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Final score: Bradley 95 Belmont 84

Da Coach

Da Coach

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Bradley (16-9, 9-5) vs. Belmont (22-3, 12-2), Monday, Feb. 9 at 7:00 pm
The game is on ESPN+ - Link-
www.espn.com

Belmont vs. Bradley 2/9/26 - Stream the Game Live - Watch ESPN

Stream the NCAA Men's Basketball Game Belmont vs. Bradley live from %{channel} on Watch ESPN. Live stream on Monday, February 9, 2026.
www.espn.com www.espn.com
Live Stats- https://bradleybraves.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Radio- https://wmbdradio.com/player/?playerID=2045
Tickets- https://www.ticketmaster.com/bradle...ia-illinois-02-09-2026/event/07006342B02847AC
BradleyFans.com Chat Room- www.chatzy.com/bradleyfans

Belmont links-
Schedule/results- https://belmontbruins.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule
Roster- https://belmontbruins.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster
Stats- https://belmontbruins.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats?path=mbball
History between the 2 teams- https://belmontbruins.com/sports/mens-basketball/opponent-history/bradley-university/60
Belmont is 4-2 against Bradley and 2-1 against the Braves in Peoria.

Bradley lost at Belmont on January 1, 88-78. The Braves were lead by a career-high 25 points from Demarion Burch.
Recap- https://bradleybraves.com/news/2026...ap-bradley-drops-road-contest-to-belmont.aspx
Box score- https://bradleybraves.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats/2025-26/belmont/boxscore/22689
Bradley is 9-5 in the MVC, and are coming off a loss at Northern Iowa. The Braves' home MVC record is 6-1 with the only home loss to UIC on Jan. 24.
Belmont if 12-2 in the MVC, and they are coming off a road win at UIC. They are 6-1 on the road, with the only road loss at Indiana State in OT.

Belmont is a deep team and a great shooting team. They rank 1st in the MVC and 5th in the country in FG% with 51.7%, and they rank 1st in the MVC and 6th in the country in 3-point FG% with 40.3%.
They have 4 players who average double-digits-
Tyler Lundblade- 15.5 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 1.6 apg, 38.8% from three
Sam Orme- 12.7 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 55.2% overall, 37.9% from three
Drew Scharnowski- 11.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg, 67.8% overall, 1-5 from three for the season
Nic McClain- 10.4 ppg, 4.3 rpg, 6.2 apg, 44.7% from three- note that Nic McClain has not played since the Bradley game on Jan. 1st due to injury
Jabez Jenkins- 9.6 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 27.7% from three
Jack Smiley- 7.8 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 46.6% from three
Eoin Dillon- 7.2 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 48.8% from three
Brigham Rogers- 7.1 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 70.1% FG%, 0-0 from three
Aidan Noyes- 4.1 ppg, 1.6 rpg, 61.5% from three (8-13)
Win Miller- 3.0 ppg, 0.8 rpg, 38.9% from three (14-36)
Isaiah West- 2.9 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 38.1% from three (8-21)

Bradley stats- https://bradleybraves.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats
MVC stats- https://mvc-sports.com/documents/2025/11/4//2025_26_MVC_MBB_All_Game_Stats.pdf
 
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We will certainly miss Burch and the 25 points he scored against them in Nashville. Not playing him lowers the teams chance at winning this and every other game. I for one does not think it is because the way he plays on defense is the reason he is not playing him.
 
Stevezall said:
Sounds as if this is gonna be a really tough team to beat!
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We all agree with you on this Stevezall. Bradley does have the home court advantage, where they are 11-2 overall and 6-1 in MVC games.
One of Bradley's MVC road losses was to Belmont. And that was when Belmont was without their 2nd-leading scorer, Sam Orme, who is back 100% healthy.
Belmont has a better road record (10-1), than home record (10-2).
It will take a Bradley performance like we saw in the 2 games against Drake this season (93-66 at home, 87-73 in Des Moines). Other than those two blowout wins, every other MVC win by Bradley has been a close game. I think we'll all take a close win Monday, but the game plan has to find a way to defend their many great shooters (9 guys who shoot 38% or better) and still not leave their big guys inside to get easy baskets.
 
PhiAlphaBoy said:
No Burch, no chance.
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Is Burch out definitely? Or just assuming still in Wardle's d-house?

Thinking back - was any Brave in the doghouse last season? Might be the only one since 2015 that there hasn't been at least 1 in Wardle's doghouse.

CT didn't play a lot but I don't think he was necessary in the doghouse, tho it was strange with all the hype and played sparingly almost all season.
 
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Question: for all the comments about Burch playing or not playing.
If he scores 12 while giving up 16 continously do you continue to play him?
 
basketball nut said:
Question: for all the comments about Burch playing or not playing.
If he scores 12 while giving up 16 continously do you continue to play him?
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I think Wardle made a similar comment about Bully early in the season. Do you want 2-3 steals a game while the guy he’s guarding is putting up 12-15 points a game? Or focus on limiting the opponents output.
 
Hey,it doesn't seem to affect Meta's playing time at all.He is a senior and still can't find the basket half of the time.Not a fan of him at all!
 
Burch's defense is not great but not the worst either on the team. I think he has the quickness and athleticism to lock down if he focuses on that. Maybe the focus isn't always there. My issue is his offense. He drives the ball to the rim a lot, but his average assists are a fraction of Montana and JJ. I think once DB makes the decision to drive, it is to score...not kick it out. His outside shooting has also really struggled over the past month since the Belmont game.
 
My point would be if you dress him you play him. He is better then most of our players. He has the ability to score from anywhere on the court period. We all have seen how pathetic we are in making 2 point baskets from 5ft. and closer. The other thing i will say about our defense is it is hard to really say what players give up the most points considering it is like a revolving door in substitutions. Last Burch gives us the best chance of winning.
 
JMM28 said:
www.sports-reference.com

Demarion Burch College Stats | College Basketball at Sports-Reference.com

Demarion Burch - Stats, Game Logs, Splits, and much more
www.sports-reference.com www.sports-reference.com

If you look at the Per 40 minute stats, is this a guy who is deserving of more minutes?
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Whatever the reason he isn't playing, IMO, is not simply his defense nor his points per 40 minutes stat.
Below is the team's points per 40 minutes this year. Demarion Burch is at 15.7 points per 40.
Only Jaquan Johnson and Montana Wheeler have higher points per 40.
So Burch's PP40 is better than 3 of the starters and 7 of the players who get significant minutes in every game.
Last season he averaged 18.2 points per 40, best on the team.
Does anyone know of a website the compiles +/- stats?

1770674583850.png
 
First, here's my preview:

https://bubraves2006.substack.com/p/feb-9th-valley-game-15-vs-belmont

Yes, I do. I use it heavily for my writing and suggest you guys go there, too:

https://barttorvik.com/team.php?team=Bradley

The advanced stats are actually not as kind to Burch. His box plus minus is actually negative.

1770675856144.png

He's actually fallen way off from last season in all shooting categories:
1770675983993.png

While I still think it's crazy to bench the guy, maybe if the coaching staff is looking at these sorts of advanced stats AND think his defense is poor, that's their reasoning.
 
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