Final score: Illinois State 88 Bradley 71

[Da Coach]

Bradley is now 11-13, and 5-10 in the MVC, tied for 7th place. Their next game is at home against last place Illinois State (6-15, 3-12).
ISU beat Bradley on January 20, 71-56- https://bradleybraves.com/news/2021/...alry-game.aspx

The game is on ESPN3- https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/...arch%3Aresults

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

Live stats- https://bradleybraves.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary

ISU website- https://goredbirds.com/sports/mens-basketball

Realistically, Bradley needs to win to avoid the Thursday play-in round in St. Louis.
The final 2 games are Friday, Feb. 26 and Saturday, Feb. 27 at home against Drake

[Da Coach]

Illinois State's leading scorer is D.J. Horne (14.8 ppg). He sprained his ankle late in their last game at SIU and had to come out of the game. ISU head coach Dan Muller says today that Horne is questionable to play Thursday at Bradley

https://twitter.com/Pg_Benson/status/1361712745968721934

Jim Mattson reports that Muller said, "As of now, I'll be surprised if he plays Thursday".

https://twitter.com/hoijim/status/1361712931839365121

Of course, Muller could be just blowing smoke. I suspect he really wants to win the game at Bradley, so I expect to see Horne in uniform.

[LittleBrave]

This season has been extremely frustrating - pretty much since the ISU red game.
Let's hope that we END the frustration with the rematch with ISU red!
Then get at least 1 out of 2 vs Drake, and then make another run in St Louis!!!

We can do this! I still believe we are the most talented and deepest team in the Valley despite what has happened to start 2021.
I think we even proved that to some degree by hanging with Mo State both games without our 3 leading scorers and all 5 of our upperclassmen!

It's all a matter of responding to adversity from our team leaders after the suspension.

Go BRAVES!

[Da Coach]

Pregame story-

https://bradleybraves.com/news/2021/2/17/mens-basketball-braves-host-i-74-rival-illinois-state-thursday.aspx

[Da Coach]

A couple notes prior to tonight's game with ISU-
>Bradley will have a small number of spectators at tonight's game for the first time this season. They will be allowed up to 50 in attendance under under COVID guidelines from the Illinois Department of Public Health. But tickets are not being made to the public. The spectators will come from player-pass lists, mostly family members of the players.
> Bradley center Ari Boya will not play tonight with his right foot injury. He remains in a boot.
> Bradley's overall record is 11-13 (5-10 in MVC); If they are going to finish at .500 or better on the season, they realistically need to win tonight's game.

[Big Mike]

Really happy with Linke's play tonight..bringing in a breath of fresh air on a positive note this season.

[Big Mike]

IMO Bradley will not win another game this season. Same over help on D' that leaves opposing teams wide open for 3's game after game. Also seem to start games with no-fire or sense of urgency will isu having a terrible season seemed to want the game a lot more than the Braves. East is the only PG on this team and the only player I trust to dribble by anyone but he never starts anymore....why, he deserves more minutes.

[Da Coach]

Not much to say positive about tonight's game. ISU schooled Bradley in every phase of the game. Despite playing almost exclusively freshmen, sophomores, and new guys, ISU looked great against a Bradley team that looked a lot more like a last-place team than ISU. Bradley did not shoot well, didn't pass well, got outrebounded by a poor rebounding team, and played about the worst defense I've seen in a long time. On the other hand, ISU looked better coached, better on offense, shot the ball better, and seemed to defend better. Bradley allows 88 points on their home court to a last-place team who averages 64 ppg. Very depressing for Bradley fans.
Stats- https://bradleybraves.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats/2020-21/illinois-state/boxscore/19726

Bradley is now 11-14, and 5-11 in the conference. With 2 games remaining, both against Drake, and with ISU now holding the tiebreaker against Bradley, there appears to be a good likelihood Bradley is looking at the #9 or #10 seed in the MVC Tournament.

[Da Coach]

One more stat- Bradley gave up 88 points tonight to a last place ISU team that averaged 64 ppg (prior to tonight). The last time I can find that a Bradley team yielded 88 points on their home court against an MVC opponent was over 9 years ago, in the 2011-12 season (Geno Ford's first season) when they lost at home to Evansville 92-62 on February 1, 2012.


Ironically, tonight's game made me think about this..... That 92-62 loss at home to Evansville on Feb. 1, 2012 was during a stretch where Geno Ford's 2011-12 team was losing 21 of their final 23 games that year, and yet the PJ Star writer in the midst of that stretch mysteriously wrote-

"Yes, the Braves are better than they were when the season started two months ago. By a light year or two, they’re better."

https://www.pjstar.com/x638339032/Wessler-Bradley-keeps-losing-for-a-reason

[LittleBrave]

What a slap in the face tonight as we looked like a contender less than 50 days ago to basically the laughing stock of the Valley.

I recall saying/thinking/believing that I was so glad we’re not where ISU is - a program in shambles, while we are the deepest and most talented team in the league.

I am so embarrassed right now as a fan.

[LittleBrave]

East is the only PG on this team and the only player I trust to dribble by anyone but he never starts anymore....why, he deserves more minutes.

while true, East had a poor night of shooting and he had a number of open looks, but his shot was short every time.

He’ll work on getting that consistency of mid-range floaters in the offseason. No doubt in my mind he will be a great one for BU.

[BUfan14]

I do not understand why East isn’t starting either. McAdoo just doesn’t make many smart decisions or shoot very well. The only thing he does well is the blow by move to the hoop where he puts it up with his hoop side hand (it was blocked once tonight as they seemed to catch on). It also seems like McAdoo falls to the floor or gives up an offensive rebound often on the other end. I’m not sure what he is bringing that East is not at this point. East has been inconsistent this year for sure, but he’s still the best choice for PG. Wardle seems to notice the guards are weak by his comments after this game. We need two shooters and another PG option next year. Hopefully Hickman will fill one or both of those needs. Hopefully Ville and East will take another step forward toward consistency and Kent works this offseason to become a solid contributor. We need guard help/improvement bad. I’m not sure next year will be much better at this point.

[egib52]

while true, East had a poor night of shooting and he had a number of open looks, but his shot was short every time.

He’ll work on getting that consistency of mid-range floaters in the offseason. No doubt in my mind he will be a great one for BU.

I have watched nearly every BU game this season, and for whatever reason watched most of the second half of this one, and I have yet to understand the love for East. I personally hope every player that we have is great, but I have seen little promise from him. It often looks like he wants to take over games offensively (ala Walt Lemon or DB), but he has little to no scoring ability. He was touted for his playmaking and I've only seen brief flashes of that. Maybe we were spoiled the last 4 years, but I don't seem him being anything more than a bench player on a good team.

On another note, I do not understand Mast shooting 4-7, meanwhile McAdoo took like 8 threes. Henry, Mast and Ville should be featured at this moment.

[Tommy]

Henry, Mast and Ville should be featured at this moment.

Bingo, this is exactly where we need to be putting our focus on offense! And we aren't shooting enough 3's. I didn't look it up, but I'd have to believe we are last in 3 point attempts in the Valley. It's hard to improve in something if you never do it, and right now we are playing like an underdog every night. The best way to beat a more talented team is with the 3 ball - yes, we haven't been hitting our 3's, but we need to keep jacking them up until we start to.

All that being said, I have not been this disheartened about BU in years. We honestly don't do a single thing well right now and it makes me wonder if the talent evaluation was wrong. I understand we're shorthanded, but I expected better than what we've gotten from this team.

[LittleBrave]

I have watched nearly every BU game this season, and for whatever reason watched most of the second half of this one, and I have yet to understand the love for East. I personally hope every player that we have is great, but I have seen little promise from him.

I'm sure that it's about half that really like East's potential and half that are disappointed.

Let's not forget he was our most consistent guard until about 1 month ago (prior to game at ISU-red)
He had 57 assists to 18 TO's (3:1 ratio), and was scoring 8+ ppg, and 39% from beyond arc (not bad for 3rd or 4th option)
When was last time we had a PG with that A/TO ratio??

I'm not sure what more you can expect, unless you criticize (justifiable) a 3-game stretch before his medical condition.
He returned - played decent the last 2 games (vs Mo St with limited min.) and had a bad game last night.

East (from my perspective) does things that allow easier shots for others and he takes smart shots - all but 1 last night. He could be a play-maker, but he's not overly flashy to the point of taking low-% circus shots (aka Mr. McAdoo)

He really should have scored 10+ last night (which we can expect from him), but missed some easy ones he usually makes.
His defense is underrated as well.

I am probably in the minority, but I think he's a more well-round PG than DB Jr. at this point in his "career".