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Final score: Bradley 108 Indiana State 99

yoda said:
the game last year was one to remember....
it was one of the two or 3 WORST OFFICIATED GAMES in all my memory....in fact- a full year later I am still angry whenever I think about it...
The Indiana State coaching staff picked up on the fact that the refs were calling every single bit of contact near the basket as a defensive foul.
So, even tho their main game plan was to launch three's, and they were pretty good at it - they switched their game plan ....
and on EVERY freaking possession, they just put heir heads down and drove into the lane - intentionally creating contact and being
gifted by the refs every time with free throws...

In the end, they shot a whopping 36 free throws (30-36)- so that even tho Bradley outscored them 78-59 on points scored in-game,
it still took Duke's play in OT to win.
Even Coach Wardle said he'd never seen a game like that.

Men's Basketball vs Indiana State on 1/1/2025 - Box Score - Bradley University Athletics

The official box score of Men's Basketball vs Indiana State on 1/1/2025
bradleybraves.com bradleybraves.com

We adjusted and that tactic did not work two weeks later in Peoria- not that they didn't try anyway and still got 28 trips to the FT line,
but Bradley played actual, real basketball and ran plays to win 118-65
Click to expand...
I was there. Couldn’t have said it better. I was fuming!
 
Final score
Bradley 108- Indiana State 99

Massive difference in foul calls....
Fouls on Bradley 29 - Fouls on Indiana State 19
FT's for Indiana State 43!! - FT's for Bradley 27

a couple of those late calls in OT were totally bogus...
But this will help our guys get tougher and play on the road against adversity.

Can we just give Freshman of the Week to Wheels, now? (19 pts, many of them CLUTCH, 4 asst)
Other notables- Jaquan 20 pts, 4 asst, 3 steals, Alex 21 pts & 4-9 from 3pt, Corey Thomas 9 pts/14 reb, Timo 17&6,
 
Kososaur said:
Didn't the recently posted Wardle interview have him say "Up 3 under 6 seconds we foul"?
Click to expand...
I was screaming for them to cover the Indiana State player in the backcourt, and even to foul. I hope we don't make that mistake again.
It was a terrific game, but I don't know if my heart can stand too many more like tonight.

Final- Bradley 108 Indiana State 99-
Official Box Score- https://bradleybraves.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats/2025-26/indiana-state/boxscore/22686

What a terrific performance by freshman Montana Wheeler (19 points, 3 rebounds, 4 assits). He was clutch all game, but especially in the 2nd and 3rd overtimes when Jaquan Johnson fouled out.]
Jaquan was his usual heroic self, keeping Bradley in the game with 20 points, 4 assists, and 3 steals, and repeatedly making some huge baskets when it looked like Bradley was headed for defeat.
Alex Huibregtse was also terrific with 21 points and 4 rebounds.
A.J. was relatively quiet offensively, but he played nice defense, and had 7 rebounds to go with his 4 points.
Corey Thomas was terrific off the bench, especially late in the game when Meta was in foul trouble, and when he fouled out. Corey had 14 rebounds and 9 big points. I keep waiting for his three point shot to fall, because he make that consistently in practices, and he has the green light from Coach Wardle to take it when open. But he was just 1-6 tonight.
And accolades go to Timoty van der Knaap, too, with 33 minutes off the bench, 17 points, and 6 rebounds.

Let's take care of SIU Sunday! Go BU!
 
Jaquan’s free throw issues remind me so much of DLo in his soph/jr year. He’d get to the line in key situations and struggle to execute from there.

But there was a magical day in early March 2019 when the young man was put to the line to shoot 4 in a row in one of the highest stakes moments in BU hoops history. Most on here will remember how that turned out.

Perhaps we will see history repeat itself.
 
Did anyone else besides me have trouble getting stats on the Bradley site? I couldn't get the men's or women's stats to come up on my phone tonight.
I was bowling at the Christian Center tonight and my wife had the tablet with her so she could watch the game.
Done bowling as they went to 2nd OT.
We didn't leave until the game ended with a great win.
 
basketball nut said:
Did anyone else besides me have trouble getting stats on the Bradley site? ...
Click to expand...
The stats worked OK for me, for both men and women.

Montana Wheeler was named the Ameren Player of the Game.
There were several heroes and the POG award could have gone to Alex Huibregtse (team-leading 21 points), Jaquan Johnson (20 points, 16 after halftime), or even Corey Thomas (14 rebounds, 6 of them in the overtime periods). It was a great team win. But, Wheeler had the clutch three pointer with 26 seconds left in the 2nd OT to bring Bradley back from the brink of defeat, then he went 4-4 from the FT line in the 3rd OT to seal the win.... Quite a performance by the freshman with Jaquan Johnson out of the game because of fouls.
https://twitter.com/x/status/2001857430150435044

BTW, check out the +/- stats on the PDF version of the box score, Alex Huibregtse was +28 points. Nobody else on either team was anywhere close to that stat. That tells just how valuable Alex is to this team.

MBB Game Book INSvsBRAD 12.18 (PDF) - Indiana State University Athletics

MBB Game Book INSvsBRAD 12.18 (PDF)
gosycamores.com gosycamores.com
 
Great game for sure, only if AJ Smith would have made the second free throw to put us up by four at the end of regulation, no need for the extra frames of OT. I know players do not go to the line thinking they will miss. But extra attention needs to be taken in practice. In my opinion it is more a mental thing. Just keep practicing free throws and things should get better as we go on. Especially with Jaquon. More times than not he usually splits his free throws. By seasons end he should be much better. On to Southern Illinois. "LET'S GO BRAVES"
 
My biggest takeaway from this game is how clear it is that BW has an emphasis on having 2 strong point guards. When Jaquan was on the bench with fouls, and especially when he fouled out, it was Wheeler’s team. Through the good and bad, the young man kept his chin up and was a tremendous leader. Zero chance we finish that win without that type of on-court leadership.
 
The final 30 secs of regulation wasn't our best game plan. Should have fouled on the inbound to avoid 3 point heave. Also hope AJ makes that free throw in March when it really counts.
the team played excellent for about 30 minutes, which has been an achilles heel for years. A lot of good film to watch and a lot of bad film to study. i can't blame the foul calls, yes some were questionable at best, but i thought Quannie got MANY gift calls as well.

The one call i CAN blame is in the 2nd OT with 18 seconds left on Timo under the basket, off the ball. No ref should be calling an off-the-ball foul with under a minute left for any reason...especially when in double bonus....unless someone is bleeding profusely or there's a knife in someone's hand...swallow your whistle. There was barely even any contact and the player was trying to walk over Timo while he was standing his ground.

Corey had an amazing comeback game. i was nervous he had dropped 2 or 3 spots in the rotation after his last few games, but he stepped up and in the 2nd half looked like the most tenacious rebounder on the court. and he saved the game for us defensively a couple times.
obviously tremendous game for the guards all around as all have already stated.
we 100% have to work on the 1-3-1 defense....we gave up 3 easy layups out of it in the final minutes of reg and OT.

SIU is a good team with length and will give us problems. Hope to see a good turnout on Sunday to show the newcomers what the highest attendance in the valley really feels like.
 
Kososaur said:
Didn't the recently posted Wardle interview have him say "Up 3 under 6 seconds we foul"?
Click to expand...
defense was all positioned and ready to foul in the frontcourt but the ball never got there.
That's a one-in-100 shot that you don't really plan your defense around...

Montana Wheeler's only turnover was really bogus offensive foul trying to fight around defense...
overall on the season he has 43 asst/12 TO = A/TO of 3.6

I am disappointed in the post-game article again by the BU staff...
The game summary and historical tidbits are ok but NOT ONE single post-game comment from Coach Wardle!
In fact, he isn't even mentioned, not his momentum swinging technical....(after which we outscored them 61-50)

Don't they have a post game press conference? How does Jim Mattson or Dave Snell get comments from Coach Wardle
within minutes after the game and yet our own sports information staff apparently can not.
 
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What a great gritty win that was! Best game of the season I thought. This team showed fight, heart. The momentum had shifted after the 50 foot prayer to send the game to OT, and then Indy St scored the first 5 or 6 in the 1st OT.

The Wheel Deal was absolutely key in helping them when Quanny fouled out. I didn't think Wheels would make such an impact so early in the season - let alone for the entire season. He was a great court general down the stretch. Timo was great in the 3rd OT. Tho Corey bricked so many 3s, his rebounding all night was on.

Very important to win the close road games b/c there is no easy game on the road in the Valley.

Going to be a fight from 1 to 5 in the race all season. Belmont and Murray are pleasant surprises, tho they were picked in the top half.
 
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I read that last night's thriller was the 2nd longest game in Bradley history. Of course, behind the all-time longest game in 1981 (7 OTs).
Was 3 OTs tied for 2nd? Or is it the 1st time we've played 3 OTs?
 
Dub said:
Jaquan’s free throw issues remind me so much of DLo in his soph/jr year. He’d get to the line in key situations and struggle to execute from there.

But there was a magical day in early March 2019 when the young man was put to the line to shoot 4 in a row in one of the highest stakes moments in BU hoops history. Most on here will remember how that turned out.

Perhaps we will see history repeat itself.
Click to expand...
Crazy b/c he hit 30+ in a row during Valley play last season. Then the streak ended, and he shot like 60% from the stripe the rest of the season. He needs more arc on his FT shot, but would be hard to rectify at this point. Gotta be mental - he's so tough mentally for just a soph.
 
At least we played better last night than the game in Terre Haute last season. We played poorly except for the final few minutes when a loss seemed probable and even in OT, but for Duke's heroics in the closing seconds. Similar to the game at UIC, where Duke pulled it out with a 3-dagger in the final seconds. The link shows both game-winning shots from last season.

 
Bacci'sAftertheGym said:
The final 30 secs of regulation wasn't our best game plan. Should have fouled on the inbound to avoid 3 point heave. Also hope AJ makes that free throw in March when it really counts.
the team played excellent for about 30 minutes, which has been an achilles heel for years. A lot of good film to watch and a lot of bad film to study. i can't blame the foul calls, yes some were questionable at best, but i thought Quannie got MANY gift calls as well.

The one call i CAN blame is in the 2nd OT with 18 seconds left on Timo under the basket, off the ball. No ref should be calling an off-the-ball foul with under a minute left for any reason...especially when in double bonus....unless someone is bleeding profusely or there's a knife in someone's hand...swallow your whistle. There was barely even any contact and the player was trying to walk over Timo while he was standing his ground.

Corey had an amazing comeback game. i was nervous he had dropped 2 or 3 spots in the rotation after his last few games, but he stepped up and in the 2nd half looked like the most tenacious rebounder on the court. and he saved the game for us defensively a couple times.
obviously tremendous game for the guards all around as all have already stated.
we 100% have to work on the 1-3-1 defense....we gave up 3 easy layups out of it in the final minutes of reg and OT.

SIU is a good team with length and will give us problems. Hope to see a good turnout on Sunday to show the newcomers what the highest attendance in the valley really feels like.
Click to expand...
Man, I don't know BATG. I think the odds would definitely favor letting someone take a 3/4 court shot over shooting 3 FT's. I think fouling on the 3 would only be the play inside the half court line at best, but that's just my personal opinion.
 
Big Win on the road! I'm guessing that most home teams win overtime games! I listened on WMBD radio starting in Overtime. It was so Obvious how excited our announcers were! I believe for Bradley to have any chance in Arch Madness, these are the games on the road especially in 3OT that you need to win! It appears 5 good Valley teams now in conference 1-0 and Belmont 2-0, will compete for the top 4 coveted bye spots for Arch Madness! Some good team will be left out! I think last night's game was almost a must win for Bradley trying to secure a top 4 spot in the Conference. I'm much more excited about a good season after last night's win! I don't care if they win the Valley regular season title. I care they can win close games in Arch Madness to give themselves a legit chance at a top 4 seed and to win the tournament!
 
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