Missouri Valley Conference Basketball Tournament Recap

2010 MVC Tournament: Bradley vs Creighton Basketball Recap

(5) Bradley 81, (4) Creighton 62

One of the most disappointing teams in the United States is now officially out of the running for an NCAA Tournament bid. While the Bradley Braves will get their shot at Northern Iowa on Saturday afternoon, the underachieving Creighton Bluejays are left to wonder how their 2009-2010 season could go so wrong.

The second of four Missouri Valley Tournament quarterfinals at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis was a microcosm of Creighton's season. The Jays were good in stretches - they did beat Wichita State, after all - but Coach Dana Altman's club could rarely sustain the high level of quality so many hoops pundits expected from this team before the season began.

Creighton started strong in this tilt, gaining a 23-14 lead less than 13 minutes into the first half, and the outfit from Omaha still led by seven, at 31-24, with under three minutes left in the first half. Creighton is regarded as a tricky matchup for Northern Iowa, so as the first half progressed, there seemed to be a legitimate possibility that Saturday's first semifinal would be a supreme showdown.

Bradley, though, begged to differ.

Coach Jim Les's lineup responded to the surges Creighton came up with in the first half. A late 8-0 run fueled by two threes from star guard Sam Maniscalco (more on him in a bit) enabled BU to take a 32-31 lead at halftime. Creighton made Bradley look very impotent for large chunks of the first 20 minutes, but because of an inability to finish halves, the Jays found themselves in an essentially even-steven encounter.

Then, in the second half, Maniscalco took over for Bradley.

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The six-foot junior from Chicago made the foul line his personal home in the second half. Continuously drawing fouls against Creighton's lead-footed defense, Maniscalco attempted and made 12 foul shots after halftime. By being able to score cheap points with regularity, Maniscalco enabled Bradley to repeatedly blunt any possible run the Bluejays tried to create. The margin of the BU lead expanded instead of shrinking in the final few minutes of regulation.

Bradley moves on and gets its shot at the heavyweight in the Valley. As for Creighton, the team in this conference that could be counted on to get a tourney bid will once again miss the field of 65. It will be a very long summer in Omaha.

What's Next

Saturday - Missouri Valley Semifinal #1
(5) Bradley vs. (1) Northern Iowa
UNI is just about in the Big Dance, but the Panthers would like to reach Sunday's final and remove all doubt about their at-large credentials. Bradley did beat Northern Iowa, 68-59, on Feb. 13 in Peoria, Ill., but in this game, BU won't be able to rely on home-court advantage. If the Braves can play rugged defense throughout all 35 seconds on the shot clock, and turn that trick over the course of 40 sustained minutes, they'll be able to engage Northern Iowa in a grinding defensive battle, which is exactly the way to approach the Panthers.

By: Matt Zemek
DFN Sports Staff Writer