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Final score: Belmont 88 Bradley 78

Assuming our younger guys continue to improve and become more comfortable, in two months this game is winnable. As mentioned, Wheeler and Burch showed what they are capable of. We obviously know what Bully can do. Even Kai showed some improvement with offensive rebounds and put backs. A lot of potential to finish this season strong.
 
Not too disappointed in this one, but need to find a way to win at Murray on Sunday.
Belmont is just so good and should win a game like this at home.
We did a great job in the 2nd half to limit turnovers (4 maybe?) and were in range for most of the 2nd half.

Wheeler again continues to impress as a Freshman and if he continues playing like this will without question land on the All-Valley Freshman team.

Let's face it - we don't have an inside game. Coach needs to find a guy or 2 in the offseason to make an offensive impact.
Very disappointed in Meta and CT to this point...and AJ Smith is only going to give us so much.
 
I thought we played like a contender for most of the game. The last 5 minutes was NOT good, but Belmont had the experience down the stretch to pull away. I am a bit more hopeful in possibly being a team that contends, but basically it depends on our defense in the paint and our guard play - our obvious strength...going to be a tough one in Murray, but I think we can pull it out.
 
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?
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My understanding is that you can NOT link NIL to performance, at least overtly.
 
In case you hadn't checked out my breakdown, including a bunch of pictures at and around the arena.
https://bubraves2006.substack.com/p/defense-lets-bradley-down-as-win

As I noted some here, our defense just hasn't been good enough, even if Belmont is an incredibly efficient offensive team.

I hope that even if Murray State wins Sunday that this team's confidence doesn't sink. Nobody else in the Valley's top 5 has played each other yet, so losses are coming. All that really matters is being in the top five to get a bye at Arch Madness. Every game is going to be difficult in STL, so even being the four or five seed will require you to win 3 difficult games to get the NCAA bid.
 
Random tidbit - BU Men are watching the ladies play against Belmont this afternoon - sitting behind the basket as the ladies were last night.
 
My thoughts on this team is that 4 of our 5 best players are a 1 freshmen, 2 sophomores, 1 junior and a graduate senior. Our seniors are mediocre at best which is a big disappointment.
Kai might need able to help but still has trouble on defense.
Maybe it's time we see what Richardson and Zobrist can bring to this lineup.
Coach said he challenged the seniors after the game so we will see how that translates into the Murray State game.
 
All that has been stated has truth to it. This upcoming recruiting season, it is competitive we bring in frontline players that are studs. Maybe they can land some good juco players that can score around the basket and rebound. We are supposedly have the top NIL money in the conference. If that is so then let's, get those kind of players we need for next year.
 
We have too many players not contributing much on both offensively and defensively. Our guards have been great but our centers and PF have not done much. We are not going to win a lot of road games if our inside players do not get a lot better. This is why we are having an up and down season. I was there last night and Belmont was able to score at will both inside and outside. The only real trouble they had was when we zone pressed and then fill back into a zone and trapped them on defense.
 
You can win when you have 4 guards that can play as well as JJ, Burch, Alex and Montana but our margin of error is small when 2 of those 4 don't score. Meta is Meta. He is what he is, for better or worse. AJ hustles but the results just haven't been there enough. Corey has been the leader of team inconsistent. He's had great games and no show games. Timo has moments but they are still too far and in between. YU keeps improving but needs about 20-25 pounds of muscle to be a real difference maker. The good news? We've got 2 months to get better and pretty much every team in the Brian Wardle era has gotten better by Arch Madness. It's hard some times but we must trust the process. Next step is on Sunday at Murray State.
 
With how consistent meta is from the FT line I have been surprised they haven't tried to run any pick and pop sets for him. They need some contribution from him other than just his size. He hasn't been a great rebounder this year and somehow can't finish around the rim, in fact he won't even try and score under the basket sometimes.
 
gobraves1 said:
With how consistent meta is from the FT line I have been surprised they haven't tried to run any pick and pop sets for him. They need some contribution from him other than just his size. He hasn't been a great rebounder this year and somehow can't finish around the rim, in fact he won't even try and score under the basket sometimes.
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You are correct. One time he got the ball down low and was wide open except for one defender out of position. But he instead of trying to score he passed the ball back out. And speaking of rebounds, another play had the Belmont player shoot , it bounced off the rim and Meta let it bounce on the floor in front of him. He then thought about grabbing it but the Belmont player ran around him and got the rebound
 
gobraves1 said:
With how consistent meta is from the FT line I have been surprised they haven't tried to run any pick and pop sets for him. They need some contribution from him other than just his size. He hasn't been a great rebounder this year and somehow can't finish around the rim, in fact he won't even try and score under the basket sometimes.
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Only problem with him doing a pick and pop is that he wouldn’t catch the ball when it’s thrown to him. He’d bobble it and loose it.
 
One thing we should note is that Montana Wheeler set a Bradley record in the Belmont game for the most threes in a game by a freshman. He was 7-9 from three. He eclipsed Almar Atlason's previous freshman record when he was 6 of 7 from three on Nov. 14, 2023 against Tarleton State in the SoCal Challenge.
The Bradley freshman record for three pointers in a season is held by Sam Maniscalco in 2007-2008 with 55.
Montana Wheeler is currently 24-60 (40.0%) through 14 games, so that season record could be within reach for him.
https://twitter.com/x/status/2007197487698673938
 
LittleBrave said:
I thought we played like a contender for most of the game. The last 5 minutes was NOT good, but Belmont had the experience down the stretch to pull away. I am a bit more hopeful in possibly being a team that contends, but basically it depends on our defense in the paint and our guard play - our obvious strength...going to be a tough one in Murray, but I think we can pull it out.
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I think Bradley is one good center away from being a very good team
 
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