think he's going to be really good for us down the road.

I am sick of losing to Loyola, though, and this game would have been a nice stick it to them win. On the bright side, they had been whooping up on most their competition by 20+ points before coming to town, so even playing them close with our two big rebounders out was still something positive to take away.
 
Our chances of reviving the season are all but done with respect to Valley Championship which I was very hopeful about.
Now we need to get Top 6 seed and make another run in St Louis. I love Henry and he is my favorite Brave since 2000, but I thought we’d hold our own without him.

Very discouraged cause that was our biggest game (biggest series) of the season bar none!

Last year’s home loss to LUC left a bitter taste on Senior night. The taste after this one is very sour.
 
I don't know about everyone, but most of us expected this team to be better and more consistent. But a lot of fans I have talked to also secretly thought this could turn into a rebuilding season, too. We have 8 new players on the roster, including a couple guys with some experience, but who had sat out more than a year (Nolan, McAdoo) or who were returning from serious injury (Mast). And, it's hard to overcome the loss of two All-MVC starters, including Darrell Brown who was Bradley's point guard, team leader, and leading scorer for all 4 years he was at Bradley. Bradley also lost their starting center, and their best 3-point shooter. I think we all were a little worried those losses couldn't be replaced all at once, and I think that is what we are now seeing.
There is still time for this team to get healthy, to gel and come together, and make another run for the MVC Championship. But a lot of things need to get better to compete with the teams that are proving themselves to be the top teams this year (Loyola, Missouri State, Drake).
 
I would argue outside of last year (and maybe the year before) Bradley has been too reliant on one or two players to score for years now. You see other teams get players to step up consistently such as Kennedy last night, but Bradley continues to not get the same production. I wish we Wardle could find some more consistent scorers. They really lack that guy that will get a tough lay up to stop a scoring drought or hit a big 3. I know it is tough to get those players, but those are the players that usually are the difference between winning conference titles and dwelling in the middle. Childs was the only was scoring consistently, and then he got in foul trouble which took him out and made him passive.
 
I am trying to put my finger on what Bradley is missing. What I come up with is Ja'shon Henry. I hate to think we rely on one player but without him we miss his scoring, 12 to 16 points a game, plus how he keeps the opponents from scoring thru his defense and rebounds. With him in there I think we would have won at least 2 of those 3 games. This puts us in a hole where we have to come back and win the MVC tournament if we are to go any post-season
 
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