3 MVC games today (Sat. Feb. 15)
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/scoreboard/_/group/18/date/20200215
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/scoreboard/_/group/18/date/20200215
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3 MVC games Saturday, Feb. 15
- Thread starter Da Coach
- Start date
patrick_o'brian
Member
This is the weekend I have been waiting for. Eli's back, we're 1 game out of 2nd, playing 1 2nd place team, and the other is playing UNI. Big game today!! GO BRAVES!!!
BUfan39
New member
Our group is getting healthy at the right time. It’s now time to make our move by winning a big road game.
houstonbrave
Member
Loyola going to win over UNI. UNI’s margin for error for an at large bid getting pretty small.
Loyola beats UNI in overtime 82-73
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore?gameId=401173604
Northern Iowa drops to 11-3, Loyola improves to 10-4.
Bradley beat SIU 69-67
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore?gameId=401173508
Bradley and SIU now tied for 3rd at 9-5
And in a battle to try to stay out of the Thursday night games in St. Louis, Valparaiso comes out on top at Illinois State 65-62
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore?gameId=401173571
As posted, ISU blew a 17 point second half lead, and Valpo took their first lead 63-62 with 13 seconds left in the game. Then ISU had one last chance to win the game, but turned it over and Valpo scored again for the final 65-62 score. Valpo improves to 7-7. ILSU drops to 3-11.
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore?gameId=401173604
Northern Iowa drops to 11-3, Loyola improves to 10-4.
Bradley beat SIU 69-67
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore?gameId=401173508
Bradley and SIU now tied for 3rd at 9-5
And in a battle to try to stay out of the Thursday night games in St. Louis, Valparaiso comes out on top at Illinois State 65-62
https://www.espn.com/mens-college-basketball/boxscore?gameId=401173571
As posted, ISU blew a 17 point second half lead, and Valpo took their first lead 63-62 with 13 seconds left in the game. Then ISU had one last chance to win the game, but turned it over and Valpo scored again for the final 65-62 score. Valpo improves to 7-7. ILSU drops to 3-11.
[h=1]2019-20 MVC Standings[/h]
TEAM CONF GB OVR
| Northern Iowa | 11-3 | - | 22-4 |
| Loyola Chicago | 10-4 | 1 | 18-9 |
| Bradley | 9-5 | 2 | 18-9 |
| Southern Illinois | 9-5 | 2 | 15-12 |
| Indiana State | 7-6 | 3.5 | 14-10 |
| Valparaiso | 7-7 | 4 | 14-13 |
| Drake | 6-7 | 4.5 | 16-10 |
| Missouri State | 6-7 | 4.5 | 12-14 |
| Illinois State | 3-11 | 8 | 8-18 |
| Evansville | 0-13 | 10.5 | 9-17 |
TEAM CONF GB OVR
I found the story here-
https://wcfcourier.com/sports/colle...cle_dfe6c327-bc55-5ca3-b4e7-8bee9fff4ba3.html
Nothing went UNI’s way over the final five minutes. Green came up with a cut across his nose while diving for a loose ball that left blood on the court, and missed three of UNI’s first four shot attempts over a scoreless opening four minutes. In total, UNI finished 1-for-12 in overtime.
https://wcfcourier.com/sports/colle...cle_dfe6c327-bc55-5ca3-b4e7-8bee9fff4ba3.html
Nothing went UNI’s way over the final five minutes. Green came up with a cut across his nose while diving for a loose ball that left blood on the court, and missed three of UNI’s first four shot attempts over a scoreless opening four minutes. In total, UNI finished 1-for-12 in overtime.
Here is a video of the final seconds of regulation in the UNI-Loyola game. Loyola was up by 3 points when A.J. Green made a tough 3-pointer to tie the game and send it to overtime-
https://twitter.com/mid_madness/stat...74140989448192
Loyola pulled it out in overtime anyway, but I think if I was the Loyola coach, I'd have had my players foul before he had a chance to shoot and wouldn't allow Green a chance to tie the game.
https://twitter.com/mid_madness/stat...74140989448192
Loyola pulled it out in overtime anyway, but I think if I was the Loyola coach, I'd have had my players foul before he had a chance to shoot and wouldn't allow Green a chance to tie the game.
I too watched the entire Loyola - Northern Iowa game .... and the atmosphere at Loyola was great ....and we "did" have that at Carver .... and to date I blame Glasser, and Ford for the low attendance that still to date is recovering.
The caliber of basketball being played at the top of the Missouri Valley is in my books just as good as any power conference. In fact if the NCAA Tournament were to have say 4 MVC teams - and "not" seated in the 13, 14, 15, or 16 portion of the brackets - I can almost guarantee the MVC would win at least 2 first round games. The Power 5 or ( 6 ) would not want to see this. It happened in 2006. In face 2 teams that year made it to the Sweet 16.
As far as beating both..... That is exactly what Bradley did last year in the 2019 MVC Tournament. Chances are that Northern Iowa and Loyola finish 1 and 2. So if all win their first round of the MVC Tournament - then 3 and 4 will likely face these 2. I am like Da Coach - if we are to face Northern Iowa - I want to face them again in the final game. As Da Coach points out - Northern Iowa's top 5 players - play most of the game - and I want them tired.
The last 2 games that Bradley has played have been great - great learning experiences. All the top MVC teams are sharpening their skills. Every team has 4 more games to work on "fine tuning" their skills before the MVC Tournament - which begins 2 weeks from this Thursday. Should be a "doozie" of a 2020 MVC Tournament. GO BRAVES !!!
Green's busted nose affected Green's shooting for the rest of the game. I can not recall Green missing 3 (and maybe 4) 3 point attempts in a row. I wonder if Green will be wearing a mask in his next game?
ISU never should have been given the opportunity to win on a last second shot. Freeman made the dunk when all he had to do was dribble the game out. There was no one from ISU close to him, but by dunking it gave ISU a chance.
LongTimeFan
Active member
I managed to watch some parts of the game. Did anyone else hear one of the announcers mention that a couple of the pro teams were in to watch Green?
If they did, they didn't see one of his better games. He did make a last second three to tie the game and send it to overtime, but overall A.J. Green was just 8-23 from the floor and 3-11 from three. He did not shoot a single free throw, and he had 7 turnovers.
I noticed one other thing about the UNI game at Loyola yesterday- all 5 of their starters played more than 40 minutes in the game.
A.J. Green- 45 minutes
Trae Berhow- 45 minutes
Isaiah Brown- 42 minutes
Spencer Haldeman- 42 minutes
Austin Phyfe- 41 minutes
The entire bench played only 10 combined minutes and accounted for a total of 2 points.
I wonder if all the heavy minutes and the fact they get little from their bech will hurt UNI in the MVC Tournament?
Box score- https://s3.amazonaws.com/sidearm.sit..._Box_Score.pdf
I did not see the game (was driving back from Carbondale) but Loyola was only called for 7 Personal Fouls in the entire game. UNI attempted only 2 FTs in the 45 minute game. OTOH, Loyola was 10-17 from the FT line. I don't know if it has anything to do with Sister Jean's pregame prayer every game, but Loyola in the Gentile Arena gets special treatment from Valley officials more than any team I can recall. It shows in the MVC stats- Loyola has attempted more free throws on the season than any other MVC teams.
According to the box score the attendance for the game was 4963: https://loyolaramblers.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats/2019-20/uni/boxscore/4967
The last Bradley game against ISUblue 5023: https://bradleybraves.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats/2019-20/indiana-state/boxscore/18038
Now I don't disagree that there are less fans than before, but this isn't just a Glasser/Ford issue and that narrative is getting very tired. The reality is compared to a lot of teams in college basketball (especially the mid major level), the Braves draw fairly well. The other difference is Gentile only seats about 5000 (https://www.luc.edu/studentcomplex/gentilearena/), whereas Carver seats approximately 11500 for basketball. So if it is entirely atmosphere, then maybe the solution is to move the games to the RC. It would not be my choice, but this argument keeps coming up.
Here are some other numbers and facts that I have to get off my chest.... I am sorry if anyone doesn't like these things brought up after so long.
In 2006-07, the season before Joanne Glasser took over, Bradley drew an average of 9,728 per game.
In the 2010-11 season, the year Glasser fired Jim Les, Bradley's average home attendance was still 8,447 despite a historically bad year (12-20, and 4-14 in the MVC).
That same year (2010-11), Loyola averaged 2,428 per home game. In other words, Bradley drew 3½ times what Loyola drew. Now they are drawing crows close to what Bradley draws!
But by the 2014-15 season (Joanne Glasser's final year) Bradley's average attendance had dropped to 5,726. That is a drop of 41% from before Glasser & Dr. Cross, and a drop of over 4,000 PER GAME! I have done a lot of research on this, and that is the largest percentage drop I can find anywhere in average attendance in such a short span in Division I basketball. Maybe you can cite other factors, but there cannot be any doubt that the biggest factor was the meddling and changes that were the responsibility of Glasser & Cross.
I personally can name dozens of long time fans and major mega-donors to the program who were run off by Glasser and Cross. The Braves Scholarship Society (donor level of $20,000 or more per year) had over 60 members in 2009 when I joined. Within a few years all but a handful had dropped out. That alone is millions of dollars of revenue lost per year! And that was all due to Glasser & Cross.
Many of the most loyal season ticket buyers and top donating fans left when Bradley raised ticket prices right in the midst of the worst losing stretch in Bradley history. Glasser & Cross kicked all the high-dollar donors out of those first 3 rows across from the benches unless they kicked up their maintenance to $2500 per seat. That included Bill Sharp (of Sharp Income Tax) who had donated massive sums to Bradley over the years and had 8 seats in that area. He was very bitter about the changes, gave up all 8 seats and as far as I know, has never returned or donated a dime since. S&S Builders Hardware had 4 seats in the front row and dropped their tickets and have never come back. Mort Cantor's widow had 2 seats in the front row and gave hers up because she couldn't afford the massive rise in ticket price and maintenance. And there were many more I won't name. And there were innumerable others who were in the lesser-priced areas who also gave up their seats with the price rise, or because they just couldn't stand all the losing. Most of them have never come back. I personally cut back from 4 tickets to 2 and was threatened by the administration (Cross) that if I dropped all my seats that I "would never be allowed back in" to the lower bowl. All these things can be documented by anyone who wants to take the time to make a couple calls, but we have never had any media people who did that. Instead, the media just continued to kiss Glasser's butt.
In 2009, I was told by the AD (Ken Kavanagh) that Bradley topped out at over 9,000 season tickets sold. Now that number must be around 4,000 now, since we've had some games this season with attendance figures in the mid-4000's. Those were the most loyal, dedicated Bradley fans, not the casual fans who are the ones who are much more likely to find other things to do with their time, and who account for attendance drops at most schools. Many of those long-time season ticket buyers, some who had tickets for multiple generations, are gone because of the previous administration. The Board of Trustees finally realized that, and that is why they stepped into this matter when sports is not usually an issue the Board of Trustees at Universities ever gets involved with and was not one they really wanted to have to deal with. And they made the extensive changes in 2015. Again, I am not aware of another example anywhere at any college where a President, Athletic Director, and Head Coach were all fired at the same time for pretty much the same reasons. That alone says volumes.
Yes, there have been other issues that caused the attendance drops, but the largest factor undoubtedly were the actions of Glasser and Cross and the way they treated the loyal, unbelievably generous donors and season ticket buyers and fans, and the inept management choices that lead to the declines. And we should never forget what happened and hope it never happens again.
In 2006-07, the season before Joanne Glasser took over, Bradley drew an average of 9,728 per game.
In the 2010-11 season, the year Glasser fired Jim Les, Bradley's average home attendance was still 8,447 despite a historically bad year (12-20, and 4-14 in the MVC).
That same year (2010-11), Loyola averaged 2,428 per home game. In other words, Bradley drew 3½ times what Loyola drew. Now they are drawing crows close to what Bradley draws!
But by the 2014-15 season (Joanne Glasser's final year) Bradley's average attendance had dropped to 5,726. That is a drop of 41% from before Glasser & Dr. Cross, and a drop of over 4,000 PER GAME! I have done a lot of research on this, and that is the largest percentage drop I can find anywhere in average attendance in such a short span in Division I basketball. Maybe you can cite other factors, but there cannot be any doubt that the biggest factor was the meddling and changes that were the responsibility of Glasser & Cross.
I personally can name dozens of long time fans and major mega-donors to the program who were run off by Glasser and Cross. The Braves Scholarship Society (donor level of $20,000 or more per year) had over 60 members in 2009 when I joined. Within a few years all but a handful had dropped out. That alone is millions of dollars of revenue lost per year! And that was all due to Glasser & Cross.
Many of the most loyal season ticket buyers and top donating fans left when Bradley raised ticket prices right in the midst of the worst losing stretch in Bradley history. Glasser & Cross kicked all the high-dollar donors out of those first 3 rows across from the benches unless they kicked up their maintenance to $2500 per seat. That included Bill Sharp (of Sharp Income Tax) who had donated massive sums to Bradley over the years and had 8 seats in that area. He was very bitter about the changes, gave up all 8 seats and as far as I know, has never returned or donated a dime since. S&S Builders Hardware had 4 seats in the front row and dropped their tickets and have never come back. Mort Cantor's widow had 2 seats in the front row and gave hers up because she couldn't afford the massive rise in ticket price and maintenance. And there were many more I won't name. And there were innumerable others who were in the lesser-priced areas who also gave up their seats with the price rise, or because they just couldn't stand all the losing. Most of them have never come back. I personally cut back from 4 tickets to 2 and was threatened by the administration (Cross) that if I dropped all my seats that I "would never be allowed back in" to the lower bowl. All these things can be documented by anyone who wants to take the time to make a couple calls, but we have never had any media people who did that. Instead, the media just continued to kiss Glasser's butt.
In 2009, I was told by the AD (Ken Kavanagh) that Bradley topped out at over 9,000 season tickets sold. Now that number must be around 4,000 now, since we've had some games this season with attendance figures in the mid-4000's. Those were the most loyal, dedicated Bradley fans, not the casual fans who are the ones who are much more likely to find other things to do with their time, and who account for attendance drops at most schools. Many of those long-time season ticket buyers, some who had tickets for multiple generations, are gone because of the previous administration. The Board of Trustees finally realized that, and that is why they stepped into this matter when sports is not usually an issue the Board of Trustees at Universities ever gets involved with and was not one they really wanted to have to deal with. And they made the extensive changes in 2015. Again, I am not aware of another example anywhere at any college where a President, Athletic Director, and Head Coach were all fired at the same time for pretty much the same reasons. That alone says volumes.
Yes, there have been other issues that caused the attendance drops, but the largest factor undoubtedly were the actions of Glasser and Cross and the way they treated the loyal, unbelievably generous donors and season ticket buyers and fans, and the inept management choices that lead to the declines. And we should never forget what happened and hope it never happens again.
It may have definitely contributed, I can't deny that, but it was 5 years ago. Loyola went to the Final Four 2 years ago, and we still lead the conference in average attendance: https://mvc-sports.com/stats.aspx?path=mbball&year=2019. The reality is that every game is now on tv, and people just don't go to live sporting events as much. At some point we need to quit dwelling on the past, and focus on the future. I don't think there are average fans that are still staying away because of Glasser/Cross/Ford.
I am not discounting those other reasons that fans don't attend live sporting events as much today as in the past. I have said as much on this board many times. But in Bradley's case, the drop in attendance is far greater than other schools, and for that specific reason I stated.
As I said above, there are still a lot of fans bitter about the way they were treated and who have not returned. I was almost one of them. And maybe those aren't average fans, but they were long-time loyal fans who bought season tickets for decades, even generations, and donated enormous amounts. Bradley still misses those fans. I'd rather see 10,000 fans in the arena instead of 5,000-6,000, but that will probably never happen again.
As I said above, there are still a lot of fans bitter about the way they were treated and who have not returned. I was almost one of them. And maybe those aren't average fans, but they were long-time loyal fans who bought season tickets for decades, even generations, and donated enormous amounts. Bradley still misses those fans. I'd rather see 10,000 fans in the arena instead of 5,000-6,000, but that will probably never happen again.