Bradley (10-18, 3-13 in Missouri Valley play) and Illinois State (11-17, 3-13) square off tonight in Bloomington-Normal, IL for the return game of the "War on 74" series between the two rivals. Tonight's game might be remembered for the wrong reason, as the loser of the game will be locked in to the No. 10 seed for Arch Madness and most certainly finish in last place in the MVC.
Last Game:
Bradley traveled to Tennessee-Martin as part of the BracketBusters series and rallied to beat Tenn-Martin 81-75. Without point guard Dodie Dunson, freshman Walt Lemon started and scored a career-high 20 points, including four made three pointers. Fellow freshman Jordan Prosser recorded his first double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
Last Game vs. ISU:
The first game between the rivals this season was a heart-breaker for Bradley, suffering a 79-78 overtime loss to the Redbirds. In that game on Jan. 26, the Braves had jumped out to a big lead, 23-8, and even lead 61-52 with 2:40 left in the game. It appeared that Bradley would win its first MVC game. This was not to be, and the Braves fell to 6-15.
Analysis:
Bradley and ISU come into this game in opposite directions. Bradley has won four of its last six games and has looked like a completely different team from the one that lost its first 11 MVC games. ISU has lost its last six games. While winning this game wouldn't appear to be that big of a deal, it would be a huge boost for Bradley not to end up as the No. 10 seed. Hopefully, Dodie Dunson will be able to return to the lineup. One of the big differences, I think, will be the fact that Bradley is no longer the Andrew Warren show. Bradley has other options and I expect Dyricus Simms-Edwards and Jordan Prosser to continue to preform at a high level.
Prediction:
Bradley 75, ISU 66.
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