Next game- Bradley at Valparaiso, Wednesday, Feb. 26, 8:00 pm

[LittleBrave]

I hope BW gets the guys ready and focused for this one. Just thinking of what's on the line in terms of Arch Madness seeding and there's not much.
We basically need to win the last game vs UNI to get the #2 seed, which I think will loom large.

BUT this team needs to keep playing well b/c we have rarely put together a great game in both halves in 2025.
Let this game carry over to Saturday and keep riding the wave into St. Lou.

Another win doesn't hurt our record either and would be a nice accomplishment to get to 25 total wins before NIT or NCAA tourney, and fewer than 10 losses, which would best our 25-10 record from 2 seasons ago.

[Dub]

I hope BW gets the guys ready and focused for this one. Just thinking of what's on the line in terms of Arch Madness seeding and there's not much.
We basically need to win the last game vs UNI to get the #2 seed, which I think will loom large.

BUT this team needs to keep playing well b/c we have rarely put together a great game in both halves in 2025.
Let this game carry over to Saturday and keep riding the wave into St. Lou.

Another win doesn't hurt our record either and would be a nice accomplishment to get to 25 total wins before NIT or NCAA tourney, and fewer than 10 losses, which would best our 25-10 record from 2 seasons ago.

Actually LB I think there may be one other implication. A win tonight would mean we could claim #2 without a win Sunday… in the unlikely (but not impossible) event that UIC knocks off UNI tonight.

[Da Coach]

Actually LB I think there may be one other implication. A win tonight would mean we could claim #2 without a win Sunday… in the unlikely (but not impossible) event that UIC knocks off UNI tonight.

Sorry if I am misunderstanding what you're saying, But, I don't think it's correct.
If UNI loses tonight and Bradley wins, UNI would fall one game behind Bradley. Then, if they beat Bradley on Sunday, they pull back into a tie at 14-6. In that case, UNI gets the # 2 seed by virtue of winning both head-to-head games against Bradley. Head-to-head record is the # 1 tiebreaker. So Bradley has to win Sunday to get the # 2 seed.

[Dub]

Sorry if I am misunderstanding what you're saying, But, I don't think it's correct.
If UNI loses tonight and Bradley wins, UNI would fall one game behind Bradley. Then, if they beat Bradley on Sunday, they pull back into a tie at 14-6. In that case, UNI gets the # 2 seed by virtue of winning both head-to-head games against Bradley. Head-to-head record is the # 1 tiebreaker. So Bradley has to win Sunday to get the # 2 seed.

I stand here before you, corrected. I forgot about the head to head.

[tomahawk chop]

We need to wake up on offense. We are missing open 3 pointers and they are not which is why we are losing. Once again 3 of our starters have 2 fouls and the one official likes making calls against us by witnessed that Atlason had his legs taken out from him on a rebound yet no foul.

[Big Mike]

Braves 0-7 from 3....
Duke with 2 fouls and zero pts?
Braves need to wake up on offense and play with more urgency.... get Duke involved....

[Big Mike]

Good win...offense so much better when Duke is involved....also good games by Bully and Hannah!

[bigjimmy]

Ended up being a double digit win but talk about a tale of 2 halfs. The first half we were 0-7 from 3. The 2nd half we were 7-15 with Duke, who had 0 points in the first half, being 5-7. Darius Hannah had one of his best games as a Brave as he had 22 points on 8-11 shooting and 9 rebounds. JJ had another wonderful game with 10 points, 6 assists including an alley oop off the backboard, and 3 steals. He is our X factor. Shockingly Valpo were just 5-12 from the FT line. The biggest issue I've had with this team is being able to play a 40 minute game. Too many lulls on both ends have caused too many close games. But because of those close games we have a toughness and a belief that we can pull it out at the end. It would be a good time to come up with a 40 minute effort on Sunday.

[Brave97]

We got hot and pulled it out. We will not get through Friday in st. Louis playing this way. Teams have figured out our goofy weave around the three point line and it seems we either live or die by it. It’s so frustrating because I believe the talent on this team is way better than that. Our defense wins games and ISU, UNI, and valpo have exposed our perimeter defense. They have just killed us. Love this team, but we are not where we should be at this point in the season

[Da Coach]

Bradley was a little bit off with their shooting in the first half, going 0-7 from three, and 13-29 overall. They trailed by one, 29-28, at halftime.
But the shooting got back on track in the 2nd half, especially when Duke caught fire and hit 5 straight 3-pointers to build a 13 point lead for Bradley.
Valparaiso, who came into the game dead last in Field Goal Percentage in the MVC, and 11th in 3-point FG%, shot the ball extremely well.
But it wasn't enough as Bradley held on to win by 11.
Final score- Bradley 76 Valparaiso 65 - https://valpoathletics.com/sports/me.../boxscore/9947
Attendance- 1,583

Bradley shot 55% (18-33), and 47% from three (7-15), and had only 3 turnovers in the 2nd half.
Darius Hannah had a season-high and game-high 22 points, plus a game-high 9 rebounds.
Duke Deen finished with 19 points on 7-10 shooting, and 5-8 from three.
Zek Montgomery had 12, Jaquan Johnson had 10, and Christian Davis had 8.
It was a great team win. We'll need that kind of effort and shooting we saw in the 2nd half on Sunday against UNI.

Here is the backboard pass and dunk from Jaquan Johnson to Darius Hannah - https://x.com/BradleyUMBB/status/1894956804561420450

And a couple of Duke's threes - https://x.com/BradleyUMBB/status/1894951817949130945

The one down side, IMO- this officiating crew of Antinio Petty, Gary Maxwell (yes, that Gary Maxwell), and Tyler Kumpf seems to love calling fouls on Bradley but allowed much of the same things by Valpo to go without calls.

[Classof77]

I could watch that backboard alley-oop from Johnson to Hannah all night. My favorite basketball play, executed to perfection.