Well - ESPN has screwed the pooch. They had the game listed as being live then I selected the game and it said "Your event has ended" and now...no game. Bastards.
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
After 1
SIU 16
ISU-BLUE 13
Even audio streaming is F'ed up. Going old school huddling around the Philco. Lol!
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
Halftime
SIU 27
TREES 30
Missing FT's 8-16. Only shooting 33%. Williams leading the way with 7. 24 called fouls in the first half, 14 on ISU.
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
After 3
SIU 41
Sycamores 52
Don't get this team sometime. With the scorers that we have we go through some serious shooting droughts. Jones only has two.
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
Final
SIU 60
Indiana State 58
WOW! Southern comes back from 16 down to win!! Randle with a block at the buzzer to preserve the comeback!!!
We miss 4 free throws in the last 30 seconds only 17-33 from the line. Williams with 18. Jones comes back and finishes with 10. Mason with a couple of big steals late. Only 11 turnovers.
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
SIU 5-6 (2-0) vs Bradley 3-10 (0-2)
Thursday Jan 5th 6pm @ Banterra Center
Coverage ESPN+/Saluki Sports Network Magic 95.1
WarrenNolan.com Prediction SIU -24
**Prior to the game SIU will honor last year’s MVC Championship and WNIT appearance team with a banner hanging ceremony. **
Series History and Bradley Head Coach
The series with the Braves goes back to 1983 and we have a 54-29 series advantage. We won the first 27 games in the series. We handled the Braves pretty easily last year sweeping the season series for the first time since 2018.
The Braves are coached by Kate Popovec-Goss who is in her first season after the "retirement" of Andrea Gorski. Popovec-Goss comes to Bradley after being Associate Head Coach at Northwestern from 2018 to this past spring. Bradley has struggled mightily the last two seasons. They had twenty-win seasons in 2018-2019 and the shortened 2019-2020 COVID year, then had an MVC Tournament title win and NCAA tournament appearance in 2020-21. Since then they are a combined 7-24 (1-19).
Tale Of The Tape:
Bradley SIU
PPG 58.5 75.2
Pts Allowed 72.6 76.5
FG% .381 .416
FG% OPP .451 .430
3pt% .321 .355
3pt % OPP .374 .389
FT% .719 .683
Rebounds 33.8 38
Assists 13 15.9
Turnovers 16.2 16.8
T/O Forced 13.5 19.7
Steals 7.4 10.7
Blocks 1.7 4.1
Offensive Rtg 225th 122nd
83.6 94.5
Defensive Rtg 350th 264th
107.5 96.3
Pace of Play 287th 6th
68.5 79.6
The Braves currently sit at 333rd in the NET with a 326 RPI and 249 SOS. Bradley looks kinda toothless only averaging 58.5 ppg and a -14 ppg margin. They are last in points per game, 9th in points allowed 10th in FG%, 11th in FG % allowed and 11th in three-point percentage allowed
The Braves Dramatis Personae –
The Bravoyles are led in scoring by 5-4 Sophomore Guard Caroline Waite. She averages 12.8 points per game which is good for 13th in The Valley. She shoots at a .367/.351/.920 (FG/3FG/FT) clip. Her 92% FT shooting would be good for 15th nationally, but I don’t think she’s shot enough to qualify.
Next in scoring is 5-8 Sophomore guard Alex Rouse. She averages 12.2 PPG and 4 rebounds per game.
Isis Fitch, a 6-0 Junior forward is their leading rebounder at 6.9 RPG which ranks 10th in The Valley and averages 8.9 PPG.
Ruba Abo-Hashesh – 5-6 Junior guard - is their assist leader with 48 assists on the season, but she has 61 turnovers.
Four of the five starters average over 31 minutes a game and no one outside of the starting five (for which they have used the same starting five all thirteen games) averages over 2.5 points per game.
How ‘Bout Us?
After being down 16 with about 12 minutes left and 11 down to start the 4th quarter at ISU-Blue, we staged an awesome character-showing comeback on a poor shooting night. We held the Trees to only SIX fourth quarter points and 1-11 shooting. Laniah Randle had HUGE block on the final possession of the game. That win could be the catalyst to bring this team fully together.
On paper, this game with the Braves should be a blowout possibly getting us back to .500. We have the size, speed and scoring advantage. We have three averaging in double figures and three more within a point and a half of double figures. We have the top ball distributer in the league – Q. Love. Two of the top five pick-pocketers – Jaidynn Mason (3rd) and Love (5th). With Shemera Williams now eligible and having scored 30 points in her first two games, we have even more firepower. I see her and Ashley Jones playing really well off of each other.
GO DAWGS!!!
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
It would be nice if someone could come and fix the video board.
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
It would be nice if someone could come and fix the video board.
I think it's funny we still have our old sock puppet logo on the bottom, someone mentioned this yesterday
As expected...
After 1
SIU 20
BRADLEY 8
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
It would be nice if someone could come and fix the video board.
I think it's funny we still have our old sock puppet logo on the bottom, someone mentioned this yesterday
Ahh the poor old sock puppet logo. I miss the 70's & 80's vicious dog logo!
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
Haltime
SIU 43
Bradley 25
Randle with 14 at the break.
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
Should have dropped 50-55 on these guys in the first half.
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
After 3...
SALUKIS 69
BRAVOYLES 42
Jones with 20. Randle with 19.
"The bureaucratic mentality is the only constant in the universe." ~Dr. Leonard H. McCoy
