Final score: Northern Iowa 74 Bradley 63

[Da Coach]

Next game: Bradley (18-8, 10-5, 3rd place) at Northern Iowa (14-12, 8-7, 4-way tie for 4th place) Sunday, Feb. 18, 1:00 pm.

TV- on ESPN2 and streamed on ESPN+ - https://www.espn.com/espnplus/player...a-a07e7e19a83b
Live stats- https://unipanthers.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Radio- www.wmbdradio.com
Chat room- https://us28.chatzy.com/bradleyfans

Bradley beat UNI on January 31 in Peoria, 85-69- https://bradleybraves.com/news/2024/...hern-iowa.aspx
Box score- https://bradleybraves.com/sports/men...boxscore/21926

UNI is coming off an 86-67 win at Valparaiso this past Wednesday to improve their record to 14-12 overall, and 8-7 in the MVC.
Their leading scorer and rebounder, Nate Heise (13.8 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 37.0% from three), sprained his ankle this past Monday in practice, and did not play in the game Wednesday at Valparaiso. Bradley held Heise to just 4 points in their previous game in Peoria, Jan. 31.
His status for Sunday's game is unknown - https://twitter.com/FatherHarry1/sta...47716075745764
2nd-leading scorer Bowen Born averages 13.3 ppg, which is down from his average last season of 17.9 ppg. He is shooting 31.5% from three, which is also down from last season when he shot 36.7% from three. And he has averaged only 9 ppg over their last 4 games, including a scoreless game against Murray State on Feb. 3, right after they lost to Bradley. In their last 4 games, the usually reliable shooter is just 11-38 (28.9%) overall and 4-20 (20.0%) from three.
Two other starters, Tytan Anderson (20 points) and Jacob Hutson (19 points) picked up the scoring for UNI in their last game with Heise out.

Last season, Bradley won the game in Peoria 68-53- https://bradleybraves.com/sports/men...boxscore/21513
Bradley also won in Cedar Falls 77-69- https://bradleybraves.com/sports/men...boxscore/21526
And Bradley beat them a 3rd time in the quarterfinal round of the MVC Tournament in St. Louis, 72-66 - https://bradleybraves.com/sports/men...boxscore/21688

UNI was picked 2nd in the MVC Preseason poll, and Bradley was picked 3rd- https://mvc-sports.com/news/2023/10/...-favorite.aspx
UNI Schedule/results- https://unipanthers.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule
Roster- https://unipanthers.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster
Stats- https://dxbhsrqyrr690.cloudfront.net...=1708035997306

Bradley stats- https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/s...3/pdf/cume.pdf
MVC stats- https://mvc-sports.com/documents/2023/11/7//2023_24_MVC_MBB_Stats.pdf

MVC Standings- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...ngs/_/group/18

[tomahawk chop]

We need to get our stuff together and beat UNI Sunday. We are turning the ball over way too much by careless passes and too much dribbling. We are better on offense when we go thru Hannah in the post as he gets doubled a lot which gives us the opportunity to find open shooters. When they do not double him he can score pretty much most of the time. We need to hold them on defense to 62 points or less while scoring 74 or more.

[bigjimmy]

The thing that gets me really worried about this team is how consistently inconsistent we are during a game. The first 5 shots we made in the second half had assists. Passes were crisp and UIC couldn't keep up. This was in the first 5:00. We had 2 more assists the rest of the game to go along with 10 turnovers. Bounce passes at the feet of our big men inside happens way too often. The biggest concern is when we lose our focus on defense which happens a little bit too frequently. We're at the time of the year where that stuff can't happen. It's not about lack of effort because this team plays hard. That's why I would prefer Brian not jerk guys out after making 1 mistake. There was a saying by pro wrestler Rowdy Roddy Piper who liked to say "Just when you think you have all of the answers I change the question". That's how I feel about where we're at as a team. The time to answer that question about what kind of team we're going to be is running out.

[BUBraves2006]

I'm really curious what comes out of the 30-minute postgame team meeting after the last game. Wardle seemed pretty calm about it and discussed how the players, not him, did a lot of talking about how to put together more complete games. We'll see if the strategy works.

[tomahawk chop]

My MOTTO;
Play Fast, Play Smart, Be Tough

[LittleBrave]

Biggest game to date - we win this one and I think we only lose 1 more in the reg. season which at least secures us for an NIT bid.
Also if we win, we pretty much have the 3rd spot nailed down for Arch Madness. I wonder if we've had the 3-seed in Arch Madness ever, as I can't recall finishing 3rd even in the 90s! We were either a 2-seed or 3-seed in 1996-'97 vs Mo State (and lost on AP's missed 3 at the buzzer). I know we haven't been a 3-seed this millenium, and aside from last year's #1 seed, we were a 2-seed only once in 2000-'01 and advanced to the final game vs Indy State.

[Da Coach]

Next game: Bradley (18-8, 10-5, 3rd place) at Northern Iowa (14-12, 8-7, 4-way tie for 4th place) Sunday, Feb. 18, 1:00 pm.

UNI is coming off an 86-67 win at Valparaiso this past Wednesday to improve their record to 14-12 overall, and 8-7 in the MVC.
Their leading scorer and rebounder, Nate Heise (13.8 ppg, 6.2 rpg, 37.0% from three), sprained his ankle this past Monday in practice, and did not play in the game Wednesday at Valparaiso. Bradley held Heise to just 4 points in their previous game in Peoria, Jan. 31.
His status for Sunday's game is unknown....

Nate Heise practiced yesterday, and is expected to play Sunday against Bradley.
UNI assistant coach Seth Tuttle told the Waterloo-Cedar Falls Gazette that the team will play more physical against Bradley.
>> https://www.thegazette.com/uni-panth...istent-enough/

“When we play with a great level of physicality, a great level of fight (and) a great level of determination we’ve proven that we can be one heck of a basketball team,” Tuttle said. “Right now it’s just not consistent enough and that’s what we’re working on. We haven’t quite had the season that we all expected, or wished upon, but the season is not done and we’re going to work our tails off to the very end.”

Regarding Bradley:“They’re really good defensively,” Tuttle said. “We’re going to have to make sure we do two things. One, play with a great level of physicality in terms of setting screens. Then, we’re really going to have to take care of the basketball.”

[tomahawk chop]

Must win game to give us a good cushion in placing 3rd.

[Bradley3342]

Whats with these slow starts??!!

[Stryker]

Whats with these slow starts??!!

It's like they come out and get depressed about having a hard time or something. Body language is just not good imo...

[Bradley8792]

Whats with these slow starts??!!

I thought we had a team meeting to fix this.

[carter]

Terrible start once again,what is going on with this team?

[Fetz86]

We are off to a trademark poor start but this also looks like the UNI many of us were worried we see all year.

[Big Mike]

Another slow start....Braves look lethargic, UNI going for the kill....terrible lazy passing by all!

[carter]

We will not win first game in St Louis playing like this.No fight at all!!