Final score: Bradley 73 Northern Iowa 56

[bradleyfan124]

I also loved it when they introduced Richardson and Zobrist to the crowd

[daveineureka]

What a game, only nine free throws by N. Iowa. Love when the refs are not the main factor in a game. When that happens you saw the results of BU playing great defense and having a good flow to the game. We need that type of effort these hopefully next three games and if we do we will earn the automatic bid. Everybody that can head down to St. Louis and cheer on our Braves. Let's get it done.

[houstonbrave]

Did folks notice that Leon Bond appeared foe a short stint in the game ? It was his first action since Jan 25. He had been hurt and I thought he was done for the year. He did not do much while in, but on the season averaged 10 pts per game and went off for 37 in one game.

[Dub]

Some seem to think that UNI gave that game to us yesterday to avoid Murray State (in favor of UIC) in the Arch Madness bracket and to rest legs. I highly doubt it.

[egib52]

I am glad the refs let them play. Both teams were physical, and played to how it was being called. When Anderson went down it was clear he was just trying to draw a call.

[Da Coach]

I am glad the refs let them play. Both teams were physical, and played to how it was being called. When Anderson went down it was clear he was just trying to draw a call.

I thought there were several obvious flops by UNI players that drew a couple charges, and a couple moving screen calls on Bradley. A couple years ago, the NCAA changed the rules and called on officials to to focus on calling the block more, and to penalize flops. But that lasted only a month or two and seemed to disappear. Some coaches appear to coach their teams to draw charges by flopping (Drake's Conor Enright?), and I wonder if UNI does that?

Block/Charge rule tweaked to favor the offensive player and stop rewarding so many defensive players who jump in front of offensive players - https://hutchpost.com/posts/838f0086...7-0344fce79da3
Rule changed to award a technical for a flop - https://www.ncaa.org/news/2022/6/9/m...asketball.aspx

[Tommy]

Some seem to think that UNI gave that game to us yesterday to avoid Murray State (in favor of UIC) in the Arch Madness bracket and to rest legs. I highly doubt it.

No way Jacobson would do something like that, and tanking a game to choose your opponent in the tournament is the surest way of getting upset. That's just craziness.

I thought there were several obvious flops by UNI players that drew a couple charges, and a couple moving screen calls on Bradley.

Yes, absolutely right Coach. The most egregious call was the incredible acting job by Tytan flopping against Meta. He was falling over before he even made contact and the way he flew back, you would have thought someone hit him with a 2x4!

[tomahawk chop]

I thought there were several obvious flops by UNI players that drew a couple charges, and a couple moving screen calls on Bradley. A couple years ago, the NCAA changed the rules and called on officials to to focus on calling the block more, and to penalize flops. But that lasted only a month or two and seemed to disappear. Some coaches appear to coach their teams to draw charges by flopping (Drake's Conor Enright?), and I wonder if UNI does that?

Block/Charge rule tweaked to favor the offensive player and stop rewarding so many defensive players who jump in front of offensive players - https://hutchpost.com/posts/838f0086...7-0344fce79da3
Rule changed to award a technical for a flop - https://www.ncaa.org/news/2022/6/9/m...asketball.aspx

The problem with a lot of officials now is they ignore the rules. Too many players are allowed to palm the ball, travel and drive down the lane and jump into defenders to draw fouls, when the defender is still with his hands straight up it is not suppose to be a foul yet most refs ignore that rule in the Valley. I watch a lot of games and all these moving screens or blocking foul calls in our league are not called in the BCS type of games. Rules are there for a reason and these refs need to stick to them.

[Da Coach]

...No way Jacobson would do something like that, and tanking a game to choose your opponent in the tournament is the surest way of getting upset. That's just craziness.

I agree. Plus, the games involving most of those middle-of-the pack teams like Murray State, UIC, Evansville, and Illinois State all started an hour later than the Bradley-UNI game. So Jacobson could not have known who his Friday opponent would be by losing the game.
He sat Anderson because he appeared to get hurt in the 2nd half, and Jacobson wasn't going to take a chance putting him back into the game. He sat Hutson, because he was upset at him for lack of effort in the 2nd half. Jacobson has a history of doing that, even if it hurts his team.

[BUBraves2006]

The problem with a lot of officials now is they ignore the rules. Too many players are allowed to palm the ball, travel and drive down the lane and jump into defenders to draw fouls, when the defender is still with his hands straight up it is not suppose to be a foul yet most refs ignore that rule in the Valley. I watch a lot of games and all these moving screens or blocking foul calls in our league are not called in the BCS type of games. Rules are there for a reason and these refs need to stick to them.

Who the person who holds the referees accountable? Would it not be in the best interest of the league to have as entertaining games as possible and cut down on the moving screen calls and the ticky tack stuff? Just watched the Tennessee-Alabama game on Saturday as just one example and it goes without fail that you can actually watch a SEC game where they are allowed to play tough defense and not have every last thing whistled. It's a more entertaining brand of basketball when games are called that way but this has been a problem with MVC refs (for and against Bradley) for years. How does it ever really change? Can they actually have a "point of emphasis" on something useful or maybe to allow for MORE defense? Sorry but if a post guy just slightly reaches down and doesn't have his body 90 degrees parallel to the floor, it doesn't have to be a foul.

I know Atlason has struggled with his defense but he's actually gotten better as the year has gone on but they call him for this stuff all the time and that just isn't a foul in every league like it is in the Valley.

[Da Coach]

Who the person who holds the referees accountable?...

The MVC, along with 5 other conferences, belongs to the College Officiating Consortium - https://wccsports.com/news/2024/4/11...rtium-mbb.aspx

I believe the Coordinator of Officials for the COC-MBB is still retired official John Higgins. Nearly everyone will remember Higgins, since he worked MVC games for many years, as well as many Big Ten, Big 12, SEC, and other conference games, as well as working in 29 NCAA Tournaments.

It's hard to find out much about this group. Their website is private and password-protected - https://mbb.officiating.com/login
From what I can find elsewhere, it appears the consortium is responsible for recruiting officials for the conferences and assigning them to games. But I believe they also do evaluating of their performances, as well as other responsibilities.