Final score: Bradley 86 SIU 67

[Da Coach]

Next game: Bradley (20-9, 12-6, 3rd place) vs. Southern Illinois (19-10, 11-7, 4th place), Wednesday, Feb 28, 7:00 pm
Bradley is 12-3 at home, and SIU is 5-5 in road games.

Senior Night as well as Fan Appreciation Night- tickets available at reduced price- https://fevo-enterprise.com/event/Runitback2

Tickets also available on Ticketmaster - https://www.ticketmaster.com/bradley...005F2C85CD0DBE

Bradley has won their last 2 games, and 3 of the last 4.
BU Schedule/results- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...hedule/_/id/71

SIU has won their last 3 games, including home wins over Indiana State and Murray State, and a road win at Evansville.
SIU schedule/results- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...hedule/_/id/79

On January 17, 2024, Bradley beat SIU in Carbondale, 70-69. They trailed by 21 points at halftime, and by 23 points early in the 2nd half before making the biggest comeback in Bradley history. The Braves had a 16-2 run midway in the 2nd half, then closed out the game with a 13-4 run to win 70-69.
Box score- BU 70 SIU 69 - https://bradleybraves.com/sports/men...boxscore/21922

TV- ESPN+ - https://www.espn.com/espnplus/player...0-5833e45343d4
Live stats- https://bradleybraves.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Radio- www.wmbdradio.com
Chat room- https://us28.chatzy.com/bradleyfans

SIU website- https://siusalukis.com/sports/mens-basketball
Schedule/results- https://siusalukis.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule
Roster- https://siusalukis.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster
Stats- https://dxbhsrqyrr690.cloudfront.net...=1708970142088

Bradley stats- https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/s...3/pdf/cume.pdf
MVC stats- https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sit..._MBB_Stats.pdf

[LittleBrave]

This game holds importance for keeping the momentum going, especially playing great D in the 1st half and not falling into a huge deficit. Also would bolster BU's chances of another NIT appearance should we not win Arch Madness. I think we're kind of on the bubble (if there is such a thing) for NIT and 2 more wins would likely get us there.
Obviously we would be bummed if we didn't get to the Big Dance, but returning to the NiT would be a nice accomplishment for this team that lost a lot from last season.

[Dub]

SIU will be driven by revenge. Come to play.

[tomahawk chop]

Hoping our offense shows up Wed. night and score 75 points or more because we should be able to keep SIU in the low 60"s on defense.

[egib52]

This game holds importance for keeping the momentum going, especially playing great D in the 1st half and not falling into a huge deficit. Also would bolster BU's chances of another NIT appearance should we not win Arch Madness. I think we're kind of on the bubble (if there is such a thing) for NIT and 2 more wins would likely get us there.
Obviously we would be bummed if we didn't get to the Big Dance, but returning to the NiT would be a nice accomplishment for this team that lost a lot from last season.

I would guess we need to win a minimum of 1 of our remaining games and get to the MVC champ to get a chance at the NIT.

[battlebasset]

I would guess we need to win a minimum of 1 of our remaining games and get to the MVC champ to get a chance at the NIT.

I would think we could play a close game on Saturday and lose and still have a chance of making the NIT. But no chance of the big dance unless we win on Sunday.

But I'll go on the record and say that I think that about Drake and Indiana State as well. I don't see the MVC as a two bid conference this year. Of course, hope I'm wrong, but I guess I'm a bit pessimistic due to all of the undeserved love I see given to the "majors".

[Old-timer]

SIU will be driven by revenge. Come to play.

SIU also trying to hold on to one of the top 4 spots...they will have plenty of motivation.

[LittleBrave]

I would guess we need to win a minimum of 1 of our remaining games and get to the MVC champ to get a chance at the NIT.

That's pretty sad if that's the case - to have to win 23 wins in a solid conference (3rd out of 12) and a nice non-conf resume with RPI rank in the Top 60.

Pretty sure we'll make NIT with 22 wins, but no way will we get a home game. We need to finish ahead of SIU in the standings IMO. A 4th place MVC team won't likely be considered.

[Da Coach]

Current NET- https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/basket...l-net-rankings
33 Indiana St.
46 Drake
65 Bradley
102 SIU
119 UNI
131 Belmont
146 Murray St.
152 Missouri St.
170 Illinois St.
180 UIC
199 Evansville
301 Valparaiso

Bradley's NET won't change much this late in the season. If they can beat SIU and Drake, it will rise a few slots, and if they lose both games, it will drop a few. So their final NET will be likely somewhere between the high 50's and 70.

Recall that the NCAA announced in October that the conference winners who do not get an auto-bid to the NCAA Tournament will no longer be given an automatic bid to the NIT - https://www.ncaa.org/news/2023/10/27...on-format.aspx

Last year, in the 2023 NIT, 11 of their 32 teams were these auto-bids (including Bradley) -
Here are the 11 auto-bids for the 2023 NIT with their NET rank prior to the NIT-
64 Yale
72 Bradley
74 Utah Valley
82 Toledo
86 Hofstra
87 Southern Miss
96 UC Irvine
123 Youngstown State
128 Eastern Washington
228 Morehead State
244 Alcorn State

Bradley's NET is even better this season than last. Most of those auto-bid teams would not get NIT bids this year.
However, this new policy will open more bids to the 2024 NIT to teams with NET's near where Bradley is. Many of the teams ahead of Bradley in NET will make the NCAA Tournament as at-large and auto-bid teams. So Bradley still has a good chance for an NIT bid this year, but there are still too many variables to be sure.

[Stryker]

Current NET- https://www.ncaa.com/rankings/basket...l-net-rankings
33 Indiana St.
46 Drake
65 Bradley
102 SIU
119 UNI
131 Belmont
146 Murray St.
152 Missouri St.
170 Illinois St.
180 UIC
199 Evansville
301 Valparaiso

Bradley's NET won't change much this late in the season. If they can beat SIU and Drake, it will rise a few slots, and if they lose both games, it will drop a few. So their final NET will be likely somewhere between the high 50's and 70.

Recall that the NCAA announced in October that the conference winners who do not get an auto-bid to the NCAA Tournament will no longer be given an automatic bid to the NIT - https://www.ncaa.org/news/2023/10/27...on-format.aspx

Last year, in the 2023 NIT, 11 of their 32 teams were these auto-bids (including Bradley) -
Here are the 11 auto-bids for the 2023 NIT with their NET rank prior to the NIT-
64 Yale
72 Bradley
74 Utah Valley
82 Toledo
86 Hofstra
87 Southern Miss
96 UC Irvine
123 Youngstown State
128 Eastern Washington
228 Morehead State
244 Alcorn State

Bradley's NET is even better this season than last. Most of those auto-bid teams would not get NIT bids this year.
However, this new policy will open more bids to the 2024 NIT to teams with NET's near where Bradley is. Many of the teams ahead of Bradley in NET will make the NCAA Tournament as at-large and auto-bid teams. So Bradley still has a good chance for an NIT bid this year, but there are still too many variables to be sure.

Good information. Now looking at it, the changes to the NIT bids from last year may actually benefit mid-majors with NET 50-100 to get NIT bids, but time will tell.

[tomahawk chop]

Must win game tonight period. The offense has to be a lot better tonight . We cannot expect to go down and win games in St.Louis if we cannot win this game at home . Hoping we get back to playing good basketball like we did in Terre Haute .

[Dub]

…So Bradley still has a good chance for an NIT bid this year, but there are still too many variables to be sure.

wont need one.

[tomahawk chop]

For the final game of the season it appears a huge amount of people do not care because there are a ton of tickets left for this game. I guess third place is not that important to most so called fans.

[Old-timer]

For the final game of the season it appears a huge amount of people do not care because there are a ton of tickets left for this game. I guess third place is not that important to most so called fans.

I was kind of hoping for 5500 - 6000 tonight but it appears we won't come close to that.

[Bradley3342]

wont need one.

Positive thinking Dub!