Final score: Bradley 79 Vermont 70

[BUfan14]

I guess the jerseys weren’t ready yet?

Wow that team can shoot, I can’t believe Bradley held them down as long as we did watching the end there. I think this win will hold up nicely.

Now that Jonovic is being used in the right matchups and situations (he can still be exploited as we saw a couple time where guys blew around him in this game), I really like the role he has settled into. Be that 8th man and play hard for few minute spurts. Everyone else in the top 7 keeps doing their thing. I still think we will need Ellis at some point, if for nothing else injuries, so it’s concerning he’s fallen out of the rotation. Gotta be happy with the top 8 though.

One thing I’ve noticed all year about this team is they don’t seem to ride the waves that many other Bradley teams did. Outside of that second half UAB stretch, this team always stays clam and just keeps doing their thing. Doesn’t matter if we are on a run or the other team is, they keep passing, defending, and running the next play as crisply as possible. To just keep executing each individual play and not ride the wave is the dream for any coach I’m sure. It’s way easier said than done. I’m glad this team seems to be able to do it.

Even free throws looked great tonight! Now let’s start winning some conference games!

[houstonbrave]

Let’s be positive about Meta. He is essentially 6 games into his freshman year. He continues to improve each game and he was great up in this game, I love Koch but be real at this point in his career Meta is much farther along.

[Da Coach]

I guess the jerseys weren’t ready yet?....

The new jerseys were advertised to debut for the Dec. 2 home game against Indiana State. So the team wore their usual home white uniforms with the script Bradley on the jersey.

Box score- https://uvmathletics.com/sports/mens.../boxscore/5723

Game recap from the Vermont website- https://uvmathletics.com/news/2023/1...-saturday.aspx

Attendance was 5,068
I expected a slightly bigger crowd.
It was good to see a long line of people at the merchandise tables buying the new apparel.

[BUfan17]

Let’s be positive about Meta. He is essentially 6 games into his freshman year. He continues to improve each game and he was great up in this game, I love Koch but be real at this point in his career Meta is much farther along.

He has a much ceiling compared to Koch or Boya from what I've seen. He seems to be more athletic/coordinated than either of them, but lacks the experience/strategy of college basketball. He has a nice role right now playing in a few minute spurts. Hopefully the improvement continues throughout the season. I think he is going to be important later in the year.

[Big Mike]

Meta Breakout game...block here, block there even blocks a 3 and some nice baskets. Burch makes positive things happen on O', Atlason 2 more 3's and yet the transfers sit on the bench? Fun game until the 3 barrage from Vermont at the end....

[Da Coach]

Almar Atlason was 2-2 from three, and has now made 11 of his last 13 attempts after starting the season 2-11.
He is now 13-24 on the season, a 54.2% clip.

As a team, Bradley is shooting 52-144 (36.1%) from three.

Bradley was 22-25 from the free throw line tonight (88.0%).
For the season, they are now 85-119 (71.4%). That will move Bradley up to the 3rd best FT% in the MVC. Just a couple games ago, they were near the bottom.

[Da Coach]

Ahmet Jonovic highlight video- https://twitter.com/BradleyUMBB/stat...99836981645718

[NashvilleBU]

Meta Breakout game...block here, block there even blocks a 3 and some nice baskets. Burch makes positive things happen on O', Atlason 2 more 3's and yet the transfers sit on the bench? Fun game until the 3 barrage from Vermont at the end....

I like our 8 main rotation (starting 5 with Meta, Almar and Burch) but I’d like to see us mix in Ellis and 1 other for a 10 man rotation (maybe Wardle is picking up another mid season transfer like Meta was last year). The season is long and we will need to see a little more of the bench.

[Stevezall]

Was traveling during the game, but heard coach Wardle post game briefing on WMBD. Obviously, he's very happy with the W! His only concern is Bradley not closing games out. He's referring to Bradley having over a 20 point lead, and then letting down the last 3 minutes when Vermont made a Run. I understand his concern, but many teams just Naturally let down because its human nature. But he said, he will try to get his team to finish games better as season progresses. Still, Great Win over a solid very good Vermont Team and 6-0 Start! I don't think anyone would have thought Bradley would be Unbeaten after 6 Games! Let's hope they keep this up with the first conference game against Murray State looming. You can't take any team for Granted in the Valley and playing on the Road will be a Big Challenge coming up!!!!

[BUfan17]

Was traveling during the game, but heard coach Wardle post game briefing on WMBD. Obviously, he's very happy with the W! His only concern is Bradley not closing games out. He's referring to Bradley having over a 20 point lead, and then letting down the last 3 minutes when Vermont made a Run. I understand his concern, but many teams just Naturally let down because its human nature. But he said, he will try to get his team to finish games better as season progresses. Still, Great Win over a solid very good Vermont Team and 6-0 Start! I don't think anyone would have thought Bradley would be Unbeaten after 6 Games! Let's hope they keep this up with the first conference game against Murray State looming. You can't take any team for Granted in the Valley and playing on the Road will be a Big Challenge coming up!!!!

I'm not really upset about the ending. Yeah they clawed back from a 20 point lead but they were draining some deep and contested 3s. They made six 3 pointers in row in the last 4 minutes. I think part of that is just insane luck on their part, there isn't much you can do when they are making crazy shots like that.

We were able to break their press and make our FTs to close the game out.

[Jim]

This was our first opportunity to attend a game this year. This team is off to a great start and is very fun to watch! Congrats for making a high quality non conference schedule, so much better than playing cupcakes.
What's with the sound level from the speaker system? Who controls this? There is no good reason to have the volume up so high before the game and during the time out on-court activities.

[bradleyfan124]

This was our first opportunity to attend a game this year. This team is off to a great start and is very fun to watch! Congrats for making a high quality non conference schedule, so much better than playing cupcakes.
What's with the sound level from the speaker system? Who controls this? There is no good reason to have the volume up so high before the game and during the time out on-court activities.

Hey Jim How are you? I agree on the sound system. My girlfriend has threatened to not comeback to games because it is so loud. Who can one talk to about this? Chris Reynolds? Da Coach can you direct us to who we can talk to?

[tomahawk chop]

Let’s be positive about Meta. He is essentially 6 games into his freshman year. He continues to improve each game and he was great up in this game, I love Koch but be real at this point in his career Meta is much farther along.

I agree as Meta has gotten better , he gives us extra depth inside and continues to improve on offense and defense. We now seem to have a good 8 man rotation that can contribute both ways.
So far the only negative thing is the players we got from the portal, 1 gone and 2 missing in action.

[tomahawk chop]

The new jerseys were advertised to debut for the Dec. 2 home game against Indiana State. So the team wore their usual home white uniforms with the script Bradley on the jersey.

Box score- https://uvmathletics.com/sports/mens.../boxscore/5723

Game recap from the Vermont website- https://uvmathletics.com/news/2023/1...-saturday.aspx

Attendance was 5,068
I expected a slightly bigger crowd.
It was good to see a long line of people at the merchandise tables buying the new apparel.

I think people being gone for the holiday made for a smaller crowd.

[tomahawk chop]

This was our first opportunity to attend a game this year. This team is off to a great start and is very fun to watch! Congrats for making a high quality non conference schedule, so much better than playing cupcakes.
What's with the sound level from the speaker system? Who controls this? There is no good reason to have the volume up so high before the game and during the time out on-court activities.

I have heard a lot of complaints about the sound level. They could turn it down a bit.