'Target practice': Bradley rides Deen's record-setting shooting to blowout win over Missouri State

The Bradley Braves were aiming for a complete-game effort Wednesday, and Duke Deen made sure they hit the bullseye.

Deen set an all-time Bradley single-game record with nine made 3s on the way to a career-high 35 points and surpassed the 1,000-point mark in his career in an 86-62 victory over the Missouri State Bears 2,671 at Great Southern Bank Arena in Springfield, Missouri.

"I just took what they gave me," Deen said, grinning. "It was just target practice. I work on all those shots that I took. We just got to keep working on the shots. Me and Hick (Connor Hickman) work on that every day. It was just what we do."

BOX SCORE: Bradley 86, Missouri State 62

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Deen made five consecutive 3s in a stretch of 6:33 to give Bradley an 83-57 lead with under three minutes to play. That included four 3s in a span of just 2:18. It set the all-time single-game record for made 3s at Great Southern Bank Arena.

"(Missouri State guard) Alston Mason asked me what I was doing," Deen said, grinning. "(Missouri State guard) Chance Moore told me to chill out. We've been having good practices, even with our losses. We just tried to stay the course, and we really wanted to put together two halves today. If we can keep putting together two halves we're going to be tough to beat."

Deen's 35 points nearly matched the 46 produced by Missouri State's entire starting lineup. And that included Donovan Clay's zero-point game, a tribute to Bradley's defensive effort as a team and from bigs Darius Hannah and Malevy Leons.

"He said the 'Cajun Man' was hot tonight," Bradley coach Brian Wardle said, referring to Deen, a Shreveport, La., native. "He had that hot sauce from Louisiana going tonight for sure. Over 1,000 points, broke the school record for 3s, set the building record for 3s … unbelievable performance by Duke Deen."

The Braves were 12-of-15 from 3-point range in the second half and 16-of-33 for the game. The 33 attempts were the fifth-most (record is 35) in a single game in Bradley's history. The 16 made 3s were fourth-most (record is 20) in a single game in BU history.

A tale of two (good) halves

The Braves had lost three of four coming into Wednesday's game, while turning in uneven performances from half to half.

Wednesday they put it all together.

"I'm more proud about the defense, I thought we played over 30 minutes, 35 minutes of defense, consistent, disciplined," Wardle said. "I've been on them about that, and we need to continue that as we go down the stretch here."

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Were the two solid halves what he was looking for?

"Yes," Wardle said. "And it's been on the defensive end. Other than the fouling, letting them get to the foul line a little bit too much, there's a lot of positives defensively, I'm excited to watch the film on it.

"To hold them in their gym to 39 and 30 (shooting percentages from the field and from 3), that's hard to do. That's a good step for us."

Said veteran guard Connor Hickman: "We needed to put a 35-minute game together, we can't be a one-half team. We've been a one-half team these last couple games, digging ourselves holes in the first half and trying to fight back out in the second half."

Bradley held Donovan Clay scoreless and produced nine steals and three blocks. Missouri State combined for just three in those two categories.

Bradley was resilient

The Bears held a 20-18 lead amid a stretch where they went 7:45 without a field goal as both teams shot from the field in the low 30% range. BU ended up at 40.6% for the half, and MSU at 39.2%.

Bradley erased its deficit on seven unanswered points by Malevy Leons, starting with a layup-and-1 and then another layup and a jumper for a 25-20 lead.

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Deen nailed a 3 with 2:37 left in the half for a 28-22 lead.

Almar Atlason stole the ball from Alston Mason on the ensuing possession and Deen made them pay with a jumper at 1:56 for a 30-22 lead, the biggest margin of the half, and the Braves were in control for good.

"We don't want to force it, don't want to take bad 3s because it can lead to transition for the other team," Wardle said. "Even at 18 3s at halftime, I didn't mind it, all but maybe a couple. I wanted us to stay aggressive, I thought we got good looks and sooner or later we were going to make them, because we are a good shooting team.

"And the second half we got hot. They changed all kinds of defenses … the ball was popping, guys were screening, played unselfish for each other.

"It was our defense that ignited our offense. Getting stops, getting out in transition … helps us get out in the open floor, that's when Duke hit a bunch of 3s in the open floor, too."

They said it

• Bradley guard Connor Hickman, grinning when asked about Duke Deen's nine 3s: "Duke got cooking, and I couldn't believe they kept giving him open shots, 3 after 3, it was fun to watch. Duke was feeling it so much that I was running down the court calling plays for him, 'Get him a ball screen, get him a ball screen!' "

• Bradley coach Brian Wardle, on his team holding two-time all-MVC Defensive Team pick and 2023 all-MVC second team selection guard-forward Donovan Clay to zero points: "I was shocked when I saw that at the end of the game (Clay's 0). I know we were doing a good job on him. A player like him usually can get going at some point and we did a great job on him. I think Darius (Hannah) was on him, Malevy (Leons) was on him, we kept size on him the whole game."

• Hickman, on the chase pack tightening the Valley race behind Bradley, and what it could mean to the third-place Braves: "You got to respect all, fear none. We know what we're capable of."

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• Wardle, on senior reserve big man Connor Linke playing 15 minutes, nearly twice his court time in his other four game appearances this season combined: "I thought Linke brought a good veteran calming voice to our group today. Some players and coaches suggested, 'Hey it's time … let's give Linke — a guy who's been practicing well the last month or two — a shot. We need those veterans on the floor. He brought some veteran stability with his talk and consistency. Especially defensively."

• Wardle, on third-place Bradley's outlook on the Valley race as Arch Madness looms: "Every game is big right now. We're trying to secure that bye, get in the tournament with a bye. We've got a big one Saturday at Carver Arena against Illinois State."

Bravely Speaking

Bradley improved to 19-9 overall and 11-6 in Missouri Valley Conference play. … Missouri State fell to 15-13 (7-10). … The Braves are parked in third, one game ahead of Southern Illinois and two games up on Belmont and UNI. … Duke Deen's nine made 3-pointers was an all-time Bradley single-game record, surpassing eight put up as far back as 36 years ago (Anthony Manuel), and including Aaron Zobrist (1995), Anthony Parker (1996), Jerome Robinson (2001) and Danny Adams (2006). … Malevy Leons now has 120 career blocked shots, and has surpassed Mitchell Anderson to move into sixth all-time in Bradley history. … Deen led Bradley with 35 points in 9-of-12 shooting from 3, and added 4 assists. … Forward Leons had 17 points, 8 rebounds and 4 assists. … BU guard Connor Hickman put up 10 points, plus 5 assists and 5 rebounds. … Missouri State got 19 points from Alston Mason, 14 from Matthew Lee and 11 points and 11 rebounds from N.J. Benson. … Bradley, at 19-9 with three games left, is closing on a 20-win season for the fifth time in coach Brian Wardle's nine seasons at the helm. ... Next up for Bradley is a 7 p.m. duel with rival Illinois State on Saturday in Carver Arena.

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.com @icetimecleve.

FINAL: Bradley 86, Missouri State 62

8:50 p.m.: BU guard Duke Deen hits nine 3s to set a single-game record at Great Southern Bank Arena.

Red hot Duke

8:35 p.m.: Duke Deen gives Bradley a 74-50 lead with 5:10 left when he finishes a heat check with four consecutive 3s in a 2:18. Deen with 8 from 3-point range in the game.

Sharp-shooting

8:24 p.m.: The Braves blow it out with a 3 from Almar Atlason and another pull-up 3 from the right wing by Duke Deen for a 60-42 lead to force a Missouri State timeout with 10:32 left.

That capped a 15-2 run for the Braves.

Braves in control

8:17 p.m.: Malevy Leons with a layup for 52-42 lead, then a steal to give Bradley another possession as the under-12 media break arrives.

Leons came off that timeout with a drive to the rim for another layup and 54-42 lead.

Where's Clay?

8:15 p.m.: With under 14 minutes left in the game, Missouri State star Donovan Clay has no points.

Braves lead to 11 before MSU rally

8:10 p.m.: Deen's 3 from the left wing gave Bradley its biggest lead at 40-29, with 2:20 elapsed in the second half.

Missouri State rallied with an 11-5 run over, in which Chance Moore's block of Connor Hickman's layup turned play the other way for a pull-up 3 by Alston Mason.

That cut Bradley's lead to 45-40 and the Braves took a timeout.

Off the timeout, Connor Hickman knocked down a 3 as the shot clock expired to push BU's lead back out to eight at 48-40 with 14 minutes left.

By the numbers

7:50 p.m.: Bradley's Malevy Leons has 10 points and 5 rebounds at the break, while Duke Deen has 10 points, four assists and a pair of 3s.

The Braves shot 40.6% in the half, including 4 of 18 from 3-point range. Missouri State shot 32.1%, including a pair of 3s on just seven attempts.

Cesare Edwards leads Missouri State with 9 points.

The Braves had 3 blocks and 4 steals in the first half. Missouri State had none.

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HALFTIME: Bradley 33, Missouri State 27

Braves finish strong for biggest lead

7:43 p.m.: Duke Deen nailed a 3 with 2:37 left in the half for a 28-22 lead.

Almar Atlason stole the ball from Alston Mason on the ensuing possession and Deen made them pay with a jumper at 1:56 for a 30-22 lead, the biggest margin of the game.

Bradley added a free throw and a layup from Malevy Leons, while MSU's Cesare Edwards finished a layup-and-1 and another layup -- the latter with 1 second left -- to send the game to halftime with Bradley leading 33-26.

Bradley turns the game

7:39 p.m.: The Bears held a 20-18 lead amid a stretch where they went 7:45 without a field goal as both teams shot from the field in the low 30% range.

Bradley erased all of that on seven unanswered points by Malevy Leons, starting with a layup-and-1 and then another layup and a jumper for a 25-20 lead.

A jumper by Cesare Edwards ended Missouri State's scoring drought with 2:58 left.

Cold shooting

7:28 p.m.: Both teams have gone nearly 3 minutes without points as Missouri State maintains a 19-18 lead with 7:25 left in the first half. Bradley shooting 33% from the field; MSU shooting 37%.

Bears 8 point in 54 seconds

7:21 pm.: Missouri State gets an 8-0 run in less than a minute on a 3 by Alston Mason, a 3 by Matthew Lee and a layup by Mason for a 15-13 lead.

A jumper from Duke Deen brings BU back to within 19-18 with 10:31 left.

Bradley hits a 3 in 12 seconds

7:10 p.m.: Connor Hickman gets the Braves started with a 3 just 12 seconds after the opening tipoff.

Hickman's layup with 17:41 left gives BU a 7-5 lead. It grows to 13-7 on a 3 from Duke Deen with 13:24 left.

Starting lineups

6:55 p.m.: Bradley returns to its most common lineup, with guards Connor Hickman and Duke Deen and forwards Almar Atlason, Malevy Leons and Darius Hannah.

Missouri State counters with guards Chance Moore, Alston Mason, Matthew Lee, forwards Donovan Clay and N.J. Benson.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Bradley basketball defeats Missouri State in Missouri Valley game