PEORIA - No one really expected Illinois State's basketball team to stay unbeaten as long as it had. Certainly not Coach Tim Jankovich. | Kindred: Carver Arena a house of pain for ISU | Photo gallery | Video | MVC scores, stats

Yet when the first loss finally came it still hurt, along with Champ Oguchi's back. That the defeat came in front of the second biggest crowd in Carver Arena history on Tuesday night just made the pain even greater.

Bradley turned up the defensive pressure on ISU from the start in the battle for first place in the Missouri Valley Conference. The archrival Braves held the Redbirds to a season low in points and held off a late ISU rally for a 56-52 victory before a screaming crowd of 11,592.

"We couldn't get into the flow of things," said Osiris Eldridge, who led ISU with 17 points and 10 rebounds. "Coach told us before the game the team that got to the paint the most time was going to win the game.

"They did a good job getting to the paint more than we did, and they won."

Oguchi, who is the Redbirds' second-leading scorer, suffered a back spasm five minutes into Monday's practice. He received round-the-clock treatment, but was pulled early in the second half after scoring just three points, almost 13 below his average.

ISU saw its school-record 14-game season-opening winning streak come to an end. The Redbirds fell to 3-1 in the Valley ahead of Saturday's 6:05 p.m. game at Indiana State.

Bradley (10-5, 4-0) won its fifth straight game and took over undisputed possession of the league lead by holding ISU to 37.3 percent shooting from the field. The Braves have not lost to ISU at Carver Arena since 2002.

"I told the guys in the locker room when they're locked in on that (defensive) end of the floor they're a dominant, disruptive team," said Bradley coach Jim Les. "We knew that was key. We were very impressed with the explosiveness of Illinois State and how good offensively they are.

"I challenged these guys for two days to respond defensively and, boy, did they."

ISU was leading the Valley with a 77.4 scoring average. But Bradley, which had allowed 59.3 points in its first three league games, showed early the Redbirds weren't going to get any easy points.

Bradley held ISU without a basket for five minutes, extending an 18-16 lead to 27-16 as the Redbirds kept settling for long outside shots. ISU cut the gap to 30-21 at halftime before quickly falling behind 35-21 in the second half.

"It's easy to say we weren't very good today, but I believe when you don't look very good someone on the other end has something to do with that," said Jankovich. "Bradley played a tremendous first half."

ISU finally got back into the game by using a 1-3-1 zone. The Redbirds kept chipping away and drew within 45-39 on Brandon Sampay's inside basket with 8:18 left.

Bradley again extended the lead. Theron Wilson's two free throws with 41 seconds left put the Braves ahead, 54-45, but ISU made one last charge.

Eldridge's 3-pointer cut the deficit to 54-50. Emmanuel Holloway had a chance to get the Redbirds within a point but missed a 3-pointer from the corner with eight seconds left. Bradley's Chris Roberts got the rebound and was fouled. He sank two free throws to clinch the victory.

"I went to my son's basketball game in Bloomington last week and someone wrote, 'Go Birds,' on my car," said Les. "My car is kind of dirty. I haven't had time to wash it. I left it there, and I looked at 'Go Birds' for about a week now.

"I'm glad they were ready to play because I was ready to play."

Wilson and Roberts paced the Braves with 12 points each. The Braves shot 43.2 percent from the field. Bradley dominated the rebounding battle early, grabbing a 20-6 lead, before ISU gained a 32-all tie by game's end.

The Redbirds weren't about to use Oguchi's injury as an excuse.

"They didn't care if we had Champ, (Michael) Jordan, anyone," said Holloway, who scored 10 points and grabbed six rebounds. "They were going out there and playing hard.

"Great teams play when someone is hurt and gather around and do that. We're not great. We're just all right."

Oguchi went 1-of-5 from the field in the first half. He missed his first two shots in the second half and was pulled during the first media timeout with 15:55 left.

"He wasn't himself. He was trying," said Jankovich. "After all he tried to do to get ready, and all he has done for us this season, I felt I owed him the chance."

Wilson said the Redbirds' undefeated record gave Bradley extra motivation.

"We see on TV all time and everyone in the league is talking about it," he said. "They're a good team, but we knew if we stuck to our principles and played good 'D' the outcome was going to be a 'W,' which it is."

---

Redbird Report Card

FRONT COURT: C

Dinma Odiakosa and Brandon Sampay only grabbed seven rebounds between them. The Redbirds were losing the rebounding battle 20-6 before recovering for a 33-all tie.

BACKCOURT: C

Osiris Eldridge didn't get heated up until the second half. The Redbirds settled for way too many outside jumpers in the first half instead of attacking the basket. Lloyd Phillips had a rough game, going 2-of-11.

BENCH: C

Alex Rubin saw his most extensive action of the season with 16 minutes. But the Bradley reserves outscored their Redbird counterparts, 18-4. ISU needed someone on the bench to come up big with Champ Oguchi hurting.

OVERALL: C

The Redbirds seemed to get rattled by the big crowd toward the end of the first half, when the game was lost. ISU couldn't come back this time like it did at Missouri State and suffered their first loss. The Redbirds shouldn't have a problem getting fired up to play at Indiana State on Saturday.

Compiled by Jim Benson