Final score: Bradley 79 Illinois State 61

[Da Coach]

In the first game with ISU, they played a lot of zone defense, and collapsed on Rienk Mast and the other bigs. They don't usually play much zone, and Bradley appeared to be unprepared for it. When Bradley's bigs did pass out, the guards were only 6-21 from three. I am sure the team will be better prepared if they face a zone.

The other thing ISU did well that game was for big 6'7" guard Seneca Knight and 6'8" Kendall Lewis to repeatedly go one on one and back the Bradley defenders down close to the basket for easy shots. Knight was 7-12 for 19 points, and Lewis was 6-7 for 16 points. Most of their points were scored in the paint. ISU was only 4-16 from three. Late in the game, Bradley seemed to adjust to both of these things, and it helped bring Bradley back from a double-digit deficit to win in overtime.

So this time, I expect Bradley to be better prepared for ISU's zone and their one on one game. Bradley rarely plays zone defense themselves, but this might be a good game to try some zone.

[Nashville Cat]

I think BU plays more zone than we think based on Chad's commentary and Wardle's seeming use of a 1-3-1. Nevertheless I agree wholeheartedly with your comments

[Mikovio]

This is definitely a team you want to zone. Poor 3 pt shooting and great FT shooting. Keep them out of the paint and off the line. Also avoids Deen getting posted up under the basket. If anyone's still on the fence there are available tickets behind our bench in 119/120/121 on Gored Birds.com.

[BUfan17]

ISU is so inconsistent, this game scares me a little. They have the ability to beat anyone, or lose to anyone.

Hopefully we come ready to play unlike the last meeting.

[Da Coach]

Officials tonight- Gerry Pollard, Antinio Petty and Jeff Malham

[Da Coach]

Live stats link- http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=423863

Chat room- https://us28.chatzy.com/bradleyfans

ESPN+ link- https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/...7-609124322da8

[Stryker]

Officials tonight- Gerry Pollard, Antinio Petty and Jeff Malham

Well first half was decent even though Pollard came in and reversed an out of bounds call in favor of ISU. Pollard almost threw me out of a game in 08' so you might be able to guess what I think of his work. I'm sure he is a good guy otherwise....

[Big Mike]

Ok it happened...Missouri State wins over Belmont by 2 pts.....Bring it home Braves....

[Da Coach]

Nice butt whipping by the Braves.
Final score: Bradley 79 ISU 61
Stats- http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=423863

[Big Mike]

Way to go Braves getting it done on the road...staying in pack for 1st place

[BUfan14]

Road a good first half to victory, not an overly impressive second half, but we beat our rival on the road fairly easily. The guard play wasn't great today. Too many turnovers and not a good shooting night from the guards, and they shot zero free throws between all of them. Hickman, Zek, and Ville were ok, and Deen wasn't very good tonight. The posts carried us. Mast and Leons were great (I love the Leons now drives and scores without having to hit threes). Malevy had several and ones. Hannah and Henry had nice games off the bench. Our four best players tonight were all posts I thought. Need a little better guard play the rest of the year (as it has been the last few games) with tough games coming up, but overall a very positive night.

[Bradley8792]

Great seeing Rienke and Mal playing well. Would have liked a better second half.

[Da Coach]

Some really solid performances by the Braves-
Malevy Leons looking like a 1st team All-MVC player and DPOY- Game-high 21 points, 7-11 from the floor, 2 blocks, 1 steal, and great defense
Rienk Mast, his usual double-double- 16 points, 10 rebounds, 5 assists, 1 steal, and nice inside defense
Ville Tahvanainen- 13 points, 3-7 from three
Ja'Shon henry- 8 points, 5 rebounds off the bench, 4-5 from the floor
Duke, Connor, Zeek, & Darius all with solid defensive efforts, and good supporting roles on offense.

Only 8 players played, but that was enough to build a 25 point lead in the 2nd half (60-35). ISU got hot late in the game and slowly cut the lead down to 14 before Bradley pushed it back up to 18 before time ran out.
Bradley outrebounded ISU 41-26 (after being outrebounded in the first game 44-25). And Bradley outshot ISU 51% to 40%.
Points in the paint- Bradley 46 ISU 22.

Bring on Murray State!

[Tommy]

Oh, the sweet sound of the BU chant in Redbird arena. How sweet it is.

[Bball31]

Very well played game tonight. We also got some help from MOST. Now they need to take care of business on Saturday. SIU travels to Drake on Saturday.