Final Score: Bradley 89 Eastern Michigan 61

[Da Coach]

Bradley plays Eastern Michigan as part of the Cancun Challenge on Tuesday, Nov. 15 at Carver Arena, 7 pm.
Bradley is now 1-1 after their loss at Utah State. Eastern Michigan is 1-1 after beating D2 Wayne State 75-66 on Nov. 7, then losing a close game against Michigan 88-83 in Detroit on Nov. 11.

Star player, Emoni Bates, a 5-star recruit who transferred from Memphis, did not play in their first game, but played in the Michigan game, and had 30 points and 5 rebounds. Here are some highlights-

https://www.espn.com/video/clip?id=35007348

The game is on ESPN+ - https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/...e-375c89d3a21e
Live stats- https://bradleybraves.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Chat room- www.chatzy.com/bradleyfans
Radio/audio stream- WMBD 1470 AM or 100.3 FM

Eastern Michigan stats- https://emueagles.com/sports/mens-ba...stats/2022/pdf
Schedule/results- https://emueagles.com/sports/mens-ba...le?path=mbball
Roster- https://emueagles.com/sports/mens-ba...er?path=mbball

Bradley has only played Eastern Michigan once before, in Peoria on 3/16/1995 in the first round of the 1995 NIT. Bradley beat EMU 86-85 in 2 overtimes.
It was an exciting game with both teams playing well. The game was tied at the end of regulation 70-70, then sophomore Anthony Parker made a clutch jumper in the lane at the end of the first overtime to tie the game 76-76.
In the 2nd overtime, there were multiple lead changes, then Eastern Michigan's big 6'9" center Theron Wilson (no relation to the Theron Wilson who later played for Bradley from 2007-2009) made 2 free throws with 28.7 seconds left to give EMU an 85-84 lead. On their final possession, Bradley junior Deon Jackson was fouled on a shot with 7 seconds left, and made both free throws to put Bradley ahead for good 86-85. In the final 7 seconds, EMU's 5'5" freshman point guard Earl Boykins, a future NBA player, drove up the court and missed a short jumper at the buzzer. Deon Jackson ended with 27 points for Bradley, Anthony Parker with 16. Other Braves who contributed- Billy Wright, Aaron Zobrist, Chad Kleine, Dwayne Funches, David Winslow, Kerry Burrell, & Bayo Akinkunle.
YouTube video of the entire game-

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0beMrC-g4Ao

[bradleyfan124]

This may be a tough game

[Nashville Cat]

This may be a tough game

I agree. I'm wondering if Malevy will guard Bates? I'm also expecting some 2-3 zone. EMU doesn't look like a prolific 3 pt shooting team.

[Da Coach]

Bradley is a 9 point favorite tomorrow night.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/scoreboard/_/date/20221115/seasontype/2/group/18

[Nashville Cat]

Bradley is a 9 point favorite tomorrow night.

https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/scoreboard/_/date/20221115/seasontype/2/group/18

Line is -8 now with o/u at 146.5. Go over.

[Nashville Cat]

Over-under for Emoni Bates points scored: 22. I've got the under.

[LittleBrave]

Definitely a game BU should win and without too much stress down the wire.
I expect Bradley to win by 6-10 and show the fans they are a legit contender in the Valley.

[Da Coach]

Over-under for Emoni Bates points scored: 22. I've got the under.

Emoni Bates Wikipedia page-

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emoni_Bates

[Nashville Cat]

Emoni Bates Wikipedia page-
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Emoni_Bates

Who guards this guy, DC? Malevy (6'9)? I'm predicting more zone than usual. Also, you could argue that Noah Farrakahn is their best all around player as he actually guards opponents unlike Bates.

[Da Coach]

I think it will be mostly Malevy, with Zek, and Ja'Shon also getting some time guarding Bates. Maybe Hannah, if others get into foul trouble.
Bradley does have enough big guys with decent defensive skills that I think we'll see Bradley hold him well below his current scoring average.

[Da Coach]

Final score-
Bradley 89 EMU 61

https://bradleybraves.com/sidearmstats/mbball/media

[Big Mike]

Very good team game on both ends of the court tonight. The key to success is keeping Leons involved on offense....

[Classof77]

Wow. What a game. Way to bounce back after the Utah debacle.

[yoda]

Once again in the post game discussion with Dave Snell & Coach Wardle, they point out how the stats crew
simply can't recognize a blocked shot when they see it. The"official stats" list only 4 blocked shots, and both Snell & Wardle
just laughed at that - discussing how there were THREE blocks on one single possession and numerous other blocks -
both agreed Bradley had 9 or 10 for the game and the stats crew, as always missed half of them.

[Da Coach]

Yes. What a huge difference from the last game. Tonight's Bradley looked terrific on offense and defense. Bradley had 5 players in double digits, and 2 others close (Hannah had 9, and Deen . Everyone who played looked more intense, and focused on both ends of the court. Let's hope we continue to see this kind of coordinated effort from now on.
Stats- https://bradleybraves.com/sidearmstats/mbball/media

Attendance looked slight better than the last home game, though no attendance figure has been posted, yet.

Eastern Michigan as a team did not impress me very much. The 41-21 halftime lead by Bradley was a combination of great defense, and sloppy play by EMU.
Emoni Bates is clearly a very talented player, but in the first half he looked like he was disinterested, and maybe even pouting. The last 10-15 minutes of the game was very different. He looked to score nearly every time he had the ball, and he is a very fluid player with the ability to make shots. His defense needs a lot of work, but when he wanted to put out the effort, he was hard to stop. He ended up putting up a nice stat line- 20 points and 6 rebounds in 32 minutes, but most of that came after it was a 30+ point blowout. I wonder if he will make it through the season without his coach Stan Heath getting tired of his act?

One good sign was that Rienk Mast has gotten rid of the crutches he was using last week, and was walking around looking normal, though he still had the knee brace on over his pants.