NIT Round 2- Bradley at Cincinnati

[tomahawk chop]

A lot to be proud of this season, and congratulations to players and staff on another successful year. 23 wins in a tough schedule, won an in-season tournament, placed top 3 in conference, beat some very high quality teams in the non-con (including on the road), swept ISU and SIU, and finished in the NIT. The road comeback against SIU and beating Loyola and Utah State were my top memories…. All this after losing dearly to the portal last year and not gaining back much due to defections.

I truly appreciate the loyalty of players that stay and finish the job like Malevy Leons. I also appreciate the deep bench players that show up every day and help the team improve. I hope our current roster can see the power and potential of a stable and cohesive roster and how that can translate to a Valley tournament championship and even bigger things.

Agree completely, terrific season and a lot of fun to watch these games. We cannot define this season because of a bad last game.

[basketball nut]

I just want thank this team for some great memories. Leons quickly became a fan favorite for his hard work. Didn't always score a lot of points but his "D" was always outstanding. His 3 blocked shots against Loyola got the team and fans going.
Then "The Duke" with 9 3's and so many great games. My favorite player has been Hickman and what he brings to this team and things that stats dont always show.
I sure hope both Duke and Hickman come back for one more season.
Keep this team intact next season with a couple quality portal players and our incoming freshmen and we will have another fun year.
Time will tell.

[Stevezall]

I believe how we do in the portal this year will make or break us going for a MVC tourney Championship! We have to get at least a few right away Impact players and would be great if we luck out and find a player who turns out better then we thought!!!! Keeping Hick, Hannah and Deen are pretty critical! They have experience in Wardle's system!!!! I hope they stay and I hope we figure out our needs in the portal! Who knows how far we could have gone this season with just 1 real impact transfer?

[Tomahawk]

Agree with Stevezall's last part of his post where one impact player could be a difference maker. Listening to Chad Klein's post game comments he is of the same opinion in his belief that Bradley needs that one difference maker to put us over the top to be able to have more tournament success. Hope Wardle and staff can find that person in a transfer or in the portal. If we can find that person and hopefully keep our returning players in addition to having Jaquon Johnson and Timothy Knapp, looking forward to a fun season where we can contend again for the title.

[Southside]

Agree with Stevezall's last part of his post where one impact player could be a difference maker. Listening to Chad Klein's post game comments he is of the same opinion in his belief that Bradley needs that one difference maker to put us over the top to be able to have more tournament success. Hope Wardle and staff can find that person in a transfer or in the portal. If we can find that person and hopefully keep our returning players in addition to having Jaquon Johnson and Timothy Knapp, looking forward to a fun season where we can contend again for the title.

Agreed. We have good players, but you always need to have the guy who will without question have the ball in his hands at the end of the game. We didn’t have that guy. The season was just a rotation of guys who had the hot hand. When nobody had the hot hand Bradley wasn’t good enough to beat good teams. Going forward it’s gonna be all about the portal. Every year it’s gonna be about what we lose and gain in the portal.

[Da Coach]

Halftime score- Indiana State 38 Minnesota 28 - https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...meId/401641110

Indiana State has repeatedly broken down Minnesota's defense for easy baskets inside, as well as open three pointers. The Sycamores are shooting 14-26, and 5-13 from three.

[Da Coach]

Final score- Indiana State 76 Minnesota 64- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...meId/401641110

1-seed Indiana State advances to the quarterfinal round and will play 2-seed Cincinnati Tuesday, March 26, at 9 pm Eastern/8 pm Central.
The game will at Indiana State and will be on ESPN.

[egib52]

Final score- Indiana State 76 Minnesota 64- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...meId/401641110

1-seed Indiana State advances to the quarterfinal round and will play 2-seed Cincinnati Tuesday, March 26, at 9 pm Eastern/8 pm Central.
The game will at Indiana State and will be on ESPN.

It's sad to say, but if we had this version of J Kent we probably would be in the tournament.

[bradleyfan124]

I just watched Indiana State beat Minnesota. The announcers made some good comments about the MVC being a strong conference.

[yoda]

anyone else see this?

The Cincy Enquirer puts a photo in their coverage and claims Trey Pettigrew was guarding one of their players

https://www.cincinnati.com/picture-gallery/sports/college/university-of-cincinnati/2024/03/23/cincinnati-bearcats-basketball-vanquish-bradley-braves-in-nit-photos/73080568007/

Caption: "Cincinnati Bearcats guard Jizzle James (2) rises for a shot as Bradley Braves guard Trey Pettigrew (3) defends in the second half.."

[Tommy]

anyone else see this?

The Cincy Enquirer puts a photo in their coverage and claims Trey Pettigrew was guarding one of their players

https://www.cincinnati.com/picture-gallery/sports/college/university-of-cincinnati/2024/03/23/cincinnati-bearcats-basketball-vanquish-bradley-braves-in-nit-photos/73080568007/

Caption: "Cincinnati Bearcats guard Jizzle James (2) rises for a shot as Bradley Braves guard Trey Pettigrew (3) defends in the second half.."

Where's he been all year!