Final score: Bradley 86 Missouri State 60

[Bradley3342]

Yes, they were incredibly inconsistent and the no call when Hick got tackled was ridiculous. And we still D2’d them.

Haha! Yep!

[LittleBrave]

Hick with b2b games of 25 pts or more.
Anyone know last time a Brave did that?
Maniscalco? DB Jr?

Let’s make it 3 str8 on Wed and we may have to go back to the days of another star whose last name starts with an “H”!

[Tommy]

Hick with b2b games of 25 pts or more.
Anyone know last time a Brave did that?
Maniscalco? DB Jr?

Great question! 25 points doesn’t happen often, and even less on unselfish teams like BW coaches. I hope someone (Coach) can answer that! I’m very curious to know! My guess is pre-Wardle.

[Stevezall]

So nice for Bradley to get another MVC convincing victory!!!! Missouri State is not a pushover and Bradley showed us tonight I believe that come tournament time, Bradley could compete with anyone in the league! I just hope we stay Healthy!

[LittleBrave]

Great question! 25 points doesn’t happen often, and even less on unselfish teams like BW coaches. I hope someone (Coach) can answer that! I’m very curious to know! My guess is pre-Wardle.

Tommy the more I think of it, probably someone in Les era, as Andrew Warren had quite a few 20 pt games in his sr. season and had the highest ppg avg by a Brave in the millenium likely. I remember he scored 30 pts on senior night too.

[Da Coach]

Hick with b2b games of 25 pts or more.
Anyone know last time a Brave did that?
Maniscalco? DB Jr?
Let’s make it 3 str8 on Wed and we may have to go back to the days of another star whose last name starts with an “H”!

Great question! 25 points doesn’t happen often, and even less on unselfish teams like BW coaches. I hope someone (Coach) can answer that! I’m very curious to know! My guess is pre-Wardle.

There have been a couple guys who came close in the last few years (Terry Roberts, Rienk Mast, Elijah Childs), but the last back-to-back 25 point games was in the 2018-19 season. Darrell Brown, Jr. had 29 points in a 79-71 win at Northern Iowa on Feb. 6, 2019 and followed that with 26 points on Feb. 9, 2019 in a 96-67 blowout home win against Indiana State.

[bigjimmy]

Love how hard this team plays on both ends of the court. MSU cut the lead to 56-47 with 10:24 left and we outscored them 30-13 the rest of the way.as we locked it in on both ends. Outrebounded them 41-22 led by Duke's 7. He also had 6 assists and just 1 turnover as he seems to be playing more under control. Your shooting guard should be your leading scorer so it's been great to see Conner lighting it up the last 2 games. A little concerned about Malevy's lack of points the last couple of games but he does so many other things well. Hannah is making a push for some post season awards. Just hope we keep on keeping on this Wednesday.

[BUfan14]

Couldn’t watch live and had to watch the replay, so I just caught up. I have several thoughts:

1. Best defensive game we’ve played in some time. The effort was great.

2. Best offensive game we’ve played in some time. I guess that leads to scores like the one we got when we play well on both ends. What I noticed was more creative plays with curls and screens, and the ball wasn’t stagnant. Deen was under control and didn’t over dribble, and neither did anyone else.

3. Great to see Burch do well. Still a little out of control at times, but I love his ability to drive and then score or dish. We have no one else like him on the roster. If he can keep growing that’s huge for us.

4. The Atlason starting thing is interesting to me. I wonder if it’s really a way to not have our three most inexperienced rotation players coming off the bench together (separate Atlason, Burch, Jonovic). I still think of Davis as the fifth starter, but I get the rationale of doing it this way. If we can get Atlason going again that’d be a huge boost.

5. Jonovic has improved quite a bit, especially offensively and I like him as a solid rotation player now. I still think he needs to be managed for matchups and situations, but I’m now on board with his contributions and he clearly works hard to improve as much as he has.

6. Solid games from Davis and Deen. Deen didn’t force anything as had six assists and only one turnover. He also has recognized Hick’s hot hand the last two games, so good on him to be unselfish.

7. Hannah had a few turnovers, but I didn’t even realize he had 19 watching the game. I guess cause he was 8-8 from the field! Great game! He even made 3-4 free throws!

8. I’ve said for two years I expected big things from Hick and this is finally what I expected to see. Well maybe not this level even, but I always thought he had that all conference type potential. Hope he can keep being even in the ballpark of the players he’s been the past two games, because it’s fun to watch. But one nitpick is he still isn’t good at free throws…it has to be mental right?

9. Leons did fine, and was solid, but I still think we need him to be our 1b even with Hick doing what he is. His shot has been off this year, so hopefully he can get that right and step up when we need him. He did have a nice little move in the lane in the second half there.

10. Thomas getting a few random minutes the last couple of games is strange to me (not the garbage time minutes, the other ones). Is this to keep him appeased because two guys left already? If he is improving why just 1-2 random minutes? I at least understand Cade because of lack of guard depth, but I just found it interesting.

11. This looked more like the early Braves. We know there are 8 contributors and if any of them, especially a guard, goes down we are in huge trouble. I hope we have the best injury luck we’ve ever had the next two plus months.

[LittleBrave]

I think Hickman's injury may be a blessing in disguise, tho it may have cost us a shot at an At-Large bid. I think Duke, Darius, Burch, Davis, and Atlason have gotten a bit better during his absence and now with Hick, he makes everyone on the court better. Keep the hunger - we are in the thick of the race. Last season it was about defending our home court and getting some key road wins. I was skeptical of our talent a few weeks back, but I think we have what it takes to repeat, though our inside game is a bit weaker.

[basketball nut]

FYI: i have a question for all the people complaining about the refs. How many have taken up the opportunity to do reffing?
Don't take that question wrong. I'm only asking for 2 reasons.
1: Refs are urgently needed at every level as it is getting tougher and tougher for HS and below to find refs. Maybe one or more of you could do college eventually.
2: It's much tougher then what we think.

[Bballjunkie]

Being a ref is very difficult. All I ask is to be consistent. Can't call ticky tack foul one trip down and then let handsy physical play go. If refs are consistent players and coaches will adjust to style of play

[bradleyfan124]

Being a ref is very difficult. All I ask is to be consistent. Can't call ticky tack foul one trip down and then let handsy physical play go. If refs are consistent players and coaches will adjust to style of play

On 2 occasions I saw a Missouri State player push off with his arm while driving to the basket but no foul. Also when Connor was driving up the court he got knocked down from behind but got called for traveling. I would not last long as a coach. I would be going crazy on the refs.

[Da Coach]

On 2 occasions I saw a Missouri State player push off with his arm while driving to the basket but no foul....

Yes. It actually happened more than twice. Both Donovan Clay and N.J. Benson did that on multiple occasions while driving into the lane. They lowered their shoulders, blasted into the Bradley defenders, then pushed them back by extending their elbows, allowing them to get easy shots. Coach Wardle was complaining about it to the officials repeatedly. Then, with 5:08 left in the game and Bradley leading by 17, Donovan Clay got called for an offensive foul with that same move driving into Jonovic. Wardle threw up his hands, turned toward the crowd, and it looked like he said "finally".

[Tommy]

FYI: i have a question for all the people complaining about the refs. How many have taken up the opportunity to do reffing?
Don't take that question wrong. I'm only asking for 2 reasons.
1: Refs are urgently needed at every level as it is getting tougher and tougher for HS and below to find refs. Maybe one or more of you could do college eventually.
2: It's much tougher then what we think.

I’m not a chef but I know if someone serves me a turd and calls it a delicacy.

[basketball nut]

I’m not a chef but I know if someone serves me a turd and calls it a delicacy.

I completely understand what everyone is saying about the refs. Due to being told I had covid we watched the game on TV yesterday. My wife was calling out the refs for missed calls.
I was being serious about taking up reffing since it is becoming tougher to find good ones. Most refs I know are over 60 and we really need to find younger ones.
I get the impression that there are several guys on this site under 60 and I would encourage you to get your patch and become a ref.
You are needed or youth sports will eventually go away.