After Bradley’s enthralling 79-61 win and series sweep over I-74 rival Illinois State on Wednesday night, the Braves (18-8, 11-4) held onto their top spot in the Missouri Valley Conference as the league experienced another day of upsets and close calls.
“They’re playing like the top [of] our league right now,” Illinois State head coach Ryan Pedon said after Wednesday’s game. “They’ve been playing much better here in the last 10 days to two weeks.”
With just five games to go, it’s the final stretch for Bradley to win its first MVC Championship since the days of Anthony Parker in 1996. Due to the restructuring of Arch Madness that gifts the top four teams a bye, a strong finish is all the Braves need to head into St. Louis, Mo., as the top seed.
“What we’re trying to do here is win the regular season [which] hasn’t been done in a long time,” junior forward Rienk Mast said after a road win in Cedar Falls.
The schedule ahead
The ball is in the Braves’ court as they control their destiny going forward. With three games left in Peoria and two more on the road, it’s a favorable position for Bradley to capitalize. In the way are their next five opponents, seeking to gain ground in the ever-chaotic Valley. Here is how the Braves’ schedule shapes out paired with each team’s NET ranking:
- Sat. Feb. 11 vs Murray State (13-12, 8-7), (206)
- Wed. Feb. 15 vs Missouri State (13-12, 9-6), (141)
- Sun. Feb. 19 at Southern Illinois (19-7, 11-4), (114)
- Wed. Feb. 22 at Valparaiso (11-15, 4-11), (284)
- Sun. Feb. 26 vs Drake (20-6, 11-4), (79)
Thanks to Missouri State’s victory over Belmont Wednesday night, there’s a three-way tie atop the Valley between Bradley, Drake and Southern Illinois. While each school has positioned themselves well, they will all play one another one more time before the seasons end. That may be the difference in the Valley standings.
Bradley’s trip to Carbondale, Ill., carries the most weight. BU won a grind-it-out 62-52 slugfest in Peoria but the Salukis, like the Braves, have been nearly untouchable at home. With their 12-1 home record, SIU’s “Black-Out Cancer” event and the game being moved to ESPN2, it’ll be the height of Bradley’s schedule this season.
“We know what everyone can do on the road,” Mast said. “We know what we need to do on the road and everybody knows that if they show up and just do their thing that we’ll be in the game and have a shot at winning it.”
Bradley’s senior night will be marred with revenge as the Braves will be mindful of their 86-61 beatdown on national television to Drake in mid-January. The loss caused Braves’ head coach Brian Wardle to come out the following week wearing a custom tee-shirt with the final score and ESPNU printed underneath. This one will be a war of attrition, and it could decide the Valley crown.
For Wardle, before he can focus on the Salukis and Bulldogs, they must take care of the game in front of them.
“They know I’m going to keep coaching and prepare like I was in October [or] November,” Wardle said. “They’re confident, but we still gotta get better and still put together that 40-minute game because it’s going to take that to win this whole thing.”
Murray State and Missouri State pose a threat as one seeks a season sweep while the other seeks revenge entering Peoria. The Racers were impactful against Mast, causing an ugly three-point, one-rebound performance – his worst output of the season. The Bears, however, played an ugly game in Springfield, Mo., as Bradley bullied their opponent into a 58-40 submission.
Valparaiso’s senior night will be an emotional one for senior forward Ben Krikke, but Wardle’s squad will have to be the bearer of bad news if they want to spoil the Beacons’ hopes and keep footing in the MVC race.
Mapping out the Madness
When the MVC wraps up play on Feb. 26, the Arch Madness field will be solidified. Although the difference between the top and middle of the conference is minuscule, tiebreakers are likely to set the seeding for more than two teams. The Valley lays out their tiebreaker method as such:
1. Head-to-head competition
2. If three or more teams are tied, results against one another will be compared by what they call a “mini-round robin” of sorts.
3. Compare each team’s winning percentage against the top of the conference all the way down until one of the tied teams holds an edge.
4. The final step would be to compare both teams’ NET ranking. This is unlikely, but if it were to happen, Bradley may benefit the most.
Bradley currently holds the tiebreaker over Indiana State (17-9, 10-5) but Belmont (17-9, 10-5) possesses the only head-to-head edge over the Braves. Bradley will have to hope that the Sycamores surpass the Bruins in case BU were to drop or if the season came down to a tie. Of course, none of that would matter if Bradley were to run the table.
When it comes to tournament seeding, there is no telling how the new format will affect the conference tournament that has seen some notable upsets in its years. Bradley is the only one team outside the top four to have claimed the crown, having done so in 2019.
When inside the top four, it’s important to stay away from the dreaded third seed. In the past 10 tournaments, the third seeded team has won a whopping five games compared to 10 losses. The seven-time first round losses could be detrimental especially in a league tighter than ever.
The big finish
For Bradley to claim its 15th conference title, the dominoes will have to fall just like the Braves want them to. With five games left and five teams tied or a game back of first, the ending could be everything the MVC had been hoping for.
The Red and White are looking forward to getting back on the hardwood this Saturday. A win would push their win streak to six and continue to feed into their newfound sense of confidence.
“[We just need to] stay humble, stay in the gym and keep working,” senior forward Malevy Leons said.
Buckle up, the final stretch for the Bradley Braves title hopes begins Saturday at 1 p.m.
