Courtside at Carver Arena. Will be really interesting tonight to see what kind of crowd shows up, and how enthused the hometowners will be.

Pregame notes

The refs tonight are Scott Thornley, John “Baywatch” Higgins and Steve Olson. That’s a terrific crew. Higgins is a Final Four vet. He has been doing Valley games for a long time. I remember first seeing him in the early 1990s, when some Bradley fans I was sitting with dropped the “Baywatch” tag on him. He was always tan in mid-winter, and had that surfer-boy hair. But he’s a good ref. Likes to let them play inside.

Bradley will maintain the same starting lineup: Sam Maniscalco, Andrew Warren, Chris Roberts, Taylor Brown and Will Egolf. Drake will start Ryan Wedel, Frank Wiseler, Josh Young, Adam Templeton and Seth VanDeest.

Drake has won six of its last seven and is in the three-way tie for third place in the MVC at 6-5. Bradley has lost two in a row after a three-game winning streak, and the Braves are 5-6, in the three-way tie for sixth.

This is a must-win game for Bradley in its quest to avoid the play-in game at the MVC tournament next month. The Braves cannot afford to lose any more home games. Bradley won the previous encounter, at Des Moines, 67-59. … And it was announced today that the Bradley-Drexel game in the BracketBuster will be at 7:05 p.m. on Feb. 20, at Carver Arena. No TV for that one.

Off Topic … while we wait for tipoff:

Today is the anniversary of Buddy Holly’s final concert, at the Surf Ballroom in Clear Lake, Iowa. And Wednesday is the 51st anniversary of “The Day the Music Died,” when Holly, Ritchie Valens and J.P. Richardson (a.k.a. the Big Bopper) died in a small airplane crash in the wee hours. They were on the “Winter Dance Party Tour,” which was scheduled to stop on Valentine’s Day in Peoria and play the Armory. The tour, in fact, went on, with Waylon Jennings filling in along the way for Holly. Holly’s former band, The Cricketts, stepped up and joined the tour after his death as well.

Last fall, I visited the Buddy Holly museum in Lubbock, Texas; his hometown.

I also visited the tribute to Buddy outside the civic auditorium. Nice little garden with plaques commemorating other West Texas artists. But the statue is all Buddy:

A moment of silence for Buddy, Ritchie and the Bopper …

Tipoff coming up. …

Bradley pounds inside to Egolf on first possession; he can’t score, but that was definitive as to what they want to do. … Drake over-and-back on its first, with a deflection off Young’s foot. … Roberts puts BU on the board first with a 3 from the right wing. … Templeton drives the paint and scores over Egolf. … Maniscalco gets to the paint and kicks to Warren for a 3, which he makes. … Egolf gets his first foul at 18:03, and Sam Singh replaces him. That was quick. … Bradley gets second-chance points after Singh gets an ORB. … Drake counters with three second-chance points after a long rebound eludes everyone and goes right to Wedel. … Lots of scoring. Both teams shooting well. …

Timeout at 14:48 — Drake 11, Bradley 10

My colleague Dave Reynolds, the Illinois Sportswriter of the Year, just pointed out Singh has one rebound per minute right now: three. That’s as many as the entire Drake team. Of course, there have been only eight missed shots and we’ve played barely five minutes. …

The pace stays fast after the timeout with each team scoring in the first 25 seconds of resumed play. … Dyricus Simms-Edwards is in for Roberts, and Egolf comes back for Singh. … Simms-Edwards a nice strong drive to the bucket for two. … And he follows with a strong defensive rebound — and then a 3 in secondary transition as he trails the play downcourt. … Maniscalco drives base for a layup, and Bradley is on a seven-point run. … Bradley’s energy level much better tonight. … Whoooo! Sweet baseline drive by Young for a hang, float-under-the-rim, high-spinning reverse layup. …

Timeout at 11:32 — Bradley 21, Drake 18

Bradley getting to the paint every time down. … Drake is there on most of its possessions, too. … Egolf goes for a nice ORB and gets the putback. Very strong, crossing the lane from right to left and splitting two Bulldogs to get the ball. Nice nose. … Drake is much better than when we saw the B-dogs right after Christmas. Infinitely more confident and fluid on offense. Defense, a matchup zone, ain’t much to talk about so far. … Bradley has been mostly man, with some zone; and so-so. … Bradley’s FT shooting is not even so-so in the early going: 3-for-6. … Wedel filling it up for Drake; already has 15 points; only one 3-pointer for the shortest man on the court (he’s 5-11). Driving through Bradley like the Braves took ex-lax before the game. …

Timeout at 7:01 — Bradley 30, Drake 26

Here’s a disturbing set of numbers: Drake is only 2-of-10 from the 3-point arc, but 10-of-13 inside. Bulldogs winning the paint 12-10 at this point. …

Young beats Roberts off the dribble, then splits the entire Bradley defense, right down the middle, for a layup and gets fouled. Converts, and it’s a one-point game again. … Yeesh: I don’t know if Baywatch started to count late, or just has a slow count, but Roberts was hounding Young on the dribble for more than five seconds; right on his butt, with no separation. Young couldn’t shake him and finally was able to pass off. I’d love to see a replay and count that one. I’m thinking seven seconds at least, from start to pass. … News flash! — Bradley makes two consecutive FTs; both by Brown. … Young limps out of the game; doesn’t look too serious. … Finally, a really good defensive stand by the Braves, forcing a bad 3 at the shot clock buzzer. And the next time down, Roberts erases a shot inside. …

Timeout at 3:05 — Bradley 32, Drake 29

So far this has been an entertaining game. More offense than defense, but that’s OK sometimes. At some point, though, you have to stop the other team. … The effort for Bradley is better on that end, although the execution leaves room for a lot of improvement. …

Now Brown gets beat on a drive, then beaten again for the rebound and the putback, as Drake regains the lead. … Egolf gets an ORB and putback to put BU back on top. … Lead changes mounting; I think we’re up to 10 with Maniscalco’s 3-pointer. … NEWS FLASH: That basket puts Maniscalco in the Bradley 1,000-point Club, with 1,002 points for his career. Congrats, Sammy. …

Bradley ending the half on a positive note; starting with Sammy’s 3, followed by him assisting Brown for a jumper. Now a stop and BU holds for the final possession, which Maniscalco ends with another 3. …

Halftime — Bradley 42, Drake 35

Some stats: Bradley shooting 55 percent, Drake 44. The Bulldogs are 2-of-14 from the arc, and the Braves are 5-of-9. … Bradley leads the boards 19-16; tied 6-6 on offensive glass. … Drake leads points in paint 16-12 and second-chance points 9-8. … Considering the pace, both teams taking care of the ball: Bradley 5 turnovers, Drake 3. Bradley has only one steal, Drake three. … Wedel leads all scorers with 15; has taken (and missed) only one shot since reaching that point total in the first nine minutes of play. … Maniscalco has 12 points, Brown 8 points with 4 rebounds. …

Second half

Egolf picks up his second foul of the game at 19:01. Only Bradley’s seventh of the game. But now Roberts gets a foul, Bradley’s third of the half and eighth of the game. Young cuts the lead to five with the FTs. … Young goes down again, but this time he’s holding his mouth. He comes out to avoid Drake having to call time. … Wiseler drives for a layup through the BU defense, and the Braves commit a turnover. Young back in, and it’s another slow second-half start in the making for Bradley. … Templeton posts up Brown and dusts him, cutting the lead to a point. … Egolf picks up his third foul with 17:04 to go, and Bradley is not looking good. … DSE in for Roberts, Singh in for Egolf. … Another Bradley turnover. … Great block by Brown in transition, andWarren picks up the pinball scramble. … First real spark of life in the Braves this half. … Brown gets fouled and scores BU’s first second-half points with a pair of FTs. … Singh deflects an entry pass and BU on the move again, until Warren throws it away. …

Timeout at 15:46 — Bradley 44, Drake 41

Well, I told you Higgins lets them play. Templeton just decked Roberts with his left arm on a baseline drive and scored. Higgins let it go. … Roberts responds with a 3, so maybe the no-call got him fired up. … Now Templeton flies through a host of Braves for a transition tipin. Inexcusable letting anyone get to the rim like that. … Well, Roberts gets the break on this one. Thornley lets Roberts put his shoulder into his man and run over him; calls the foul on Wiseler. … Turnovers mounting. An exchange of turnovers ends with Maniscalco on a fastbreak layup for Bradley and a foul, but he can’t hit the FT. Bradley still up four points, so the Braves survived the opening onslaught without giving up the lead. … Roberts a 3 from the corner after a nice passing sequence for BU. … Now DSE leads a BU break and hits Brown in stride for the layup. Mark Phelps wants timeout; can’t wait for the under-12 with Bradley running out to a nine-point advantage like that. …

BTW, crowd announced at 8,670. Not close to that in the building, though. Lots of empties among the season-ticket areas. And the student sections: lots of long, empty rows. Sad. … The enthusiasm of those here is all right, though. …

Timeout at 10:48 — Bradley 54, Drake 47

The difference in this game, statistically, is the 3-point line. Bradley is 7-of-12, and Drake is 2-of-19. That’s a 15-point swing for Bradley, which is shooting selectively and well. Drake isn’t getting many open looks, but the Bulldogs have countered that until the last couple of minutes with effective inside play and putbacks. …

Bradley now has seven turnovers this half. … Singh is a board monster tonight; just grabbed his eighth. Templeton has a dozen for Drake, though. … Young finally breaks a Drake 3 drought; the Bulldogs are now 3-for-22. …

Timeout at 7:55 — Bradley 54, Drake 50

Bradley has to find a way to score inside. Egolf throttled tonight. BU has only four points out of him and Singh combined. Also, BU is having a bad night at the line; just 8-for-14 now after Maniscalco splits for the second time tonight. Even the best FT shooters are off. … Nice tapout offensive rebound by Singh. That’s his career high for a single game: nine. … Young hits another 3 and the margin is down to a pair. …Second half much slower and in the halfcourt sets. … Maniscalco scores and Jim Les calls one of his “We just scored, so I must call a timeout” timeouts. … VanDeest scores in the post for Drake, and this one seems destined for the wire. … Tough shot by Maniscalco in the paint, followed by a steal by Warren and Brown gets fouled. He makes both, and the lead is back to six. … Breathing room, but not enough to relax. …

Timeout at 3:55 — Bradley 61, Drake 55

Shot-clock violation on the Braves. Warren’s 3 from the corner is deflected and misses the rim; ball on floor when the clock expires. … Young begging to take over for Drake. He came out of the timeout and made a pair of FTs. Now he drives and gets fouled by Roberts. Bonus situation, and Young makes both; two-point game again. … Maniscalco replies to Young; gets a tough drive to the paint, fake and spin for a bucket. … But Warren fouls Young quickly on the other end, and Young makes both. We have a showdown between a couple of tough veteran guards. … Roberts misses a layup — and a putback of his own miss. … Drake cuts the lead to one on a VanDeest FT. …

And what a finish! Wild and crazy. Maniscalco misses a 3, but Egolf tips it in. Drake answers with a 3 by Templeton to tie, and BU sets for a last shot with 16 seconds left. Maniscalco takes a 3, misses, but Egolf is on the spot again with the rebound, which he grabs and tosses back at the basket, falling away. Swisho. Drake desperation at the buzzer misses.

Final score — Bradley 67, Drake 65