At Bradley Jan 3 7:00 PM CST Wardle we do now?

[justducky]

Ok I'll give this game thread startup another trial. These kids desperately need to regain their confidence.

[valpotx]

Bradley just beat UNI by 19 at UNI.  Not much possibility for a win here:

Bradley 76
Valpo 58

[M]

Wardle teams have a history of choking away games to Valpo.

Valpo 67-64 winners.

[a3uge]

Bradley just beat UNI by 19 at UNI.  Not much possibility for a win here:

Bradley 76
Valpo 58

Wait, Bradley beat UNI... UNI beat NC State... NC State beat #2 Arizona. That means Bradley should be #1! Bradley 85, Valpo 31.

[talksalot]

Peoria, Ill. – In a matchup of two of the nation's top defenses, the Bradley basketball team coupled its usual defensive effort to go with hot 3-point shooting to run past visiting Northern Iowa on Sunday afternoon, 72-53. The Braves improved to 11-4 on the season and 1-1 in Missouri Valley Conference action, while the Panthers slip to 8-6 and 0-2 in league play.
 
Sophomore Darrell Brown scored a season-best 24 points to lead the Braves to victory, making 8-of-15 shots and 5-of-8 3-pointers along with a game-high five assists. The point guard keyed the victory by scoring 11 points during a 22-3 second-half run, securing Bradley its first conference win of the season.
 
Classmate Nate Kennell chipped in 14 points and seven rebounds, while senior Donte Thomas collected a game-high 10 rebounds. Sophomore Jayden Hodgson matched Brown with a season-best five assists in the winning effort.

The Braves led for nearly the entire first half before a late UNI surge gave the visitors the halftime edge. Brown opened the scoring for BU with a 3-pointer on the team's first possession and Bradley led by as many as six points before the first media timeout. Northern Iowa used a quick 7-0 surge to take its first lead of the day, 12-11, but Kennell buried a three on the next possession and Bradley stretched its lead to as high as seven, 24-17. A 9-0 run by the Panthers, however, would give Northern Iowa a 33-32 advantage at the intermission.
 
The Panthers would lead by as many as five points early in the second half, 39-34, before the Bradley offense took complete control against the nation's sixth-ranked defense.
 
Bradley scored on nine-consecutive possessions to turn its five-point deficit into a 56-42 lead. The Braves made all nine of their attempts during the 5:33 stretch, including four 3-pointers, while holding the Panthers to just 1-of-7 shooting. At one point, Bradley nailed a 3-pointer on four-straight possessions, with Brown making three – sandwiched around one from freshman forward Elijah Childs – as the sophomore point guard's 11 points during the run gave Bradley it's 14-point edge.
 
After a Northern Iowa 3-pointer, Bradley used another 9-0 run to stretch its advantage to as many as 20 points before securing the 19-point victory, 72-53. While the Bradley offense exploded in the second stanza, the Braves used its typical defensive effort to stymie the Panthers offense. UNI did not make a two-point field goal until 3:32 left in the second half as it missed its first nine shots inside the arc and shot just 2-of-11 overall during the stanza from 2-point range (18.2 percent).
 
Overall, Bradley made 47.9 percent of its field goals in the winning effort, including a 64.3 percent mark from 3-point range – the team's highest mark in 20 seasons. The Braves also held the Panthers to just 36.7 percent shooting, including a 39.1 percent clip from 3-point range. Bradley was especially strong against Northern Iowa's top two scorers as Bennett Koch and Klint Carlson entered the game averaging 24.1 combined points but scored only five to go with four turnovers on Sunday.
 
The Braves, who are a perfect 7-0 at Carver Arena this year, look to continue its winning ways with a home game against Valparaiso on Wednesday. The first meeting as Valley members is set to tipoff at 7 p.m.
 
Game Notes: The Braves' 64.3 percentage from 3-point range is the team's highest since making 66.7 percent (6-of-9) against Missouri State on Jan. 6, 1998 (minimum of five makes) ... The 19-point win was the largest for Bradley against Northern Iowa in any of the last 28 games in the series since a 71-49 victory on Feb. 22, 2006 ... The series between the two MVC schools is now knotted at 30 apiece ... The Braves won for the first time this season when trailing or tied at halftime (was 0-3) ... Brown has scored in double figures in 14-of-15 games this season, including each of the last nine contests ... Bradley is making 88.2 percent of its free throws in MVC play (30-of-34) after shooting 65.0 percent in non-conference action.

[talksalot]

Very Surprised to see the lack of an extensive history between VU and Bradley, considering the proximity...

Bradley
1980-81 Bradley 100 Valpo 47
1981-82 Bradley 79 Valpo 58
1983-84 Valpo 73 Bradley 55... in the last year in old Hilltop Gym... One of the MVC teams we've never played in the ARC... along with Illinois State, Southern Illinois and Drake

This is game #16.  The last time we lost game #16 was the 14-point Overtime loss at Oakland 3 years ago; we are 18-13 in game #16s



1 Donte Thomas Sr. F 6-7 225 Calumet City, Ill. Thornwood
2 Luqman Lundy Jr. G 6-3 200 Edgewater, N.J. 
3 Antoine Pittman Jr. G 6-3 210 Rockford, Ill. Auburn
5 Darrell Brown So. G 5-10 190 Memphis, Tenn. Germantown
10 Elijah Childs Fr. F 6-7 220 Kansas City, Mo. Lee's Summit West
12 Koch Bar So. C 6-11 230 Abyei, South Sudan Arlington Country Day
13 Luuk van Bree Jr. F 6-9 225 Helmond, Netherlands Canarias Academy
14 Peter Hanley Jr. F 6-7 225 Peoria, Ill. Notre Dame
21 Ryan Stipanovich Fr. G/F 6-7 210 St. Louis, Mo. De Smet Jesuit
23 Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye Jr. G 6-4 210 London, England Bristol Academy
25 Nate Kennell So. G 6-6 205 Metamora, Ill. Metamora Township
30 Callum Barker Jr. C 6-9 235 Hobart, Tasmania, Australia Notre Dame Prep
35 Jayden Hodgson So. G 6-3 200 Gosford, Australia UCSSC Lake Ginninderra

## Player gp-gs min avg fg-fga fg% 3fg-fga 3fg% ft-fta ft% off def tot avg pf dq a to blk stl pts avg
05 Brown, Darrell 15-15 460 30.7 71-183 . 3 8 8 24-56 . 4 2 9 48-69 . 6 9 6 5 33 38 2.5 30 1 58 42 0 13 214 14.3
25 Kennell, Nate 15-10 376 25.1 44-115 . 3 8 3 29-76 . 3 8 2 22-28 . 7 8 6 5 37 42 2.8 37 0 32 24 3 11 139 9.3
01 Thomas, Donte 15-15 347 23.1 51-100 . 5 1 0 1-11 . 0 9 1 24-35 . 6 8 6 27 64 91 6.1 39 0 17 26 12 13 127 8.5
10 Childs, Elijah 15-3 266 17.7 49-92 . 5 3 3 5-8 . 6 2 5 17-26 . 6 5 4 35 59 94 6.3 30 0 6 20 19 9 120 8.0
13 van Bree, Luuk 14-1 205 14.6 32-63 . 5 0 8 15-28 . 5 3 6 7-10 . 7 0 0 13 27 40 2.9 24 0 5 10 7 6 86 6.1
12 Bar, Koch 12-11 238 19.8 25-56 . 4 4 6 0-0 . 0 0 0 19-31 . 6 1 3 25 26 51 4.3 32 0 5 20 13 4 69 5.8
23 Lautier-Ogunleye, D. 15-15 341 22.7 27-65 . 4 1 5 11-28 . 3 9 3 18-31 . 5 8 1 15 55 70 4.7 31 0 35 21 1 7 83 5.5
35 Hodgson, Jayden 14-5 298 21.3 21-41 . 5 1 2 12-24 . 5 0 0 13-19 . 6 8 4 1 22 23 1.6 23 0 23 18 0 11 67 4.8
21 Stipanovich, Ryan 14-0 150 10.7 13-26 . 5 0 0 8-15 . 5 3 3 12-12 1.000 13 14 27 1.9 14 0 11 14 2 10 46 3.3
02 Lundy, Luqman 11-0 62 5.6 5-16 . 3 1 3 2-6 . 3 3 3 3-6 . 5 0 0 2 5 7 0.6 3 0 9 7 2 6 15 1.4
30 Barker, Callum 9-0 61 6.8 4-11 . 3 6 4 0-0 . 0 0 0 2-5 . 4 0 0 6 4 10 1.1 9 0 0 4 2 3 10 1.1
14 Hanley, Peter 4-0 11 2.8 0-4 . 0 0 0 0-0 . 0 0 0 0-0 . 0 0 0 0 2 2 0.5 1 0 0 1 0 1 0 0.0
Team 18 21 39 1 2
Total.......... 15 3000 361-825 . 4 3 8 111-274 . 4 0 5 201-297 . 6 7 7 175 394 569 37.9 285 1 211 226 64 105 1034 68.9

[oklahomamick]

Valpo score, over/under 50

[VU2014]

Valpo score, over/under 50

Over. Even though it won't be getting any easier on Wednesday against Bradley's defense. Just a gut feeling we get 60 and have a better night.

[usc4valpo]

Over

[bbtds]

Valpo score, over/under 50

I think it will be over 50 but not by much. OTOH Bradley will not have much trouble scoring over 50 and destroying Valpo by 20 or more.

An interesting fact: Peoria before it was the construction equipment capital of the world was the whiskey producing capital of the world.

http://www.pjstar.com/article/20150825/lifestyle/150829711

How will it (Valpo) play in Peoria?

[talksalot]

Over

[valpo64]

We are due for a surprise performance....give 'em a battle or maybe even even a win?   

[VU2014]

We are due for a surprise performance....give 'em a battle or maybe even even a win?   

We're also due for a offensive system or scheme.

[Valpo89]

I just know the thought of losing to freaking Wardle makes me sick.

[justducky]

As a side note; series with either Bradley, ISU-red or both would have been desired by Matt and Bryce for the purpose of a week night distance game in the backyard of the Peters family. This should have but never did happen. Until shown otherwise I will continue to believe that this failure had more to do with them than with us. Any Bradley viewers can jump in now to help clarify with whatever you might know or have heard.

[bbtds]

I just know the thought of losing to freaking Wardle makes me sick.

I'd like this a million times if I could. 

[VU2014]

https://twitter.com/valpoathletics/status/948343289308213249

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5J3zW9MQ0rc

[valpopal]

Just watched Todd's weekly interview with Lottich, and the most interesting features were the lack of answers to unasked questions and what was left out. There was no explanation or expectation mentioned about Burton. There wasn't any reason given for the fact that Hazen never even stepped on the court in the last game. (Lottich only mentioned Hazen in passing and that he hoped Parker would regain his confidence in practices.) Nothing was said about Evelyn's status (illness or otherwise) that caused him to have diminished minutes and a poor performance in the last game. In addition, Lottich only had generic comments (need to guard the three-point line and hit our shots) about the upcoming Bradley game in response to a final question. It was not an inspiring interview. I don't mean that as a criticism of Lottich or Todd, but perhaps as an accurate reflection of a realistic perspective on the state of the team at this time.

[usc4valpo]

If this team finishes at .500 or above, I feel fully confident that Matt Lottich is the right coach at Valpo.

[usc4valpo]

In critiquing Todd, for the harsh weather we are having, he should not be wearing a Valpo Athletics polo shirt.

[NativeCheesehead]

It's a University produced video. I wouldn't expect any questions to be asked that weren't approved in advance. Todd is good at what he does and my guess is he would ask those questions if allowed.

[FieldGoodie05]

It's a University produced video. I wouldn't expect any questions to be asked that weren't approved in advance. Todd is good at what he does and my guess is he would ask those questions if allowed.

BINGO

[bbtds]

It's a University produced video. I wouldn't expect any questions to be asked that weren't approved in advance. Todd is good at what he does and my guess is he would ask those questions if allowed.

Todd does seem to ask tougher questions in the post game interviews with Luke Gore which are more in the heat of the battle than in the "warm, polo shirt" away from the court action studio that the Lottich interviews take place.

[vu72]

Matt is really good at giving you nothing of any substance.  Obviously that is by design.

[usc4valpo]

True about Todd, but more suitable apparel in brutally cold weather is required