Next game: Bradley at Belmont, Tuesday, Jan. 21, 6:30 pm

[Da Coach]

Bradley is now 16-3 overall, and 7-1 in the MVC., and an NET of 65). They play at Belmont (14-5, 6-2, NET 123) on Tuesday, Jan. 21.
Note the unusual start time of 6:30 pm. The game is at the Curb Even Center on the campus of Belmont University.
The center is named for its largest donor, musician and record company executive Mike Curb, whose $58 million donation to the University helped fund the construction of the center in 2003. The arena holds 5,085, and they are averaging 1,597 fans per home game.

The game is on the highly reliable ESPN+ streaming platform () - https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/...3-9fbcb1aab321
Chat Room- https://www.chatzy.com/bradleyfans
Live Stats- https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=545835
Radio- https://wmbdradio.com/player/?playerID=2045

Belmont links:
Schedule/results- https://belmontbruins.com/sports/men...tball/schedule
Roster- https://belmontbruins.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster
Stats- https://belmontbruins.com/sports/men...ts?path=mbball
Historical record- https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb...s/belmont/men/

Belmont averaged almost 25 wins per season over the 16 years prior to joining the MVC. They dominated the Atlantic Sun and Ohio Valley Conferences for 2 decades.
In the 3 seasons since joining the MVC they are 55-29 overall and 30-16 in MVC games. They finished tied for 3rd in 2022-23, and tied for 4th in 2023-24.
This season, they are 14-5 overall and 6-2 in the MVC. They have an NET of 123 (as of 1/19/25). They are tied for 2nd place currently with Drake, one game behind Bradley.
MVC Standings- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...ngs/_/group/18

Belmont's overall FG% is 47.2% (6th in MVC), and Bradley's FG% is 49.1% (2nd in MVC).
Belmont shoots the 3-pointer very well. Their 3 point FG% is 37.4% (3rd in MVC). Bradley is # 1 in the MVC and #2 in the country at 41.3%.

Bradley stats- https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/s...4/pdf/cume.pdf
MVC sortable stats-
Team- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...eam/_/group/18
Individual- https://www.espn.com/mens-college-ba...yer/_/group/18

[daveineureka]

Looking forward to the game Tuesday night. Was hoping they would win against Murray St. Even if we split on the road trip, it will be a successful trip. We won even though Zeke had a subpar game and no Burch on top of that. Hope Burch is over being sick and Zeke has his usual good game. Might be wrong in my thinking, but if Zeke plays up to par and Burch is available date I say they could pull this game out also. Have watched Belmont a few times and their defense is not that great. Let's fire on all cylinders and see what happens."LET'S GO BRAVES"

[Da Coach]

Every team has played 40% of their MVC schedule (8 games out of 20), and the regular season race is still very close at the top.
Bradley leads at 7-1. Drake and Belmont are tied for 2nd at 6-2. UNI and UIC are tied for 4th at 5-3.
If Bradley was to lose at Belmont, they would no longer be in 1st place by themselves. In fact, since Drake plays a home game against Valparaiso Wednesday, it would likely be Bradley, Belmont, and Drake in a 3-way tie for first at 7-2. And, both Drake and Belmont would have the tiebreaker advantage over Bradley.
So as well as Bradley has played this season, a conference title and an NCAA tournament bid are far from a certainty.
They cannot let up, and must keep winning. So let's hope for a win Tuesday. And let's get tickets and support the Braves the rest of the season. Go BU!

[Hawk84]

I'll be there! Can't wait. I live in the Nashville area and look forward to this game all year. Plus my son went to Belmont so I get family bragging rights if the Braves win.

[daveineureka]

Good points on your previous post. Hope Bradley continues their good play and continues winning. On the flip side I can't see Drake or Belmont winning out. In my humble opinion they will lose maybe two more games each in conference play. Hope I am right.

[Da Coach]

I'll be there! Can't wait. I live in the Nashville area and look forward to this game all year. Plus my son went to Belmont so I get family bragging rights if the Braves win.

I'll be there, too. Be bold, wear red!
Actually, red is one of Belmont's official team colors, so there might be a lot of Belmont fans wearing red, too.
BTW, I was at the Bradley game at Belmont in 2023, and can say that it seems the fans who attend are polite and really nice.
But I am amazed that with the successful history they have (see their historical record in my top post), and located in a fantastic, beautiful and historic part of Nashville, they only draw around 1,500 fans.

[bigjimmy]

Defensive pressure and coverage will be key for us to win. Belmont hasn't seen a shot they don't like so we better be ready to guard once they cross halfcourt. Keep them under 70 and we should win by double digits. The nice thing about this years' team is that we can win an up and down game too.

[Da Coach]

Defensive pressure and coverage will be key for us to win. Belmont hasn't seen a shot they don't like so we better be ready to guard once they cross halfcourt. Keep them under 70 and we should win by double digits. The nice thing about this years' team is that we can win an up and down game too.

Belmont has been held under 70 only twice this season. One was a 77-63 loss to Loyola Marymount in the Cancun Classic. The other was a 65-46 loss at Drake. I suspect the Bradley coaches have reviewed that game video.

Belmont is averaging 81.4 points per game for the season, and 86 points per game at home.
They average 62 field goal attempts per game and 29 made FGs per game. But in the game at Drake, they shot just 15-40.

[Steve Zalutsky]

It's nice to see how Braves fans travel on the road! I would have loved to be in Nashville, but I spend 2 months of the year down in South Florida. I'll be back to Chicago by Mid- February so I'm planning my first Bradley away game. Valparaiso is close to Chicago so weather permitting, I'll be at that game! I hope to meet some of you( DaCoach) and others who share this forum!!! In the Meantime go Braves! A WIN on the road at Belmont could go a long way to us securing a 1 or 2 seed for the MVC tourney!