PEORIA, Ill. — The suspension of guard P'Allen Stinnett appears to be a greater cause for concern with Bradley coach Jim Les than with Creighton's Dana Altman.

The Bluejays will play their first game tonight without Stinnett, who was suspended indefinitely Monday for conduct not acceptable to the team. Altman again downplayed Stinnett's absence when asked Tuesday how it would affect his team's approach for the Missouri Valley game at 7:05 tonight against Bradley.

“I think Kaleb Korver will play a little more,'' Altman said. “We have a couple of freshmen (Josh Jones, Andrew Bock) that have wanted an opportunity, and they'll probably get it now. It's not going to make too much of a difference.

“‘P' was getting about 20 minutes of the bench. Some guys will pick those minutes up.''

Stinnett, Creighton's second-leading scorer with a 9.2 average, has averaged a team-leading 24.8 minutes through Creighton's first 20 games. He had averaged 23 minutes since he was moved out of the starting lineup four games ago.

Les' concerns heading into the game at Carver Arena are more on the psychological than the physical impact that Stinnett's absence could have on the Bluejays.

“This adds one more thing for me to worry about,'' Les said. “When these things occur, you always feel like it's a reason for your team to rally and play with a little more purpose.

“Whether it's a positive or a negative remains to be seen, but I'm worried that it's going to become a positive and a rallying cry for them.''

The Bluejays are looking for any positive as it prepares to play another game away from Omaha. Creighton is 9-1 at Qwest Center Omaha but 1-9 away from the facility. Its only road win this season came Jan. 3 in a 72-64 victory at Evansville.

Creighton has posted .500 or better records away from Omaha in eight of the past 11 seasons, including an 11-5 mark last season. Altman has said he thought this season's team had the makeup to be a better road team than it has shown in the first 11 weeks of the season.

“We've always prided ourselves on being a decent road team, but we just haven't finished games,'' Altman said. “We've had some good leads at some tough places to play. We led Dayton at half, we led New Mexico at the half and we had a lead at Illinois State, which always has been a tough place for us to play.

“We just haven't hit free throws, we haven't executed and we haven't gotten the defensive stops. Hopefully, in the last third of the season, we can do some of that. We've played some good basketball on the road, but we haven't done the tough things to finish games out.''

The Bluejays will have to be especially sharp on defense tonight against a Bradley team that, when it gets things going, can be as dangerous offensively as any in the Valley.

Four of Bradley's five starters — Andrew Warren, Taylor Brown, Sam Maniscalco and Chris Roberts — are averaging 10 points or more. The fifth, sophomore center Will Egolf, is scoring 8.1 points per game.

The team leader with a 14.8 average, Warren is the top scorer in conference games with a 16.1 average. Maniscalco is averaging 15.6 points in conference games after overcoming a variety of leg injuries that slowed him earlier in the season.

“They can score baskets,'' Altman said, “and they can score them quickly.''

The Braves' ability to keep opponents from doing the same has been a key to their three-game winning streak. Bradley ranks eighth in the league in scoring defense, having allowed a 68-point average, and opened league play by surrendering 59, 86, 81, 85 and 88 points.

In their past four contests, the Braves have limited Northern Iowa to 52 points in a two-point loss, Missouri State to 56, Southern Illinois to 55 and Evansville to 64.

Les laughed when asked what his team has done better in stringing together its past three wins. “I have a long list of things,'' he said.

At the top of Les' list is an improvement in his players' attention to detail on the defensive end.

“When we do things well on defense, our offense flows pretty good,'' Les said. “Where we run into trouble is when we try to outscore people without any intention on the defensive end.''

The Braves' focus on defense took a turn for the better after Missouri State scored 88 points in a 19-point home victory on Jan. 16.

“Missouri State handed it to us, and we got drilled,” Les said. “That was the eye-opener for our guys that we had to change the way we were playing or we knew we were going to be in for a lot of long nights.

“This is a prideful group, and they decided to try a different format and see where that takes us. Our focus on defense and rebounding has allowed us to go on a nice little run here.''

• NOTES: Tonight's game matches the Valley's longest-tenured coaches, as Altman has been on Creighton's bench for 489 games during the past 16 seasons while Les has been at Bradley for 250 games in eight seasons. Together, they have combined to coach 739 games at their schools, while the Valley's other eight head coaches have combined for 745 games at their schools. ... Creighton has won 16 of the past 19 meetings to forge a 39-39 tie in the all-time series between the teams. ... Creighton guard Darryl Ashford is shooting 83.3 percent from the free-throw line in the last five minutes of games compared to 64.7 percent in the first 35.

Contact the writer:

679-2298, steve.pivovar@owh.com

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