Final MVC vs MW challenge.

[just ducky]

Thank God for Valpo. Stealing one in Vegas preemptively saved the Valley from Saturday’s Central Illinois flop.

As a Valpo fan I was tempted to say something like that but I didn't.

Obviously the shorthanded Redbirds faced an uphill battle against a very impressive San Diego St team. Like the rest of you my ESPN+ saved me from watching the Bradley- New Mexico game. Could anybody who watched it give us a first hand evaluation of the team talents and performances? Should or could have Bradley competed better at home?

[SanityLost17]

I actually fully understand why the MVC wanted to be in a challenge with the A10. Lots of very good basketball schools in that conference that would make for very good high mid-major matchups. What I don't understand is why not do both? With the current state of scheduling it seems like they could have done both and had a hell of a non-con schedule.

[ptownbraves]

Could anybody who watched it give us a first hand evaluation of the team talents and performances? Should or could have Bradley competed better at home?

Good ball movement and a fast pace is Bradley's achilles heel. When the Lobos pushed the pace, it disrupted the grinding defense Wardle likes to run. Bradley hangs its hat on its defense but their aggressiveness sometimes works against them with a long, athletic team like New Mexico. Defensive assignments get blown and other guys run into help and foul or leave someone else open. This group has always struggled against these types of teams.

New Mexico's press was also giving Bradley fits and disrupted the offense they wanted to run. This team doesn't have the offensive firepower to score 85 against even an average D1 team like IUPUI. If you put up 80+ on Bradley, you are going to win 9 out of 10 times.