It's no mystery why this spread has shifted dramatically from Drake as a one-point favorite. Bradley guard Darrell Brown (13.3 points, 4.5 assists) has received the green light to play even while missing practices all week. On the flip side, his defensive assignment is All-MVC guard Reed Timmer, who rang up 32 points in their last meeting. Timmer is on a scoring tear, with totals of 39, 20, 26 and 28 points in his last four outings. Timmer will be guarded by a rusty Brown who might possibly be favoring his ankle or a lesser defender. Either way, the Bulldogs should benefit.

Bradley gets a huge break that point guard Darrell Brown's sprained ankle isn't as bad as initially thought. Brown, who is the team's best player, was ruled probable on Thursday. The Braves lost both regular season games to Drake, giving them a revenge angle I love during conference tournaments. Bradley took care of business this season when listed as a favorite, going 11-4 against the spread. During tournament time, I'm always going to side with the better defensive team and that would be Bradley in this case. The Braves allowed 45.5 percent shooting by opponents on the road, and the Bulldogs yielded 47 percent. Drake's only defensive strength is not allowing many free throws, which is a Bradley forte, but the Braves get their revenge, 72-66.