Monday, January 25, 2021 6:00 p.m.
Carver Arena, Peoria, Ill.

Loyola beat Bradley 69-56 Sunday afternoon to move to 12-3 overall and 7-1 in the MVC. The double-digit win on the road moved Loyola up to #21 on KenPom.com, and #23 on BartTorvik.com. The Ramblers began the day at #30 in the NCAA's NET Rankings.

After trailing by 24 at halftime, 43-19, Bradley Head Coach Brian Wardle fired up his team and got results. The Braves closed the gap to 11 points with ten minutes left to play before the Ramblers rallied to build the cushion back to 17 points three minutes later. Bradley shot 56% from the field and forced 10 Loyola turnovers in the second half, but the Ramblers kept pace with 52% field goal shooting. Elijah Childs, Sean East II, and Ville Tahvanainen each played every second of a physical 2nd half.

Bradley, who entered the game ranked #1 in the country in two pointer field goal percentage defense allowing only 38.3% to their opponents on the season, allowed Loyola to shoot 69.4% on their two-point shots from the field. Krutwig and Uguak had great games shooting from the field, but the rest of the Ramblers were 15 of 33, and the free throw jinx didn't help any in the second half as the Ramblers were only 3 of 8 from the line down the stretch. Both teams struggled from distance, with the Ramblers hitting only 3 of 14 threes and Bradley going 2 of 11.

For those that missed the game one preview, the Braves are likely to start 6'8" senior forward Elijah Childs, 6'9" freshman forward Rienk Mast, 6'4" sophomore guard Ville Tahvanainen, and the transfer guards Nolan and East. Playmaker East has been averaging 8.5 points while dishing 4.3 assists. Nolan puts up 11.8 points per game and shoots more than half his shots from behind the arc; he was injured just before the Missouri game in December, and has come back shooting better from outside (43.3%) and averaging 13.0 points in conference play. Tahvanainen scored only six points in his two games against the Ramblers in his impressive freshman season last year, and he's averaging 8.2 points while leading the team in made threes as a part time starter this year.

Childs is obviously the key player for the Braves. He leads the team in points per game (14.6), rebounds per game (7.9), blocks per game (1.4), minutes per game (30.4), and field goal attempts. He's developed into a team leader, he passes well inside, and even hits about a third of his relatively rare shots behind the arc. Mast is a redshirt freshman who-- despite his 6'9" frame-- shoots almost half his shots from distance. Six-six junior forward Ja'Shon Henry is the top player off the bench, but did not play last time out at Illinois State because of a head injury. Other key bench players are 6'1" senior guard Danya Kingsby, 6'8" freshman forward Darius Hannah, and 6'7" freshman guard/forward Jayson Kent out of Oak Forest HS.

Two key players, 7'1" junior center Ari Boya (foot injury, day-to-day) and 6'6" junior forward Ja'Shon Henry did not play in the first game, and likely won't play in game two. Three key starters-- Childs, Tahvanainen, and East-- played all 20 minutes of the 2nd half and 35 or more minutes total while Loyola had only one player log over 30 minutes.

Officiating seemed beneficial to the Ramblers in the first half and decidedly pro-Bradley in the 2nd half. The Braves have always enjoyed a rowdy crowd influencing home team energy levels and officiating through the years; their home court advantage is less noticeable during pandemic protocols, but the 2nd half surge BU showed in the first game should be a warning for the Ramblers not to lapse into complacency.

Loyola game notes: https://loyolaramblers.com/documents/20 ... 24_21_.pdf

Bradley game notes: https://bradleybraves.com/news/2021/1/2 ... onday.aspx

TV/Streaming video: CBS Sports Net https://www.cbssports.com/cbs-sports-network/

Internet audio feed: https://loyolaramblers.com/watch/?Live=68&type=Live

Live stats: https://bradleybraves.com/sidearmstats/mbball/summary

Vegas odds: Loyola by 7

Will be interesting to see what adjustments Bradley makes. They gave up far too many easy buckets inside which I think was caused, in large part, by the lack of Henry/Boya. Assuming those two are out again, I think they'd be best served trying a zone and daring us to shoot 3's (which we struggled to do today going 3-14). They should also mix in some full court pressure to disrupt our offensive flow a bit even if just for "show". If they run the same game plan, I think it is another double digit win for the Blers.

again great preview......looked to me like in the second half Bradley really guarded the 3 point line,,,,doubled less and let us drive to the hoop?

Hope the team is staying another night in Peoria with the big snowstorm coming in this evening.

The storm might hold down the attendance, reducing the home court advantage.

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Let's go Braden!

I dropped it in the other thread, but I feel like Bradley's going to find a way to get Henry to play this game.

Concussions are tricky. Not sure what kind of protocols the School, MVC or NCAA have in place on them, but he might not be allowed to go even if he feels like he can.

It's dangerous out there for the cardboard people.

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MBB Scholarship Chart

Not sure if the line moved or my sports book has different odds, but I was able to take LUC -6 now

“The Missouri Valley has gone through Bradley”

No, they just happened to be the highest seed remaining after the top 3 teams lost in the Quarters.