Final: Bradley 68 Drake 59

[Da Coach]

Bradley's next game is at home vs. Drake- Saturday, Feb. 12, at 7 pm in Carver Arena.
The game is scheduled to be available on ESPN3, which is the free streaming platform of ESPN. So even if you don't have the ESPN+ subscription, this video stream is available.
Video link- https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/...arId/401367397
Live stats- https://bradleybraves.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Chat Room- www.chatzy.com/bradleyfans

Bradley (14-11, 8-5) beat Drake (17-8, 8-4) in Des Moines on January 19, which started the Braves 4-game MVC win streak. And now they have won 6 of the last 7 games. Bradley shot 60% for the game, and held Drake to 38%
Recap- https://bradleybraves.com/news/2022/...ake-83-71.aspx
Box score- https://bradleybraves.com/sports/men...boxscore/21091

Drake was 10-0 at home prior to Bradley beating them, but now they are 11-3, having lost their last 2 home games to UNI and Missouri State.

Drake website- https://godrakebulldogs.com/sports/mens-basketball
Schedule/results- https://godrakebulldogs.com/sports/m...tball/schedule
Drake Stats- https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sit...ts_2_5_22_.pdf
Bradley stats- https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sit...dley_stats.pdf

Drake has not shot the 3-point shot very well in MVC games- only 31.5%. And in MVC road games, they are even worse- 30.7%, though in their last road game at Indiana State on Wednesday, Feb. 2, they were 10-20 from three, which was, by far, their best 3-point shooting MVC game this season, home or away.

Bradley is now the MVC's leading 3-point shooting team in conference games at 36.3%, and the Braves are also the #1 team in FG% defense, rebounding, and assists.
MVC stats for conference games- http://www.mvc.org/mbb/stats/team-conf.pdf

Bradley is close to overtaking SIU for the top home attendance for MVC games. Bradley is now averaging 4,158 per game, and SIU is averaging 4,190.

Also note- There is a pregame party for Bradley alumni from 5-7pm in the Lexus Ballroom at the Peoria Civic Center. Admission is free to attend.
Bradley has not a very good job of publicizing this pregame party. Has anyone else heard about this? Are only alumni able to attend? Are there other Alumni activities this weekend?

[LittleBrave]

Good stuff DC!

Do you have the stats for home attendance for the Top 5 in the league?

I was thinking Loyola would b close to the top - if not leading. Mo St traditional has had good support at home, especially when they have seasons like this one. Just curious.


Would be great to end up #1 again!
And it seems we are on track to do that, with key Valley games left and our War on 74 game still to play.

[Da Coach]

Good stuff DC!

Do you have the stats for home attendance for the Top 5 in the league?

Here are the stats for all games- scroll down to the end of the team stats and the last section shows attendance figures for all ten teams-

http://www.mvc.org/mbb/stats/confldrs.htm#conf.wkt

Here are the stats for conference games only- scroll all the way to the bottom to see the attendance figures for every team-

http://www.mvc.org/mbb/stats/team-conf.pdf

[pfcmsh]

Da Coach, you always do a great job on the game information and bradleyfans.com.

I am glad that those cold spells we used to get in games the past few years might be a thing of the past. I can't get many games here, but I follow the games on the live stats links. I hope I am over the worrying about those cold spells. I said early in the season, when Bradley lost 3 games they should have won, that the team perhaps just needed to gel. Maybe that is happening! I also love that the bench is making such great contributions. Well rounded team.

From a competition standpoint, I am sorry to see Loyola leaving the MVC. On the other hand, I wont miss the fans at Gentile Arena. Go Braves!

[Tommy]

From a competition standpoint, I am sorry to see Loyola leaving the MVC. On the other hand, I wont miss the fans at Gentile Arena. Go Braves!

Couldn't agree more!

btw pfcmsh, check out my Youtube channel Tommy Wienke. I have most the game videos posted a day or two after being televised (if you're interested).

[Da Coach]

Da Coach, you always do a great job on the game information and bradleyfans.com.

I am glad that those cold spells we used to get in games the past few years might be a thing of the past. I can't get many games here, but I follow the games on the live stats links. I hope I am over the worrying about those cold spells. I said early in the season, when Bradley lost 3 games they should have won, that the team perhaps just needed to gel. Maybe that is happening! I also love that the bench is making such great contributions. Well rounded team.

From a competition standpoint, I am sorry to see Loyola leaving the MVC. On the other hand, I wont miss the fans at Gentile Arena. Go Braves!

Thanks pfcmsh!
We miss you at the games! I hope you can make one of the last 3 home games, or the St. Louis games.
I totally agree with you about the difference in the consistency of this team. With some past teams, there seemed to always be those "stuck on a number" stretches in games, especially road games. And as you noted, earlier this season, Bradley just wasn't very good. There was the home loss to Howard (NET 221 & 8-10 record playing in the 31st ranked conference), and the losses to Brown (NET 206, 9-13 record) and Duquesne (NET 248 & last place in the A10) in St. Thomas, But many of us could see it wasn't a lack of talent. And with more time playing together and playing in Coach Wardle's system, they are now a much better team.
And losing Ja'Shon Henry, who was the 2nd highest scorer and rebounder at the time, and the team's senior leader, would have been devastating in past seasons. But this team has actually played better, winning 6 of the last 7 since Ja'Shon was re-injured in the Illinois State game.

[Da Coach]

Pregame article from BradleyBraves.com-

https://bradleybraves.com/news/2022/2/11/mens-basketball-braves-host-drake-saturday-night.aspx

[Da Coach]

This seems like good news. Ja'Shon Henry was participating in Bradley practice and workout activities at Carver Arena today.

https://twitter.com/BradleyFans_com/status/1492295341001125889

Terry Roberts was wearing a boot again, according to Larry Larson, but I think it is just precautionary. I expect him to play tomorrow against Drake.

[Cousins Cuts podcast]

My worry about jashon is him, 1. Getting hurt again 2. Messing up the team because let's face it they are playing much better without him and shooting the 3 best in the valley. Unless he somehow has a new jumpshot I'm not aware of I don't know how much his return would help

[Dub]

If JHen returns to full health he will help this team. I get what you’re saying about “not messing up the flow of things,” but I don’t believe that’s a legit factor. I think this team used his absence to develop a mental toughness and would only be even better with him now. I’d love to see that happen down the stretch… didn’t expect it.

[KillerB]

It sounds like Henry's return is still a little way off.
Larry Larson
@MLBLarry
Downtown at #Bradley practice ahead of tomorrow’s matchup with Drake. Terry Roberts is sporting a boot on his left ankle as a precaution, as he was after Wednesday’s game. Ja’Shon Henry is dressed but has activities are highly limited, mostly to passing.

[Tommy]

FYI - The veteran being honored at tonight's game is my brother, Dick Wienke. Vietnam infantry vet with a purple heart who got blown up by a land mine when the guy on point during recon stepped on it and he was right behind him. He has a scar from his chest to his belly button and a matching one on his back and as the story goes was walking around holding his intestines crying for mom when the medic got to him. Nothing short of a miracle that he's alive today and I know it's because my mom prayed continuously while he was over there.

Dick loves this country and fought in a war that a lot of people didn't agree with and like a lot of Vietnam vets experienced some of the anger that was misplaced on to the soldiers who were drafted to go over there. Glad to see that all vets, and particularly the ones that weren't appreciated at the time are being appreciated and honored now. Really love that they added this at BU (this says a lot of Chris Reynolds) and enjoy it even more now that they are going to honor my bro. I love him and know this will mean a lot to him as he's a HUGE BU fan (more than me) and I think his entire wardrobe consists of a Vietnam hat and about 100 BU sweatshirts. Hope as many of you can make it tonight to see him, and then watch a big win against Drake to top it all off.

Dick Wienke.jpg

[Da Coach]

What a story, Tommy. A lot of Vietnam vets, as well as Gulf War vets did not make it back. Glad your brother did.
I'll be cheering my appreciation tonight.

[Braves2006]

Awesome Tommy. I will be there to honor your bro. Thank him for his service from me!

[Dub]

Dick Wienke is an American legend. This is gonna be the best one yet.