Bradley Preview and Game Thread -- 2-9-2022

[JCT]

Wednesday, February 9, 2022 8:00 p.m.
Carver Arena, Peoria, Illinois

The Ramblers head down to Peoria to meet the surging Bradley Braves on Wednesday night for the last time in a road conference game. On Jan. 8, Loyola came back from a 16-point second half deficit to claim a 78-71 victory in overtime. Bradley leads the all-time series 36-32, but the Ramblers have won 15 of the last 19 games between the teams, and Loyola has won six of the last eight at Carver Arena.

The Braves have won five of their last six games and seven of their last nine to enter the conversation as one of the top teams in the MVC. Despite a 13-11 record overall, Bradley is 7-5 in conference and has climbed into the KenPom top 100 at #92. The Braves have always had a significant home court advantage with large crowds at Carver Arena, and this year their only two home losses were a head-scratching home opener loss to Howard University and a two-point loss to Missouri State.

Bradley is likely to start 6'3" junior guard Terry Roberts, 6'9" junior forward Malevy Leons, 6'9" sophomore forward Rienk Mast, 6'7" sophomore guard/forward Jayson Kent, and 6'3" freshman guard Connor Hickman. Tops off the bench are 6'4" junior guard Ville Tahvanainen, 6'3" UC San DIego grad transfer Mikey Howell, 7'1" senior forward Ari Boya and 6'6" freshman forward Zek Montgomery. Second-leading scorer 6'6" senior forward Ja'Shon Henry has not played since mid-December.

Roberts, a transfer from Florida SouthWestern State, is one of the top newcomers in the league. He averages 15.4 points, 4.5 assists, and 1.6 steals per game to lead the team in each category. He shoots the three moderately well (36.7%), and has He also chips in 5.2 rebounds per game. The other juco transfer is Malevy Leons, who averages 10.6 points and creates matchup problems on great shooting inside and from range (38.8%). A Dutch transfer from Mineral Area College, Leons has an impressive wingspan which helps him tally 6.1 rebounds and 1.2 blocks per game.

Mast has dramatically improved over the course of the season. He leads the league in rebounds with 8.2 per game and adds 11.3 points in his sophomore season. Fellow sophomore Kent is averaging 8.0 points and 3.1 rebounds. Freshman Connor Hickman is a gym-rat freshman from Bloomington, Ind. who averages 6.6 points, 2.2 rebounds per game, and a high basketball IQ.

Last time out, the Braves demolished Evansville 76-41 on Saturday. Jayson Kent led the Braves with 14 points, and Ari Boya had a double-double with 10 points and 14 boards. Mast played only 20 minutes and had only four points, but 11 different Bradley players scored in the blowout.

Bradley has cleaned up playing the teams in the bottom half of the league; they've beaten Evansville by a combined 67 points. Their best KenPom win on the season has been an 83-71 win at #91 Drake; they also picked up a home win over UNI to start the conference season.

The Ramblers have won 23 straight games against teams from the state of Illinois, and 13 of their last 15 true road games.


Loyola game notes: https://loyolaramblers.com/documents/20 ... 2_9_22.pdf

Bradley game notes: https://bradleybraves.com/news/2022/2/8 ... esday.aspx

TV/Streaming video: CBS Sports Net https://www.cbssports.com/cbs-sports-network/

Radio/Streaming audio: https://loyolaramblers.com/watch/?Live=105&type=Live

Live stats: https://bradleybraves.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary

Vegas odds: Loyola by 4

[goramblers2011]

Need to contain Mast. Maybe employ the 2nd half strategy vs Prim?

With wins over UNI and Drake plus a 2 point loss to MoSt and an OT loss to Loyola, the Braves have clearly proven they can beat anyone in this league. If it weren't for head-scratching road losses to the two ISUs, Bradley would be in the league title contention group.

This is going to be a tough one, especially without Quise.

[Jbuchholz]

Important note, Terry Roberts injured his leg in their last game. On the coaches conference call on Monday, Wardle said that Roberts was in a boot and not planning to practice and he said for everyone to make their own conclusions about whether Roberts would play on Wednesday.

[JCT]

Important note, Terry Roberts injured his leg in their last game. On the coaches conference call on Monday, Wardle said that Roberts was in a boot and not planning to practice and he said for everyone to make their own conclusions about whether Roberts would play on Wednesday.

Thank you, I missed that. Big development indeed

[AMDG]

The only chip shot the rest of the way is home against Evansville. Everything else is on the road or against the top of the conference. They will have to earn it.

[Rambler88]

All of the games are winnable. We get everyone's best game, but we should be favored in every game. We need that regular season title. If we win the regular season, I think we will have a great chance at an at-large bid - no matter what happens in St Louis. We have the youngest head coach and the oldest fan - definitely noteworthy.

Problem - a quick look at the other conferences and I see a glut of middle of the road teams making a case for an at-large bid which may make it more difficult for us. Middle of the pack teams like Virginia, Florida and Washington St are making a push.

[JCT]

https://twitter.com/MLBLarry/status/149 ... W7dxw&s=19

[jdubs]

Terry Roberts is starting tonight

[Dansen]

Of course this Richmond and GM game might go to OT. Feels like every CBSSN game does for us

[JArsy_22]

Really hope this GM-Richmond game doesn’t go to OT…