MVC Basketball: Conference tournament preview and predictions

By Doug Winkey | Mar 1, 2016

Mar 8, 2015; St. Louis, MO, USA; Northern Iowa Panthers head coach Ben Jacobson reacts in the game between the Illinois State Redbirds and the Northern Iowa Panthers during second half in the championship game of the Missouri Valley Conference basketball tournament at Scotttrade Center. Northern Iowa Panthers won 60-69. Mandatory Credit: Jasen Vinlove-USA TODAY Sports /

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Dec 30, 2015; Cedar Falls, IA, USA; Bradley Braves head coach Brian Wardle and guard Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye (23) talk during the first half against the Northern Iowa Panthers at McLeod Center. Mandatory Credit: Jeffrey Becker-USA TODAY Sports /

10: Bradley Braves

The Braves managed to finish one game out of last in MVC play at 3-15. They will open the conference tournament Thursday against the 8th seed Loyala Chicago.

Bradley is quite simply one of the worse teams in America. They are 337th in KenPom, have the 351st adjusted offense (last among all D1 schools), and 298th in RPI, have no players who average double figures in scoring, and shoot 38% as a team. The Braves’ one redeeming quality is the 96th best adjusted defense, but even that won’t help them overcome being one of the 20 worst performing programs this year.

The only chance Bradley has to advance is for Donte Thomas and Luuk van Bree to power them through the first game. Thomas is a decent forward, averaging nine and six while shooting 44%. Van Bree is the team’s best shooter from distance at 36%. If one of those two can get hot, it could make up for the team’s utter lack of offense from the other eight rotation players, most of whom are true freshman.

Next: 9: Drake Bulldogs