If anybody knows the mood of the Southern Illinois men?s basketball team, it?s Bradley coach Geno Ford.
Just 10 days ago, the Braves were in the exact position the Salukis find themselves today ? reeling from a monstrous blowout loss at Wichita State with a home game on tap.
The formula worked well for the Braves (6-15, 1-8) as they rebounded from a 78-41 thumping in Kansas (even with WSU leading scorer Joe Ragland sitting out for the Shockers with a toe injury) to beat Northern Iowa for their lone Missouri Valley Conference victory.
Southern Illinois? loss at Koch Arena was even more lopsided ? 85-42, even with WSU starting center Garrett Stutz sidelined with a back injury.
?I?m sure their heads are spinning a little,? Ford said. ?When you get run out of the gym, there?s a lot of internalizing going on. It?s tough. But I?m sure they?ll bounce back.?
Said SIU coach Chris Lowery after the Wichita defeat: ?Our effort and energy were awful. We laid down. We didn?t come to play, and they steamrolled us.?
The Salukis (6-14, 3-6) have already rallied once this season, winning three of five Valley games in early January after a 3-9 start.
One of those victories came in Peoria, a 74-65 beating of the Braves on a night when SIU shot a season-best 57 percent from the field and accumulated a season-high 20 assists with only 10 turnovers.
?They carved us up the first time,? Ford said. ?(Mamadou) Seck just had his way with us (a double-double with six assists). Late in the game we did an awful job of guarding him.
?We?ll have to bring the same mentality that we did with (MSU?s Kyle) Weems (who had 15 points vs. BU). You?re not going to stop him, but we can?t allow him to shoot his typical percentage from the field.?
Seck has a half-dozen double-doubles this season.
Another Saluki who has been particularly effective of late is freshman forward Dantiel Daniels, who leads the MVC in blocked shots at 1.8 per game. Daniels was the lone bright spot at Wichita State, scoring 12 points and grabbing eight rebounds.
Bradley is coming off its best defensive effort of the season in Saturday?s 51-48 home loss to Missouri State. BU limited the Bears to 35 percent field-goal shooting.
?We really made ?em take contested shots, and we were physical in the post,? Ford said. ?We have to take that on the road with us. If we can continue with that mentality, we?ll certainly give ourselves a chance to win most nights.?
Couple that with a Salukis team whose confidence may be shaky and the Braves could benefit.
?There can be hangover and lingering effect from getting beat by 40,? Ford said. ?Hopefully, we?ll be mentally engaged and ready to take advantage of that.?
Just 10 days ago, the Braves were in the exact position the Salukis find themselves today ? reeling from a monstrous blowout loss at Wichita State with a home game on tap.
The formula worked well for the Braves (6-15, 1-8) as they rebounded from a 78-41 thumping in Kansas (even with WSU leading scorer Joe Ragland sitting out for the Shockers with a toe injury) to beat Northern Iowa for their lone Missouri Valley Conference victory.
Southern Illinois? loss at Koch Arena was even more lopsided ? 85-42, even with WSU starting center Garrett Stutz sidelined with a back injury.
?I?m sure their heads are spinning a little,? Ford said. ?When you get run out of the gym, there?s a lot of internalizing going on. It?s tough. But I?m sure they?ll bounce back.?
Said SIU coach Chris Lowery after the Wichita defeat: ?Our effort and energy were awful. We laid down. We didn?t come to play, and they steamrolled us.?
The Salukis (6-14, 3-6) have already rallied once this season, winning three of five Valley games in early January after a 3-9 start.
One of those victories came in Peoria, a 74-65 beating of the Braves on a night when SIU shot a season-best 57 percent from the field and accumulated a season-high 20 assists with only 10 turnovers.
?They carved us up the first time,? Ford said. ?(Mamadou) Seck just had his way with us (a double-double with six assists). Late in the game we did an awful job of guarding him.
?We?ll have to bring the same mentality that we did with (MSU?s Kyle) Weems (who had 15 points vs. BU). You?re not going to stop him, but we can?t allow him to shoot his typical percentage from the field.?
Seck has a half-dozen double-doubles this season.
Another Saluki who has been particularly effective of late is freshman forward Dantiel Daniels, who leads the MVC in blocked shots at 1.8 per game. Daniels was the lone bright spot at Wichita State, scoring 12 points and grabbing eight rebounds.
Bradley is coming off its best defensive effort of the season in Saturday?s 51-48 home loss to Missouri State. BU limited the Bears to 35 percent field-goal shooting.
?We really made ?em take contested shots, and we were physical in the post,? Ford said. ?We have to take that on the road with us. If we can continue with that mentality, we?ll certainly give ourselves a chance to win most nights.?
Couple that with a Salukis team whose confidence may be shaky and the Braves could benefit.
?There can be hangover and lingering effect from getting beat by 40,? Ford said. ?Hopefully, we?ll be mentally engaged and ready to take advantage of that.?
