Bradley Wins!!! 79-73 over Ohio

[dogsrus]

FANtastic crowd. Dodie Dunstun was in attendance.

Mike did you happen to notice DD towards the end of the game...last 8 minutes....was he in to it?

[Big Mike]

He was standing from what I could see from the cheap-seats!

[MacabreMob]

Anybody notice AW's "quick-change" after a badly missed 3? Next possession, his hand wrap with protective plate was gone.

Few minutes later, he hit the game-tying shot!

[ph]

this is pry a stupid question, but why are we playing virginia? if the teams are getting reseeded, how are the two one seeds left playing each other? Like I said, this is pry a dumb question, but could someone please enlighten me. Thanks

In the how we got Virginia thread, the CBI mentioned they did not want an all C-USA final (Houston and Tulsa) so they put the winners of those games on one side of the bracket. BU and Virginia got the other side.

[jasonpeoria911]

That was no doubt the loudest to 2nd loudest crowd of the season. I thought for sure there was 9-10,000 there as it looked pretty full but the crowd was louder than a sell out for sure. The Ohio coach mentioned after the game that Carver was the 2nd loudest arena, besides Kansas, that he's ever played in. I thought Bradley was a goner for sure as we had no answer at all for that Leon but then the 9 minute mark hit and the crowd really got into it. From then on it was like deer in the headlights for the OH offense. They turned it over nearly every time they tried to get it to Leon down low. Just a great evening at Carver. Now onto VA, I think we can take em as long as the turnovers are kept low and the FG % is around 45-50ish. VA's big men might be a step slow if we can work the ball around good for some open shots.

Jason

[Scouter]

That was no doubt the loudest to 2nd loudest crowd of the season.

If you have that at No. 2, Mich St. and ISU better be 1 and 1A.

In any case, great crowd for 6,000 and change. I'll rank it as No. 3.

[ifarania]

If you have that at No. 2, Mich St. and ISU better be 1 and 1A.

In any case, great crowd for 6,000 and change. I'll rank it as No. 3.

I think this crowd put out more volume than the ISU game... The whole arena was standing the last five minutes, the students were screaming during that time entire time, and not just the first couple rows... It was seriously intense.

[DUBrave5]

I rank this at #2 for the crowd behind the MSU game. ISU was loud but this one was better in my opinion. Unbelievable noise for that size crowd. All I can do is stand up and applaud the crowd.

[BUBraves06]

After coming down from the high of tonight's victory, there are still some things that bugged me, though it's probably too late in the season for things to get fixed. Leaving aside the fact that as soon as warm ups started it looked like some of the players weren't taking the game too seriously, some thoughts ...

Our offense was stagnent for most of the night, but as soon guys started moving off the ball we started our comeback. There were times in the first half where it looked like we were playing Dean Smith's 4 corners with Daniel having the ball up top and having no one to pass to.

I know it's been said hundreds of times but David Collins really needs to hit the weight room/toughen up this offseason. It seems like there is some potential there and I hope he works hard in the offseason to fulfill it.

Will Egolf is really starting to get on my nerves. As soon as I saw that he was coming in I commented to the people around me that as soon as he touched the ball he would shoot a three. Well not two minutes into his time on the court he gets the ball in the corner on a pass from Daniel and up goes a three, and go figure, he missed. He is now 0-14 on the season and I don't know if anyone has been in his ear about it but he really needs to stop jacking up three's. I'm sure he can make the outside shot, but he's obviously not getting the job done and it'd be great if he stopped shooting from long distance.

I thought our bigs, Theron, Matt S., and Rashad played a good game. I was worried that we were going to get tore up inside but as it turned out it was their good shooting that gave them their lead. That Bubba kid can really fill it up.

I can't wait to see more of Sam M. and Andrew playing together. Andrew had a great game tonight and Sam continues to improve with every game. I thought he (Sam) was especially aggressive tonight in getting to the basket and that's a good sign. His ability to penetrate the defense can provide open looks for our shooters if the defense collapses on him.

I'm not trying to be overly pessemistic, I guess I just get frustrated watching our guys making the same mistakes they were making in the begining of the season. The atmosphere was great tonight and even though the arena wasn't full the place rocked. I'm glad we got the win, now it's on to Virginia!

[jasonpeoria911]

I can only think of what Bruce Weber is thinking to himself right now. Seeing all these highlights & stories of Bradley advancing to the Final Four of a tournament. All that Chicago publicity, sure havn't see any positive Illini stories in the press lately. Eat it up boys eat it up.

Jason

[Rusty 54]

Anybody notice AW's "quick-change" after a badly missed 3? Next possession, his hand wrap with protective plate was gone.

Few minutes later, he hit the game-tying shot!

I saw that. He was not happy when he took the hand wrap off. I love AW

[ifarania]

I agree about some things, but I have a couple other comments...

Collins is much improved from earlier in the season. He's showing aggression and a general awareness of his surroundings, something that hasn't been there all season. However, he plays interior defense like he's a 6'4, 200 lbs shooting guard. He needs to play to his height and know when he doesn't need to leave his feet to contest/alter shots... He also needs to add some weight to throw around so he can push bodies off the blocks, so someone feed that kid some milkshakes, protein bars, and omelettes. I think he has a lot of promise for next season, and he gave us some pretty good minutes tonight...

Egolf. Yes. He needs to get in the post. And if he's on the perimeter to set some screens and he gets an open look... I hope to God that he drives and dishes or just waits for a guard. We all joked that he'd come in and jack an inopportune three, and there it was... When BU06 said he'd do it, I didn't even bother to say "oh there's no way he'd try it again." It was just historical precedent from all season long, and it was easy to see it coming.

My biggest complaint is still the perimeter defense. It's not intense every possession, and it really really needs to be. Especially when you have a guard-oriented attack, you can't let their slashers at your bigs every single time down the floor. It's how we got in a hole in St Louis, and there were some lapses tonight.

Andrew Warren, bravo. Just fantastic. I love that kid, and when he threw his protective wrap at the scorer's table, I just knew that it was on. JC and Ruff didn't have huge games tonight, but they played solid games and kept at it. I'm a big Matt Salley fan lately (save for the lack of dunks), and I loved his intensity and smart play tonight. Theron has a lot of intangibles.

[VeveJones007]

Egolf. Yes. He needs to get in the post. And if he's on the perimeter to set some screens and he gets an open look... I hope to God that he drives and dishes or just waits for a guard. We all joked that he'd come in and jack an inopportune three, and there it was... When BU06 said he'd do it, I didn't even bother to say "oh there's no way he'd try it again." It was just historical precedent from all season long, and it was easy to see it coming.

My biggest complaint is still the perimeter defense. It's not intense every possession, and it really really needs to be. Especially when you have a guard-oriented attack, you can't let their slashers at your bigs every single time down the floor. It's how we got in a hole in St Louis, and there were some lapses tonight.

I completely agree on the defense. There's no way we're getting back to the NCAA's if our defense isn't better in the future. The last 9 minutes really showed what this team can look like when they're really giving full effort and playing quality defense.

About Egolf...shooting 3's is going to be an element of his game for the team in the future. Does he need to slash and get under the basket more, sure, but I just feel like if he's going to play now, he might as well get comfortable in his future role.

[Rusty 54]

I would like to see Egolf work from the inside out, get a layup, or get fouled and hit some free throws, then step out to the 3 pt line. I guess he hits 'em in practice.

[Scouter]

About Egolf...shooting 3's is going to be an element of his game for the team in the future. Does he need to slash and get under the basket more, sure, but I just feel like if he's going to play now, he might as well get comfortable in his future role.

I'd be more comfortable if he shot more layups and mid-range jumpers.

Egolf is 0-for-14 from 3. He's 11-for-18 on 2-point field goals. That's all you need to know. He's got to stop floating around on the perimeter so much.