BRADLEY (-6 1/2) over evansville
I have been waiting for this game for a little while now and have already laid one unit and may be adding another.
Anyone remember this Bradley team in November and early December when Phillip Gilbert was healthy? That team opened the season with 7 straight ATS victories, including outright victories against Miami Florida (on the road) and Bowling Green and two narrow road losses to DePaul and Pepperdine.
When Gilbert went down, this team appeared to lose all their confidence and proceeded to go 1-6 ATS in their next 7 games, including a 15 point road loss to the Aces on January 11th (more on that later) -- 4 of their first 5 games without Gilbert produced double-digit ATS losses. From a low point loss to Evansville, the Braves looked much better with a tough 10 point loss at home to a very good S. Illinois team in which they were down by only 3 with less than a minute to play. They followed up that game by covering the number 3 of the last 4 times out, including a 3 point road win at Illinois St. in Gilbert's return to action on Saturday (Illinois St. has been a tough place for Missouri Valley opponents this year and that win has got to be a huge confidence boost for the Braves) -- although Gilbert only played 15 minutes, the effect of his leadership is more than evident on their performance Saturday.
The fact that Gilbert was lost earlier in the year should benefit this team down the stretch with added experience and depth -- the hole left by Gilbert opened the door for younger players to get much needed experience and also required both Sommerville and Gillingham to carry much more of the load -- this experience should pay off.
Although Evansville has played respectively in their last two outings -- a win at SMS (an enigma of a team) and a 4 point home loss to Creighton (down 15 at the half) -- they are 3-8 ATS in their last 11 overall as well at 1-5 in their last 6 road games. Evansville primarily relies upon a 6 man rotation with the bench getting little work outside of mop-up time in blowout losses -- I think Bradley's depth will work to their advantage in the second half of this one.
This will be Gilbert's first home game since returning from injury and I expect the crowd and this team to be fired up to avenge the earlier 15 point loss at Evansville. In that game, Evansville went to the free-throw line 52 times -- I expect the whistles to go Bradley's way in the re-match and I expect to see a solid 15+ point win from the Braves.
I would really appreciate it if any Missouri Con experts would weigh in on this game as I may be playing this one big.
21-15-1 ytd
GL
[This message was edited by jimmymo on February 03, 2004 at 12:57 PM.]
[This message was edited by jimmymo on February 03, 2004 at 12:57 PM.]
[This message was edited by jimmymo on February 03, 2004 at 12:58 PM.]
[This message was edited by jimmymo on February 03, 2004 at 12:59 PM.]
I have been waiting for this game for a little while now and have already laid one unit and may be adding another.
Anyone remember this Bradley team in November and early December when Phillip Gilbert was healthy? That team opened the season with 7 straight ATS victories, including outright victories against Miami Florida (on the road) and Bowling Green and two narrow road losses to DePaul and Pepperdine.
When Gilbert went down, this team appeared to lose all their confidence and proceeded to go 1-6 ATS in their next 7 games, including a 15 point road loss to the Aces on January 11th (more on that later) -- 4 of their first 5 games without Gilbert produced double-digit ATS losses. From a low point loss to Evansville, the Braves looked much better with a tough 10 point loss at home to a very good S. Illinois team in which they were down by only 3 with less than a minute to play. They followed up that game by covering the number 3 of the last 4 times out, including a 3 point road win at Illinois St. in Gilbert's return to action on Saturday (Illinois St. has been a tough place for Missouri Valley opponents this year and that win has got to be a huge confidence boost for the Braves) -- although Gilbert only played 15 minutes, the effect of his leadership is more than evident on their performance Saturday.
The fact that Gilbert was lost earlier in the year should benefit this team down the stretch with added experience and depth -- the hole left by Gilbert opened the door for younger players to get much needed experience and also required both Sommerville and Gillingham to carry much more of the load -- this experience should pay off.
Although Evansville has played respectively in their last two outings -- a win at SMS (an enigma of a team) and a 4 point home loss to Creighton (down 15 at the half) -- they are 3-8 ATS in their last 11 overall as well at 1-5 in their last 6 road games. Evansville primarily relies upon a 6 man rotation with the bench getting little work outside of mop-up time in blowout losses -- I think Bradley's depth will work to their advantage in the second half of this one.
This will be Gilbert's first home game since returning from injury and I expect the crowd and this team to be fired up to avenge the earlier 15 point loss at Evansville. In that game, Evansville went to the free-throw line 52 times -- I expect the whistles to go Bradley's way in the re-match and I expect to see a solid 15+ point win from the Braves.
I would really appreciate it if any Missouri Con experts would weigh in on this game as I may be playing this one big.
21-15-1 ytd
GL
[This message was edited by jimmymo on February 03, 2004 at 12:57 PM.]
[This message was edited by jimmymo on February 03, 2004 at 12:57 PM.]
[This message was edited by jimmymo on February 03, 2004 at 12:58 PM.]
[This message was edited by jimmymo on February 03, 2004 at 12:59 PM.]
