Final score: Valparaiso 91 Bradley 85

[Da Coach]

Bradley is 9-7, and 3-4 in the MVC. The next game is the first of two rescheduled games at Valparaiso. It is a rematch of last seasons MVC Tournament Championship game, which Bradley won 80-66 in St. Louis on March 8, 2020. Thursday's game is at Valparaiso, where Bradley has never won. The overall record between the 2 teams is Bradley 6 wins, Valparaiso 4 wins. Three of those games were played in the early 1980's. Bradley won twice at Robertson Memorial Fieldhouse in 1980 & 1981, and Valparaiso won in their campus gym in 1983.
The last 6 regular-season games between them were after Valparaiso joined the MVC for the 2017-18 season. In the 6 MVC conference games (2018, '19, and '20), Bradley has won all 3 games played in Carver Arena, and Valparaiso has won all 3 games played in the ARC on the campus of Valparaiso. The one other game was the MVC Championship game last March, won by Bradley.
Bradley was originally scheduled to play at Valparaiso this season on Dec. 28 & 29, 2020, but at the time, the Valpo program was shut down because of Covid. The games have been rescheduled for Thursday, Jan, 28, 2021 and Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2021.

Valparaiso is 5-9 overall, and 2-3 in the MVC. They are coming off a 2-game sweep at Illinois State, but they have not won 3 in a row since their first 3 games in the MVC Tournament last March.

The game is available to watch on ESPN3. Direct link- https://www.espn.com/watch/player?id...c-f3e01b36562d

Bradleyfans Chat Room- http://www.chatzy.com/bradleyfans

Live Stats- http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=324503

Pregame article from Valpo- http://www.valpoathletics.com/mbaske...-game-rematch/

Valpo schedule & results- http://www.valpoathletics.com/mbasketball/schedule/

Valpo web site- http://www.valpoathletics.com/mbasketball/

Valpo stats- https://cdn.streamlinehosting.net/va...ats_012421.pdf
Note- their 3rd leading scorer, Nick Robinson, is no longer with the team.

Valparaiso is by far, the worst 3-point shooting team in the MVC. They shoot just 27.5% from three, which ranks 334th out of 347 teams in Division I this season. Bradley ranks 9th in the MVC in 3-point shooting at 32.4% (232nd in Division I)

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

MVC stats- http://www.mvc.org/mbb/stats/confstat.htm

[battlebasset]

"Valparaiso is by far, the worst 3-point shooting team in the MVC"

Don't worry. It will miraculously improve tomorrow night and they will have "their best three-point performance of the season!"

[Da Coach]

Yes, it does seem like that has happened. I recall the last time we played Valparaiso in the regular season. Bradley was fighting for a top seed late in the 2019-20 season, and made a road trip to Valparaiso on Feb. 22, 2020. Valpo was headed for the Thursday play-in games, and they were not a great 3-point shooting team (though not as bad as this year's team).
It was an excruciating 90-78 loss for Bradley because the Braves played very well, but Valpo seemed like they just couldn't miss from three. They finished 18-28 (64.3%) from three and it didn't seem to matter who was taking the shots, everyone was making them. 7 different Valpo players made at least one three, and 6 of them shot 50% or better, including Eron Gordon 4-4, Ryan Fazekas 5-7, Mileek McMillan 4-6, and John Kiser 2-2.

And it wasn't the last time that's happened. In Bradley's 88-84 loss to South Dakota State, the Jackrabbits shot 17-26 (65.4%) from three, and many were well behind the line and as the shot clock expired. In the 69-68 win at home over Miami, in which Terry Nolan got the dunk to win it, Miami shot 13-24 (54.2%), much better than their 38% season number, to stay in the game. And there have been a few other games this season where the opponent shot much better than their season stats. It shows up in Bradley's 3-point percentage defense, which ranks 8th in the MVC at 35.1%. That may not sound too bad, but last season (2019-20) they ranked 2nd at 31.6%, and in 2018-19 they ranked 2nd at 32.7% overall and 1st in MVC-only games at 31.0%.

[KillerB]

Any word on Henry.. is he back?

[bigjimmy]

Dan DiOrio just said Henry is dressed to play and Boya probably isn’t ready yet

[Da Coach]

Wardle also just said Henry is a game-time decision, but Ari "will not be playing this week".

This is good news in view of his problem being a concussion. That is not likely to worsen with warmups, so I expect he'll play, but we'll soon see.

[Da Coach]

Join the discussion in the chat room-

http://us21.chatzy.com/bradleyfans

[Big Mike]

This game should have been over in regulation.....the Braves are terrible at the end of games....the turnovers are crazy high as the team quits running anything other than 1 on 1....that doesn't win games. SAD

[Da Coach]

Another disappointing loss for Bradley, 91-85 to Valparaiso in double overtime.
They built a 14 point lead midway in the first half, then seemed to change and stop doing things that gave them the lead. Valpo came back and closed to a 33-29 BU lead at halftime. But then Valpo lead most of the 2nd half as Bradley again had trouble offensively. They shot only 4-13 from three for the game. It looked like Valpo would win as they pulled out to a 9 point lead with 5 minutes left, but Bradley outscored Valpo 10-1 in the final 5 minutes to tie the game 62-62.
Then again in OT, it looked like Valpo would win, but a near-full court inbounds pass by Mast with 3 seconds left lead to a game-tying miracle bank shot by Elijah Childs to tie the game 70-70 and take it to a second OT.
In the second OT, Valpo's leading scorer Ben Krikke fouled out on Bradley's first possession, but then reserve guard Sheldon Edwards went wild with three 3-pointers to give Valparaiso an 84-78 lead with 45 seconds left. All three shots were from well behind the 3-point line.
Bradley came back with a couple baskets by Terry Nolan on a nice drive and a 3-pointer, but Bradley was forced to foul and Valpo made 7 free throws in the final 27 seconds sealed the outcome-
Final score- Valparaiso 91 Bradley 85 in 2 overtimes

http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=324503

Elijah Childs had a career-high 27 points and 10 rebounds.
Terry Nolan, Jr., had 20 points, Sean East 13 points, and Ja'Shon Henry finished with 10 points. Henry left the game near the end of regulation with an apparently injury and did not return. Bradley really missed him in the overtime periods.
Bradley is now 9-8, and 3-5 in the MVC. Valparaiso improves to 6-9, 3-3.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore?gameId=401275976

[elmerb]

Bradley's offensive is dribble dribble dribble into trouble and then hope you can make a pass, or throw up a prayer. We need to play a lot smarter and get tougher mentally.

[Classof77]

On the post game Coach Wardle said that blow Henry took to the back of the head was why they kept him out of the OT as a precaution. Let's hope he's OK and back for Indiana State..

Gotta make those free throws we missed near the end of regulation. But we just have problems nearly everywhere right now. Eli is the only bright spot for us.

[Bradley3342]

Man!!!!! We just can’t close out games!

[bigjimmy]

Might be one of the more disappointing losses in the Brian Wardle era. We wasted a career high 27 points from Eli who has been playing thru a hip injury. We wasted a brave performance from JaShon who had 10 points and 9 rebounds before leaving the game with what’s hopefully not another concussion. You can’t have 2 starters with a combined 2 points. Ville was just 1-4 and Mast was just 0-1 and missed 2 technical foul shots. You can’t be 9-17 from the FT line. You can’t let a team who shoots under 30% from 3 make 4-8 from there in overtime. I don’t think it’s a case of not trying or not caring. Our guards need to play smarter and make the right play. Our defense is either fouling too much or giving up too many wide open 3’s. I’m sure they are just as frustrated as we are. Just have to keep working and hopefully get rewarded for it with some W’s.

[Tommy]

This team is terrible. No heart.

Can't shoot threes, can't shoot free throws, can't defend the 3. Absolutely zero motion on offense.

Pitiful.

[Basketballfan9224]

Tough game but with a lot of 1 on 1 basketball. Should give some of those talented young guys a fair shot.