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Final score- UIC 93 Bradley 70

Da Coach

Da Coach

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Staff member
Next game: Bradley (18-3 overall, 9-1 in MVC, 10-1 at home) vs. UIC (13-7 overall, 6-4 in MVC, 6-2 in road games)
Date/Time- Wednesday, January 29, 7:00 pm at Carver Arena

ESPN+ - https://www.espn.com/espnplus/player/_/id/8aebd668-ec36-4e31-bdef-cfe6c5d5939e
Live Stats- https://bradleybraves.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary
Chat room- https://www.chatzy.com/bradleyfans
Radio- https://wmbdradio.com/player/?playerID=2045
Tickets -​ https://www.ticketmaster.com/event/070061309A3A1EA8

UIC Links-
Schedule/results- https://uicflames.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule
Roster- https://uicflames.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster
Historical record- https://www.sports-reference.com/cbb/schools/illinois-chicago/men/
2024-25 UIC stats- https://uicflames.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats

This is the second meeting with UIC this season. Bradley defeated UIC by one point in Chicago on January 11, 61-60​.
Recap- https://bradleybraves.com/news/2025...-following-late-game-heroics-against-uic.aspx
Box score- https://bradleybraves.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats/2024-25/uic/boxscore/22352

In that game, Bradley scored the first 2 points, but then fell behind and trailed for 90% of the game. UIC lead by as much as 13 points midway through the 2nd half, and still lead by 8 points with 1:39 left in the game. But a three by Duke Deen at 1:01, followed by a long three by Zek Montgomery at 0:16, led to a game-winning three by Duke as time ran out.
Play-by-play- https://bradleybraves.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats/2024-25/uic/boxscore/22352#play-by-play
uic.png

The only other team Bradley has played twice was Indiana State. Note that the first meeting in Terre Haute was a 90-89 win by Bradley in Overtime with Duke Deen winning the game with the final shot in the lane. But then in the second meeting in Peoria on Jan. 1, Bradley won by 53 points in a massive 118-65 blowout.
UIC is a good road team. They are 6-2 in true road games, and 4-1 in MVC road games (wins at ILSU, MO St., Valpo, & UE). Their only MVC road loss was a 87-92 loss at Belmont. They are 6-3 at home and 2-3 in MVC home games. They are one of the 2 teams to beat Drake, a 74-70 win on Jan. 1 at home.
Their last game was a 85-89 loss to SIU Saturday

Bradley is in 1st place, UNI is in 5th place- Standings - https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/standings/_/group/18

New head coach Rob Ehsan has done a nice job. He almost completely rebuilt the UIC roster after Luke Yaklich was fired last March after back-to-back 20+ loss seasons, and most of the UIC players left.
He landed 8 new players from the transfer portal, and a couple freshmen. There are two significant holdovers, senior Filip Skobalj and 6'4" senior guard Ethan Pickett.

Stats-
UIC is 3rd in the MVC in offense (80.1 ppg) just behind Bradley (80.2 ppg) and Belmont (81.9 ppg). They rank 9th in team defense (74.1 ppg)
UIC is a decent 3-point shooting team (36.1%- ranks 6th in MVC), and they lead the MVC in rebounds (38.2 rpg).
Top scorer is Javon Jackson (13.0 ppg), a 6'3" junior guard who transferred from Utah State. Xavier transfer, 6'9" forward Sasa Ciani leads the MVC in rebounds (8.8 rpg), and is third on UIC in scoring (11.2 ppg).
Other usual starters are: Ahmad Henderson, a 5'9" guard transfer from Niagara (11.5 ppg) and 6'7" senior forward Filip Skobalj (9.6 ppg).
Four others have started some of their games- 6'4" junior guard transfer from Texas State Jordan Mason (10.8 ppg), 6'5" 5th year transfer guard from Texas State Tyem Freeman (10.4 ppg), 6'9" redshirt senior forward from Creighton Modestas Kancleris (7.4 ppg), and 6'4" senior guard Ethan Pickett (3.9 ppg).​

Bradley stats- https://bradleybraves.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats
MVC stats- https://mvc-sports.com/documents/2024/11/5//2024_25_MVC_MBB_All_Game_Stats.pdf
 
FWIW
I believe this message board just passed its 20th anniversary - still the best fans to be found anywhere.
 
Wondering if this game will be like the game against ISU. They had a game plan of match up zone defense against us and they played it well. Sure UIC studied film and will see if they try the same thing. On the other hand Wardle may have made a few adjustments to counter that strategy. Hoping for our Braves to come out with another win today. And let's cheer for Northern Iowa. "LET'S GO BRAVES":lol:
 
yoda said:
FWIW
I believe this message board just passed its 20th anniversary - still the best fans to be found anywhere.
Click to expand...

Yes, started January, 2005. This is the longest running fan website among Missouri Valley schools.
 
Da Coach said:
Yes, started January, 2005. This is the longest running fan website among Missouri Valley schools.
Click to expand...

And by far the cleanest and most intuitive to use. My goodness, some of those other forums are absolutely impossible to navigate, hence the low traffic I'm sure.
 
And I believe the fans on here have an extremely high basketball IQ. I might add this board is open to constructive opinions and ideas from fans from other MVC schools.
 
one of the other message boards is so obscure that you almost have to know somebody to find out its IP address.
And if you can find it, you discover there's only a handful of people constantly arguing and grumbling about something.
And they're all the same people who hated Jim Les, loved Joanne & Geno, then dissed on Wardle as well.
 
Certainly hope the Braves can keep up the intensity and win at home against a good team. If we let down our guard and don’t give full respect in the Valley, someone will sting us. Keep fighting toward the next level, men!
 
Dub said:
Certainly hope the Braves can keep up the intensity and win at home against a good team. If we let down our guard and don’t give full respect in the Valley, someone will sting us. Keep fighting toward the next level, men!
Click to expand...

So true. No game is a given in the Valley!
 
I don't think this veteran-lead team will take this next game lightly. They know UIC is a good team, capable of pulling an upset.
The team will remember the game against UIC in Chicago when they trailed essentially the entire game, and appeared headed for a loss, only to be saved by a miraculous last minute comeback fueled by 2 free throws by Corey Thomas, followed by three pointers by Duke, Zek, and Duke again.
Here were the final points and the crowd's reaction - https://x.com/SSN_CBB/status/1878214405277519926
 
I agree with my BU bros DC and Tommy - can't take 'em lightly, and I doubt Coach W and the gang will!
Very rare that Coach Wardle's teams look ahead to the next game - especially at home.

Pretty sure both Geno (No one can-a-FORD him) and Coach Wardle promised to become a dominant force on BU's home court. Only 1 of them's promise became a reality.
 
Here we are just a few hours from game time. Getting pumped for the game. Hope we have a good crowd. No weather issues to contend with, so everybody comes on out and support the Braves. Hope to continue winning and post season chances will take care of themselves. I am of the opinion if Bradley wins the conference tournament, the realistic seeding will be around the 10th seed. Any thing higher would be great. Any one else have an opinion on the matter.
 
I have a UIC grad in the family & I looked at the UIC message board - one question from their fans is WHY doesn't Sasa Ciani play more?
The 6-9 transfer is averaging 11 ppg/9 rpg & among the league leaders in FG%, but doesn't get the minutes you'd think he'd get.

Saturday in UIC's close loss to SIU, he only played 12 minutes, in a very close, winnable game that UIC got absolutely KILLED in the paint
(points in the paint were 54-32). He rarely ever plays much more than 18-20 minutes/game, & averages 20mpg in MVC play.
And its not fouls - as only twice in the last 13 games has he picked up more than 2 fouls in a game, and one of those was an overtime game.
UIC is a good 3-pt shooting team, perhaps their coach prefers to have more outside shooters on the floor.
 
Congratulations on the 20 year anniversary of Bradley Fans.
The potential of this team is through the roof but as we seen a couple of times we do have to be ready to play each game.
 
daveineureka said:
Wondering if this game will be like the game against ISU. They had a game plan of match up zone defense against us and they played it well. Sure UIC studied film and will see if they try the same thing. On the other hand Wardle may have made a few adjustments to counter that strategy. Hoping for our Braves to come out with another win today. And let's cheer for Northern Iowa. "LET'S GO BRAVES":lol:
Click to expand...

Watching UIC practice and definitely looks like a sagging 3-2 match up zone.
 
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