Indiana State hosts Bradley on Saturday in a key Missouri Valley Conference tilt. Who has the edge in this battle?
TV Schedule: Saturday, January 5th, 2:00 p.m. ET, ESPN3
Arena: Hulman Center, Terre Haute, IN
With Cinderella, Loyola-Chicago taking a step back this season, the fight for the Missouri Valley is wide open and two of the hopeful contenders face-off in Terre Haute, Indiana when the 8-5 Indiana State Sycamores play host to the 8-6 Bradley Braves.
The home-standing Sycamores notched wins over Western Kentucky, Colorado, and UNLV before the new year, now head coach Greg Lansing and his team is hoping to make a statement in the Valley. Indiana State does one thing extremely well, shoot the three-pointer, the 42.5% clip that they make three-pointers are the 6th best number in the country, but the longshot is not an essential part of their arsenal as only 181 of their 732 field goal attempts come from behind the line.
The Sycamores are led by junior guard Jordan Barnes whose 19.1 points makes him the 67th highest scorer in the country. The 5-11 Barnes is also the 13th best three-point shooter in the country, making 48% of his shots. The two other players that make an impact offensively are guards Tyreke Key and Christian Williams who average 26.2 points per game, as well as being the team’s leading rebounder with 6.2 Williams is second on the team in assists with three. No other player on the roster nets more than 6.2 points per game.
The visiting Braves have always been a solid defensive team and this season that trend has continued as coach Brian Wardle’s team has given up 67 points per game. In their eight non-conference wins, that included wins over SMU and Penn State, Bradley never surrendered more than 70 points. A big catalyst for this has been that they force 15 turnovers per game and after falling to Northern Iowa in their conference opener 65-47, the Braves are looking to get into the win column.
While junior guard Darrell Brown is the team’s leading scorer and assist man with 14.1 and 3.4, sophomore forward Elijah Childs is the big cog in the Braves’ offense averaging 12.6 points and a team-leading 7.8 rebounds. The triumvirate of Koch Bar, Nate Kennell, and Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye add depth by all averaging at least nine points per game, while Bar and Lautier-Ogunleye pull down 10.1 boards for Braves.
Key matchup
The key matchup in this game takes place backcourt court between two diminutive guards, the 5-10 Barnes of the Sycamores and the Braves’ 5-11 Brown. Not only are both guards the leading scorer for their respective teams but they also put up the most shots from the field, the free throw line, and from beyond the arc. The one that ends up with the upper hand in this matchup, gives their team a leg up in the game.
Prediction: I think this will be one of those tight, first to 70 type games and I think Indiana State will be the first one to 70 and come away with the win. The Sycamores take this one by six or less.