For the second time in three seasons, Bradley comes to Omaha for a Senior Night showdown. Just like the last time, the teams seem destined to meet again six days later in St. Louis. However, while the scenario may be the same as two years ago, will the game be anything like that matchup two years ago?
Man, I hope not. The Jays survived in double-overtime that night, 111-110, in a game where Cavel Witter scored 42 points in a battle with Daniel Ruffin and the Braves. While that game was exciting, I might have a Fred Sanford Moment and feign a heart attack if we see a repeat of that game.
While Bradley is guaranteed a spot in the 4-5 game in Arch Madness regardless of the outcome tomorrow (only the color of their jersey in that game is in question), Creighton could drop into the No. 6 seed if they lose. With a loss, they finish tied for fifth, but would be the tournament’s No. 5 seed and earn a rematch with Bradley only if Evansville (at Drake), Indiana State (vs. Missouri State) and UNI (vs. Illinois State) all win Saturday. Pretty long odds. And waiting for them on the other side of that 3-6 game would be either Gregg Marshall’s Shockers or O-Hawk And The Redbirds. Ouch.
The Braves come into the game tomorrow as perhaps the hottest team in the league, having won five of its last seven games, with the two losses being decided in overtime and on a putback basket with less than a minute left. Two of the five wins have come against the league’s top two teams, then 18th-ranked UNI, 68-59, and Wichita State, 75-73. Playing them twice in one week is a bad draw for Creighton, no two ways about it.
It is Senior Day, though, and perhaps the last chance for Justin Carter, Cavel Witter and Chad Millard to play in front of the home crowd. WBR took a glance back at their respective careers earlier today, and suffice it to say all three have provided some memorable moments to Jays fans during their time on the hilltop.
One Big Paragraph with Lots O’Dots™: Bradley is 15-13 overall and tied with Creighton for fourth-place in the Missouri Valley Conference with a 9-8 league record. However, the Braves have won five of their last seven games, including wins over Northern Iowa and Wichita State … Andrew Warren (14.6 ppg.), Taylor Brown (13.6 ppg., 6.9 rpg.) and Sam Maniscalco (12.9 ppg.) give Bradley a trio of high-scoring playmakers who have combined to score 41.1 ppg. Impressively, all three also shoot better than 81 percent at the foul line. Individually, Warren ranks third, Brown seventh and Maniscalco 10th among Valley players in overall scoring this year … The Valley’s next best scoring trio are Illinois State seniors Osiris Eldridge (15.9 ppg), Dinma Odiakosa (13.2) and Lloyd Phillips (10.4) at 39.5 ppg … In the 24 games Brown has played this year, the Braves are 9-5 (.643) when the trio combines for at least 40 points, but 4-6 (.400) when they fail to reach 40 … The Braves are 4-7 in true road games this season, and on Saturday will be playing in front of their largest crowd since losing before 16,276 fans during a season-opening game at BYU … Sam Maniscalco, the Braves 6-foot guard, is shooting 61.0 percent (72-118) from inside the arc on the season, including a scorching 65.9 percent (56-85) in MVC play. Maniscalco’s season 2-point field goal percentage currently ranks as the seventh-best in the history of Bradley Basketball for any player with at least 50 2-pointers made. He has a chance to become just the sixth, and easily the shortest, individual in program history with at least 50 2FGM to shoot at least 60 percent from 2-point range for an entire season.
The Last Time They Played: Creighton benefitted from a cold start from the field by the Braves, and held on for a 73-68 victory Feb. 24 at Carver Arena. The Braves missed 17 of their first 19 field goal attempts in the opening 13 minutes, narrowed the deficit to one possession on four different occasions down the stretch, but could never get over the hump. Bradley missed its last four field goal attempts, including three game-tying 3-point tries in the final 1:13. Justin Carte put the game away by scoring the game’s final two points from the free throw line with six seconds left.
The Series: Creighton leads the all-time series with Bradley by a narrow 40-39 margin, which is the first time it has ever led in the series. Much of that difference has been made up in the past nine years, as the Jays have won 17 of the past 20 meetings. Creighton is 23-13 in Omaha vs. Bradley all-time, including 11 straight home victories. All but three of those 11 wins have been by 11 or more points.
In the last 28 meetings between the schools, Creighton is 15-1 when holding Bradley to 65 points or less but 5-7 when it allows more than 65 points. Creighton has also won the last 21 meetings when it scores 70 points or more against BU.
Dana Altman is 21-13 all-time against Bradley and 14-3 against Jim Les.
Anthony Tolliver Watch: Tuesday night, Tolliver scored 8 points and grabbed 7 rebounds in 24 minutes of action during the Warriors 110-102 loss to Philadelphia. He followed that up with 10 points and 6 rebounds in 24 minutes as the Warriors lost again, 127-112, to Denver.
The Totally Random Song I’d Play Right Now if I was Still a Radio DJ: Its the final (scheduled) home game of the season, so that must mean its time for Europe to sing “The Final Countdown.” As a sidebar, a few years back when I was writing a column for a national graphic design publication, I jokingly poked fun at the cover artwork for this album, which is ironically (I would argue hilariously) inspired by Superman II. The original designer of said artwork, who had become burnt out by the advertising world and gone into furniture design, wrote in to voice his displeasure (scroll down into the comments to find it). I thoroughly enjoyed his semi-maniacal rant about how the members of the band were one of the worst clients he ever worked with, however. The image of big haired pop-metal drama queens coming into a conference room, sketching out the Phantom Zone from Superman II, and demanding it be incorporated into their album cover is just too much to comprehend, even all these years later.
The Pick: Its been a long time since Creighton lost on Senior Night. Although Bradley is playing great basketball right now, I refuse to pick against the Jays’ seniors in their last home game. I could do it, I just refuse to.
Jays 73, Bradley 68
