'We can play better': Bradley Braves lose to No. 13 Auburn at Cancun Challenge

The Bradley Braves got a starter back, but soon found themselves at the point of no return Tuesday against No. 13 Auburn in the 2022 Cancun Challenge.

Guard Connor Hickman returned from his ankle injury and played well, but with three bigs still out of the starting lineup with injuries the Braves absorbed an 85-64 second-round loss before 951 on courts built inside the Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya in Cancun, Mexico.

Auburn (5-0) advances to face Northwestern for the championship at 7:30 p.m. Wednesday. Bradley (3-2) meets Liberty at 5 p.m. Wednesday for third place.

Hickman and point guard Duke Deen each had a game-high 15 points, and they combined for seven assists, two steals and six made 3s.

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"I'm moving better, it's tough to watch your brothers battle and not be able to help," said Hickman, who missed Saturday's win over SEMO with a right ankle injury. "It always feels good to hit shots — don't know anybody who doesn't — but you can't ever be satisfied.

"You can always play better, always have things to work on. It felt good to be back, though."

The Braves were without starting forwards Zek Montgomery (broken wrist), Rienk Mast (knee) and Ja'Shon Henry (concussion).

Auburn turned the game inside, where it built a 46-26 points-in-the-paint win. The Tigers also out-scored Bradley's bench, 41-12, although the Braves were shorthanded from all the injuries.

"We had some careless passes … 10 turnovers at halftime you're not setting yourself up to beat Auburn," Bradley coach Brian Wardle said. "They thrive off your turnovers and thrive on rebounding.

"We can play better than that. I don't care how many guys we have out. Every guy in this locker room can play better than that, and we need to play better tomorrow night."

BOX SCORE: Auburn 85, Bradley 64

Connor Hickman got it started

Hickman hit two jumpers and a 3 to give the Braves their first seven points of the game in the opening 3:46. He hit another 3 with 11:25 left to pull Bradley to within eight. Then another 3 with 9:17 left to get the Braves within 29-22.

"It was a great opportunity against a great team, and I was really focused and fired up," Hickman said. "We had segments today that were good. We'd compete for four minutes and then we'd kind of trail off."

That's the closest Bradley got the rest of the way as Auburn blew up the game in the second half, maintaining leads of 15-20 throughout the half and rolling to as high as a 26-point lead with 2:04 remaining.

"We're missing three physical, tough rebounders and obviously that's going to hurt anybody," Hickman said. "We need to step up that facet of our game. Everyone has to crack down and block out and we have to gang rebound.

"We have to be a little bit tougher. You don't have to be spectacular, but you do have to be a little bit better with those guys out."

Coach Wardle's view

The Tigers put five players in double-figures scoring, and 6-foot-10 Johni Broome had a team-best 14 points and nine rebounds.

The Braves were out-rebounded 33-26.

"They attacked the rim early in the game, kind of got us on our heels, we started turning the ball over a little too much," said Wardle, whose team had three turnovers in the first 3:46 of the game and 10 by halftime. "Then we had segments where we got really good looks and just didn't make them. We didn't get enough stops.

"It always comes back to being physical, and competing, and part of competing is being physical. I just didn't think we did that enough."

They said it

∙ Bradley coach Wardle, on guard Connor Hickman's career-high 15 points: "Hickman was very aggressive to start the game, gave our team some confidence. It was good to have him out there … he's our best perimeter defender, too."

∙ Wardle, on Bradley's defensive effort: "Defensively, we broke down way too much. Have to be more physical, I didn't think we were physical enough. Auburn is a very physical team, and they are deep. We had to be more physical inside at the post, we had to have better ball pressure and we did not do that consistently enough at all."

∙ Wardle, on No. 13 Auburn: "They are very talented. (Auburn coach) Bruce Pearl has an identity with his teams and they execute it and they really compete. We did not match that today for 40 minutes at all. Ultimately, everyone has to step up and compete better."

Bravely Speaking

Bradley coach Brian Wardle said fifth-year forward Ja'Shon Henry remained in concussion protocol as of Tuesday. He was injured on a hard foul from behind in the win over SEMO on Saturday. … Bradley started a three-guard lineup, with Duke Deen, Connor Hickman and Ville Tahvanainen. Forwards Malevy Leons and Darius Hannah rounded it out. … The Braves are 0-3 all-time against Auburn. … Bradley forward Malevy Leons had 11 points and three rebounds in 31 minutes. … Braves guard Ville Tahvaninen was 1-of-8 from 3-point range and now is 2-of-17 from 3 in the last two games. … BU reserve forward Connor Linke fouled out. He has two points, five rebounds and nine fouls in 28 minutes the last two games. … Auburn 6-foot-10 center Dylan Cardwell had eight rebounds and six points. … The Tigers shot 47% from 3, and were 56.4% from the field. … Bradley shot 33.3% from 3, and 42.9% from the field. ... Bradley beat Eastern Michigan in the first round (on campus round) of the 2022 Cancun Challenge.

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.

7:06 — FINAL: Auburn 85, Bradley 64

BU loses to SEC power Auburn, whose length and aggressive inside play led to 46 points in the paint. On to Wednesday.

6:49 p.m. — Auburn 74, Bradley 55

... and as quickly as Bradley rallied, the Tigers roar back on transition to take a 19-point lead with about 7:00 remaining. The Braves are getting good looks on offense, but are just unable to stop this tall and talented Auburn offense. The Tigers have 40 points in the paint.

6:39 p.m. — Auburn 68, Bradley 55

Bradley on a quick seven-point run to pull within 13 at 9:07 remaining — as close as the Braves have been since halftime. The Braves follow up with a pair of 3-point looks that miss.

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6:31 p.m. — Auburn 67, Bradley 48

Bradley is staying aggressive on offense, but Auburn is too tall a task when it has the ball. Tigers have scored on seven consecutive possessions, mostly inside, to maintain the large lead at the 11:45 mark. Auburn is outscoring Bradley 36-16 in the paint.

6:18 p.m. — Auburn 52, Bradley 34

Auburn scored the first seven points of the second half to maintain control of the game. A basket from Bradley's Connor Hickman at 17:17 broke the string. The BU sophomore already has his career high with 15 points — surpassing the 14 he scored earlier this season against Wisconsin-Parkside.

5:55 p.m. — HALFTIME: Auburn 45, Bradley 32

Bradley streaked to within eight points with a six-point run — but Auburn gets the lead back to double digits with a 3-pointer on the other end and a free throw. Bradley can't string together enough on offense and also get stops. But the Tigers just keep coming, adding a driving layup at the buzzer to end the half shooting almost 59 percent (17-for-29).

Bradley leaders — Connor Hickman with 13 points; Ville Tahvanainen, Malevy Leons and Connor Like with 3 rebounds; Duke Deen with 3 assists.

Auburn leaders — Jaylin Williams with 10 points; Johni Broome with 5 rebounds; Wendell Green Jr. with 3 steals and 3 assists.

5:43 p.m. — Auburn 39, Bradley 25

Auburn has been aggressive defensively, and the Braves finally cash in and get to the line for the first time with 4:45 remaining in the first half.

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5:32 p.m. — Auburn 36, Bradley 24

Bradley is finding some offensive traction — and both teams are shooting well — but Auburn keeps coming back, getting to the basket for easier shots and prompting a timeout from BU coach Brian Wardle. Tigers are shooting 14-for-21 so far, while BU is 10-for-20 at 7:29 remaining.

5:30 p.m. — Auburn 31, Bradley 22

Connor Hickman is keeping the Braves in the game, now with 13 points including a trio of 3-pointers with just over 8 minutes left in the half.

5:23 p.m. — Auburn 25, Bradley 14

The Tigers keep the pressure on offensively, getting to the basket. They are 9-for-13 from the field with 11:52 to go — almost 70 percent.

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5:20 p.m. — Auburn 20, Bradley 12

Bradley get a 3-pointer from Ville Tahvanainen after a steal from Pop Weathers — and Auburn wants a timeout with under 14 to go in the half.

5:13 p.m. — Auburn 14, Bradley 7

Connor Hickman has scored all seven points for the Braves as we head to the first media timeout at 15:56 of the first half.

5:01 p.m — Starting lineup

The Braves are going with a three-guard lineup with Duke Deen, Connor Hickman and Ville Tahvanainen in the backcourt. The frontcourt is Malevy Leons and Darius Hannah.

Bradley is a member of the Missouri Valley Conference. In their last game, the Braves defeated Southeast Missouri State on Saturday to move to 3-1 on the season. Auburn is a Southeastern Conference program based in Auburn, Alabama. They were picked to finish fourth in the 14-member SEC. They defeated Texas Southern 72-56 on Friday to move to 4-0.

4:45 p.m. — Former Brave sighting

Those tuning into CBS Sports Network early for the Bradley-Auburn game will get a look at former Braves guard Terry Roberts, who now plays for Georgia.

The 6-foot-3 Roberts transferred to the SEC school after he led Bradley with 14.5 points and 4.1 assists per game, while shooting 45% from the field and 34.2% from the 3-point range.

Roberts and the Bulldogs are playing Alabama-Birmingham in the Greenlight Sunshine Slam.

Other Bradley basketball stories

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Who hit the weight room, altered roles and more: What we learned from Bradley's first basketball practice

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Cancun Challenge: Bradley Braves lose to No. 13 Auburn Tigers