SoCal Challenge

[Da Coach]

KenPom ranking for the teams in the SoCal Challenge-
Bradley 83
Tulane 90
UTEP 135
Cal 186
Tarleton 212
Austin Peay 230
Sacramento St. 255
Cal State Bakersfield 310

In the 2 semifinal games in the Sand Division of the SoCal Challenge-
Cal State Bakersfield beat Sacramento State 75-71- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...meId/401604306
Tarleton State beats Austin Peay 66-59- https://tarletonsports.com/sports/me.../boxscore/6520


In campus games-
Austin Peay lost at UTEP 63-71 - https://utepminers.com/sports/mens-b...boxscore/11478
Tarleton State lost at Bradley 63-86 - https://bradleybraves.com/sports/men...boxscore/21868
Cal State Bakersfield lost at Cal 63-83 - https://gorunners.com/sports/mens-ba...boxscore/10146
Sacramento State lost at Tulane 57-92 - https://hornetsports.com/sports/mens...boxscore/11311

[Da Coach]

...semifinal games in the Sand Division of the SoCal Challenge-
Tarleton State beats Austin Peay 66-59- https://tarletonsports.com/sports/me.../boxscore/6520

The coach of Austin Peay is Corey Gipson, former assistant at Missouri State under Dana Ford, and the top 2 scorers in their loss to Tarleton State today were DeMarcus Sharp and Ja'Monta Black who also played at Missouri State for Dana Ford.
Box score- https://tarletonsports.com/sports/me.../boxscore/6520

Tarleton State and Cal State Bakersfield will play Wednesday at 4:30 pm for the Championship of the Sand Division of the SoCal Challenge.
Austin Peay and Sacramento State will play for 3rd and 4th places.

[yoda]

love to see our guys playing so HARD!

[BUfan14]

Halftime observations:

1. Good defense kept is in it until we finally made a couple of shots. I thought the refs called a lot of questionable fouls on us where the contact was initiated from Tulane.

2. Burch is not afraid and I'm glad he is healthy this quick. I wouldn't have thought so after watching him go down. His penetration has been huge to keeping us in the game. He might be the best third point guard right now, and if he keeps passing like tonight might move up quickly in that spot. His shot, passing, and defense are already looking pretty solid. The sky is the limit for him.

3. I do not like Jonovic and Ellis in at the same time. The offense really seems to stagnate as neither can do much outside of Jonovic being tall enough to get occasional offensive rebound tips. Ellis's shot looks broken and it doesn't look like rust to me but poor shot form altogether.

4. Jonovic is still too slow on defense, allowing many offensive rebounds due to lack of position and allowing guys around him a lot. One time he jumped up to block a shot after it was already in the air for a second and past him. The problem is Atlason is still developing on defense and isn't really a 5 anyway. It really hurts to have 3 posts sitting on the end of the bench who apparently cannot play.

5. Christian Davis seems to put himself in good position to do little things. A couple of tips on the offensive glass were huge.

6. I cannot believe we got to 40 not shooting well on offense. Shows we can score in multiple ways. There was no panic either. Finish strong in half two hopefully!

[basketball nut]

Great win. This team is interesting

[Big Mike]

Wow what a game....didn't need to be that close....Braves 4-0....
Burch becoming my favorite player....

[Bradley3342]

Nice win tonight! Quality win again

[BUfan14]

Very nice win, but once again why can't Hickman make free throws? Truly a baffling thing over the last two years as a good shooter. He played great overall until the end with turnovers and the free throws. Our top 7 players are so talented and Ellis and Jonovic are fine enough depth (though they should never play together). Deen has improved this year to find a way to contribute even on his off nights, so that is good to see. Hannah had a rough turnover night, but I thought still contributed. Burch was great tonight. Leons is an elite defender in so many ways.

Overall, I thought nobody, other than maybe Burch, played their absolute best game tonight, but everyone still contributed, we stayed tough, and we found a way to win against a quality opponent at a neutral site. Nice to see.

[Da Coach]

Final score- Bradley 80 Tulane 77
Stats- https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=494782

A couple things to improve on... too many turnovers (14), and way too many fouls (24). Tulane went to the FT line 37 times!
But good games by all 5 starters, as well as the freshmen, Burch and Atlason.
Get some rest and be ready for Wednesday night.

[Southside]

WHEW...Nice win!

Two bad TOs and two missed free throws in the last minute by Hickman made it closer than it should have been.

1. Before a tough last minute, Hickman played well. I think he only had 1 other turnover.
2. Hannah too many TOs tonight, but another good game. How much has that kid improved in the last 2 years!
3. Davis is so versatile on offense and defense. His length at the top of the zone will cause some issues for opposing teams.
4. Atlason and Burch are fearless and are providing quality minutes.

This team looks more confident and complete than any BU team in a long time!

[bigjimmy]

Another tight, down to the end game that the Braves were able to pull out at the end. All 5 starters were in double figures led by Leons with 18. Not usually going to win a game when the other team shoots 28-37 from the FT line, commits 14 turnovers and miss late FT's but this team just has a toughness about it that allowed it to overcome and win. 4-0 feels pretty good. 5-0 will feel even better.

[Big Mike]

That's just amazing to me that all 5 starters in double figures...love how Burch plays and passing was point on. Atlason still hits 2 more 3's....gonna be a fun season.

[Da Coach]

In the late game UTEP lead most of the game, but Cal stayed close. Cal's Jalen Cone sank a 3-pointer with 6 seconds left to tie the game 72-72, but Tae Hardy sank a 3-pointer at the buzzer for UTEP to win the game 75-72.
Final few seconds - https://twitter.com/SoCal_Challenge/...84466420003179
Box score- https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/s..._Game_Book.PDF
Bradley (4-0) will play UTEP (5-0) Wednesday night for the championship of the SoCal Challenge Surf Division at 9:30 pm Central time on CBSSports Network.

[Stryker]

There were several possessions tonight where BU was passing the ball all over the court to find an open look. Reminded me of when Les implemented the weave in 07'. This team seems to be pretty unselfish but the players still know when they are open and will take the shot. Great to see.

[64NIT]

BU hadn't played Cal since December 1941, shortly after the Pearl Harbor attack and during the A. J. Robertson era. I was hoping BU would have played them, but I guess we'll have to continue to wait for their next rematch.