OAKLAND REGION FINAL FOUR PREVIEW

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OAKLAND REGION FINAL FOUR: Meet the Bradley Braves - They're Good

No. 13 seed has plenty of weapons, as well as a champion's heart

March 21, 2006

By Adrian Brijbassi
BodogNation Contributing Writer

Bradley, who are you?

If you’ve asked that question over the past four days, here are some answers. The Braves feature a 7-foot center, a quick 6-7 swingman who leads the team in scoring, a senior point guard, a surprisingly deep bench and a group commited to playing responsible defense.

This is not a No. 13 seed. Don’t be fooled again.

After upsets of No. 4 Kansas and No. 5 Pittsburgh on the opening weekend of the NCAA Tournament, Bradley has shown it can match up with teams both talented and tough. With sophomore Patrick O’Bryant in the middle, the Braves have a dominant low-post player. On the wing, Marcellus Sommerville provides an inside-outside threat. Tony Bennett distributes the ball like his namesake used to belt out hits. Those three would seem to be enough to keep Bradley close in every game. What puts the Braves over the top, though, is a guard who records 1.9 points per game, and even less assists and rebounds.

J.J. Tauai, a 6-3 junior, is Bradley’s Rudy, the inspirational, unsung hero who provides energy and the kind of determination only warriors should possess. Such spirit, the people of Peoria, Ill., learned this weekend, can bring down giants.

“We’ve got a lot of scorers,” Tauai told the Peoria Journal Star prior to facing the Panthers on Sunday. “My job on offense is to help slow it down, make that extra pass, get the ball to the post.” Against Pitt, Tauai took zero shots during his 20 minutes on the floor as the underdog Braves easily beat the 5-point spread in the 72-66 win.

It might seem like a stretch to list a player who contributes so little to the stats sheet as the key to a Sweet 16 run, but the Braves are 14-4 (straight up and against the spread) since Tauai was inserted in the starting lineup on Jan. 14. “Without J.J., we don’t win,” Bennett told the Journal Star.

Whatever magic Tauai has will be needed against No. 1 Memphis. The Tigers have played a difficult non-Conference USA schedule and displayed the poise to handle all situations. With Rodney Carney and crew peaking, Memphis will be the meanest beast yet for Bradley to slay. While several of the other favorites have struggled at times in the tournament, including the other three No. 1 seeds, the Tigers have covered the spread in each of their first two games. They beat Oral Roberts 94-78 (covering the -15.5-point spread) then ousted a talented Bucknell squad 72-56 (covering the -8.5-point spread).

In the event they happen to beat the region’s No. 1 seed, the Braves would move a step away from becoming the lowest seed to advance to the Final Four. In 1986, No. 11 LSU reached the national semifinals before losing to eventual champion Louisville.

If Gonzaga can prove it can win without Adam Morrison, it’ll be a serious contender to reach Indianapolis.

That was the thinking heading into the NCAA Tournament and probably not a lot of people would’ve given the clean-shaven members of the Bulldogs a razor’s chance of making good. Saturday’s 90-80 win over a game Indiana squad not only allowed Gonzaga to survive and advance, it gave the Zags the opportunity to demonstrate that they are a team.

Morrison shot an abysmal 5-for-17 from the floor as the Hoosiers spied him as if he were a threat to national security. His teammates delivered, though, and the Zags ran their winning streak to 20 games en route to covering the -2.5-point spread and reaching the Sweet 16.

“We have some other players that can really make plays,” coach Mark Few told the Associated Press, “and they all did tonight.”

It’s nice for anyone who’s got the Zags in a futures wager to know Morrison can have an off night and the bet can live on. If the All-American forward misses so many shots again, however, the national title won’t be coming to Spokane, Wash., and no one who bet it would will be cashing in.

Gonzaga’s next March Madness test will be the Pac-10 champion Bruins, who got away with a mediocre performance of their own against No. 10 Alabama on Saturday. Despite being outrebounded 30-21 and allowing the Crimson Tide to shoot 48.7 percent from the floor (19-for-39), UCLA advanced to Oakland with a 62-59 victory that failed to cover the -6.5-point spread.

One deficiency that has become apparent with the Bruins is the lack of a go-to scorer. Gonzaga, of course, has Morrison, but the Bruins’ offense runs through guards Jordan Farmar and Arron Afflalo - a duo not in the class of Villanova’s Allan Ray and Randy Foye. Athletic freshman Luc Richard Mbah a Moute will have to be a factor if the Bruins are to win another game.

PHOTO: Marcellus Sommerville, left, and center Patrick O'Bryant have powered the Braves to upsets of Kansas and Pittsburgh (Getty Images photo).

Note: All times Eastern; all games on CBS

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