Final score: Bradley 76 Valparaiso 66

[Tommy]

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.

Pretty sure we’d figure out a way to fit him into our rotation if he was interested in coming to BU!

[BUfan14]

Pretty sure we’d figure out a way to fit him into our rotation if he was interested in coming to BU!

Oh ya, from our end, no brainer. But if you’re him would you come to a school that already has two starters in place in your spots? I can’t imagine all three guys being on board for that. Maybe if Leons played the three or something.

[Da Coach]

Game notes from Valpo- https://cdn.streamlinehosting.net/va..._022223_BU.pdf

Some historic Bradley milestones within reach-
Bradley is now 14-4, the most MVC wins since the 15-3 team in 1995-96. If Bradley can win their last 2 games, that would make them 16-4, and the last team to win 16 games was when the 1985-86 team, lead by Jim Les, Hersey Hawkins, Mike Williams, Anthony Manuel, Donald Powell, Jerry Thomas, Trevor Trimpe, Greg Jones, Len Bertolini, Bruce Mordini, etc., went 16-0 in the MVC and 32-3 overall.

Bradley has won 8 straight MVC games. The last loss was the home loss to Belmont on January 21. The last Bradley team to win 8 straight MVC games was the 1987-88 team (Hersey's senior year), when the team won their final 8 regular season MVC games, then they swept their 3 MVC Tournament games to make it 11 straight wins over MVC opponents.
And with the win at SIU, Bradley has now won 5 straight MVC road games (at INSU, UIC, UNI, ILSU, and SIU). The last road loss was at Drake on January 14.
Bradley is 7-4 in true road games this season, the best road record of any MVC team.

If Bradley can win tomorrow at Valparaiso, that would give this team 8 true road wins, the most since 1995-96.
And they would finish 7-3 in MVC road games. The 7 MVC road wins would tie the 1995-96 MVC regular season champion team, which went 7-2 in MVC road games.

Go Braves!

[Ogre]

From the “Cinderella” article in The Athletic.

Bradley Braves

Missouri Valley Conference
Killer Rating: 15.7


The Braves are riding an eight-game winning streak and are tied with Drake at 14-4 atop the MVC, where our model says the Braves are the best team and best underdog. Yet they get very little national attention. Well, it’s time to notice: This is the best Bradley squad in at least 15 years, with a highly efficient defense that keeps opponents at the perimeter, dragging their average possession length to 18.8 seconds (ranking 360th in the country) and allowing an effective field-goal percentage of just 45.8% (ranking 21st). And the Braves have taken their own long-range shooting up a notch over the past couple of seasons: 39.9% of their attempts are from downtown, well above average. As the conference heads toward Arch Madness, keep an eye on Malevy Leons, their Dutch-born big man with 48 blocks and 46 steals heading into Wednesday’s game at Valparaiso. No Missouri Valley player has gone 50-50 since the MVC started keeping records 42 years ago.

Further note: Drake is awful on the offensive glass (ranking: 307th, down from 55th when the Bulldogs were an 11-seed two years ago). And they don’t force turnovers (ranking: 219th). They are not built for the styles underdogs win with in the NCAA tournament. Our model sees a difference of fewer than 3 points per 100 possessions between Bradley and Drake in its basic power ratings but a gap of more than 10 percentage points in their tournament chances against an average giant.

[Da Coach]

Thanks for posting. There is good stuff in the Athletic, but a lot of stuff of no interest to me or most fans, so I've never subscribed. But those are interesting stats. The writer seems a bit harsh toward Drake.

[Da Coach]

There was an accidental release of hazardous materials at the Valparaiso ARC (the arena where tonight's Bradley-Valpo game is scheduled).
It lead to an evacuation of the facility, and arrival of multiple emergency vehicles.
But now they are saying it's all clear and the game will be played as scheduled-

https://twitter.com/TVBOren/status/1628461830396936192

https://twitter.com/ValpoU/status/1628451686988627970

https://twitter.com/VU_Police/status/1628460220300292096

[braves16]

There was an accidental release of hazardous materials at the Valparaiso ARC (the arena where tonight's Bradley-Valpo game is scheduled).
It lead to an evacuation of the facility, and arrival of multiple emergency vehicles.
But now they are saying it's all clear and the game will be played as scheduled-

https://twitter.com/TVBOren/status/1628461830396936192

https://twitter.com/ValpoU/status/1628451686988627970

https://twitter.com/VU_Police/status...60220300292096

This is a unique way to slow down the Braves.

[Ogre]

Thanks for posting. There is good stuff in the Athletic, but a lot of stuff of no interest to me or most fans, so I've never subscribed. But those are interesting stats. The writer seems a bit harsh toward Drake.

Bradley might be mentioned in two Athletic articles a year. This one highlighted six teams and obviously dunked on Drake. Haha.

[Da Coach]

Bradley is an 8.5 point favorite-
https://www.vegasinsider.com/college...teams/bradley/

Bradley won by 22 (88-66) in Peoria on January 7.

And a reminder- even though Valparaiso, Indiana is in the Central Time Zone, tonight's game starts at 6:00 pm.
I assume the earlier start time is for the MVC TV Network stations.
It will be broadcast on Bally Sports channel and NBCSports Chicago Plus Channel. It will also be on ESPN+ (subject to blackouts in areas served by any of the cable channels).

[Bradley8792]

There was an accidental release of hazardous materials at the Valparaiso ARC (the arena where tonight's Bradley-Valpo game is scheduled).
It lead to an evacuation of the facility, and arrival of multiple emergency vehicles.
But now they are saying it's all clear and the game will be played as scheduled-

https://twitter.com/TVBOren/status/1628461830396936192

https://twitter.com/ValpoU/status/1628451686988627970

https://twitter.com/VU_Police/status...60220300292096

As always, Coach Wardle had our team ready for any scenario.

[BRAVE82]

Really bummed. Had planned on going tonight but... two hour drive from Plainfield Il because of multiple accidents on I80 and (most likely) the heavy rain. Just got off of work and can't make it in time.

[Big Mike]

Need a road W' tonight to keep the "Dream Season" alive.....Go Braves...

[Da Coach]

Bradley is wearing the new red script uniforms.

Valpo is the worst three point shooting team in the MVC, 30.2%, ranking 12th. But they started the game 3-3.
Bradley on an 8 point run to take a 10-9 lead.

[Heemeskerk]

The game is on espn+ for those who subscribe.

[Big Mike]

Espn+ blacked out in Peoria.