Following Saturday’s loss to Loyola and Indiana State’s win over Valparaiso, Bradley finds itself seeded at No. 4 in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament, matched up with surprise contender Southern Illinois.
It is the third year in a row that the Braves have found themselves in the 2:30 pm No. 4 versus No. 5 seed game on Friday of the tournament. The last two seasons, Bradley has been seeded No. 5, and has upset the fourth seed to advance to Saturday.
The first round matchup pits the Braves against a Salukis team that was picked to finish last in the preseason poll but finished the conference slate at 10-8, ahead of preseason favorite Missouri State among others.
The Salukis propelled themselves to the top half of the standings thanks to a seven game win streak that lasted from Jan. 19 until Feb. 12, in which they defeated top teams Northern Iowa and Loyola at home.
Despite the success of head coach Bryan Mullins’ first year in Carbondale, the ‘Dawgs come into St. Louis sliding. Following their win streak, the Salukis lost five of their last six regular season games, and have dropped their last three games.
“Obviously we didn’t shoot it as well,” Mullins said of the final stretch. “Defensively, we’ve had moments where we’ve been pretty good, but then we’ve also had moments where there was just a lot of slippage and a lot of breakdowns … We’re still a team that’s capable of winning against anyone in this league.”
Bradley head coach Brian Wardle said that none of SIU’s recent struggles matter come tournament time.
“I have seen so many teams struggle down the stretch and then get hot in the conference tournament,” Wardle said. “I’ve seen teams win down the stretch and lose [the] first game of the conference tournament. You can throw all that out the door and really view this as season number three.”
Bradley has found success this season against a young Southern squad, beating them both times in their regular season meetings.
On Jan. 11 in Peoria, the Braves routed the Salukis 67-48, thanks to a dominant second half in which Bradley outscored Southern 41-19. Darrell Brown led the way with a 21-point performance. Without junior forward Elijah Childs, who was recovering from right hand surgery, sophomore Ja’Shon Henry stepped up to score 16 points and pull down nine rebounds.
The second matchup on Feb. 15 started where the first meeting left off, as the Braves raced out to a 21-point lead just before halftime. SIU would come all the way back in the second half, and took the lead with seven minutes to play, but the Braves escaped 69-67. Childs led the Braves with 14 points. Brown went just 4-13 from the field, but hit a dagger shot in the closing minutes for two of his nine points
“Against Bradley, we’ve just got to be able to play 40 minutes,” Mullins said. “You’re not going to be able to play one half and beat a team that’s as good as Bradley.”
Despite the 0-2 record against the Braves this season, Mullins likes the Salukis’ shot in the third meeting.
“I would always like to be on the 2-0 side rather than the 0-2 side, but I like our chances,” Mullins said. “I believe in all of my guys, and I think they’ll be ready to go on Friday. I know they’re excited, they’re looking forward to it.”
Star freshman forward Marcus Domask leads Southern in scoring at 13 points per game. As a result of his successful first Valley campaign, the 2019 Wisconsin Mr. Basketball honoree was awarded MVC Freshman and MVC Newcomer of the year on Tuesday.
In two games against Bradley, Domask scored a total of 26 points and grabbed 18 rebounds, including a double-double in the first meeting.
Another player to watch for the Salukis is freshman guard Lance Jones, who dropped a career high 19 points on the Braves in the Feb. 15 game.
In both games, Bradley dominated the paint, outscoring SIU 68-38. Fans could see more of the same at Arch Madness, as Bradley appears to be focused on pushing the pace in transition and getting to the rim.
“[The] biggest thing is just getting out to run,” Henry said. “That’s our biggest offensive weapon, our transition offense. If we are able to get out and run and string together some stops I think we will be in good shape.”
“It’s not an easy gym to shoot in in St. Louis so I think forcing turnovers, getting out and running and getting to the rim is the best way to go about the offensive end,” Brown said. “As long as we get stops, that’ll lead to us playing some good offense.”
When it comes down to the X’s and O’s, there are no secrets since both teams have seen each other two times. According to Wardle, that makes execution even more crucial than it normally is.
“Whenever you have to play somebody a third time, it’s always difficult,” Wardle said. “Every team knows each other now. You know personnel, you know tendencies. It comes down to really just executing and taking care of the basketball on offense. When you play Southern Illinois, you gotta be disciplined.”
Tip-off is slated for Friday at 2:30 p.m. at the Enterprise Center in St Louis. The game will be broadcast on MVC-TV, which includes NBC Sports Chicago and Fox Sports Midwest.
