'We had chances': Bradley makes run at Drake but falls short in Valley basketball showdown

PEORIA — The Bradley Braves welcomed a big shot from their program history, but came up one more big shot short of erasing a 17-point deficit to Drake in a big Missouri Valley Conference duel Saturday.

The Braves rallied to within two points with 10:51 left on a 3 from Duke Deen but could not get any closer in a 74-67 loss before a season-high crowd of 8,023 at Carver Arena.

The third-place Braves are now four games behind Valley leader Indiana State, two behind Drake and one ahead of Southern Illinois with six games left.

"Overall we battled, we had chances … Every time we got some momentum and got the crowd going, suddenly the momentum switched," Bradley coach Brian Wardle said. "At halftime our guys realized how physical this game was going to be, and we were going to have to turn it up in the second half, and we did that."

The Braves were down by 17 less than four minutes into the second half. But Bradley went on a 19-5 run over a 6:04 stretch to close within 55-53 on Deen's pull-up 3-pointer with 10:51 left.

The big crowd was standing for most of the rest of the way.

Box score: Drake 74, Bradley 67

Standings: Missouri Valley race

"I felt that, (needing) that big shot to give us the lead," Deen said. "I felt we were kind of gassed but I don't think that's an excuse. There was a lot of red in the crowd. It was fun to see. They always support us, always in the game. Great atmosphere."

Said Drake coach Darian DeVries: "We knew in that second half Bradley would be coming out after us. We expected it."

Malevy Leons vs. Tucker DeVries

Reigning MVC Defensive Player of the Year Malevy Leons was matched up against Drake star Tucker DeVries most of the night. DeVries scored 22 points, but the Braves made him take 18 shots to get it.

"He (DeVries) is a good player and I just got to try my hardest and give my best effort," Leons said.

Deen spoke up on that matchup, too: "I feel like Malevy did a great job second half. First half we just lost him. Some of his buckets weren't even on Malevy. At the end of the game he had 22 points on 18 shots. That's what we wanted. We wanted an inefficient night from him.

"He's a great player, we all know that."

Drake's 6-foot-10, 275-pound center, Darnell Brodie, banged with Bradley's Darius Hannah and 7-foot-1 Ahmet Jonovic, and helped the Bulldogs win the paint, 32-24. Brodie had 19 points on 7-of-8 from the field, and added eight rebounds.

With Bradley rallying within 70-67, Brodie hit a pair of free throws and then grabbed an offensive rebound and put it in for a 74-67 Drake lead with 32 seconds left.

"Drake is really good," Wardle said. "Tucker, Brodie were huge for them. (Atin) Wright made some big 3s for them when we lost him in transition.

"Every time we made a mental mistake they got us."

Hickman left with an injury

Bradley guard Connor Hickman stepped on the back of Ahmet Jonovic's foot during a defensive set with 7:45 left in the first half, and crumbled to the floor clutching his left ankle. Play continued while Hickman was prone on the floor, and Conor Enright hit a 3 from the right wing for a 31-19 lead.

That's the same ankle Hickman injured earlier this season, which put him out for a month. Good news for Bradley this time: Hickman headed to the locker room, then returned after about four minutes of game time and went back into the lineup. He looked fine the rest of the way.

"We battle a lot of adversity, I'm proud of our guys, proud of Hickman and Duke, they are bleeding in the locker room, they got cuts, scratches everywhere," Wardle said. "Those two deal with a lot.

"Malevy (Leons) I was proud of. I thought O (Demarion Burch) gave us great minutes. But we got to play smarter on defense, play smarter, more consistently individually. First half our defense was not good, too many mental breakdowns. Transition defense hurt us at times."

Hawk takes roost in the BU room

Bradley great Hersey Hawkins flew in for the game Saturday with his wife, Jennifer.

The two-time Valley Player of the Year, who went on to play 13 seasons in the NBA, sat courtside during the game.

"I wanted to come in and see a game, and this was a big one," Hawkins said just before tipoff. "I was honored to visit the guys before the game."

What did he tell the Braves players?

"Just how special it is to play at Bradley," Hawkins said. "I wanted them to know about all the tradition and big moments that have come here."

Afterward, Wardle said of Hawkins' visit, which included a tribute tape on the arena videoboard and standing ovation from the crowd:

"Awesome. Great guy. He just talked to the team briefly. Guys love him. It was a long time ago, but our guys know who he is, and we make sure of that in our program, that we understand the history of the program.

"He's a great player and having him back is just great for the city. I think he brought his wife (Jennifer) back for the first time in a long time. Really cool to see them in the crowd, I wish we could have played better and found a way to win this game."

How 74-67 happened

There was a sense early in the game that Bradley was leaving some opportunities on the table.

Drake had nine turnovers in the first half, from which Bradley generated seven points. The Bulldogs went on to a season-high 16 turnovers for the game.

Deen was 3-of-13 from the field in a first half in which Bradley shot 39.3% (3-of-9 from 3-point range). Deen went off for a 7-of-8 effort in the second half to lead Bradley's comeback.

What can BU do about slow first-half starts?

"Well you gotta play physical, and we did not," Wardle said. "They kind of punched us in the mouth, so give them credit. You got to adjust to how the game is being played, and what's being allowed, and what's not. It took us a little bit, I thought."

'It's incredible': Bradley Braves reward walk-ons with basketball scholarships for rest of season

With Bradley on a 19-5 run over a 6:04 stretch. With the crowd standing, Deen got the place rocking with a pull-up 3 to close within 55-53 with 10:51 left.

DeVries answered with a 3, then Bradley's Hickman put home a layup. Drake answered with a 3 again, from Wright.

Along the way, Christian Davis missed a 3, Hickman missed a 3, Burch missed a layup.

Then Deen hit a jumper and a 3-pointer around Drake big man Brodie's layup and the Braves were again on the threshold, trailing just 64-61 with 6:26 left.

BU merch: How Obvious Shirts ended up on merch stands at Bradley basketball games

Drake held a 68-65 lead with 3:45 left when Bradley misfired on a 3 (Almar Atlason), missed a layup (Hickman), had a turnover (Hannah) while Brodie worked inside for another layup to get to 70-65 with 2:12 left.

Deen turned in a driving layup with 1:56 left to close within 70-67, but the Braves didn't score again as Deen, Leons and Davis missed 3s in the final moments.

"I thought we got great looks the last 3-4 minutes, we just ran out of legs, it looked like we were a little tired," Wardle said. "I rode those 6-7 guys in the second half, it was the right move by my staff, we just got tired. Hickman missed some easy ones that he can make, Duke did, too.

"We needed some guys to step up and make some shots for us, too … other than those big three (Hickman, Deen, Leons), and we didn't have much of that today. You need to do that in these games."

They said it

• Wardle, on his team's multiple rallies in the second half that seemed to come up one more big shot short: "… We had great runs … momentum would stop when we got some big runs going. But you don't leave here without seeing our heart and toughness and our fight as a group and a program."

• Bradley forward Malevy Leons, on where the game against Drake got away: "I think our fault lies in the beginning of the game."

• Bradley guard Duke Deen: "We were giving them things we know they like to do. They didn't do anything that we weren't prepared for. They ran every set we went over. We just got to start off better."

• Deen, on adversity and the future: "Going through that adversity, early. I'd rather go through it now than in St. Louis so we know how to deal with it."

Bravely Speaking

Bradley slipped to 17-8 overall and 9-5 in Missouri Valley Conference play. Drake improved to 20-5 (11-3). … MVC commissioner Jeff Jackson was in attendance Saturday for the nationally televised game. ... The game was played a year ago this month from the BU victory over Drake that clinched Bradley's first regular-season Valley title in 27 years and saw the fans rush the Carver Arena floor while the team cut down the nets. … The Braves got a game-high 23 points from Duke Deen. … BU guard Connor Hickman had 15 points. … Braves forward Malevy Leons filled up the sheet with 15 points (3 of 6 from 3), 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 block and 2 steals. … Darius Hannah had 4 points on just 2 shots attempted, and grabbed a team-high 9 rebounds. … The Braves shot 29.2% from 3-point range. BU was 51.6% from the field in the second half to warm up to 45.8% for the game. … Drake shot 61.5% from the field in the first half, and was held to 38.7% in the second half. … It was not the best-officiated game of the season. The Braves were whistled for nine of the first 13 fouls in the second half. … Drake won the scoring in the paint, 32-24, and from the bench, 18-8. … Bradley blocked 4 shots and had 8 steals. … Indiana State escaped Missouri State on the road, 73-71. … Southern Illinois had a 17-point lead evaporate in the second half at home against Illinois State, but hung on to win, 69-66. … Murray State beat Evansville at home on a buzzer-beater long 3 from JaCobi Wood.

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: Drake 74, Bradley 67

Bradley trails by 7 with 34.8 left

6:53 p.m.: Two free throws from Darnell Brodie, then a rebound and layin from Brodie, and it's 74-67 Drake as Bradley takes timeout with 34.8 left.

Drake 68, Bradley 65

6:44 p.m.: Deen another 3 from right wing gets Bradley within 64-61 at 6:11 left.

Hickman layup for 66-63 at 5:15.

Deen pullup jumper for 68-65 deficit, then a steal by Leons as the media break arrives with 3:40 left.

Drake 61, Bradley 56

6:34 p.m.: Duke Deen heating up, with a running baseline layup 55-50 off media break.

Deen then nailed a pull-up 3 from left wing to bring BU within 55-53 and force Drake timeout with 10:48 left.

Tucker DeVries countered with a 3, but Hickman drove to the rim for a layup-and-1 to get the Braves within 58-56 with 9:50 left.

Atin Wright's 3 from the right corner put Drake back up 61-56 as the under-8 minute break arrived.

Here comes Bradley

6:24 p.m.: Drake missed three straight shots on three possessions, while Conner Hickman put down a driving layup and Duke Deen hit a 3 to push Bradley within 55-46 and force a Drake timeout.

Another Drake turnover followed, and Burch put away a layup at the other end and the crowd was standing as BU's deficit was down to 55-48 at 12:47.

Drake 50, Bradley 34

6:12 p.m.: Drake big man Darnell Brodie draws his third foul 14 seconds into second half and sits down.

Bradley's Almar Atlason then sinks a runner at the rim-and-1 right after that, missed the free throw, Bradley grabbed offensive rebound and Leons put back for 41-34.

But Drake answered with a 9-0 run, including a 3 from Atin Wright and a driving layup-and-1 from Nate Ferguson -- Brodie's replacement -- for a 50-34 lead. Bradley took a timeout with 16:55 left.

By the numbers

5:55 p.m.: Drake holds 17-8 defensive rebounds edge at halftime. Drake also with 9 turnovers, off which BU has 7 points.

Braves trail in the paint, 18-10, and from the bench, 13-3.

Bradley got 11 from Malevy Leons, including 3 of 4 from 3-point range. Drake's Tucker DeVries leads all scorers with 13.

Bulldogs shot 61.5% in the half, while BU shot 39.3%.

HALFTIME: Drake 41, Bradley 30

5:50 p.m.: Malevy Leons hits 3s with 1:31 left and 31 seconds left to cut Bradley's deficit to 41-30 heading into halftime.

Hickman ready to return

5:39 p.m.: Bradley guard Connor Hickman back from the locker room and ready to re-enter the game as Braves trail 35-23 with 3:48 left in the first half.

Hickman missed about 4 minutes of game time.

Drake, meanwhile, has 8 turnovers but Bradley with only 4 points off those.

Hickman injured

5:30 p.m.: Drake with five turnovers in first 12 minutes.

Hickman steps on back of Jonovic's foot during defensive set at 7:45, crumbles to the floor clutching left ankle.

Play continues while Hickman lays prone, and Conor Enright hits 3 from right wing for 31-19.

Hickman heads to Bradley locker room.

Drake 20, Bradley 10

5:20 p.m.: Bradley forced Drake into a shot clock violation to hold within a 20-10 deficit as the under-12 break arrived.

Drake opens strong

5:09 p.m.: Darnell Brodie sinks baseline hook over 7-foot-1 Ahmet Jonovic for 13-4 lead and forces Bradley timeout with 16:22 left.

Jonovic subbed in for Darius Hannah as Bradley tries to match up against the 6-foot-10, 275-pound Drake center.

Brodie with 6 points in opening four minutes.

A Hawk lands in Peoria

5:01 p.m.: Bradley legend and former NBA player Hersey Hawkins in town for the BU-Drake showdown this afternoon, sitting courtside at Carver Arena.

Starting lineups

4:44 p.m.: Bradley goes with its standard opening lineup, including guards Duke Deen and Connor Hickman, forwards Almar Atlason, Darius Hannah and Malevy Leons.

Drake counters with guards Kevin Overton, Conor Enright, Atin Wright, Tucker DeVries and center Darnell Brodie.

Tiny Toulon to the Bradley hilltop: Remembering all-American basketball player Paul Unruh

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: College basketball: Bradley Braves vs. Drake Bulldogs in Valley game