Reynolds: Adjusting attitudes, alarms

DECEMBER

20 — Iowa State 87, Bradley 68

29 — *at Drake 7:05 p.m.

JANUARY

1 — *SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 7:05 p.m.

3   — *at Wichita State 2:05 p.m.

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Dwayne Lathan scored 18 points and grabbed a team-high seven rebounds to lead Indiana State to a 72-59 win over Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis on Wednesday.

Jordan Printy finished with 12 points for the Sycamores (8-3), who won their third straight game.

The Jaguars (9-4) cut Indiana State’s lead down to 49-45. But Printy hit his third 3-pointer of the game with 7 minutes to play then hit another 3 about a minute later to give the Sycamores a 55-49 lead.

Rotnei Clarke drained a 3-pointer with 18 seconds left in overtime and then hit two free throws to seal Arkansas’ 66-62 victory over previously undefeated Missouri State on Tuesday night.

The Razorbacks (7-5) have now won five straight after losing consecutive games to Morgan State, East Tennessee State, South Alabama and Oklahoma.

Kevin Dillard’s layup with 12.2 seconds remaining was the difference as Southern Illinois defeated San Francisco 67-66 Sunday at the Holiday Hoops Classic.

It was the second straight close call for the Salukis (7-2). They beat San Diego 70-68 Saturday night on two free throws by Carlton Fay at the end of regulation.

In retrospect, I wonder if beating Illinois three weeks ago wasn’t the worst thing that could have happened to the Bradley Braves.

Seems like ever since knocking off the Illini in Vegas, the Braves think the rest of the season is comped. They got by with a bad half at Northern Illinois because the Huskies are bad. They yawned through stretch runs at home against Western Carolina and Loyola and lost to both.

Coach Jim Les got mad after the Loyola loss and started talking accountability. But when he showed up Sunday at Hilton Coliseum, Les decided to give his regulars another chance.

Coming off two home losses, the Bradley Braves had an opportunity Sunday against Iowa State to get themselves back on track heading into next week’s launch of the Missouri Valley Conference season.

Instead, the train derailed, crashed and burned. The talented Cyclones totally overwhelmed the Braves 87-68 before 12,293 at Hilton Coliseum.

Iowa State opened the game with an 18-6 spurt, then went on a 26-4 run to jump ahead 44-16 late in the opening half. The Cyclones led by as many as 32 points midway through the second half.

The timing of Bradley’s 1 p.m. nonconference game Sunday vs. 7-3 Iowa State at Hilton Coliseum seemingly could not be worse for the Braves.

The Braves are reeling from consecutive home losses to mid-majors after building double-digit second-half leads in both.

They’re headed on the road against a huge, fast-breaking team that ranks fourth in the nation in 3-point percentage.

Clevin Hannah scored 24 points, J.T. Durley added a career-high 20 and Wichita State upset No. 16 Texas Tech 85-83 on Saturday night, giving the Red Raiders their first loss of the season.

Garrett Stutz added 13 points off the bench for the Shockers (10-1), who finished 28 of 35 (80 percent) from the foul line and out-rebounded Tech 40-35.

After a nine-day break, the University of Evansville men’s basketball team brushed off the dust on Thursday night as the Purple Aces (5-3) put together a 75-58 victory over Georgia Southern (3-9) at Roberts Stadium.

D.J. Cooper scored 18 points, including eight during a late first-half stretch, as Ohio University defeated Illinois State 75-57 on Wednesday night.

The Bobcats (6-3) led 18-17 with 5:04 left in the first half after a layup and free throw by Dinma Odiakosa, who paced the Redbirds (7-2) with 13 points and 11 rebounds.

After a jumper by Reggie Keely put Ohio ahead 20-17 with 4:38 remaining, Cooper added a layup 29 seconds later to make it 22-17. Cooper’s 3-pointer made it 25-19 with 3:37 left and he closed the half with another 3-pointer.

Courtney Stanley’s 45-footer at the final buzzer was an emotional game-winning shot Wednesday night at Carver Arena for Loyola.

But the 68-65 Bradley basketball defeat — the first time since 1984 the Ramblers had won here — before a stunned crowd of 9,017 seemed to be a lost cause long before that.

This was a game the Braves led by 11 points at halftime and by a dozen three minutes into the second half.

Collapse is a kind description for what happened to the home team in the final 17 minutes.

In a season already filled with twists and turns for the Bradley basketball team, freshman guards Dyricus Simms-Edwards and Jake Eastman switched roles on the BU roster Wednesday prior to the nonconference game against Loyola at Carver Arena.

Simms-Edwards, the 6-foot-2 Peorian who had played so well in the Braves’ first eight games — earning 17 minutes per game because of solid defense and floor play while averaging 4.6 points per game — will be sidelined for 3-6 weeks because of a stress reaction in his left foot.

Simms-Edwards still could receive a medical redshirt for this season, a decision that will be determined based on how he heals, said BU coach Jim Les.

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.

Jim Les took advantage of Bradley’s break for final exams to go see an old friend. But it wasn’t exactly an uplifting visit.

Les and Dick Versace took a flight Sunday to Atlanta to call on Mike Williams. The center on the Braves’ mid-1980s teams — on which Les was the point guard and Versace was the coach — has been hospitalized for more than two weeks after sustaining eight gunshot wounds while serving as a security guard in a Georgia nightclub.

The outside shooting of the Niagara men’s basketball team trumped the inside play of the Illinois State Redbirds on Sunday afternoon at Redbird Arena.

The Purple Eagles hit 10 treys to overcame some dominating statistics in the paint by the Redbirds and handed ISU its first loss of the season, 76-68.

ISU (7-1) doiminated the paint, claiming a 49-28 edge in rebounding and scoring 42 points inside the paint to just 22 for the Purple Eagles.

Dwayne Lathan scored 16 points and Harry Marshall added 15 points and eight assists as Indiana State got past Oral Roberts 60-54 Sunday.

Trailing 50-48 with 4:40 to go, the Sycamores (6-3) rallied with a 12-4 run to end the game.

Dominique Morrison scored 17 to lead the Golden Eagles (6-5), who had their three-game winning streak snapped.

Limestone standout junior guard Donivine Stewart said Friday night that Bradley made him a scholarship offer in the past week.

“I was pretty excited talking to Coach (Jim) Les,” Stewart said. “Why wouldn’t I be interested in my own hometown college?

"My dad and I are going to talk with Coach Les on Monday.”

When asked if he wanted to sign with a school this spring, Stewart was noncommittal.

Cam Long scored 22 points and George Mason rallied late to beat Creighton 75-72 on Saturday.

Long hit 1 of 2 free throws after a technical foul was called on Blue Jays coach Dana Altman with 18 seconds remaining to give George Mason its first lead since the 19:34 mark of the second half. Luke Hancocks dunk off a steal by Andre Cornelius put George Mason (5-5) up 75-72 with 5 seconds left to play.

Josh Young scored 21 points as Drake, lighting it up from 3-point range, pulled away from South Dakota 96-81 Friday night at the Drake Invitational.

Ben Simons added 20 for the Bulldogs (4-5), who shot 53.8 percent from long distance (14 of 26). Adam Templeton contributed a double-double of 17 points and 16 rebounds, Ryan Wedel scored 14 and Craig Stanley had 13.

Bradley basketball coach Jim Les will appear on "Sports Central," the popular WGN radio program, Tuesday, Dec. 15.  The coach is scheduled to join the program at 8:45 p.m. CST.

The show is hosted by Dave Kaplan, who once coached Les in the World Basketball League.

WGN is found at 720 on the AM dial.

Tony Freeman scored 26 points to lead Southern Illinois to an 86-65 win against Southeast Missouri on Wednesday.

Freeman made 10 of 15 field goals, including 6 of 11 3-pointers, for the Salukis (4-2).

Anthony Booker added 10 points and 11 rebounds for Southern Illinois. Nick Evans scored 15, and Carlton Fay and Kevin Dillard had 11 apiece.

For the second consecutive week, sophomore forward Taylor Brown has been named the Bradley Country Financial Scholar-Athlete of the Week.

Nothing was going to keep Irwin Dambrot from making one more visit to Madison Square Garden.

His ongoing battle with Parkinson’s, a broken hip in a summer fall, a bout of pneumonia, those things didn’t stand a chance at keeping the 81-year-old Dambrot from Wednesday’s announcement at The Garden of the top 10 moments in the 75 years college basketball has been played in what’s known as “The World’s Most Famous Arena.”

Two hours before the ceremony was to begin, a medical transporter pulled up to the loading ramp on 33rd Street. Dambrot had arrived, bundled in an oversize sweater and a blanket in a wheelchair, seemingly oblivious to what was going on around him.

But when CCNY’s “double” of winning the NIT and NCAA tournament in a two-week span in 1950 was announced as the No. 1 moment, Dambrot and the other two members of the team present — Floyd Layne and Ron Nadell — shared a minute together.

Kwadzo Ahelegbe scored 20 points as Northern Iowa beat Iowa 67-50 Tuesday night to push its winning streak to five games.

Adam Koch and Jordan Eglseder each added 10 for the Panthers (6-1), who went on an early 22-1 run in beating the rival Hawkeyes (3-6) for the first time since 2006.