Historically, Bradley’s first game back from a week or longer final exams break has been a mixed bag.
There have been good wins (vs. Iowa State three years ago), bad losses (at Western Illinois 13 years ago) and ugly defeats (at Milwaukee last season).
So predicting how the Braves will react Wednesday night at Carver Arena (7:05) against Loyola as they come off a nine-day layoff from a 75-67 loss to Western Carolina is anybody’s guess.
“We get a lot of rest, but maybe getting a lot of rest is a bad thing,” BU leading scorer Taylor Brown said Tuesday. “We kept in condition and got shots up every day. Mentally, it gave us a chance to evaluate what we’ve done so far this season and what we need to do the rest of the season.”
BU coach Jim Les is confident his team will have the proper answer when they take the floor.
“The one thing I’ve liked about this team is when I’ve challenged them, they have a great response,” Les said. “I’m expecting them to respond. There’s the (relief) of getting finals over and that they can just be basketball players for the next five weeks. After the Western Carolina game, this team was as down as I’ve seen them. So I’ll expect a different approach.”
Les said the time off has been tougher on him than the Braves.
“For me, it’s been a long nine days, especially coming off a loss and the disappointment of that,” he said. “They had a lot more distractions than I did. All I could do was continue to watch the game again and think about ways we could improve. You want to be careful the guys keep their focus on academics, but still concentrate on what they need to do on the floor. For the most part, the attention’s been pretty good.
“Yesterday we may have had one of our best practices in a month or so. We combined energy and enthusiasm with really good execution, especially during a time with a lot going on. This will be a great time to exhale after finals and hopefully get back to work on the basketball floor.”
While Bradley (5-3) has dominated the Loyola series of late, winning five of the last six meetings, the games have generally been competitive. This year’s Ramblers are off to a 6-2 start despite introducing several new players to the program.
“They play hard and play well together,” Les said. “They’re a physical team with a nice blend of inside-outside. I’m not sure it’s going to be as high-scoring as last year (86-75 BU win in Chicago). They were a little more uptempo last year. I’m not sure there will be as many possessions in this game.”
While this is a return from last year’s BracketBuster, Bradley and Loyola have met all eight seasons that Les has coached here.
“This is always a good matchup for us and a series we’d like to continue to play,” Les said. “It makes sense for them and for us.”
No news on assistant job: Les said he has not yet decided on how his staff will be structured for the rest of this season following the sudden departure of assistant coach Steve Merfeld on Dec. 5.
“It’ll be a couple of days before we have something finalized,” Les said. “We’re working on it. Everybody’s doing a little bit more. Eric has taken over the big guys (Merfeld’s old responsibility). I’m focusing on the guards and will become more involved in practice as opposed to delegating. So that’s good.”
Former Braves Jeremy Crouch and Daniel Ruffin are in town and have been around the program of late. Both are potential candidates for the vacancy, at least through this season.
Braves briefs: Tickets are available at $25 apiece for the first BU game day luncheon Wednesday at the Michel Student Center ballroom. Les and selected BU players will be the featured speakers. ... Les’ television show will be taped Monday at 6:30 p.m. at the new Hampton Inn and Suites at Grand Prairie. The public is invited.
Dave Reynolds can be reached at 686-3210 or at dreynolds@pjstar.com.
