NORMAL — The Bradley basketball rebuilding project has reached the maddening stage.
The Braves are good enough now that winning is no longer a shock or even a pleasant surprise. They have played very well at home, re-established an expectation of winning there that leads you to believe they should be able to pick off some opponents on the road.
Then they leave town, play flat, get thumped and drive you crazy.
The Braves left town again Wednesday. But they didn’t play flat, they didn’t exactly get thumped, and yet they still probably drove their fans crazy in a 70-57 loss to Illinois State that was much more hotly contested than the final score might indicate.