How Bradley basketball extended one of the nation's longest winning streaks

PEORIA — Murray State made a motion for an upset in the final minutes, but the Bradley Braves adjourned their rematch meeting against the Racers with their ninth straight victory Wednesday.

The Braves held off a late Murray State challenge to earn a 71-63 victory before 4,581 at Carver Arena, who saw their team walk off the floor with the nation's fourth-longest win streak.

"This is a team that wins by committee," Bradley forward Christian Davis said. "We needed different guys to step up and they did. We lost at their place, we had to get them back because there is no way we could let them sweep us."

BOX SCORE: Bradley 71, Murray State 63

Davis was among the guys who stepped up Wednesday. In Bradley's 79-72 loss at Murray State on Nov. 29, he was limited to six points over 26 minutes. In the rematch Wednesday, he netted 12 points on 5-of-10 shooting (2-of-6 from 3-point range) and grabbed five rebounds.

No one on the Braves team reached 20 points. But no one had to, and that's the beauty of Bradley's offense, which produced five players in double-digits scoring. The Braves got a game-high 17 points from Malevy Leons. And 13 from Duke Deen. And 12 from Darius Hannah. And Connor Hickman. And Davis.

Is this the best Bradley offense of the Brian Wardle era?

"Metrically, yes, so far," Wardle said. "But we've had some very good offenses here, I think we've been top three or four in the last three or four years. We have good balance, good shooters — and we actually didn't shoot well tonight from 3 (6 of 23). We probably played a little too slow in the second half. We're better when we're up-tempo."

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Bradley built an early lead

The Braves went on a 13-2 run over a span of 3:14 in the first half to build an early 10-point lead.

And their push-back nature was on display, too. When Murray State guard Rob Perry chested little BU guard Duke Deen to the floor, then pulled up and hit a jumper to cut Bradley's lead to 26-22, Deen bounced up, raced with the ball down the court and hit a cold-blooded 3 over Perry for 29-22 with 7:17 left in the half.

Davis hit a pair of corner 3s and made five of his first six shots, while Leons opened with 4-of-5 from the field. By halftime, BU had a 44-34 lead on an 8-0 run in the final four minutes. That lead grew to 60-44 on a lay-in from Leons with 11:34 left.

"I would say offensively we were very good in the first half and defensively not very good," Wardle said. "Then better defensively in the second half and not very good offensively.

"I think we were up 15 with momentum and we had a few turnovers. We had some play-busts coming out of timeouts … have to make sure we don't do that in the next game. But we found a way to win."

Veterans helped hold off Murray State

The Braves were comfortable and in control deep in the second half, until they weren't. Bradley went cold for 5:26, during which they were 0-of-6 from the field and had four turnovers.

Murray State used that time to close to within 65-60 with a 3 from Quincy Anderson, a jumper from Anderson, a free throw from Anderson and a 3 from Perry with 5:07 left in the game.

The Braves stopped the bleeding on a layup from Darius Hannah for 67-60 with 3:19 to go, and was enough to get BU into the win column.

"Overall I thought our veterans were really strong, calm," Wardle said. "I thought our newcomers, our young guys, really struggled tonight. We need them to be more locked in and ready to play …"

It was a frustrating ending for Murray State, which stepped up its defense but just couldn't stop Bradley's entourage of scoring options.

"Hickman and Deen are terrific," Murray State coach Steve Prohm said. "But they also have Hannah. And Leons. And more. I thought we did a terrific job on them defensively in the second half and I'm proud of how we got back into that game."

Living with a long win streak

The Braves had a 12-game win streak last season, including the first two games at Arch Madness. Now Bradley sits on nine, and streaks like these are a challenge to coaching staffs.

"We won 12 in a row last year," Wardle said. "You have to get your team focused (during a long win streak) which is very hard, because now they are hearing all the noise about how good they are and getting patted on the back reading X, whatever, Instagram … all that.

"You have to keep it very simple and realistic for your players. We respect all, we fear none. We can get beat at any time."

Kyle Thomas played a larger role

Kyle Thomas, the 6-foot-10, 230-pound transfer from Eastern Illinois, notched over seven minutes Wednesday and blocked three shots. Ahmet Jonovic did not play, a decrease from the 26 minutes he logged in Bradley-Murray State Part I in November.

That reflects a rotation change as Thomas continues to emerge as a big-man option for BU.

"It's just the rotation we're in now, it's what Kyle Thomas has earned," Wardle said. "Meta is ready to go whenever we need him, and we may need him here moving forward.

"Our bench guys have to stay sharp and they have to keep playing older than they are for us to win."

A marquee MVC matchup

The Braves head to Indiana State next, on Saturday, for a mega-game that is a contender test for both teams. Drake was upset in double-overtime, 83-80, at Missouri State on Wednesday night.

So Thursday morning brings the Valley standings some clarity at the top: 1 Indiana State (17-3, 8-1), 2 Bradley (15-5, 7-2), 3 Drake (16-4, 7-2).

Missouri Valley Conference: 2023-24 men's basketball standings

BU was stung by Indiana State at Carver Arena, 85-77, on Dec. 2. Is this a must-win rematch?

"No," Wardle said. "It's a game we have to compete in. A game we have to play really hard and really tough. There's still a lot of season left. We have to deal and battle with the adversity we see in the next game and we have to handle it better than we did tonight."

BU hoopla

• Bradley forward Christian Davis, when asked to describe the personality and style of the team: "I'd tell people we're a lot of fun to watch. We're fast-paced, we get excited. We got pushed, and we pushed back."

• Bradley forward Malevy Leons: "We feel like we can beat anyone. But really, you should always feel that way."

Bravely Speaking

Bradley improved to 15-5 overall, 7-2 in the Valley. Murray State slipped to 8-12 (5-4). … BU guard Duke Deen limped off the court and to the locker room for a few minutes in the second half, but returned and played the rest of the way without any issues. … Deen had 13 points, 5 rebounds and an assist. … Bradley forward Malevy Leons had a game-high 17 points and added 7 rebounds and a blocked shot. Christian Davis had 12 points, 5 rebounds and a steal. Connor Hickman had 12 points, 4 assists and 4 steals. Darius Hannah had 12 points, 7 rebounds, 2 blocks and 3 steals. … The Braves had 6 blocks and 9 steals. Murray State had no blocks and 6 steals. … Hickman played 35:10 for Bradley. Murray State guard JaCobi Wood was on the floor for 39:54. … The Racers got 8 rebounds from Nick Ellington and 15 points from Rob Perry. … Bradley is 2-13 in games at Indiana State since 2010, including the pandemic season in which both games of their season series were played there. … Journal Star sports writer Adam Duvall made his Carver Arena coaching debut Wednesday, assisting the St. Mary's (Kickapoo) Mustangs grade school team in a halftime battle with Kaboom and other mascots. Duvall's 9-year-old stepson, Owen Schaub, was on the team.

Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on X @icetimecleve.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Bradley Braves basketball defeats Murray State for ninth victory in a row