Free Throw Discrepancy Too Much to Overcome in Orlando
UC San Diego makes 23 free throws en route to a 87-77 win against Bradley
This will be hopefully the only time all season where I publish my story about a game after another one was played. This one I had to listen to entirely on the radio while I was traveling. The unique aspect of this game was that I could digest what I heard entirely on the Bradley broadcast and then come back the next day and look at it with my own eyes based upon what I heard.
UC San Diego hadn’t lost on the season but were definitely beatable. It’s the first time all season that external factors definitely had an influence on the game. You can argue the fairness of it all, but the reality is that giving up 31 free throw attempts in a game is a recipe for a loss.
Let’s get right into this one. (Since I already know the result of the next game, this is a good one to absorb before reading that one.)
Starting Five
3 Alex Huibregtse (G)
10 Timoty van der Knapp (F)
14 Ahmet Jonovic (C)
21 AJ Smith (F)
22 Jaquan Johnson (G)
» With the blowout win against Princeton, no surprise but the starting lineup is the same as last game.
The Moments
Follow along with me … (Below are game times, not video times.)
This link will likely expire eventually, but for now, if you have ESPN+ you can watch the game here: Full Video
14:04 - Bradley’s offense is working well into the first break and the Braves jump out to a 13-7 lead in the first six minutes. Huibregtse starts hot with multiple threes. The game has a pretty good flow without many stoppages.
(Note: Coming out of the break, we get an appearance from Matthew Zobrist, which is the earliest we’ve seen him in a game this season.)
11:45 - Johnson hits his first basket/3-pointer of the game. There would be a lot more on that front. But, the more interesting thing to watch here is the Jonovic “backup screen”, for lack of a better term. We’ve seen this a few times where Meta doesn’t necessarily set a conventional screen, set to the floor. Instead, he knows how quick Johnson is and uses his size to just create space, often just standing in front of or even backing up slightly into a defensive player. (BU 18-11)
11:24 - I wanted to go back to this moment upon watching the game again. All that happens here is there’s a near steal by Johnson that we can’t really tell if he makes contact with the offensive player or not. The Bradley bench reacts like it is clean but it’s hard to tell on the game camera. But, as fairly open as the game had been in the first 8+ minutes, this felt a bit ticky-tack, at least from how closely the game hadn’t been called to that point.
10:42 - Huibregtse loses his shoe. Shoe falling off counter for the season: 3
9:37 - UC San Diego finally gets called for its first foul of the half (BU has six already to this point).
8:34 - The fouls are beginning to mount. While there hasn’t been anything egregious to this point, this one was rough because you can see the shooter change his pivot foot multiple times. It’s a clear traveling but a foul is called instead:
(Foul counter: 8 for Bradley, one for UC San Diego, BU still leading 21-19)
6:48 - This is really the first game of the season I’ve felt like the refereeing really influenced the game, but this was a big moment. With as good as Montana Wheeler has been playing, he had already been called for two fouls early and then he picks up his third:
Sorry, but there’s nothing here. Wheeler has his hands near the offensive player’s chest but this is a clear no call and just should have been a missed shot and play on for the rebound. (Foul counter: 9 for Bradley, 1 for UC San Diego; UCSD 26-23 after the free throw).
3:42 - There’s been a lot of trading baskets, but UC San Diego’s Tom Beattie just continues to make plays. He out hustles multiple Bradley players for a steal and score which leads to a timeout (UCSD 36-31)
00:00 - UC San Diego starts pouring it on to end the half, somewhat from sloppy offense by the Braves but also not closing out on the Tritons perimeter shooters.
This last one isn’t the first time where the rotations in the 1-3-1 aren’t accurate. The biggest issue is that Huibregtse should know he has help in the middle. When Beattie (UCSD #9) gets a return pass, Huibregtse can show slightly and force Beattie into where Thomas is playing. Instead, he chases him out so aggressively that there’s an easy pass to Leo Beath (UCSD #8) for another 3-pointer:
Guys need to know your personnel when you’re playing zone so you know who will and won’t beat you from the perimeter. UC San Diego takes a 44-33 lead into the half.
Onto the second half
14:50 - Both teams are trading baskets, but this two-play sequence felt like a microcosm of the game. First you have Huibregtse, who is having a very good shooting game, get blocked on a 3-point attempt. It definitely looks like the defender got some of his hand as well as the ball but no call. Quickly back the other way Beath draws contact and scores. Again, another one in the marginal area. Does Huibregtse reach a little? Sure. But, otherwise he’s mostly straight up and the basket could have just counted without the foul. (UCSD 56-43)
13:47 - Bradley is trying to chip away and get back into the game but it’s tough when plays like this happen:
The sideline referee makes the call and has a good view of the play. Burch isn’t too far engaged with his hands and the offensive player just falls down. You’ve got to be able to play defense to chip into a lead and even though this didn’t lead to free throws, it messes with you psychologically as a defender when you don’t know what a foul might be.
13:21 - AJ Smith gets a steal and gets hammered on the break. It’s correctly called a flagrant foul and he knocks down the free throws and then Burch scores on a driving layup and all of a sudden it’s back to a six-point game. I remember when I was listening to the game on the radio live, I recall saying out loud, this just feels like one of those games we will get close but just not get over the hump in the end.
10:23 - Wardle’s had enough. At first, you think Wheeler picks up another cheap foul, his fourth. You can actually see the interaction on the broadcast. Wardle’s trying to keep his cool and says something small as the camera pans and the ref runs him for it. I’d imagine it’s an accumulation from throughout the game. He doesn’t blow his top at all and in a way, he’s almost laughing about the audacity.
I can’t get a crisper still of it, but man, the look on his face says it all.
First the smirk:
Then the grin:
Gotta love Coach Wardle.
Then we hear the foul is actually on AJ Smith, which is even worse:
It’s good that it took eight games for us to have a game where the refs overly inserted themselves into a game. It’s hard to really make some “hot take” and say it changed the outcome of the game. It does affect how a team plays, though, when so many fouls are only being called on your own team, more than the opponent. But, simply put, the referees need to be better. And for the most part this year, I have thought the Bradley games have been officiated pretty well.
(Note: The usual “post ref bump” after a technical foul didn’t happen as UC San Diego got two more cheap fouls that led to free throws, with the fouls being 10-3 Bradley with 9 minutes left.)
7:32 - Barth rains down another deep three. He’s just been stone cold in terms of stopping runs every time Bradley tries to get closer. This one boosts the lead back up to eight, 71-63.
3:52 - Bradley looks cooked, having to try and push back for so long as van der Knapp makes a lazy pass which leads to a turnover and a layup, putting UC San Diego up eleven and Bradley takes a timeout. Or … is it not over?
2:42 - Out of nowhere, the Braves find one last gasp with two 3-pointers and a pair of Johnson free throws. (Side note: To be fair, I think this was actually a pretty weak call against UC San Diego, possibly the first of the game.) Somehow, after all this adversity, Bradley is only down three, 76-73.
1:39 - This one felt like the dagger in the game. BU is still just down two and the defense lets them down. Wheeler sags too far off his man (Beattie) who can clearly knock down a three. Everyone else is on the perimeter so he doesn’t need to that aggressively protect the lane, especially with Jonovic’s man unlikely to drive all the way to the basket on his own. Even if he was a big threat, Wheeler is inside the restricted circle and isn’t really going to provide much help that close to the basket:
00:00 - Aside from a Johnson free throw, Bradley doesn’t score again even after getting a few decent looks. It ends 87-77, with the outcome being a bit closer than that.
The Observations
SLOPPINESS: This game had more unforced turnovers than any of the previous games this season. Bradley committed 14 total and many were situations where a passer got caught trying to do something that wasn’t there and the ball was thrown away. Since the Braves in general have been taking care of the ball so well, it feels like an anomaly.
Also, it’s worth noting that because of the foul situation, Wheeler could only play 22 minutes (and it felt like even less). When he has a game with no assists, it’s a warning sign.
TOO PERIMETER ORIENTED: The post players didn’t generate enough offense. Smith had a really nice evening on the boards with 13. But he had just five points. This surpassed Jonovic (4), van der Knapp (2), Thomas (2), Yu (2). While the guards did plenty to give the Braves a chance, Bradley just needs more from their big guys to help free up its shooters more.
NO LACK OF FIGHT: I will continue to beat the drum that one of my favorite thing about Coach Wardle teams is that they never quit. The team had to be frustrated throughout and they just kept giving it everything they had. In the end, it came down a few possessions that could have gone either way. That’s something I personally do not take for granted because not every team plays that way.
Player of the Game
Jaquan Johnson (29 points, 9-of-15 shooting, 5-of-8 three pointers, 6-of-9 free throws, five rebounds, one steal, six assists, three turnovers)
He’s such a regular in the section of the recaps, it can almost seem boring. But, in some ways, it’s just an indicator of how good he’s been all season. One aspect I liked in this game is he scored plenty but also had to help his teammates out more with Wheeler being on the bench with foul trouble.
Honorable mention: Alex Huibregtse had another good shooting game and is rounding into form. He made six threes in the game and helped jump start the early lead for Bradley in the game. If I have any critique is that even in a great game like this one, he also seems to go a little bit invisible for long stretches if he’s not taking/making shots. But, as hot as he was, you’ll certainly take this game from him.
Up Next
It’s already past tense, but Bradley’s next game was against Liberty in the Third Place game in the Terry’s Chocolate ESPN Events Invitational. (I will have a write up on that one tomorrow, hopefully.) Bradley then heads home for Thanksgiving before playing Washington State at home next Tuesday in Peoria.