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Analysis: What’s wrong with the Braves?

Terry Nolan Jr dribbles in a game against Jackson State in December. Photo courtesy of Bradley Athletics.

With Monday afternoon’s 67-55 loss on the road at Indiana State, Bradley men’s basketball has done something it hasn’t done since the 2017 Missouri Valley Conference season: lose six straight games. 

The slide started with an upset loss to last-place Illinois State on Jan. 20 and continued when second-place Loyola swept the Braves at home that weekend. Bradley nearly got off the schnide at Valparaiso on Jan. 28, but fell 91-58 in double overtime. The team once again came close on Sunday, falling by three points to the Sycamores before being swept on Monday. 

With a record of 3-7 in the MVC and 9-10 overall, the Braves find themselves in 7th place in the conference standings. If the season ended today, Bradley would play in the MVC tournament play-in round. 

The recent struggles are enough to make any fan ponder. How could a team this talented struggle this mightily? What happened to the team that nearly beat No. 14 Mizzou on the road on Dec. 22? 

Before the Braves take on Southern Illinois this weekend, let’s attempt to answer the overarching question: What is wrong with this team? 

Fouls and free throws

During the six-game losing skid, the Braves have struggled to stay out of foul trouble and have been killed by sending their opponents to the free throw line. 

Across the six losses, Bradley has fouled its opponent an average of 20 times per game, resulting in opponents shooting a whopping 23 free throws per contest. 

While opponents have shot just a combined 67 percent on those attempts, the makes have been costlyespecially in the Braves’ narrow, single-digit losses to Indiana State and Valpo. 

In comparison, Bradley has made just 58 percent of its average 11.3 attempts at the stripe during the losing streak. 

Consistency

In post-game press conferences, lack of consistency on both sides of the floor has been head coach Brian Wardle’s main gripe. 

Over the last six games, senior forward Elijah Childs is the only Brave to average double-figures with 15 points per game. Outside of the pre-season all conference selection, the team has struggled to find a consistent second scoring option. 

Junior guard Terry Nolan Jr. is Bradley’s second leading scorer this season but has struggled to maintain consistent performances during this recent stretch. During the streak, Nolan is averaging 8.1 points (including a 20 point outing at Valpo), but has had three instances in which he scores two points or less. 

A lot of Nolan’s struggles tie back to foul trouble; the guard has picked up at least four fouls in four games during the skid and fouled out in back-to-back games against Loyola. 

Sophomore Ville Tahvanainen has had a similar up-and-down stretch with three games in double-figures and three with five points or less. 

Sophomore Sean East, who started each of the Braves’ first 18 games, was benched for the series finale against Indiana State in what Wardle called a “coaches decision.” 

To right the ship, Bradley will need more consistent play, especially from the backcourt. 

Injuries and absences

While the struggles of the players on the floor have been the main culprit of Bradley’s struggles, the absences of a few key players haven’t made things any easier. 

Junior center Ari Boya has missed all 10 games of MVC play due to  a right foot injury. The 7-footer is often spotted at games in a walking boot. In nine games of non-conference play, the Cameroon native averaged 5.6 points per game, six rebounds and 1.5 blocks. The Braves have primarily missed him in the interior on defense. 

Junior forward and sixth man Ja’Shon Henry missed the first three games of the streak with a head injury. In his return to the lineup against Valpo, he provided to be a much-needed spark off the bench, scoring 10 points with nine rebounds. In the first game against Indiana State, he scored 14 points but failed to find the scoring column in game two. 

After taking a leave of absence for the entirety of the MVC schedule up until this point, junior guard Kevin McAdoo rejoined the team this week. In nine games off the bench, McAdoo started his career at Bradley a bit slow, shooting just over 30 percent while averaging four points a game. 

When McAdoo logs his first MVC minutes, he could provide something the team has been missing: consistency from the three point line. In his first two seasons at Eastern Michigan, McAdoo shot 34 percent from deep. 

In the last three games, Bradley has made just 11 3-pointers on 52 attempts. Safe to say, they could use more production beyond the arc. 

Bradley will look to turn things around against SIU starting at 3 p.m. on Saturday at Carver Arena.

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