Bounce Back Battle

Belmont Visits Bradley

(St. Louis, MO) – Belmont and Bradley are both in uncharacteristic two-game slumps so their meeting Wednesday is a bounce back battle. The Bruins (15-8, 7-5) and Braves (18-5, 9-3) are two of the Missouri Valley’s top scoring teams, led by veteran coaches that have proven track records.

This bounce back battle is the second game of the Gray Media TV, Missouri Valley Conference Game of the Week Double-Header. Missouri State and Northern Iowa tip at 6:00 pm and this game starts at 8:00 pm.

Last Time

Bradley defeated Belmont 89-77 in mid-January.  Five Braves reached double figures in scoring as Christian Davis scored 19 points and freshman guard Jaquan Johnson came off the bench to chip in 17.

Carter Whitt led the Bruins with 15 points.

The game was tied 43-43 at the half, but Bradley ran away with a 12-point win. That loss snapped a five-game win streak for Belmont who has now lost three of its last four games. Ironically, the Braves won their next game to build a five-game winning streak of their own, but now have lost two straight.

This bounce back battle is huge for both teams. Bradley is 10-2 at home.

Dog Days

All teams and players go through slumps, ruts, hard patches, whatever you want to call it. Belmont coach Casey Alexander says coaches have to avoid ‘over thinking it’. He hopes to observe what players are going through and that coaches need to help their players stay positive and stay locked in to the normal process.

These teams may be the deepest in the Valley. Bradley’s Brian Wardle has two young guards in Johnson and Demarion Burch who bring some driving ability to his backcourt. Preseason player of the year Duke Deen has struggled with his shot lately and the young guards can give him a breather.

Wardle says teams have been physical with his team and he needs his players to use more ball movement to accelerate the offense. He wants to get some better opportunities for Deen. He insists, getting back in the gym is the only way forward.

Deen continues to lead the Braves and is fifteenth in the MVC in scoring (13.3 ppg). He is the league’s fifth leading assist man (4.04).

Scouting the Teams

Belmont’s 81.4 points-per-game scoring average is tops in the Valley. The Braves hang their hats on tough-minded defense and they own the league’s best defensive field goal percentage. Bradley allows under 70 points-per-game and they lead the conference in free throw percentage and three-point percentage.

Belmont leads the conference in assists and in three-point baskets.

Wardle says Alexander and the Bruins run creative offense, create mismatches and are hard to defend.

Alexander describes the Braves as a tough and physical team. The Belmont head man says he has great respect for what Wardle has built in Peoria, Illinois.

Belmont’s best scorer is 6’9 matchup nightmare Jonathan Pierre. While averaging 14.4 points a game, he rebounds well (6.3 per game) and has outstanding guard skills (3.6 assists per game). He makes threes (2.4 per game) and makes them efficiently (.397).

Bounce Back Battle – Crunching the Numbers

Bradley is 79 in the NET, 95^th in KenPom and 55^th in the RPI. Belmont’s only sub-100 metric ranking is in the RPI. Belmont is fifteenth nationally in assists and Bradley is eleventh in effective field goal percentage. The Braves are second nationally in three-point percentage.

I wondered if these veteran coaches ‘crunch the numbers’. Both said yes, but said it’s what you do with those numbers that matters.

Wardle says sometimes he uses the numbers to explain things to his players. He leans more on the last five games to understand where is team is currently.

Alexander admits he is something of a numbers geek, but stresses that the application of that information is more important than the numbers themselves. The metrics don’t dictate game plans.

This bounce back battle is a very big game for each of these teams. Bradley is hungry for a regular season title. They currently trail Drake (21-2, 11-2) by one game and have a head-to-head matchup left with the Bulldogs.

Bradley is one of the teams vying for a top-four, first-round-bye finish. The Bruins are tied for fourth place with Illinois Chicago. They lead Illinois State and Evansville by one game and trail Northern Iowa by one game.

Do Good

 

Editor: Cover photo of Duke Deen and Carter Whitt, courtesy of bradleybraves.com.