Final score: Bradley 77 - St. Joseph's 73

[Da Coach]

Bradley (4-6) hosts St. Joseph's (6-4) Saturday, Dec. 18, at 2 pm. The game is on NBCSports Chicago and on ESPN+.

ESPN+ link- https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/...meId=401371774
Live stats- https://bradleybraves.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Chat room- www.chatzy.com/bradleyfans

This game is the second of a home-and-home agreement. Bradley lost to St. Joseph's 2 seasons ago (11/5/19) in Philadelphia 86-81-
Recap- https://bradleybraves.com/news/2019/...phs-86-81.aspx
Box score- https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sit...Bradley_81.pdf

The game in Peoria was originally scheduled to take place last season, but was cancelled and moved to this season because of the Covid situation.

St. Joseph's has only played 1 true road game, a 29 point loss at Villanova.
Schedule/results- https://sjuhawks.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule

Roster- https://sjuhawks.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster
Stats- https://s3.amazonaws.com/sjuhawks.co...1/pdf/cume.pdf
Historical record- https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb...saint-josephs/

Bradley stats- https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sit...1/pdf/cume.pdf

[Big Mike]

WOW.....solid win for the Braves. That felt good!

[Da Coach]

Bradley wins! Final score- Bradley 77 St. Joseph's 73
Stats- https://bradleybraves.com/sidearmstats/mbball/media

Big games from Ja'Shon Henry, Connor Hickman, Malevy Leons, Jayson Kent, Terry Roberts, and others.

[Dub]

Was not at all confident we’d get that one. Very promising response to what the coaches stressed in recent practices. We flipped the script on the fouling and free throw differential.

[Da Coach]

There were things that this team still needs to get better at. Today, it was the interior defense, rebounding, and 3-point shooting.
Though Bradley did outrebound St. John's by a slim margin (36-35), they gave up too many offensive rebounds (11 off rebounds), especially at the end of the game. Thankfully, SJU was not able to take advantage of at least 3 offensive rebounds inside the final minute when Bradley held a 1 point lead (74-73). And St. Joe's scored 40 points in the paint. That's way too many for a team like St. Joe's that doesn't have great size. And as has been a problem all year, Bradley's perimeter shooting was not very good. They were just 3-11 from three (27.3%). That drops their season average to 32.4%, worst among the 10 MVC teams.

Recap- https://bradleybraves.com/news/2021/...phs-77-73.aspx
Official box score- https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sit...oseph_s_73.pdf

[Bradley3342]

Nice win for the Braves today. My concern right now is the health of Ja’Shon. We definitely need him in the lineup if we have any chance of competing in league play..

[Tommy]

JaShon quietly lead us in scoring with 17, Mast has another double digit rebound game, Leons was 6 for 9 from the field and just played a great game on both ends and last but not least, we shot 80% from the line and that was the difference in the game.

Definitely need some work on D, but all in all a great all around performance against a decent team. And did anyone else notice how big their guards were? I thought we had some size at the guard positions, but they made us look small!

[Da Coach]

JaShon quietly lead us in scoring with 17, Mast has another double digit rebound game, Leons was 6 for 9 from the field and just played a great game on both ends and last but not least, we shot 80% from the line and that was the difference in the game.

Definitely need some work on D, but all in all a great all around performance against a decent team. And did anyone else notice how big their guards were? I thought we had some size at the guard positions, but they made us look small!

Yes, you're right. And St. Joe's Jordan Hall at 6'7" was listed in the box score as a Forward (on their roster he's listed as Guard/Forward), but he played more of a point guard type of game and was efficient there with game-high 12 assists. He was just 4-16 from the floor though and 1-7 from three, which was key to Bradley winning. He got a lot of good looks, because he was usually guarded by one of Bradley's guards.

[Lights down]

You gotta love Henry’s hunger for the rim, he just gets after it! I like Mikeys creative play as well. If he can ever score, watch out! Hats off to the St. Joe’s mascot. That bird flapped his wings the ENTIRE game, even during time outs! I thought I saw him get airborne at one point!

[bradleyfan124]

Everyone is forgetting the play of Connor Hickman. For a Freshman he is fantastic!! He made several great plays yesterday. Saved the ball from going out of bounds at the end of the game when we needed possession and several steals in crucial moments

[Tommy]

You gotta love Henry’s hunger for the rim, he just gets after it! I like Mikeys creative play as well. If he can ever score, watch out! Hats off to the St. Joe’s mascot. That bird flapped his wings the ENTIRE game, even during time outs! I thought I saw him get airborne at one point!

Haha, I Lol’d in real life on that! Yeah, that mascot was nuts! What a crazy tradition/superstition. Glad it didn’t help em in this game!