Final score: Bradley 76 Valparaiso 66

[Da Coach]

Next game: Bradley (21-8, 14-4) at Valparaiso (11-18, 5-13), Wednesday, Feb. 22, 6 pm

The game is televised on the MVC TV Network - Bally Sports and NBCSports Chicago Plus channel
Live stats- http://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=429189
Chat room- www.chatzy.com/bradleyfans
Radio/audio stream- WMBD 1470 AM or 100.3 FM - stream at https://www.1470wmbd.com/

After Bradley's win at SIU Sunday, their win streak is now 8 straight games and they are now 14-4 and tied for 1st place with Drake. BU is 7-4 in road games this season.
Valparaiso lost a close 74-73 game at UIC Sunday, and they are now tied for 9th place with Illinois State at 5-13. They are 8-6 at home this season.
MVC Standings- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...ngs/_/group/18

Valparaiso Schedule/results- http://www.valpoathletics.com/mbasketball/schedule/
Roster- https://www.valpoathletics.com/mbasketball/roster/
Stats- https://cdn.streamlinehosting.net/va...ats_021923.pdf

Valparaiso's top scorers are senior forward Ben Krikke (19.6 ppg) and Wisconsin senior transfer guard Kobe King (16.6 ppg). 5th year D2 transfer guard Quinton Green (Cedarville U.) averages 10.6 ppg, and 5th year D2 transfer point guard Nick Edwards (Glenville State) averages 7.3 ppg. Nobody else averages more than 4.6 ppg.

Valpo ranks 7th in offense in the MVC with an average of 69.4 ppg, and 11th in defense with an average of 73.2 ppg.
Bradley is 4th in offense with an average of 71.3 ppg, and 1st in defense with and average of 61.2 ppg.

Valpo is 12th in the MVC in 3ptFG% with 30.2%. They are 8th in overall FG% with 44.1%.
Bradley is 3rd in 3ptFG% with 36.9%, and 4th in overall FG% with 46.4%.

Bradley stats- https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/s...2/pdf/cume.pdf

MVC stats- https://mvc-sports.com/documents/202...Game_Stats.pdf

[BradleyBiz]

Can't get caught looking ahead to Drake! Stay focused and play Bradley basketball. There have been several close calls up at Valpo this year with some of the top teams in the MVC.

[FanSince82]

Agree. Drake barely got past them!

[BUfan14]

This game makes me nervous, because of it being bookended by huge games and it’s on the road. However, one comforting factor is although this team was not consistent early on, we have never seemed to overlook weaker opponents. We always have played well against them this year, with the lone exception being the home ISU game, which we still won. I also think that one had more to do with being disappointed in our Belmont loss than overlooking ISU. I feel confident this team will stay focused. All of our losses are against really quality teams (top 75 NET teams, Belmont is 118 ) with a road loss to Murray being the closest to an exception as they are over 200 NET.

[️ Fanatic]

Most important game of the year! Go Braves!!

[Dub]

For sure, Valpo is more than capable of having a big game and beating us Wednesday. We will have to prep well and have a mental edge.

Take nothing for granted and hit reset on the emotions from Sunday.

Do what it takes to keep ROLLING!

[lb071964]

All you Peoria fans should try and make Valpo a home court. It’s a short trip and a big game! I know it hurts being on a Wednesday but it’s been 27 years since we had this chance. Take a day off!

[Da Coach]

The MVC weekly awards for Feb. 20-

https://mvc-sports.com/news/2023/2/20/arch-madness-mvc-mbb-weekly-notes-f20.aspx

It's a bit disappointing that despite 2 huge Bradley wins this past week (Missouri State and SIU), and an 8 game win streak, no Bradley player won this week's awards, again. There has been only one Bradley weekly award winner this entire season, either Player of the Week or Newcomer of the Week. It was Duke Deen's Newcomer of the Week award back on December 27, after wins over Stonehill and Akron.

This week's MVC Player of the Week award went to a player on a team that lost both games this past week- Valparaiso's Ben Krikke. That is the first time I can recall that ever happening before in all the years the MVC has had weekly POW awards. Krikke had nice numbers, but Valpo lost to SIU and to lowly UIC to drop to 5-13 in the MVC.
Krikke has really played well recently. He has averaged 25.3 ppg over his last 8 games, and has taken over as the leading scorer in the MVC, averaging 19.55 ppg, just ahead of Ben Sheppard (19.24 ppg) and Tucker DeVries (19.21 ppg).
Ben Krikke game log- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...733/ben-krikke

The Newcomer of the Week went to UIC freshman Jalen Jackson, who had a couple nice games as UIC went 1-1 this past week, beating Valparaiso 74-73, and getting blown out by Indiana State 79-60 in a pair of home games to improve to 3-15 in the MVC.

[bubraves82]

Rather have the conference title than those awards, I'm sure you agree

[Da Coach]

Rather have the conference title than those awards, I'm sure you agree

Yes, agreed! That was actually my point, though I didn't make that very clear. Winning is much more important than statistics, but for some reason, the people at the MVC who decide the awards, seem to have gotten away from that this week.
The award deviated from the MVC trend for many years to award players whose teams won, and not putting the priority only on points scored. As I said, it's the first time I can recall it going to a player whose team lost both games. Just too bad they decided to change this year when Bradley is on top of the MVC.
Maybe a Bradley player can win the award some day, but I'll take 1st place.

And I am not denigrating Ben Krikke. His 24 point and 34 point games and 22-36 shooting were deserving of praise.

[BUfan14]

Just saw that Krikke is undecided on using his extra year of eligibility or not in the article below. He’s seemed like a good academic student, so I wonder if he’s set to graduate. I wonder what level of offers he could get if he transferred? He and Mast are an interesting comparison too.

https://www.valpoathletics.com/mbasketball/news/2022-23/21878/mens-basketball-to-recognize-seniors-on-wednesday/

[Da Coach]

Just saw that Krikke is undecided on using his extra year of eligibility or not in the article below. He’s seemed like a good academic student, so I wonder if he’s set to graduate. I wonder what level of offers he could get if he transferred? He and Mast are an interesting comparison too.

https://www.valpoathletics.com/mbask...-on-wednesday/

I would be surprised if he returned to Valparaiso, with virtually no chance of winning anything next year or getting into the NCAA tournament. There will be a lot of teams looking for a talented big man like him.

[braves16]

I would be surprised if he returned to Valparaiso, with virtually no chance of winning anything next year or getting into the NCAA tournament. There will be a lot of teams looking for a talented big man like him.

Maybe he would like to live on a hilltop in Central Illinois.

[houstonbrave]

He is a really good player and has been very loyal to Valpo. Cudos to him for his loyalty when he could have gone elsewhere. Sure I’d welcome him here if that was what he wanted but certainly understand if he went pro or elsewhere or would support him staying at Valpo even if it irritated us.

[BUfan14]

I’d prefer Mast stay, but if he were to leave, it’d be a great alternative. He’s be a starter and potential star on a tournament caliber team. He might not get that at higher levels. I doubt he comes if Mast and Leons are already here for the four/five starter spots.