I trust my colleague Dave Reynolds found his way to Evansville and Roberts Stadium today. He has been there only about 15 times, so I’m concerned. I decided to skip this trip and be the stereotype blogger: Sitting in my basement, grunged out, snacks on the table, a drink within reach (but no alcohol till the game is over).

I will be working today at my coffee table, fashioned from some of the old bleachers at Robertson Field House:

The comforts of home supply the pregame good news. The bad news for BU fans: I’m predicting Evansville gets its first MVC win of the season today. Bradley should win, but I don’t think the Braves will. Just a gut feeling. Jim Les gets it. He expressed his concerns in Dave’s preview story. But we’ve seen too many times this season when his players don’t get it, and that’s a big reason they’re 11-11 overall and 6-6 in the Valley.

This is a must-win game for BU if it’s to stay out of the MVC tournament play-in game. Given the pileup from second through ninth place, it’s likely that a 9-9 record will wind up in some kind of tie that dips all the way to seventh place, maybe even eighth. Having already split their season series with SIU and Missouri State, and with a home loss to Creighton, the Braves are getting into a bind with tiebreakers. That will make upcoming home games with first-place UNI and second-place Wichita State even more important to win. But it would make a loss to Evansville today devastating.

At a glance, the schedule favors Bradley playing its way out of trouble. The Braves have three home games and three road games remaining. If they hold serve at home and win one road game — and today’s is the most winnable — they’ll finish with a 10-8 Valley record. Never has a 10-8 team finished as low as seventh. But 9-9 has (1997-98, BU and Evansville tied for the sixth and seventh spots). Failing to win today forces the Braves to win at either Indiana State or Creighton (or both) to win four more games.

We’ll see.

Tipoff at 4:05 p.m. …

Taylor Brown hits a tough, somewhat forced, shot off the drive for BU’s first points. … Evansville gets an offensive rebound, but misses the putback, and Bradley scores again in transition. … Lots and lots and lots of empty seats in Roberts Stadium, a joint that used to be regularly packed and rockin’. … Brown hits a 3 and he has all seven of Bradley’s points. … So far, Bradley’s energy is good: defensively active, pushing and aggressive on offense. The Braves have given up two ORBs already, though. Have to shore that up. … Sam Singh and Dyricus Simms-Edwards come in for BU, replacing Will Egolf and Chris Roberts. … Nice ORB slap-out by Singh. … Sam Maniscalco and Troy Taylor take turns burning each other on driving layups in the halfcourt. …

Timeout at 14:47 — Bradley 11, Evansville 5

Encouraging start for Bradley; this is what the Braves ought to do. They certainly can’t afford a flat start, and so far, so good. Now, they have to maintain. …

Andrew Warren picks and drives and gets fouled — maybe — going to the layup. Looked pretty clean, but there was a reach across the body to get to the ball, and that’ll get you nine times out of 10. Warren makes the FTs while the handful of Aces fans boo. … Jake Eastman in for Brown. … Now we have some confusion over whistles. Eastman travels, very obviously, but the ball goes to Bradley; apparently the whistle was because of a malfunctioning shot clock. Refs are checking at the table. Meanwhile, we see a replay of a previous possession by Bradley, and — gracious! — Warren shoots an eight-footer from the baseline that hits the side of the backboard. Awful. He’s really having trouble. … Two seconds taken off the shot clock, and BU sets its offense, and Maniscalco drives like Patton through Sicily for a layup. … Trading baskets, though. … Nice move in the paint by Brown: drive, stop, pivot, duck and flip it in. … Strong rebound by Egolf, followed by a foul as he tries to poke a ball from behind. …

Timeout at 11:49 — Bradley 17, Evansville 9

Good grief. Roberts has the ball on a 3-on-1 break, keeps it and charges. Dish it, dude! … Last couple of Evansville baskets have been at the rim. Bradley has to stop this penetration. … Illegal screen by Singh, but Roberts moved with the ball before Singh could set it. Have to use the screens properly. … Brown hits a pair of FTs for a 10-point lead; he has 11 of the Braves’ 21 points. … Anthony Thompson!!!!!! Sticks makes a first-half appearance for the first time in decades. OK, not decades; just seems that way. And a turnover on a pass from Sticks to DSE. … Bradley in 2-3 zone. … Back in a man on the next possession, and Sticks gets a blocked shot. … Maniscalco banks a 3-pointer off a high screen from Sticks. …

Timeout at 7:01 — Bradley 24, Evansville 14

Well, Bradley came ready to play. I wasn’t sure that would happen. Perhaps my prediction will be wrong. …

Maniscalco misses a FT, but Sticks taps out the ORB. Thompson is making the most of his opportunity. That’s really good to see. Use this kid. If he can contribute every game, Bradley’s options expand significantly. For one, the Braves can go bigger; play him and Egolf in tandem sometimes. Doesn’t have to be whole games, but I’d love to see 8-10 minutes a game when the Braves are playing two true bigs. … Ouch. I knew this game was a tad sloppy, but each team has committed eight turnovers so far. … Warren drives in the halfcourt for a layup in traffic. … Roberts extends the BU lead to 13 points with a pair of FTs. … Bradley back in zone, a 1-3-1. Seems to mixing defenses more today. … Another block by Thompson, who flies out of his middle spot to slap a shot on the perimeter. Keep it up, Sticks. Braves need this dimension and depth. … Another strong drive by Warren. … Boom! Thompson dunks off a nice high-low pass from Roberts. …

Timeout at 3:44 — Bradley 32, Evansville 20

Thompson picks up his second foul trying to stop a baseline drive at the rim. Left naked. … Really would like to see what BU could do going double-bigs in this game. … Oops. Evansville gets two second-chances and converts the second. Don’t go soft on that again. … Bradley’s aggressiveness on offense is getting the Braves to the line. Converting for the most part. Eastman splits a pair. Can’t figure out why this kid isn’t better at the line, because he has the look of a good shooter. But he’s 7-of-16 for the season right now. Ick. …

Halftime — Bradley 37, Evansville 26

Pretty good half for the Braves. Need another one.

Some off-topic thoughts at halftime:

All this NCAA tournament expansion talk: Be careful what you wish for. I heard Jay Bilas on ESPN College GameDay this morning warn about the unintended consequences, and he’s right. We all know money is driving this sudden burst of expansion mania, but for crying out loud, be careful. During my interview the other day with new Bradley athletics director Michael Cross, he cited his “favorite” quote, from Frederick C. Klein of the Wall Street Journal, published in George Will’s book, “The Morning After.” Said Klein: “The more prosperous a sport becomes, the more likely it is to destroy the reasons for its prosperity.” Amen.

I know a lot of so-called mid-major people are jumping on board with expansion because they fear the at-larges are being unfairly taken away by the BCS schools. I know the trend since 2006 has been downward for non-BCS bids, but I maintain that has been more a reflection of the slippage of quality among the non-BCS ranks. Be careful. The non-BCS are coming back with a vengeance this year. We still have several weeks before Selection Sunday, but look at the RPI ranks: Six non-BCS teams in the Top 20 — Rhode Island, New Mexico, Northern Iowa, Temple, Butler and BYU. Thirteen more in the top 50. I think we’ll definitely see multiple bids going to the Atlantic-10 and Mountain West, and likely multiple bids to the Valley, the West Coast and the CAA, and possibly to C-USA. …

Second half coming up …

Evansville goes low to Clint Hopf for its first points of the second half. … Egolf counters with an open J. … Aces get another ORB and second-chance basket. … Trading baskets. No damage because of an 11-point lead, but you want to step on the last-place team’s throat; strong second-half start and put them away. … Braves overall doing a good job on Colt Ryan, UE frosh who averages 15 a game; he has only six points. … Brown having a good offensive day; jumper one possession, pair of FTs on the next, and he has 15 points. … Warren hits a 3 and … whistles! Got some pushing off the ball. Discussion. They’ll count the 3 and call a double-foul, on Roberts and somebody from UE. …

Timeout at 15:42 — Bradley 50, Evansville 41

There’s a tough foul against Egolf. Going for a loose ball, gets tangled up. His problem was being behind the Evansville man and trying to reach for the ball; he didn’t have the inside position in the chase. Good hustle; bad break. … Warren extends the lead to 21 on a pair of FTs. … This is encouraging: Bradley doing what it should do to the last-place team on the road: Controlling the game. … Now Warren is heating up, a baseline jumper for his 17th point. … Brown joins him with 17 on a tough basket in the post. Marty Simmons has seen enough and wants a timeout for his Aces. …

Bradley up 56-33. … Braves have made seven of eight second-half shots. … Warren strokes another 3. Bye-bye, slump. … Bradley dropping the hammer; great pass from DSE to Brown on the break and BU is up by 26. … Now 28 on a pick-and-roll, Brown to Singh. … Ryan finally hits a 3 for the Aces, but barring a Bradley collapse, it’s way too little too late. …

Timeout at 10:26 — Bradley 65, Evansville 42

A little sloppy in the 45 seconds before the timeout. … Still sloppy. Not responding well to some aggressive Evansville D on the perimeter, and a bad handoff from Eastman to DSE. … Evansville converts and the margin is back to 20. … Quick shot by BU misses, but Evansville turns it over and Warren scores on a breakaway, taking a lead pass from Roberts. … Now, that timeout by Les right after the Warren basket made total sense: Chew on DSE for the quick shot. The last couple of minutes have not been good, and the lead has eroded by about 25 percent. Address the problem. … Evansville cuts it to 18 points. … Maniscalco hits the 3 after a patient sequence with good ball movement. First good possession in a while for the Braves. …

Timeout at 6:54 — Bradley 70, Evansville 49

Braves will win this one despite some rather poor work under Evansville’s basket. Killer in a close game, but the Braves are doing so many other things well, they’ll get by with that weakness today. … Brown scores again. I think both he and Warren are over 20 points now. … Ryan hits another 3, and he’s in double digits. He might reach his average, but he will not have had a significant impact on this game. BU did nice job taking him out. … Roberts a big dunk. …

Timeout at 3:51 — Bradley 75, Evansville 54

Braves have done a good job today. They took control early, built a lead, kept piling it up. There was the bad 2-3 minute stretch midway through the second half, when this was on the verge of being a 30-point game, and it slipped back to 18, but the Aces haven’t seriously challenged BU control since the first 10 minutes. …

Milos Knezevic in for Bradley. …

This will be Bradley’s third Valley road win, with two roadies to play. What’s maddening about that is that the Braves have lost two home games, thereby giving back two of those road wins. Worse, the home losses were not to teams in contention for the title — UNI and Wichita State still haven’t visited Peoria, so the prospect of further home losses is substantial. If the Braves had taken care of business at home, they’d be 9-4 after this one buzzers, and in a real battle for second place. Now, they’re in a fight for their lives to stay out of Thursday night in the tournament. The Braves have to raise their play a couple of levels and tough out wins in the remaining home games. …

Ryan Phillips hits a 3 in the final minute. … Bradley runs out the clock — oops, no: lob to Sticks misses. Get it back and run it out.

Final score: Bradley 83, Evansville 63