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Final score: Belmont 88 Bradley 78

Da Coach

Da Coach

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Next game: Bradley (10-4, 3-0) at Belmont (12-2, 2-1), Thursday, Jan. 1, 6:00 pm
The game is on ESPN+, and is also on the MVC-TV Network
ESPN+ direct link- https://www.espn.com/watch/player/_/id/48b87726-ff20-4b54-a6f0-8f404b689514
Also on Gray Media TV channels, including over-the-air channel 19.1, and WHOI channel 1019 on Xfinity in Peoria
Chat room- https://www.chatzy.com/bradleyfans
Live Stats- https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=610752
WMBD radio - https://wmbdradio.com/player/?playerID=2045

Belmont schedule/results- https://belmontbruins.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule
Roster- https://belmontbruins.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster
Stats- https://belmontbruins.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats?path=mbball

Belmont's NET rank fell to 62 after their last game, an overtime loss at Indiana State (81-80 loss in OT). They are #71 in Kenpom.
Bradley's NET is 120, and their Kenpom ranking is 122.
Bradley is 2-3 all time against Belmont, but the Braves did win the game in Nashville last season 89-77.

Belmont is a deep team and a great shooting team. They have 6 regular rotation players who shoot 40% or better from three.
Belmont is #1 in field goal percentage in the MVC, 51.1% (#22 in the country). They are also #1 in 3-point FG%, 40.0% (#9 in the country)
And Belmont leads the MVC in rebounds per game, and is #2 in rebounding margin.
They have 4 players who average double-digits- *starters, #part-time starter
*Tyler Lundblade- 16.6 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 1.7 apg, 41.9% from three
*Sam Orme- 13.6 ppg, 6.8 rpg, 51.8% overall, 34.8% from three #9
#Drew Scharnowski- 11.3 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 68.0% overall, 0-2 from three for the season
*Nic McClain- 11.0 ppg, 4.5 rpg, 6.4 apg, 45.9% from three
*Jabez Jenkins- 7.9 ppg, 4.9 rpg, 30.0% from three (9-30)
#Brigham Rogers- 8.9 ppg, 4.6 rpg
Jack Smiley- 6.6 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 58.3% from three (14-24)
Eoin Dillon- 4.5 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 41.5% from three (17-41)
Win Miller- 3.7 ppg, 0.8 rpg, 58.8% from three (10-17)
Isaiah West- 2.1 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 40.0% from three (2-5)

Bradley stats- https://bradleybraves.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats
MVC stats- https://mvc-sports.com/documents/2025/11/4//2025_26_MVC_MBB_All_Game_Stats.pdf
 
Tough game for sure. Expecting the Braves to come up short, but hoping for a win somehow and some way. If Bradley can get this win, what a boost of confidence it will give them. "LET'S GO BRAVES"
 
Elon nailed a crucial long 3 pointer in their game at Indiana State in the final seconds of OT, to tie & get Belmont to a spot where they could get to Double OT- but a disputed foul call allowed InSU to put another point on the board, and Indiana State still won & gave Belmont their first MVC loss

In his last 6 games he’s 13-24 from 3-pt, and is 41.5% on the season
IMG_5236.jpeg
 
Today should be about trying new lineups, focusing on high-energy, rebounding, and defense. I don't expect a win, but I do expect a hard fought game with braves showing solid toughness and body language.
 
Pregame article from BradleyBraves.com-
bradleybraves.com

Bradley hits the road to take on Belmont - Bradley University Athletics

Peoria, IL -- The Bradley Braves will open 2026 with a road contest against the Belmont Bruins
bradleybraves.com bradleybraves.com

Pregame article from Belmont-
belmontbruins.com

Men's Basketball Hosts Bradley New Year's Day - Belmont University

Holiday Ticket Specials & Group Experiences On Sale Now!
belmontbruins.com belmontbruins.com
Belmont Game Notes-

GM15 010126 (PDF) - Belmont University

GM15 010126 (PDF)
belmontbruins.com belmontbruins.com

Note that the ESPN broadcasters for the game are Scott Warmann and Dan Muller.
Scott Warmann is a broadcaster from St. Louis who does pregame studio shows and on-field reporting for the St. Louis Cardinals on Fox Sports. He also does studio shows for the St. Louis Blues broadcasts. He doesn't do a lot of play-by-play, but I think he does a pretty good job in the couple games I've watched. Dan Muller, for anyone not familiar, played for Illinois State in their glory years from 1994-1998, and then was their head coach from 2012-2022. His career coaching record was 167-150, but losing records his last 3 seasons got him fired. Interestingly, he was fired on Feb. 13, 2022 with 6 games left on their schedule, plus the MVC Tournament. He was replaced by his assistant coach Brian Jones, who is now an assistant coach on Brian Wardle's staff. Muller has not coached anywhere in the 4 years since being fired by ISU.
For the record, I am not a fan of his TV broadcast skills.
 
there is a report that Belmont's 2nd leading scorer (13.6 ppg & 35% on 3-pointers) and top rebounder (6.8 rpg)
Sam Orme will be unavailable for tonight's game
Orme did not play in Belmont's Monday night loss to Indiana State, and there was no official word as to why, but it is suspected to be an injury.
 
yoda said:
there is a report that Belmont's 2nd leading scorer (13.6 ppg & 35% on 3-pointers) and top rebounder (6.8 rpg)
Sam Orme will be unavailable for tonight's game
Orme did not play in Belmont's Monday night loss to Indiana State, and there was no official word as to why, but it is suspected to be an injury.
Click to expand...
I didn't see Orme during warmups.
 
Team inconsistent showed up once again. Tyler Lundblade is a great shooter but 7-11 from 3 is just inexcusable just like 4-15 in the second half from 3 is. This game was poorly officiated as Belmont shot 30 FT's to our 17 and JJ had ZERO FT ATTEMPTS. How is that possible? Kudos to Burch and Wheeler for having great games on offense but need others to contribute. Once again Corey was a no show, Alex gets held down to often for a shooting guard and Meta, and I know he tries hard, had just 1 FG attempt in 25 minutes. That's just unacceptable. Just gotta hope they keep growing as a team and keep getting better. Sunday at Murray St is their next chance.
 
Box score- Belmont 88 Bradley 78- https://belmontbruins.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats/2025-26/bradley/boxscore/6901
Attendance listed as 1,447

My observations... Bradley fought to stay close, and even lead a couple times early in the 2nd half, but Belmont seemed to be able to score at will, pulled ahead down the stretch, and secured the win with a lot of free throws.
The most notable factors were Bradley's top season scorers had poor games. Jaquan Johnson was 3-13, and had a season-low 8 points, the first game he did not reach double figures this year. And, Alex Huibregtse was 1-6 and 0-4 from three for 3 points, the worst game of his season, so far. Meta Jonovic had 4 points, all on free throws. He was 0-1 from the field.
Demarion Burch (25 points) and Montana Wheeler (22 points) had terrific games, and kept Bradley within striking distance all game.
Belmont's five starters were a combined 23-34 from the floor (68%). They appeared at times to be running a layup drill during the game, and when they missed, they were given free throws (22-30)... not going to win road games when the home team shoots 55% and gets 30 free throws.
And although Bradley did force 16 Belmont turnovers (3 by Jaquan), they also tuned the ball over 16 times.
88 points is the most Bradley has given up all season, except for the triple overtime game at Indiana State. They somehow need a better defensive effort going forward.
 
is there another 7-1 guy that can play an entire game and not make a single basket while averaging
the same number of rebounds as your point guard?

Is there a way NIL $ can be linked to game performance?
 
yoda said:
is there another 7-1 guy that can play an entire game and not make a single basket while averaging
the same number of rebounds as your point guard?

Is there a way NIL $ can be linked to game performance?
Click to expand...
No interior offense or defense. From Meta or Corey. If it hadn't been for our 3 point shooting we would have gotten blown out
 
I will start with the good. Burch and Wheeler were fantastic. For the most part we play hard and we don't turn ball over a lot. Now the bad, out defense let's up too many easy shots. Belmont is a 3 pt shooting team but we still let up way too many threes. Poor game plan or execution. Our rebounding stinks. We have guys that just watch the ball. Our bigs never track the ball or go get it. Rebounding is about position and angles and a desire to get the ball. Other than metta who is just too slow laterally, we don't have any physical bangers that bring a tough presence to our team. One last thing wardle talked about players getting tired quickly. It would help if we didn't substitute every 3 minutes. You have to let the players play through onset of tired and they will get a second wind but we never do that. My God we get media timeouts @ 16, 12,8, and 4. We are going to have our hands full with Murray st with the pace they play at.
 
Not surprised at the outcome, but disappointed in our defensive effort. We know Belmont has good shooters, that’s where our focus should have been. I love our guard play, but boy do we need better results from the 3,4,and 5 spots on both ends of the floor, and better defensive play from everyone!
 
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