Fun and flashy team wristwatches keep Bradley basketball striving for 'one more'
PEORIA — The Bradley Braves are hoping a pair of wristwatches will help a team with three games left to find out if their time has come in the Missouri Valley Conference.
The Braves are in a first-place tie with Drake, on the clock with three games left in the regular season, a big game coming at Southern Illinois on Sunday.
Up in Bradley coach Brian Wardle's team offices, there are a pair of watches — one silver, one gold — and next to a Valley championship and NCAA bid, they might have been the most-coveted thing Braves players have sought this season.
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"I got them off Amazon," Wardle said, laughing. "We had someone fix them up for us with the words 'One More' on the watch face.
"Our theme this year is 'One More." It's a book I read before the season, just about a 'one more' mentality, about doing one more of everything. Read one more page. Shoot one more minute. Watch film one more time. It's just a healthy mentality that I think can make you successful in life.
"Never settle."
So it works like this: Anyone can earn it, and it can be earned in a game, in practice for doing the extra for their teammates, for the group to be successful.
"It's rarely about the guy who scores the most points," Wardle said. "It's about a guy like Goanar Biliew, who set a pin at the end of the (Murray State) game to get (walk-on) Sam Hennessey his 3-pointer.
"That one more extra screen, that one more mentality, that's who receives the watch. They wear it with pride, they enjoy it."
When a player earns the watch, he gets to choose between the silver or gold version — they are identical — and wears it until the team's next game.
"Let them believe it's a Rolex," Wardle said, grinning. "It's all 'diamonded' up and it looks good. We found it online and we had some people put "One More" on it."
Veteran guard Ville Tahvanainen earned the watch from the road win at Illinois State.
"After every game, we pick the player who shows the 'One More' mentality," Tahvanainen said. "That's our theme for the season. You wear it until the next game, and then it goes to whoever earns it next. Everyone has had it.
"It works for us."
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In the huddle
• Bradley coach Brian Wardle: "For us, we have to play within ourselves, do the things that we do. A lot of times guys try to do too much when a big situation is approaching."
• Bradley guard Ville Tahvanainen: "Our confidence is really high right now. We are blessed to be healthy. We have great depth on this team. It's just fire for us now. This is what we work for."
Bradley Red Out
The Braves have declared the regular-season finale against Drake, a national TV game in Carver Arena on Feb. 26, as a red-out theme for their fans. The team has introduced red version of throwback script uniforms, which seem targeted for that game.
Bravely Speaking
Bradley heads into Sunday's rematch at Southern Illinois tied for the Valley lead with Drake, both a 13-4. SIU, Belmont and Indiana State are next at 12-5. … Bradley guard Connor Hickman, who rolled an ankle in Wednesday's win over Missouri State, has practiced without issues this week and is ready to go Sunday. … Bradley held Southern Illinois' big three — Marcus Domask, Lance Jones and Xavier Johnson — to a combined 31 points in the Braves 62-52 win at Carver Arena on Feb. 1. Domask, a Valley Player of the Year candidate, had just five points in that game. … The Braves come in on a seven-game win streak in the Valley, their longest under coach Brian Wardle. It's tied with the 1995-96 and 1996-97 teams for the sixth-longest MVC win streak in program history. … The Braves have reached 20 wins for the fourth time in six seasons. … Bradley fifth-year forward Ja'Shon Henry has 978 career points as he pushes to become the 51st player in Bradley history to reach 1,000 career points. … The top four seeds will get a bye on March 2 (Thursday) and wait for the remaining eight teams to feed into their brackets. The No. 1 seed plays the 8-9 winner at noon on Friday. The No. 2 seed plays the 7-10 winner at 6 p.m. Friday. The No. 3 seed plays the 6-11 winner at 8:30 p.m. Friday. And the No. 4 seed plays the 5-12 winner at 2:30 p.m. Friday.
Bradley at Southern Illinois
When: 1 p.m. Sunday
Where: Banterra Center, Carbondale
Watch: ESPN2
Listen: WMBD-AM 1470, FM 100.3
Records: Bradley, 20-8 (13-4), 1st in MVC. Southern Illinois 20-8 (12-5), 3rd in MVC.
All-time series: Bradley, 55-50
In 2022-23: Bradley W 62-52 at home on Feb. 1
NET ranking: Bradley, No. 63. SIU, No. 127
KenPom ranking: Bradley, No. 80. SIU, No. 135
MVC preseason poll: Bradley, No. 2. SIU, No. 3
Head coaches: Bradley, Brian Wardle (8th season). SIU, Bryan Mullins (4th season)
Players to watch: Bradley Braves: C Rienk Mast 13.9 ppg and 7.8 rpg (2nd in MVC), 52.3% FG (2nd in MVC), an MVC first-team preseason pick; F Malevy Leons 12.0 ppg, 6.2 rpg (10th in MVC) and MVC-best 45 blocks, plus 42 steals (2nd in MVC), and 39.2% from 3; F Ja'Shon Henry 9.2 ppg, 4.0 rpg; G Duke Deen 10.5 ppg, team-best 83a, 38.3% from 3. Southern Illinois Salukis: 6-6 senior forward Marcus Domask is an MVC Player of the Year candidate, with 16.5 ppg (5th in Valley), 5.8 rpg, team-best 108a; G Lance Jones 13.8 ppg, team-best 50 steals; G Xavier Johnson backs that one-two punch with 40.0% shooting from 3 and 50.0% from the field.
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 Twitter @icetimecleve.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Bradley basketball: Braves use traveling team watches to motivate
