Final score: Bradley 71 Maine 39

[Da Coach]

Bradley (1-5) plays University of Maine (2-3) on Saturday, Nov. 27, at 2 pm in Carver Arena.
The game is on ESPN3- https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/...arch%3Aresults

Live stats- https://bradleybraves.com/sidearmsta...mary;team=away
Radio- www.1470wmbd.com
Chat room- www.chatzy.com/bradleyfans

The Maine Black Bears are 2-3, but their 2 wins have been against Non-Division I teams- University of Main-Farmington (Division III) and University of Maine-Fort Kent (United States Collegiate Athletic Association).
Their losses have been to Virginia Tech, Colorado, and Central Connecticut State.
Schedule/Results- https://goblackbears.com/sports/mens...tball/schedule

Bradley has played Maine twice before-
12/23/1992- at Maine- Maine 56 Bradley 54
11/27/1993- in Carver Arena- Bradley 70 Maine 41

Their roster is comprised mostly of foreign players. 11 of the 15 players on their roster are from foreign countries- 4 from the US, 4 from Canada, 2 from Serbia, and one each from Turkey, Latvia, Slovenia, Nigeria, and Hungary.
Roster- https://goblackbears.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster

Historical record- Maine holds the distinction of playing basketball for the longest time in the highest division (92 years) without ever making the NCAA tournament, nor ever won their conference (regular season or tournament), or ever been ranked in their school's history.

https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/maine/

One of their players is from Saskatchewan and attended the same prep school that Ja'Shon Henry attended (Athol Murray College of Notre Dame).
Maine has only one double-digit scorer, Stephane Ingo, who averages 10.3 ppg. They have only 1 player who shoots better than 25% from three, and as a team they shoot only 21%. That ranks 357th out of 358 Division I teams. Hopefully, that doesn't mean they will shoot 25-25 against Bradley.
Bradley's three point percentage of 27.5% is tied for 318th.
UMaine Stats- https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sit...1/pdf/cume.pdf
Bradley stats- https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sit...1/pdf/cume.pdf

[Bradleyfan1]

Do not lose this game. Show progress, play well on D, get the core guys the ball in situations they can be successful. This is not this hard. Limit the dumb plays.

[Da Coach]

Live stats

https://bradleybraves.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary;team=away

[Bradleyfan1]

Not a good start offensively again. Just gave up a putback , cant finish a decent defensive stand, then Vile turns it over, cmon were better than this. Ugh

[Bradleyfan1]

First min of the 2nd half of the first half was fantastic, defensive rebound, after Henry high % basket, Roberts makes a great pass, Hickman nails the 3 then we hold to a violation, then a bs charge call on Henry. We startin to roll tho.

[Bradleyfan1]

Great stretch, thats whats up. 2nd half was the best weve looked. Lets build on this.

[Tommy]

As much grief as Mast has taken, guy quietly shot 100% from the field and put up another double double. Mast, Leons, and Henry led the way and that is what is going to determine how we perform this year.

Amazing how making shots can totally change what the team looks like, and beating any D1 school by 30 is impressive. Definitely something to build on.

Only real downside today for me was the careless turnovers, but when you shoot over 50% from the field, it’ll cover up a lot of mistakes.

[Da Coach]

Today's game demonstrated, in a way, what's been wrong with this team (1st half) and what they are capable of (2nd half)-
1st half- scored just 28 points, allowed 22, had only 6 assists and 14 turnovers, shot only 57% from the FT line, allowed an inferior team to lead much of the half, and stay within 6 at the half.
2nd half- scored 43 points, allowed only 17, had 12 assists and only 7 turnovers, shot 59% overall, 64% from three, and 100% on FTs, held Maine to 0% from three (0-6), and dominated the other team from start to finish.

In Bradley's first 6 games (record 1-5) Bradley opponents were averaging 19 made FTs and 24 FT attempts per game (115-143). Today, Maine was just 3 for 5 from the FT line.
In the first 6 games, Bradley averaged 20 personal fouls per game (120 PF in 6 games). Today, Bradley committed only 11 personal fouls.
Bradley had 18 assists today on 25 field goals per game. In the first 6 games, they averaged just 12 assists per game on 26 FG/game.
And in the first 6 games BU averaged 40.5% overall, 27.3% from three, and 60.8% on FTs, and they yielded 40% overall and 41% from three.
Opponents averaged 72 points per game in the first 6 games. Today, Bradley held Maine to just 39 points.
Today, Bradley shot 56.8% overall, 55.0% from three, and 62.5% on FTs, and today, BU held their opponent to 29% overall, and 12.5% from three.

Yes, the opponent was not a strong team, and we still need to improve on the free throws, passing, and not dribbling into a crowd. But a lot of what was wrong with the team in all the previous games was greatly improved today. It was nice to see Malevy Leons nail 5 out of 7 from three, and to see Rienk Mast make 3 out of 3 (he was 1-21 in the first 6 games). Ville also looked better, and Terry Roberts (6 points, 4 assists), Connor Hickman (6 points, 4 rebounds, 2-3 from three), Mikey Howell (7 assists) and Ja'Shon Henry (15 points) all had strong games. And the entire team played great defense, especially in the 2nd half.
Lets hope that continues.

[Da Coach]

Official box score-
https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sit...1_Maine_39.pdf

Game recap-

https://bradleybraves.com/news/2021/11/27/mens-basketball-braves-run-past-maine-71-39b.aspx

Attendance reported as 3,515.
That must be tickets sold and include season tickets, because there weren't quite that many fans there today.
But I expect a much better and louder crowd for next Wednesday's MVC opener against UNI.

[houstonbrave]

Much better second half. Mikey took some heat the first few games but really looked good tonight. Robert’s just needs to cut down on the turnovers-he is a key to improvement this year. Great to see Reink hit some shots and Malevy is sure coming into his own-he was the key tonight.

Now we need to figure out who can guard AJ. He came alive today vs a an outstanding St Bonaventure team. Not sure who we can throw against him.

[Tommy]

Now we need to figure out who can guard AJ. He came alive today vs a an outstanding St Bonaventure team. Not sure who we can throw against him.

Good question! We’ve got some length this year. Let’s hope something can change up his shot!