Press Row

Former Bradley standout guard Jeremy Crouch said Friday his injured foot hasn’t gotten much better and that his shortlived professional basketball career is over.

“I’m done,” said Crouch, who became Bradley’s director of basketball operations upon the sudden departure of assistant coach Steve Merfeld last month. “I’ve talked with Dr. (Mark) Phillips and he said it would probably continue to give me problems. So it’s time.”

Crouch played just one season with the New Yorker Phantoms of Braunschweig, Germany, averaging 4.0 points in an injury-plagued year.

“I’m starting my coaching career a little sooner than I thought,” he said, adding that he “loves” his new job.

Crouch is Bradley’s all-time leading 3-point shooter, connecting on 262 in his four-year career. He also holds the BU mark for single-season 3s with 118 and single-season 3-point percentage at .500, which tied for the best in Division I that year. He made 40.4 of his career 3-point attempts, ranking him seventh on the BU list.

Only Illinois State student tickets remain for Saturday afternoon’s Interstate 74 4:35 p.m. rivalry game against Bradley, an ISU ticket office employee said Thursday morning.

If those tickets are sold, this will become the first sellout this season in 10,200-seat Redbird Arena. ISU is averaging 6,169 this year with the Northern Iowa crowd of 7,755 the largest so far.

Illinois  State had four sellouts last season, averaging 7,118 at home.

Live from Carver Arena, where some Bradley cheerleaders are posing with smiles and pom-pons wagging, behind the Bradley TV crew of Frank Bussone and Dick Versace. Nothing like face time.

In the house tonight is Jim Hendry, GM of the Chicago Cubs. He’s an old Creighton guy. So, welcome, Jim.

For some pregame reading, you might check out Kyle Whelliston’s piece, “Valley Stories,” on his midmajority.com Website. Kyle was here for the Bradley-Missouri State game a couple of weeks ago. This has some nice thoughts about the different Valley programs and towns. Also, on Tuesday I did a Q & A with blueandwhitereview.com, a Website covering Creighton. They were the Q, I was the A. They posed some questions about the Bradley team and program that I’ve not been asked publicly. Most of it I’ve written about at some point over the past few years, but it can be interesting to pull evolving thoughts and observations into a single review.

I thought the hoopla over my colleague Dave Reynolds being named Illinois Sportswriter of the Year had subsided. Then I show up here tonight and he’s surrounded at our courtside seats by worshippers. Enjoy, Dave. You deserve it. Just give me enough room to plug in my laptop; that’s all I ask.

Game officials tonight are Scott Thornley, Randy McCall, Terry Oglesby.

I was starting to wonder about the White Out called for tonight. There were no white shirts draped over chairs as usually has been the case with color-coded nights. Apparently, they’re handing out shirts at the door, because people are carrying them in and donning them as I write.

Got a couple of things to do.

Starting lineup for Bradley: Sam Maniscalco, Andrew Warren, Chris Roberts, Taylor Brown, Will Egolf. Creighton goes with Justin Carter, Darryl Ashford, Kenny Lawson Jr., Antoine Young, Casey Harriman.

In case you were unaware, Creighton’s P’Allen Stinnett has been suspended indefinitely. … A sign being held up in the BU student section poses this question to CU coach Dana Altman: “Why Dana? P’Attitude? P’Drugs? Too P’Ugly?”

The White Out is more like a Red And White Out. Seems about half-and-half as far as people pulling on the white shirts. I see a lot holding on to them; others draped over chair backs or going in purses. … Crowd is a little smaller than what we’re used to when Creighton comes to town. Could be the record; CU having a very un-CU year. … The Bradley student section has a lot of empty seats, but the ones who are here seem wired. …

Tipoff to Creighton. … Egolf slips and loses Lawson, who dunks for the first points. … Roberts misses badly from 3 corner on Bradley’s first possession. … Yow! Versace just hollered. Roberts flew in to try to dunk a miss by Brown. That would’ve been spectacular; he went in high and hard, but missed the dunk. Got fouled. Missed the first FT and makes the second. … Wayne Runnells spins Egolf and scores and gets fouled. Runnells checked in while Roberts was shooting FTs. … In the opening two minutes, Creighton has a higher energy level than Bradley. … Now Sam Singh, in for Egolf, posts up and gets fouled. Uh-oh. FTs starting ugly tonight. Singh splits two, so instead of a tie we have a 4-2 game. … Bradley makes a good defensive stand, with a couple of deflections and then Warren getting a steal and drawing a foul. BU capitalizes with a layup by Brown. … Nice job by Brown to fake and draw a foul after a drive to the paint. Now he has to make FTs. He makes both. That’s better. …

Timeout at 15:26 — Creighton 10, Bradley 6

Creighton getting good ball movement and springing some open looks from 3. Made two so far. …Bradley has opened 1-for-7 from the floor, Creighton 4-of-8 with a pair of 3s. …

If you’re going to struggle on offense, you have can’t have defensive holes. Bradley has some problems at the beginning; just left another perimeter shooter wide open. … On top of that, some unfortunate bounces, like the ball that just bonked off Singh and OB. … Bradley struggling to solve Creighton’s mix of defenses, while Creighton is using good movement — ball and off ball — to get open shots. Singh fouls Lawson on the block and Lawson makes a pair. … Bradley now 1-for-10. … And Josh Jones makes Creighton’s third 3-pointer. … Now BU 1-for-11. … This is getting ugly. … Lawson hits a jumper just outside the elbow and Jim Les calls a timeout. Creighton up 17-6. … Hate to say this, but it’s looking like a too-typical Bradley-Creighton game of the past decade. The Jays have won 16 of the last 19 games in this series, which Bradley once led by a hefty margin. The series is now tied at 39 wins apiece. … Bradley 1-for-12. … Thoroughly bamboozled by Creighton’s defensive changes. …

Timeout at 11:49 — Creighton 17, Bradley 6

Terrible pass by Brown against the press: backwards and soft. Intercepted. Fortunately for BU, the Jays don’t score off it. … Bradley seems to be letting its offensive frustrations affect its defense. Can’t let that happen. … Warren pair of FTs, but they give it back on a backdoor lob. … Creighton really aggressive on defense, jumping lanes, arms up, hands working; lots of chatter and help. … Egolf a pair of FTs. … If not for those, BU would have zero offense. The Braves already have zero defense. … Creighton lighting it up, and now the Jays aren’t even having to work much to get open. The last two or three possessions have been one or two passes and an open look. …

Maniscalco gets a runout and scores BU’s second FG, and Altman comes unglued. … Now another one, and Jake Eastman goes hard and scores but it’s wiped out when he’s called for a charge. I had an obstructed view, but the crowd sure doesn’t like the call. … Egolf now gets called for a foul going over the back under the offensive board. The hometowners don’t like that one either, but this time, he did knock the guy down. He was aggressive, but he knocked the man down. … Altman ticked now that his guys don’t have their hands up on D. … Doesn’t matter, BU still can’t score. …

Timeout at 7:42 — Creighton 23, Bradley 12

Braves now 2-for-16, and the two makes are layups. … The best thing we can say right now is Creighton seems to be cooling off a little: 3-for-10 from the arc. Maybe gunning a little too quick. But it’s tempting to do that when the defense isn’t in your face. …

Bradley hanging around because it’s rebounding and getting to the FT line. That’s about it. Maniscalco makes a pair, and Bradley has 10 points at the FT line, four on layups, and zilch everywhere else. … Bradley is working hard on offense and coming up empty; need to work this hard on defense. … Warren finally hits a 3, then gets a steal and drives, misses his layup, gets his own  board and scores. Altman wants timeout. … Maybe that’s the spark Bradley needs. But the Braves still have to play D. … They’re down 25-19. …

Too much to ask. Ethan Wragge hits a 3 for the Jays, followed by Carter’s J. … And then a missed open 3 by Wragge. And I mean wiiiiiiddde open. … Bradley’s offense picking up, but the Braves have to stop this team. … Now Ashford hits a 3 as the shot clock runs out after a fairly good defensive stand. Fairly good, not great. Creighton lost a fair amount of time when one of their guys didn’t set up correctly and the play broke down badly. Altman, who’s right next to us, is just fed up. …

Timeout at 3:31 — Creighton 33, Bradley 25

Amazing BU hanging in as poor as the defense has been. … Thank you, free throws: Dyricus Simms-Edwards makes two more. … Now Bradley goes zone. … And Maniscalco lobs to Roberts backdoor for a thunderous slam. … Margin down to four points. … Great drive and no-look pass by DSE to Singh underneath. SS gets fouled, but misses both. Yells a profanity. BU gets the rebound, and Maniscalco drives to the paint and gets called for a charge. Lousy call. Lousy. The defensive man was sliding under him, and was awfully close to the imaginary box anyway, where it has to be a blocking foul. Even if not in the box, though, that was a block. Clearly. … Another foul on Creighton puts Brown at the line, and he makes both FTs. Still four-point game. … Nice ORB by Brown and putback, and the crowd is on its feet — until Jones hits a 3. … Warren answers, though, and Creighton will hold for the final shot of the half, up a pair. … Crowd finally into it here the last minute. … Jones, under pressure, gets off a very long 3 that looks good, but is a shade short and right, bounces away at the horn. …

Halftime — Creighton 38, Bradley 36

Bradley needs to have a prayer meeting at halftime and offer thanks for being in the game. … The defense must improve substantially in the second half, or this will turn into a loss. …

Where is security? A female fan just trotted across the middle of the court at halftime — just as the Extreme Team trampoline-dunking act was lining up its first run at the basket. Maybe that’s why they opened shaky, missing a couple. … the ET gets going and winds up with one little dude spinning about eight or ten revolutions ON HIS HEAD! Wonder how many brain cells that killed? …

Halftime stats: Bradley shooting 31.3 percent (that’s after making eight of its last 13 shots; Braves started 2-for-19). Creighton shooting 46.9 and has made 6 of 17 3-pointers. … Bradley 14-of-18 at the line, Creighton 2-of-3. … Bradley ruling the boards, 25-16 and is up 15-5 on second-chance points. Bradley also capitalizing on Creighton turnovers, with 11 points off seven Jays miscues. … Jones has 10 points for Creighton, Warren 10 for Bradley. … Singh has seven rebounds and Brown has five, to go with eight points. …

Second half

Bradley opens with visible defensive energy and a good post double on Lawson, but then lets Ashford get free down the baseline, and Brown has to foul him to prevent the layup. Splits the FTs. … Good offensive patience by BU leads to a Brown curl for a layup. … Tough non-call there. Good D by Bradley winds the clock, and Egolf gets bowled over on the baseline. No call. Now, if the bad charging call on less contact can be called against Bradley, how is this legit charge ignored entirely? … Now we have an up-and-down game, trading baskets. … Bradley much more aware on the double team in the post, but that leaves Young open for a 3, which he makes. …

Timeout at 15:34 — Creighton 49, Bradley 45

Roberts bricks two FTs. … Good D by Bradley, and the BU students give a bad shot-clock count that causes Carter to launch early, off balance and guarded. That was funny. … But BU loses track of Jones again, and he splashes from 3. … Warren answers. Got to stop the need to answer. … Nope: Witter a corner 3. … Power move by Singh and he scores. That was nice. …. Another tough break for BU under the Creighton basket. Ball pops off a BU player and hits the back side of the board, just before Singh grabs it. … Now Warren takes an ill-advised quick, moving 3 and misses. What was that about? … Now Wragge hits another 3, and Creighton is back up by eight. …

Timeout at 11:32 — Creighton 58, Bradley 50

Defenseless Braves tonight. Despite the lousy start, they’re scoring well enough to win, but they can’t stop anything Creighton’s doing with consistency. The Jays exploit whatever Bradley isn’t focusing on. …

We should have seen this coming. Creighton came in here last year with Booker Woodfox sidelined, and took the Braves apart. Now the Jays are here without Stinnett, and taking BU apart again. (That said, I think Stinnett’s absence might make this CU team better.) …

Excellent fastbreak by the Braves, but Creighton answers right quick with a 3-pointer, and Jake Eastman gets called for a foul trying to position for a rebound. The Jays get another possession and Carter scores again, this time inside. So after BU had cut to two points, the margin is back to seven in a flash. … Whoa! Bitchin’ rebound by Egolf. Gets by with the push for position, then rips the ball away from a Bluejays crowd and goes up for the power bucket. … Crowd comes alive with that. Bradley needs a surge now, and that surge has to include defensive stops. …

Bradley plays a little D and Brown scores. … Now Egolf pokes the dribble off a Bluejay and OB. …

Timeout at 7:53 — Creighton 65, Bradley 62

Here’s where Bradley has to start making some hay and toughen up. … Better D this time, with Bradley more showing post double so as not to lose the perimeter rotation. … But now the Braves have settled for a pair of 15-footers early in the clock. Missing. … And then they let Lawson dunk. … Now a charge on Maniscalco. … Lawson pulls down an ORB and gets fouled. Makes both and the lead is seven with the clock getting short. … Brown hits a 3, and that helps, although that’s not the shot you want: quick perimeter again. … Maniscalco flies in for a defensive board and gets fouled, but fewer called this half, so neither team is in the bonus. … Bradley needs to continue getting stops. That’s the only way the Braves have a chance.  … Braves need to burn a timeout to keep from losing the ball on a five-second inbounds count. …

Brown gets fouled off the ball and shoots bonus situation, but misses. Can’t have that. … Maniscalco steals and gets breakaway layup to get the crowd on its feet howling. … Roberts blocks a shot inside. …

Timeout at 3:35 — Creighton 69, Bradley 67

I will say it again: Bradley needs stops. Not one. Not two. Several. … There’s one. …

Roberts gets an open path to the basket, but gets blocked just before launch for a dunk. … Not necessarily the guy you want at the line, though. Needs to make these. … One down, second misses. One-point game. …

Stop No. 2. … And Warren makes a bad pass, forcing to the middle. He had made a great decision in transition to pull out, then suddenly tried to jam a pass to Brown on the cut and got picked. … Told you they’d need several stops to get this done. …

Egolf fouls Lawson in the post. Lawson is money at the line, and it’s a three-point game again. … Inside two minutes. Egolf misses a FT jumper badly. … Creighton runs clock. … Both teams miss a 3. … Inside a minute now. … Creighton calls time at :49.2. …

Bradley gets a stop, but winding down, and Warren settles for a quick 3, and CU rebounds with 15 seconds left. … Now a Bradley foul. … Why are fans leaving? Bradley rebounds the missed FT. … Missed 3 by Maniscalco and a foul, and now Creighton will win this game if the Jays hit the FT. Carter makes the first, and his mates clear the lane. …

Final score — Creighton 73, Bradley 68

There we go again. You cannot play like this and lose home games this way and be anything but mediocre.

Getting a late start today. Working with a new laptop, you know. Delays getting connected. First date with this keyboard, and so far she’s a little reticent. Either that, or I am losing my touch.

Anyway, first the news: Bradley guard Eddren McCain won’t play today. He’s in street clothes after injuring his right hand Friday in practice. Edge, like the team, has been playing better of late. His backing up Sam Maniscalco at the point will be missed some; especially his ability to hawk the ball on defense.

The refs are Mike Sanzere, Gene Grimshaw and John Moore. I know a number of fans aren’t enamored of Mike Sanzere, but the man has done a lot of NCAA games, including a Final Four.

Gotta love The Mule, Evansville coach Marty Simmons. That’s one big boy. Looks like a dude who drives semi-trailers for a living, bowls five nights a week and would be fun to throw down some Bud with. And one of his assistants is Ben Wierzba, former Farmington High star and son of the longtime, now retired head coach there, Tom Wierzba. Tom is in the house today, right behind the Evansville bench.

Bradley start’s the same five: Sam Maniscalco, Andrew Warren, Chris Roberts, Taylor Brown, Will Egolf. Evansville goes with Kavon Lacey, Colt Ryan, James Haarsma, Denver Holmes, Clint Hopf.

Tipoff coming up …

Bradley goes into Egolf in the post on first possession, and he bangs, but can’t get the shot to go down. Good strong effort, though. … He gets beaten by Hopf in like fashion at the other end. … Back and forth pace to start. Neither team converting. On fourth possession, Maniscalco hits Brown on a cut in the paint, and TB gets fouled. FTs tie the game at 2. … oops. Bradley loses Holmes off a screen in the middle and he gets a short jumper to bank in. … Roberts hits a 3 for the Braves after a nice sequence with some sharp passing. … But now after a steal, Roberts goes 1-on-2-and-a-half men and misses the short J under pressure, not waiting for his trailer. Dyricus Simms-Edwards gets off the bench for BU, and Jim Les is disgustedly waving him to check in. …

Timeout at 15:11 — Evansville 6, Bradley 5

Both teams bringing effort to start, but the play is pretty ragged. …

DSE and Sam Singh enter; Singh for Egolf. … Brown scores off inbounds play for the Braves. … Great play: DSE and Singh a little two-man game, both cutting to the basket, DSE with the ball and dumps to Singh right underneath for a layup. … Tough defensive break. Bradley makes Evansville run out the clock and launch a long 3 at the buzzer, but it’s so far off the mark, it goes backboard-rim, high and long and UE gets another shot — Aces miss, though, and Maniscalco hits a 3 in transition for Bradley. … Simmons calls time with the Braves up 12-6. … Egolf and Roberts back for BU, replacing Warren and Singh. … Wow — Bradley struggles through the clock and the ball winds up near halfcourt with four seconds left. Brown drives it and dishes to Maniscalco, whose 3-pointer splashes with the buzzer sounding. Great hustle and awareness. … Strong rebound by Egolf, who has three boards now. …

Timeout at 10:52 — Bradley 15, Evansville 6

Bradley out of the timeout, Egolf lob to Roberts for the thunder dunk. Leaves the board shaking. … Bradley has been consistently good out of timeouts most of the season. … Maniscalco playing another tough game. Just scored again on a nice pull-up in the lane, then poked the ball from Lacey twice on the dribble. … Good sequence again, with hard penetration by the Braves gets an open look and bucket. … Now in transition, and Egolf gets the ball behind the backboard, but makes strong move to score it and get fouled. Completes the three-point play, and BU is up 14 points. … Another strong home start. Let’s see if they continue to step on the Aces’  throats the rest of the game. Did that against Missouri State a week ago. Need to do it again. …

Timeout at 7:40 — Bradley 24, Evansville 12

Couple of shaky defensive sequences for BU. … Followed by a good offensive stand with a hard lefty drive by Egolf. … There was a heady play by Jake Eastman making eye contact with Roberts in transition. Eastman crossing midcourt and throws a bounce pass between two defenders on the move; Roberts picked up his pace on the wing after seeing Eastman’s eyes and caught the ball in stride and got to the basket before getting fouled. He makes both FTs. … Evansville has been able to get some open perimeter looks the last couple of minutes, though. BU needs to adjust there. …

Pretty good crowd. looks to be about 10,000, maybe a tad under. … After reviewing the monitors, the refs just gave Warren credit for a 3. That was a tough shot with a man in his face as the clock wore down. … Aces are matching, though. … Warren hits a 3 in transition now. … But Evansville answers in like fashion. …

Timeout at 1:40 — Bradley 36, Evansville 27

Braves making their FTs today. Shouldn’t have written that. Roberts just missed one and so they’re 8-of-9 now. … Bradley puts up another defensive stand that makes Evansville rush at the clock. Had some strong ones like that in the first 10 minutes; fewer since, so that was good to see a return. … Maniscalco scores again at the elbow, and the Aces will hold for the final shot of the half. … all they get is a 30-plus-foot 3-point attempt that crashes into the backboard. …

Halftime — Bradley 39, Evansville 27

A number of recent ex-Braves in the house today: Phil Gilbert, Marcello Robinson, Reggie Hall, Michael Stewart, Daniel Ruffin, Danny Adams. …

Some quickie halftime stats: Bradley shooting 56.5 percent, holding Evansville to 39.3. Bradley up 16-13 on the boards. Bradley limited to 8 points in the paint today, but the Braves are 5-of-6 from the 3 line. … Maniscalco has 10 points, Roberts and Warren 8 each. Egolf has 7 and 4 rebounds. Singh has 2 and 1 board. Brown 4 and 4. …

Brown gets two quick fouls to start the half. First is offensive. Second one, he bangs into an Evansville cutter while following his own man. Les is giving Moore the biz. … Egolf flies in to rebound an airball by Warren and put it in. Really aggressive, nice play. … And there’s Brown’s fourth foul, third in 90 seconds to start the second half. He’s not happy. Les is not happy. …

Braves miss a DSE-to-Egolf lob. … Lacey springs down Main Street for a layup. Evansville has come out strong and aggressive, and Bradley not responding particularly well. Les calls time with the lead 41-32. Good decision. Braves a little out of sorts. Should know by now, you have to come out punching to start the second half; can’t let yourself get punched. That’s how they lost three home games in a row. …

Bradley turnover. Two already this half after four the entire first. … Now another turnover. … But this time, Egolf steals the ball back, starts transition and Maniscalco scores on the drive, going left. …

Timeout at 15:36 — Bradley 43, Evansville 34

I learned at halftime that PA man Paul Herzog was in danger of not making the game today. He was down in Florida, playing some golf this week. Friday, he got on a plane to come back, but the plane wasn’t able to land in Peoria because of fog, so it was sent back to Atlanta. All the way back to Atlanta! What? Can’t find someplace closer to go? He got back this morning. This information, courtesy of my own parents, Max and Ardith Wessler, who were recreating at Disney World all week and had the same flight back. …

Back to the action. …  Bradley runs the margin back to double digits with a pair of nice plays. First, DSE hits a tough shot out of the offense. Then Maniscalco steals the ball just outside the Evansville lane and takes it to the other end for another transition layup. Sammy is really playing well lately. … Simmons needs a timeout. … Excellent pass from Eastman to a cutting Egolf, who gets too far under and can’t get the shot down. Great patience and vision by Eastman, and a soft delivery, but Egolf was moving too hard to catch and convert. … Egolf a block under the UE basket. … Braves have picked up their defense since the under-16 timeout, and the offense is following suit. … Of course, Ryan gets open and hits a 3. … Maniscalco answers; playing excellent ball all over the court. …

Timeout at 11:33 — Bradley 53, Evansville 40

Eastman with a strong putback. That kid plays his butt off all the time. … Now he gets a deflection and steal under the UE basket. … Evansville’s defense certainly is making Bradley work to get to the paint. … Egolf scores from just outside the free-throw line. Nice softy. As he establishes his ability to make that shot, opponents have to come out and guard him. More versatile weapon. … Now he blocks a shot; his fourth. … He comes out, Brown in, and Brown goes to the floor for a loose ball, then hits a 17-footer and Bradley is up by 17. … Simmons has to call another timeout. Can’t wait for the under-8. …

Timeout at 7:19 — Bradley 59, Evansville 42

Evansville comes out of the timeout and scores, then presses, turns the Braves over and scores again. … Now a BU turnover in the halfcourt, a UE basket by Ryan and the lead is back down to 11. Les wants time before this gets ridiculous. …

Egolf extends BU possession with an ORB. … Needed that. … Braves don’t capitalize, but hold UE and score on the next possession. … Ugly there, giving up second-chance points to the Aces. Now a turnover, and this is still not closed out. …

Timeout at 3:59 — Bradley 61, Evansville 50

Bradley treading some interesting turf here. The Braves haven’t yielded 60 points in their last three games, a streak equaling several efforts over the years. Just did a quick check, and it appears there hasn’t been a four-game streak of that accomplishment since the late 1990s.  …

Maniscalco saves an easy basket by the Aces with a steal and hits Brown behind the defense for a transitition layup. … Egolf hits the deck hard, getting run over by Lacey on a drive to the basket. Bucket good, no whistles. Egolf comes out a little shaken. … Brown drives it hard to the bucket for a pair. … Bradley maintaining. … Warren fouls and sends Holmes to the line. He makes 2 FTs and it’s 65-56. … Now Singh misses a contested layup in a 3-on-2 BU advantage. … Inside the two-minute mark, and Bradley spreads. … Run the clock, Brown misses a 3, but Singh taps the rebound out to Warren, and now the Aces have to foul. Twice, because BU not in the bonus yet. … Finally, Warren to the line for the one-and-one: He makes both. … Lacey misses a drive, and Brown rebounds. As long as Bradley makes FTs, this game is on ice with 1:07 left. … Brown misses, but Warren rebounds and gets fouled, so he will have a chance to make FTs. … He makes both. …

Looks like there’s going to be just enough scoring down the stretch to keep the Braves from holding four consecutive opponents under 60. … Yup. Lacey hits a 3 with 44 seconds left. Bradley up 70-61. And as long as the Braves hang on, there will be free steaks at the Lariat for ticketholders; the famous 2-for-1 deal kicked in when the Braves reached 68, I think it was today. …

Bradley plays aggressively on the perimeter, and the Aces can’t get a 3 look in any sort of rhythm. … Play out the string. … Evansville keeps fighting and fouling. Lacey fouls out hacking Maniscalco. The BU students serenade his stroll to the bench: “Left-right, left-right, left-right” in cadence with his steps, slowing and speeding according to his pauses. Then: “Sit down!” Very funny.

Final score — Bradley 74, Evansville 64

Bradley reserve guard Eddren McCain injured his right hand in practice Friday and will not dress for Saturday’s Missouri Valley Conference game against Evansville.

McCain, averaging 2.1 points and 2.0 assists this season, hurt himself when his hand became entangled with a teammate during a halfcourt scrimmage.

His status was unknown prior to the game.

I’d like to extend a hearty thank you for all of the congratulatory messages –electronic or in-person – sent me following my selection as the NSSA co-winner of the Illinois Sportswriter of the Year.

I’m truly honored by the recognition and plan to attend the awards banquet with my wife in May. Just as humbling has been the outpouring of well wishes from friends, family, Journal Star readers, co-workers and acquaintances. I’ll continue to try thanking you all individually, but if I miss somebody, please accept this thank you for your thoughtfulness.

I’d especially like to thank my wife, Linda, for her support, Dave Snell for nominating me, Kirk Wessler for writing such a flattering column about me, Bradley University for some very considerate gestures and my family and friends for all of your kind words.

It’s been a humbling few days. Going forward, I hope to continue providing all of you with the coverage you deserve on the Bradley Braves and other sports news.

                                                                                        – Dave Reynolds

What a difference a couple of hundred miles make in the weather! My colleague Dave Reynolds and I nearly skated out of Peoria this morning. We saw a semi-trailer fishtail across a bridge on I-155 south of Morton. Freezing rain remains in the forecast well into the night, possibly even till Thursday morning. But here we are in Carbondale, and the temperature is 52 degrees. They’ve had a little rain. But dry up a little, and this would have been a great day for some mid-winter golf.

Alas, we are not here for golf. We are here for the Bradley-SIU game tonight. We just encountered new BU athletics director Michael Cross and associates Craig Dahlquist and Bobby Parker at a late-afternoon lunch/dinner. They were still trying to figure out whether the team charter should attempt to fly back into Peoria tonight, or stay the night here and go back in the morning.

Bradley tonight will try to break a nine-year losing streak at SIU Arena. Reynolds thinks this could be the night to do it. Here’s his preview. He picks the Braves by 2. I think … I will agree. I’ll repeat what I wrote in my weekend column, after they beat Missouri State: IF … If they play defense as they’ve played it the last two games, and if they continue to bring that level of energy and focus, they’ll win this game — and have a two-game winning streak. Not that you can call two games a streak (I think you really need three), but right now, two will do.

Pray for Dell!

Seriously. My trusty laptop has been very trusty for a long time. In the last couple of days, it balked a little. Now it seems to be balking a lot. The screen is dim. That is, when it’s not blinking and flashing and running color static from corner to corner. It took a couple of minutes hooking up tonight for me to get cajole it into working shape. Dell has never treated me this way before. At any rate, I am praying for two things: 1) That Dell stay glitch-free until midnight, so I can provide this blog, write my column and finish my work for the day; and 2) That Dell fire up successfully one more time so I can retrieve unsaved files. It has been a couple of months since I last inserted a flash drive into Dell, and I didn’t bring the flash with me tonight.

Doh!

Anyway, just wanted you all to know that if the live blog dies in mid-game, it’s Dell’s fault. Not mine.

Now, a couple of pregame noteworthies:

This is the last time we will visit SIU Arena before its overhaul. The day after the last game, workers will come in and start to gut the place. By next year, the plans call for a smaller (8,500 seats as opposed to 9,400), brighter, more comfy joint.

Also, Bradley senior Dodie Dunson is going through pre-pregame warmups with his teammates tonight. First time we’ve seen him in uniform since he broke his left forearm in two places against Idaho State on Nov. 15. After surgery to fix his arm, it was announced Dodie would apply for a medical redshirt for this season.

Finally, on the roster sheets distributed to the media, only Eric Buescher and Alvin Brooks are listed as assistants to Bradley head coach Jim Les. Left off is Kyle Vogt, who was named interim assistant after the departure of Steve Merfeld two weeks into the regular season. I know Kyle is interim, but he’s still a coach. If the roster sheet here can leave out Merf, it can add Kyle. Maybe the Braves will use this slight as ammo to get psyched up. (Wink!)

Oh, I promised Dave I would mention this, seeing as how I’m always dissing his lack of directional sense.

We were sitting in the restaurant, looking at our menus, deciding what to order this afternoon. Dave mentioned something on the menu and I looked across and noticed a couple of women pictured in an ad. I said something like, “Hey, my menu doesn’t have any pictures of mini-skirted women in it!” And Dave looked at me and said, “Uh, they’re kind of mature.” He turned the menu so I could actually see it not upside-downlike. Oh. Ooooh. Uhhhh. Ugh. That was, um, creepy. Not quite “Where’s the Beef?” Lady creepy. But creepy. I think it’s time to revisit the eye doctor, too.

By the way, here is SIU Arena tonight, as BU takes the floor for the pregame warmup:

The lineups

Bradley going with its usual group tonight: Sam Maniscalco, Andrew Warren, Chris Roberts, Taylor Brown, Will Egolf. Southern Illinois starts Kevin Dillard, Nick Evans, Justin Bocot, Tony Freeman, Carlton Fay. Reynolds points out: SIU with an all-Illinois lineup.

The young woman who sang the national anthem was doing fine until “rockets red glare,” at which time she cracked and screeched and sent a collective shudder through the crowd. Visibly. Still, she decided to ratchet the “land of the free-eeeee!” up to higher heights. “A little pitchy, as Randy Jackson would say on “American Idol.”

Tipoff coming up

Happy 2st birthday to Egolf, by the way. … Brown scores for Bradley on a little pullup. … SIU’s first possession gets extended twice with offensive rebounds. Not a good board start for the Braves, although the second ORB was a long one to the weak side. … Bradley in transition, Warren to Egolf for a 4-0 lead. … Now Maniscalco chases down an SIU miss in the lane and drives to the other end and gets fouled. Two FTs make it 6-0 and other than the first SIU ORB, BU is playing well. Aggressive on defense, pushing the pace on offense. … Now Maniscalco penetrates and dishes to Egolf for a layup and 8-0 lead. Chris Lowery calls timeout for SIU, and we haven’t even played 150 seconds yet. … Goodness! Egolf fakes a handoff at the elbow, puts the ball on the floor and drives fore a 2-handed dunk. 10-zip. … Another Bradley RB and Maniscalco coast-to-coast for a layup. 12-0 and the Salukis fans are starting to boo. … That keeps up with an SIU turnover, followed by a 3 by Maniscalco and it’s 15-0. … Are you kidding me? … Anthony Boooker finally puts SIU on the board with a post move after an ORB. … Oops, now Bradley settles for a couple of perimeter shots; need to stay with the offense. … I can’t believe what I just saw: Freeman drove baseline for the Salukis, the BU defenders parted, leaving him a wide-open layup — but he kicked to the perimeter. … Maniscalco drives hard to the basket and gets fouled again. …

Timeout at 14:10 — Bradley 15, SIU 2

A most impressive start by the Braves, though not without flaw. They’ve given up a couple more offensive boards to Salukis who outhustled them. And two consecutive possessions where they settled for 3-point shots, not particularly open, weren’t good. Stick with the aggressive drives to the paint, use penetration to set up the open perimeter. … Eddren McCain, Dyricus Simms-Edwards and Sam Singh in for Bradley, replacing Egolf, Maniscalco and Roberts. … Brown gets boxed out for a rebound in the  SIU left corner, he gets called for a foul and then gets T’d for “unsportsmanlike conduct.” I had pulled my eyes off after the foul. Not sure what he did, but Les is furious, in his face, now pulls him out of the game and smacks him on the butt. … Gotta learn to keep your mouth shut, kid. … Roberts replaces Brown. …

Looks like SIU has weathered the opening blitz. Bradley needs to dig in and stay gritty and aggressive. … Roberts gets an open 3 but airballs it from the corner. … Booker goes rack and it’s 17-8. … Now Booker gets in for a tip-in and is fouled. Just like that, it’s a seven-point game and possibly going to six after …

Timeout at 10:55 — Bradley 17, SIU 10

Too many ORBs for SIU. Sometimes, when a team gets out to a fast start, it relaxes. Bradley seems to have done that. Better stop that now, or the tables can turn fast. …

Booker misses the FT. … Bradley needs to get back to its opening roots. … Nice drive down the base, with hangtime and contact (not called), but a make by DSE. … Egolf gets behind the sleeping SIU defense for a dunk in transition. And I mean the Salukis were slumbering, looking the other way. Lowery ticked and calls another timeout. … Great block by Egolf, although I think he got by with a foul, body contact. But he blocked the shot and grabbed the ball and BU off in transition — stopped by a Roberts foul. … Now Egolf fouls Fay in 3-point land. Not good. Never foul the 3-point shooter! He makes all three and it’s 21-15, BU. Fans getting into it, and not with boos this time. … SIU defense tightens up for the first time and the best BU can do is a tough, guarded mid-range J by Maniscalco, who misses. … Now a runout for the Salukis; Maniscalco stops it with a hard foul. …

Timeout at 7:20 — Bradley 21, SIU 15

We saw this in Peoria: These aren’t the old Salukis, who smothered you with their defense and were patient and pounding on offense. These Salukis get out and run and don’t guard much. They’re much more beatable this way, but much tougher to guard, too. …

This game is physical. Lots of bodies crashing to the floor, and not many whistles. Not bad. … Back and forth, back and forth, miss, miss, miss, miss. … Fay stops the miss parade, and Bradley’s lead is almost gone: 21-18. … The Salukis have started to play some D, and BU seems to be tiring of the relentless effort to get to the paint. Settling more perimeter. … The Bradley D isn’t bad, and Egolf is playing the monster, but SIU is chipping back into this. … Nice drive by Maniscalco, who scoops it in and gets fouled. … As physical as this game has been we have only 10 team fouls total in 15 minutes. … Hope that keeps up. … Bradley falls back to a zone. … Singh gets by with an illegal screen and rolls to the basket, where he gets fouled. Now the SIU fans are booing the refs. … Nice toss-in (basket) by Jake Eastman in the post for the Braves. …

Timeout at 3:50 — Bradley 26, SIU 22

Bradley had 15 points in the first five minutes, 11 in the next 11. … Whistles coming now. I sense player fatigue from the pace, perhaps. More grabbing and reaching than early on. … Nice possession by Bradley to keep looking inside, where Egolf gets fouled at the basket. He splits the FTs. BU up four still. … Now Roberts undercuts Booker boxing out and gets the whistle. Booker’s FTs make it 27-25, Bradley. … Another nice drive and scoop layin by Maniscalco. … This was a play he failed to convert the first several weeks of the season. Tonight, he’s gold. … Booker grabs another ORB, but then gets called for the illegal screen, trying to spring a teammate on the perimeter. … DSE a 3 for BU off penetration by Eastman. Well done. …

Halftime — Bradley 32, SIU 29

Observation: 10 fouls in the first 15 minutes; eight in the next five. … Go with the flow. …

Some stats: BU leads 18-8 in the paint, but SIU is up 12-0 on second-chance points. … Bradley shooting 41 percent, SIU only 28, and the Salukis are 0-for-10 from 3-point land. On the one hand, if you’re a Bradley fan, you like to see that, but on the other, you know in a game like this one of two things happen: The Salukis find their range in the second half, or they make one — at the buzzer for a win. … SIU pounding Bradley on the boards, 26-16, and 10 offensive rebounds to BU’s 1. Bradley back to soft boarding tonight, except for Egolf, who has been an all-around beast. Three dunks, two on the drive, and nine points, along with five rebounds and a blocked shot.  Only Maniscalco (3) has more than two rebounds for BU, while SIU has Bocot (5), Jack Crowder (5), Booker (4) and Dillard (4). Booker has 13 points. Maniscalco leads BU and the game with 14. Another up for the Braves: only two turnovers. For as wild as this game has been, that’s an excellent number. …

Second half, the Braves need to turn up another notch on defense, and start crashing the boards. The offense is going to come in spurts, so they need to be patiently aggressive. …

Second half coming up …

One more thing: Brown played only six minutes before getting T’d. He was playing some pretty good D on Fay and hustling. SIU’s crawl back into this game got legs when Brown went out. …

Second half

Bradley turnover to start the half … And we’re tied when Freeman hits SIU’s first 3. … Now Brown over the back for his third foul. … This is not how BU wanted to start the second half. … Egolf flies in to tip a miss by Brown — but BU doesn’t get back in transition and Bocot scores and gets fouled by Warren. Misses the FT. …  A little more patience by Bradley gets a backdoor for Warren; his first points of the game. …  And this game just went wild. Ball squirting everywhere, players diving to the floor, falling, jumping OB to save the ball,both ends of the court. … Ends up with a backdoor to Egolf, who turns around and commits his third foul; now to the bench. Bradley already four fouls this half. … Andnow another ORB for the Salukis. Nobody from BU underneath to box out. … And another one, as Fay just goes in there and grabs one. This is going to get Bradley beaten. …

Timeout at 15:49 — Bradley 38, SIU 35

Some kid, looks to be about 12, wins the $100 contest by hitting a layup, FT and a 3 — boom, bank, splash, no misses. …

DSE hits a 3 — Bradley’s first second-chance points of the game after an ORB in traffic by Sam Singh. … But more second-chance points for SIU, after Kendal Brown-Surles rebounds his own miss. … This is getting sick.  That’s at least four ORBs and six second-chance points this half for SIU, and we’re not six minutes in. … Another ORB, but this time Crowder misses the putback. … What? Did Bradley forget how to rebound? Funny, because the Braves are aggressive and tough in almost every other aspect of the game tonight. … Roberts misses two FTs; can’t have that, either. Not in a close game. … Bradley now has Brown, McCain, Warren, DSE and Singh on the floor. … SIU will be in the bonus the rest of the night, after a McCain foul. … ANOTHER ORB for SIU — and Freeman hits the 3 off it. Wretched. … These aren’t long rebounds, either. They’re under the basket. The Braves are simply getting outmuscled and outhustled for the ball. …

Timeout at 11:59 — Bradley 43, SIU 40

Both teams will be in bonus now. … Now Brown misses one of two. Too many misses going on here. … SIU really pounds the glass; almost got another ORB, but Bradley keeps it alive and snares it with a team effort. … Wow! Good call: carrying on Dillard, who was trying to get around McCain at the point. … Warren scores on the block. … Warren gets lost in a double screen, though, and Freeman 3s. … Les wants timeout at 8:14, with a one-point lead, 46-45. …

SIU has not led all night. Tied only twice after the scoring started. … Just get a sense that’s about to change. …. Bradley has to fight through this. … Turnover, though. Bad skip pass by Warren. … Bradley survives two more SIU offensive boards. Somehow …

Timeout at 7:04 — Bradley 46, SIU 45

This game is going to come down to a second-chance 3 — by somebody. …

Now Maniscalco makes only one of two FTs. Add to the deciding mix: missed FT. …

He gets a chance to redeem himself, tripped on the way through the lane on a drive to the basket. Boos abound. Two made FTs return BU lead to four points. … Nice steal in the post by Egolf and DSE; Egolf tips the pass from behind and DSE saves it. But Braves can’t conver. … Brown gets his fourth foul now, trying to catch up with Fay off the ball. Lead back to a pair. … Egolf follows a missed drive by Brown and dunks it from the grab and gets fouled. He’ll shoot, but BU will be in double bonus fro here on. Egolf misses the FT. This is going to kill the Braves, too. … Roberts a hard drive and spin and BU is up by five. … Nice acting job by Maniscalco, who draws Dillard into a fourth foul. Dillard did push him off just as Sammy passed the ball, but Maniscalco then threw his arms in the air and stumbled away, drawing the ref’s attention and whistle. Only splits the FTs, though. Dangerous territory, missing so many. … Fay’s 3 cuts the lead in half. Bradley should be up six or seven but the FTs are killing. … Roberts drives and misses the dunk. SIU gets a runout and Warren gets called for an intentional foul. …

Timeout at 2:43 — Bradley 54, SIU 51

This is no way to win a game. Brown-Surles cuts the lead to one with his FTs, and now SIU has the ball and a chance to finally take a lead. … And do, with a backdoor and post by Fay. … Crowd into it. … Now a Bradley turnover and the wheels are threatenting to come off. … The crowd suddenly realizes there’s a ballgame in progress. … Now another BU turnover. … We have 1:20 left and SIU has the ball, up a point. …

Freeman travels with a minute left, trying to fake Roberts from the perimeter. … Now a tough foul on Brown-Surles as Maniscalco drives base. Students chanting BS. … Maniscalco both FTs for a 56-55 lead and Les calls time. …

Second-chance 3 anyone?

Inside 30 seconds, shot clock runing out, Dillard misses a 3, Egolf rebounds and Fay fouls  Maniscalco on the dribble after a handoff. … Maniscalco splits, but Egolf rebounds and then gets stripped.

Thirteen seconds left, and SIU has the ball, down a pair. Opportunity to tie or win because of a missed FT. Second-chance 3 anyone? …

Good grief. Fay misses a 3, and Brown and Roberts are both there for the rebound with no Saluki in sight — and they can’t hang on. Ball OB and SIU with another chance at :03. …

Freeman misses a 3 from the corner, the ball bounces high and hits the clock. That’ll be Bradley ball, and the Braves should survive this, but the refs are trying to determine how much time remained when the ball hit the clock. Here: 0.8. Les wants time.

The inbounds pass drops at halfcourt in the middle of falling, colliding bodies. Appropriate. Buzzer. Game.

Final score — Bradley 57, SIU 55

Braves back to .500 at 9-9 overall and 4-4 in the MVC.

Seven days later, we’re back at it: same teams, a Saturday afternoon game. Different venue this time. We’re live at Carver Arena today, and Bradley will try to get back in the “win” column after losing two in a row.

Crowded day at the Peoria Civic Center. The annual St. Jude’s Gymnastics and Tumbling Meet is here all weekend, and the place is flipping out with kids doing their thing and their parents watching. … Speaking of St. Jude’s, Peoria County Sheriff Mike McCoy and his wife, SherryAnn, are the honorary Braves coaches today. McCoy has been a longtime supporter of St. Jude’s, and has volunteered countless hours to help raise funds. He is particularly active in the annual run from Memphis to Peoria. Those efforts earned him the 2010 Neve Harms Award for meritorious public service to sports in the Peoria area; he’ll receive the award March 14 at the Greater Peoria Area Sports Hall of Fame induction luncheon. … Anyway, McCoy this will be the 11th consecutive year McCoy has been an honorary coach, and the Braves are 10-0 in his previous stints. So get your bets down now? …

The officials today are Randy Heimerman, Don Daily and Bobby Vetkoetter. It’s Saturday. …

Birthday shout out to my dad, Max Wessler. Fifty years ago today, he celebrated by taking me with him to the Bradley-Cincinnati game at Robertson Field House. The Braves, led by Chet Walker and, Bobby Joe Mason, beat the Bearcats and all-time great Oscar Robertson, 91-90. When BU celebrated its basketball centennial a few years ago, that game was voted by Bradley fans as the greatest in program history. …

As for today … You can’t talk about this one without mentioning the shellacking Mo State put on the Braves in Springfield last week. That prompted me to write this column. Bradley followed with better effort, start to finish, on Tuesday at UNI, but lost 52-50. The talk after that game was about building on that effort. If the Braves do that, they can salvage this season and still have something to boast other than the Thanksgiving Weekend win over Illinois. If not — let’s not go there right now. Plenty of time for meltdowns in the fan base later. …

Not sure which BU team will show up today. For that matter, not sure which BU team will appear (or not) in the second half, which has been a real problem at home. Bradley lost three straight at home, blowing double-digit leads in each,  before finally winning one here against Indiana State on Jan. 6. That one also featured a double-digit lead blown in the second half, but BU rallied to win in OT. I have no idea what to expect today. Guess that’s part of what makes sports fun, eh? (Sorry about the “eh,” but there’s a hockey game here tonight, so I gotta get in the mood.)

Back in a bit. …

OK, the special guest today is Bally, the amazing cartoon basketball conceived by midmajority.com’s own Kyle Whelliston. And Kyle is here, too.

Here’s Bally:

Bally, the official basketball of midmajority.com, takes a seat on the Jerk Alert, courtside at the Bradley-Missouri State game on Jan. 16.

Waiting for the lineups. …

Bradley goes with Sam Maniscalco, Chris Roberts, Andrew Warren, Taylor Brown, Will Egolf. Missouri State goes with Kyle Weems, Will Creekmore, Aaron Fuehrmeyer, Jermaine Mallett and Adam Leonard.

A few BU students in the house tonight. Semester break ends this weekend, but the bulk of the student section is still non-students and likely a quiet group. …

Tipoff coming up. …

Leonard springs free off a screen and scores a top-key 3 for Mo State to start the scoring. … Bradley goes post to Brown for a turnaround J. … 3-2. … Roberts gets a steal and runout, can’t make the layup, but Brown follows with the tip. … Brown crashes the offensive glass again and gets fouled on the putback. This is more like the Brown we saw early in the season: nose for the ball, relentless pursuit. He splits the FTs and Roberts gets Bradley’s third ORB. … Now he gets the fourth and puts it back in. … Now a good D stand that results in a jumball, which will go BU’s way after …

Timeout at 15:36 — Bradley 7, Mo State 4

Eddren McCain and Sam Singh enter the game for BU, replacing Egolf and Maniscalco. … McCain has a new hairstyle, kind of rising off the right side of his head. … Brown 3s from the corner and Bradley is up 12-4. … By this time last week, Weems had every Mo State point, and that was about 10 or 12 already. So far today, he has barely touched the ball, and now he comes out for a sub at 14:18. … McCain pushes the ball for BU and whips a pass underneath to Brown, who gets fouled going for a layup. Bradley playing well on both ends; good energy. … Defensive pressure extending 40 feet from the basket, and it forces a Mo State turnover. …

Another ORB for the Braves after a missed 3 by Warren. … Dyricus Simms-Edwards in for BU now, and Egolf is back, along with Maniscalco. … Mo State scores on a 3 by  Caleb Patterson. …

Timeout at 11:52 — Bradley 14, Mo State 7

Whelliston just challenged me to guess which three ZOOPerstars! will appear at halftime. If I guess correctly, I guess a free one-year subscription to Basketball State. … I’m checking it out. …

BU leads 18-9 after my little study break. … Teams are just trading baskets right now; defense has vanished. Egolf goes untouched in the lane for a layup. … BU up 20-11. … Nice dish around the defense on the block, from Brown to Egolf for another layup. … Weems finally gets off his first shot, misses a 3. … Last week at this point (9:11), he had 22 points. … Now Egolf cuts very hard to the basket, loses his balance and still scores. Really strong move. … Weems misses and BU breaks, with Brown hitting a pullup J to go up 26-11. … Cuonzo Martin has seen enough and calls time out for Mo State. …

Timeout at 7:52 — Bradley 26, Mo State 13

Creekmore just spun Egolf in the post and scored and got fouled to get to the official break. …

As for ZOOperstars! … I’m guessing Harry Canary, Mackerel Jordan and Jeff Gordog.

In the game, BU owns the glass, 15-6, including 6-2 offensive, which has resulted in a 7–0 edge in second-chance points. Last week, BU got outscored 24-4 on the offensive boards. …

Now Maniscalco curls and drives hard for a scoop layin. … Bradley pounding the ball to the paint, either off the drive or with sharp entry passes to cutters and post-ups. … Singh at the line now for a pair, which he splits. … Braves 3-of-6 at the line so far. … Warren picks up his second foul with 6:44 left in the half, but he’s not coming out. … Two more ORBs by the Braves. They are relentless this half. … Roberts excellent spin move into the lane for a scoop, which he makes. Everything clicking for BU. Another ORB, by Brown, who hits Maniscalco at the point, and Sammy drains the 3. …

Timeout at 3:39 — Bradley 34, Mo State 19

At the previous timeout, the layup-3-halfcourt contest dunked the layup! I think it was BU redshirt Jordan Prosser’s younger brother, Josh. Looked a lot like him, but we all have dopplegangers. …

Egolf stuffs a jumper attempt by Weems on the perimeter. Just stuffed him. Wowish play. … Now McCain makes a nice move to the bucket and scores. … Jake Eastman just got by with an illegal screen. Kinda went head-hunting there. … Now McCain drives base and scores again. Braves clicking. … 

BU runs for a final play, and Egolf gets smeared by two guys going up underneath. A little ball and a ton of arm and body. No whistle. Jim Les is furious, but all he’ll get from the refs is a shake of the head and a shrug. … Bad no-call. But …

Halftime — Bradley 38, Mo State 23

I strike out on the ZOOperstars!. They bring out LeBronco James, Yao Flamingo, and Alex Frogriguez.

Ceremony to induct the newcomers to the Bradley Hall of Fame. The class is baseball player Nelson Correa, soccer player Jim Rasmussen and Dave Snell, who has been doing Braves play-by-play on tradio since 1979. Snell gets the prolonged standing ovation. Congrats, all. …

Stats: Bradley up 25-14 in rebounds and 12-2 in second-chance points. Bradley shooting 51.6 percent to Mo State’s 31. Bradley rules points in paint, 20-10. … Brown has 12 points and 9 rebounds; responding to whatever fire was lit under him. Maniscalco has 7 points, Egolf 6, and Roberts, Warren and McCain 4 apiece. … Mo State topped by Leonard’s 6. …

Second half coming up …

Mo State comes out with fire and gets a couple of ORBs, but can’t convert. … Roberts sticks a 3 on BU’s first possession of the half. … High-low from Warren to Egolf. Nice play. … Maniscalco drives, misses and goes headlong into the photo/ballboy gallery. … Nice pick-and-roll, Roberts hits the roll by Egolf for another layup. … Mo State hanging in with some open made shots. … Turnover by Mo State and a breakaway layup by Maniscalco puts BU up 17 until a 3 by Mo State. … That kind of half: trading baskets. … Now a 3 by Roberts and Les immediately calls timeout, even though the next dead ball will be an official break. Count me among those who don’t understand why he calls time in these situations nine of 10 times. Once in 10, it can be obvious. But the other night at UNI, Les did this and he ultimately ran out of timeouts late in a two-point game. I get that BU’s defense has started a little soft this half, but the lead has still been expanded, and you’re going to get a free timeout very shortly. … Whatever. …

And there’s the timeout, 16 seconds later. Doink.

Timeout at 15:01 — Bradley 50, Mo State 33

Singh gets stuck in the post and travels. … Mo State’s defense has picked up, but Singh grabs an ORB and now Maniscalco gets fouled going to the basket. … Refs give Les a warning for protesting too much. Must have been something the refs missed. … Now a T on the Bradley bench after Singh misses a layup. There’s a water bottle on the floor; not sure who threw it out there, but it gets the T. … That was a great pass by DSE to Singh; can’t believe the bunny got blown. …

Timeout at 11:54 — Bradley 54, Mo State 37

Stagnation for a couple of minutes, and then DSE goes strong to the hoop and scores. … Bradley not letting its foot slip off the pedal today. … Warren a 3 out of the offensive set, and the lead is at 19 points. … Braves continue to go hard to the paint and to the basket. Eastman fouled. He splits the pair. … Brown is much more aggressive defensively today, although he is strangely without a rebound in the second half. … McCain loses the ball off his leg in the backcourt and it goes OB. …

Timeout at 7:23 — Bradley 64, Mo State 48

Leonard hits a 3 in the set play, and Mo State has the makings of a little run. … Roberts stalks Leonard and blocks a 3-point attempt and corrals the ball. Roberts is playing better than I’ve seen him play since before Christmas. … There’s Brown’s 10th rebound, an ORB that leads to a second-chance bucket by him off a pass from Roberts. Pretty play off hard work. …

Timeout at 3:51 — Bradley 68, Mo State 51

Looks like the Braves are going to win this one. Turn the corner? Still don’t know. But they haven’t let this one get away. … The opposite of one week ago, when Bradley didn’t make any dent of significance in the Missouri State advantage, the Braves this time aren’t letting the Bears close the gap. Just grinding away. … Another ORB, this one by Warren off a missed 3 by Roberts. AW gets fouled and extends the lead to 21 points with his FTs. … DSE blocks a fastbreak layyup; that’s about half a dozen blocks by the Braves today. … The fans are liking this.

Les is smiling. Fans on their feet. Bench empties: Milos Knezevic, Ryan Phillips, Anthony Thompson all in the game.

Final score — Bradley 74, Missouri State 56

Bradley is ranked ninth in today’s RPI Strength of Schedule rankings for Division I teams. The rating is based on the 16 teams the 7-9 Braves have played so far. BU is 96th overall, trailing UNI (19), Wichita State (52), Missouri State (59) and Indiana State (90). Illinois State is one spot below Bradley at No. 97.

Nobody in the Missouri Valley Conference is close to the Braves’ strength of schedule ranking. Creighton, at No. 102, is second in the MVC.

For nonconference strength of schedule, Bradley is also first in the Valley with an overall ranking of 43rd. Wichita State is No. 60 and Indiana State 86th.

The rest of the league is rated 200th or below among the 347 D-I teams. Creighton is 202nd, UNI 210th, Missouri State 254th, Drake 298th, Illinois State 327th, SIU 337th and Evansville 346th.

All of those low rankings leave the Valley overall in last place among the 32 D-I leagues. That’s a sad commentary considering commissioner Doug Elgin has issued ongoing pleas for MVC schools to play strong nonleague schedules.  

Seemingly, it won’t help the conference come NCAA tournament time. But, after receiving just one NCAA bid each of the last two years, it can’t get any worse.

Boyhood pals Jake Eastman of Bradley and Ali Farokhmanesh of Northern Iowa had a chance to say hello prior to Tuesday’s Missouri Valley Conference game between the teams at the McLeod Center.

While three years apart in age, the pair spent part of their youth together in the state of Washington. Eastman’s dad, Kevin, was the head men’s basketball coach at Washington State while Farokhmanesh’s mother was the school’s volleyball coach.