Final score: Bradley 92 Canisius 59

[Da Coach]

Bradley's next game is Saturday, Dec. 21, at 1:00 pm at Carver Arena against the Canisius University Griffins. They are members of the Mid-Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC). Canisius is a small (about 2,300 students) private Jesuit university located in Buffalo, NY.
Bradley is now 9-2 after their win over San Francisco.
Canisius has the worst record among Division I teams, 0-12, after they lost at Loyola on Wednesday, Dec. 18.

ESPN+ - https://www.espn.com/espnplus/player...9-407719ce6b1d
Live stats - https://bradleybraves.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Chat Room - https://www.chatzy.com/bradleyfans
WMBD radio- https://wmbdradio.com/player/?playerID=2045
Tickets - https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/070061309A551F66

Canisius schedule/results - https://gogriffs.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule
Roster- https://gogriffs.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster
Stats- https://gogriffs.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats
Coaching staff- https://gogriffs.com/sports/mens-basketball/coaches
Historical record- https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb.../canisius/men/

Canisius is coached by Jim Christian, who is in his first season there, and they are in a major rebuild.
Jim Christian is the former head coach at Kent State who hired Geno Ford, who eventually succeeded him when Christian left Kent State to take the TCU job in 2008. Christian also has had stops at Ohio U. and Boston College, before returning to Kent State as an assistant, then getting the Canisius job last April.

Bradley has played Canisius 3 times in their history-
12/13/1955- in Robertson Memorial Fieldhouse- Bradley 73 Canisius 66
12/15/1956- at Canisius- Bradley 66 Canisius 64
3/20/1995 in the 2nd round of the NIT- Game played at Carver Arena- Canisius 55 Bradley 53

Bradley stats- https://bradleybraves.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats
MVC stats- https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sit...ats.pdf

[Da Coach]

Bradley will wear "Retro" uniforms for Saturday's game - https://links.engage.ticketmaster.com/servlet/MailView?ms=MTE5MzAwMjQS1&r=MjU3MDY5NTYyMDAxS0&j=M jEwMDc1MjU2NQS2&mt=1&rt=0

[Afreck2430]

They should blow this team out. Backups/ bench should see a lot of mins in this game

[tomahawk chop]

They should blow this team out. Backups/ bench should see a lot of mins in this game

Again the main 9 players need to get many minutes because we will have 8 days until our next game. This game will give us a chance to play different matchups and give us an idea as far as which ones work the best. I look at this as a perfect practice game to get ready for the complete Valley schedule.

[Nashville Cat]

Fwiw Loyola beat Canisius by 12 at home.

[tomahawk chop]

Fwiw Loyola beat Canisius by 12 at home.

That is why you cannot treat any game lightly.

[bradleyfan124]

That is why you cannot treat any game lightly.

This is called a trap game. They are high after beating San Francisco and then have to be careful not to let down because they know the next team is so bad. It just might jump up and bite you

[Bradley3342]

This is called a trap game. They are high after beating San Francisco and then have to be careful not to let down because they know the next team is so bad. It just might jump up and bite you

Yep! I doubt it but that would definitely be a disaster

[Da Coach]

Yep! I doubt it but that would definitely be a disaster

With as many experienced veterans we have on this team, I am inclined to believe they won't take the game lightly.
There could be the usual slow start either in the 1st half or the 2nd, but I don't expect our guys will let this game get away from them.

[BUfan14]

Having a NET 356 school on our schedule seems like a bad idea, in addition to already playing a NAIA game. And it’s not like they were unpredictably bad. We better blow them out or this will drag our ranking down. According to this website our Non con NET SOS is 243. I’m not sure if that includes teams not yet played either which would clearly make it even lower. Yuck.

Man I wish we had been able to land a better game or two. It’s not like we’ve had a bad non-con season playing wise, it’s been mostly good. But it’s hard not to be disappointed we won’t be in at large talks in all likelihood. If not this year, then when? And again, I see no reason it can’t be us a season here or there when teams like Drake, Loyola, Indiana St. and other mid majors have been able to get themselves at least in the conversation and we have the highest NIL money in the Valley and a coach proven to grow players. And before anybody thinks I don’t trust Brian, I hope Coach Wardle is our coach forever and I think he’s done a really good job as a whole, but I still want to take that next step. I’m sure he does too, and no coach is perfect or beyond improvement. Scheduling this year didn’t work out as well as last years even though we had a good team on paper (and yes I know it’s hard for mid majors).

Our RPI SOS is 110 right now for what it’s worth. We had zero quad one games and are 1-2 in quad two games right now. Drake is 1-0 in quad one games and 2-0 in quad two games FYI. Their NET is up to 43 compared to our 70 and ours was hurt by the Santa Clara game about 20 spots.

I guess it’s time to focus away from at large ideas and on having a good conference season, which we should. This should be a fun team to watch in conference. I’ll be fascinated to see Drake in conference as well.

https://bracketologists.com/team/bradley-braves

[bradleyfan124]

Having a NET 356 school on our schedule seems like a bad idea, in addition to already playing a NAIA game. And it’s not like they were unpredictably bad. We better blow them out or this will drag our ranking down. According to this website our Non con NET SOS is 243. I’m not sure if that includes teams not yet played either which would clearly make it even lower. Yuck.

Man I wish we had been able to land a better game or two. It’s not like we’ve had a bad non-con season playing wise, it’s been mostly good. But it’s hard not to be disappointed we won’t be in at large talks in all likelihood. If not this year, then when? And again, I see no reason it can’t be us a season here or there when teams like Drake, Loyola, Indiana St. and other mid majors have been able to get themselves at least in the conversation and we have the highest NIL money in the Valley and a coach proven to grow players. And before anybody thinks I don’t trust Brian, I hope Coach Wardle is our coach forever and I think he’s done a really good job as a whole, but I still want to take that next step. I’m sure he does too, and no coach is perfect or beyond improvement. Scheduling this year didn’t work out as well as last years even though we had a good team on paper (and yes I know it’s hard for mid majors).

Our RPI SOS is 110 right now for what it’s worth. We had zero quad one games and are 1-2 in quad two games right now. Drake is 1-0 in quad one games and 2-0 in quad two games FYI. Their NET is up to 43 compared to our 70 and ours was hurt by the Santa Clara game about 20 spots.

I guess it’s time to focus away from at large ideas and on having a good conference season, which we should. This should be a fun team to watch in conference. I’ll be fascinated to see Drake in conference as well.

https://bracketologists.com/team/bradley-braves

I am sure Wardle did not plan it this way but this game should give the reserves alot of playing time game experience

[BUfan14]

Did what we needed. Most everyone looked pretty good today, as they should. It was really nice to get Dillon going today. He played more early, not sure if that’s knowing the competition or if he is being worked back in the rotation now, but I think either way we will need him at some point whether there are injuries or just need a shooter out there.

Thomas also continues to look more fluid all the time. He does a lot of little things I like, especially rebounding. Davis just always hustles doesn’t he? Hard not to love his game. On to conference season!

[Da Coach]

Final score- Bradley 92 Canisius 59 - https://bradleybraves.com/sidearmstats/mbball/media

Bradley looked good today, but some of that was Canisius, which is not a very good team. They appeared chaotic on defense, which lead to a lot of open shots for BU, something you don't want to do against a team like Bradley, who leads the country in 3-point percentage. They were also a very bad rebounding team. Part of that was their lack of size, but on many possessions, their players were not in good position to rebound. So, Bradley was able to outrebounded Canisius 34-20. Their starting center, Sangha, had only 1 rebound in 29 minutes, and he averages barely 3 rebounds per game.
Bradley had only 6 turnovers, a season low. That also was probably due in part to Canisius' poor defense.
Bradley shot 57.7% for the game (30-52), and 46.2% from three (12-26). All 5 starters had good games. Burch, Dillon, and Jonovic played very well off the bench. Coach Wardle said on the post-game show that Burch is still getting over the foot injury, and Dillon is still bothered somewhat by his back injury, so it was great to see them play extended minutes and contribute.
Attendance could have been better, but playing a Saturday afternoon game, especially against a weak non-conference opponent, contributed to the disappointing crowd.

[ollienanyes]

Attendance was just over 5k; about 100 more than Wednesday. I thought a matinee game would draw better, but aside from USF, the home competition has been awful. I almost skipped this one to start my trip earlier, but didn't.
Wardle's ugly Christmas sweater was epic.

[Big Mike]

Always happy with a W'.....2 biggest takeaways from today...
1. DUKE hits 1000 pts...
2. BURCH looked good today...maybe back from the foot injury...