'Punch them in the mouth': How Bradley dominated in historic win over Evansville

PEORIA — The Bradley Braves bullied and bludgeoned an Evansville team that looked helpless and hopeless on the floor Wednesday in the most one-sided Missouri Valley Conference home game in BU history.

The Braves put in nine 3-pointers in the first half against the longshot Aces, putting them in a hole from which they never recovered.

Then in the second half, Bradley turned on showtime, flexing with dunks on the way to a 52-point lead before clearing the bench and settling for a 91-46 victory before 3,905 at Carver Arena.

Box score: Evansville at Bradley | Preview: Evansville at BU | Standings: MVC

"That's our emphasis every game, you come out, punch them right in the mouth and let them know you aren't going away for 40 minutes," said Bradley guard Connor Hickman, who had a game-high 15 points. "No matter what they do, we are going to win."

It was an emphatic extension to a 17-game home win streak, now the ninth longest in the nation among NCAA Division-I teams.

And it was the largest margin of victory at home or away against a Missouri Valley Conference team in Bradley's history, surpassing a 41-point win over Northern Iowa in Peoria in the 1999-2000 season. The Jim Molinari-led Braves won that game, 80-39, on Feb. 5, 2000.

"We executed our game plan offensively," Bradley coach Brian Wardle said. "Now defensively, I thought our intensity was not very good (in the first half). We didn't show on the ball screens very well. They shot about 50% at the half, so I was not happy defensively with where we were at.

"The whole challenge at halftime was about defense … I challenged them to keep them under 50. That shows a big step for us, maturity-wise and focus-wise, to sustain a high level of energy and effort defensively without looking at the scoreboard. I'm proud of them for that."

That challenge was accepted to the tune of holding Evansville to 16 points in the second half, while Bradley ran off to place six players in double figures.

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Let's hit some 3s

Malevy Leons opened the second straight game with a 3, then another on the next possession.

The Braves made nine 3s in the first half, shooting 56.3% from long range. It was enough to take a 16-point lead to halftime.

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Hickman took over the game next, hitting 3 of 4 from 3-point range and adding three assists.

"Hickman was in attack mode … smiling out there," Wardle said. "Great game for him. I thought we had good looks from 3, and when we do, we've been making them, especially in this building."

Said Hickman, who broke out of a shooting slump: "We shot the air out of the ball in that first half. I had to change up some of my habits … trying to be more focused outside practice, my routine at night and before practice. And relying on my teammates, I know they have my back and I have to stop forcing things and just let them find me."

Let's posterize and terrorize

That second half was a 45-16 blitz.

"They scored a little too easy in the first half, so after that we focused on getting stops," BU center Rienk Mast said. "When you do that it makes the game so much easier."

Where Bradley punished Evansville from 3 in the first half, the Braves pounded the Aces inside in the second half and shut them down defensively. Bradley held a 44-18 lead in points in the paint, and 34-9 in bench points while putting on a show.

In the first 6:30 of the second half, Ja'Shon Henry and Darius Hannah hammered down three straight dunks for a 60-31 lead, with Hannah getting two of them, including an alley-oop.

Henry added two layups and a free throw and the Evansville bench fell silent after that as Bradley worked to a 65-32 lead midway through the half.

Zek Montgomery dunked, Mast hit a 3 and 7-foot-1, 260-pound Ahmet Jonovic came in off the bench with 4:30 left and hit a layup and a hook to ignite the crowd as BU's lead leaped to 89-38.

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"I didn't feel anybody relax in the second half," Hickman said. "Those other games where we've been up really big at halftime and then came out, I kind of felt like we relaxed and then they came back and it was like 'OK, here we go …' I felt like tonight we just got going right away, like it was 0-0, let's go."

The bottom line

The Braves got 15 points from Hickman. Mast added 14 points, six rebounds and four assists. Leons had 10 points, five rebounds, two steals and added three more blocks to his MVC-leading total. Montgomery had eight boards. Ja'Shon Henry had 12 points and five rebounds. And Hannah came off the bench for 10 points on 5 of 5 shooting from the field, plus five boards.

"Our depth makes us hard to guard," Mast said. "Anyone can step up on any given night. Hick heated it up today. And it's really good to know that if you're not going well on a given day, you can give energy to someone else and get them going."

Bradley was supposed to crush Evansville, and they did. It's what elite teams do.

"I want loose with focus before games, you know, loose, smiling, crack a joke here and there, but I don't like goofy," Wardle said. "I thought we were loose with focus and really dialed in for the game. It was great to see it sustained.

"One game, everyone got some good quality minutes, made some plays, but now it's back to the drawing board tomorrow."

In the huddle

• Bradley 6-foot-10 center Rienk Mast, joking about the team's nine made 3s in the first half: "I was going to the rim trying to get rebounds and the ball just went in all the time."

• Bradley coach Brian Wardle, talking about an Evansville team that had just seven scholarship players available and is rebuilding under first-year head coach Dave Ragland: "I remember our tough losses always … a coach's first year, I've been there, too, rebuilding a program, down some guys, you just have to keep grinding, stay positive, keep finding victories (within) the games. And that's what I remember my first two years. Shoot, I think I lost 47 games my first two years. It was hard rebuilding. … I think he'll do a good job, but it's hard right now, they're down to 7-8 guys coming into some of these buildings they are coming into, it's tough to win on the road in the Valley."

• Mast, grinning when asked about BU's 17-game home win streak: "I'm OK with talking about our win streak, as long as it's after every home game. Sounds pretty good to me, keep that streak going."

Bravely Speaking

Bradley forward Christian Davis was in street clothes on the bench. He stepped on a teammate's foot in practice and suffered an ankle sprain. Coach Brian Wardle says he'll be sidelined 2-4 weeks. … Bradley improved to 12-6 overall and 5-2 in the MVC. Evansville is 4-14 (0-7). … The Valley race tightened Wednesday when Southern Illinois knocked Indiana State out of the unbeaten ranks with a 69-61 road win. Indiana State remains in first at 6-1, one game ahead of 5-2 teams Bradley, SIU, Belmont and Northern Iowa. … Bradley used 14 players Wednesday. Bradley newcomer Ahmet Jonovic, the 7-foot-1 center from Serbia, played the final 4:30 and hit a layup and hook shot on consecutive possessions. … The Braves out-rebounded the Aces 40-25. … Bradley has won 10 in a row against Evansville. BU's last loss to the Aces was a 66-53 decision on Jan. 20, 2018. … Bradley is 26-5 all-time at home against Evansville. … Evansville has lost 14 straight regular-season Missouri Valley Conference games, and eight in a row on the road. … The Aces are 2-23 in the Valley going back through last season. … Next up for Bradley are critical road games at Drake on Saturday and at Indiana State on Wednesday.

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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.

FINAL: Bradley 91, Evansville 46

Braves lead is 49

8:38 p.m.: Deen hit a 3 to push Bradley's lead to 42 points at 77-35 with 6:06 left.

Then Zek Montgomery dunked, Rienk Mast hit a 3 and 7-foot-1, 260-pound Ahmet Jonovic came in off the bench with Bradley up 49 at 84-35 and 4:30 left.

Bradley is +42

8:32 p.m.: Braves are back to shooting 3s. Duke Deen hits from the left corner and its 77-35 with 6:06 left. Braves on a 19-4 run over last 7:07. They are doing anything they want.

It's showtime

8:20 p.m.: The Braves turned it into showtime in the first 6:30 of the second half when Ja'Shon Henry and Darius Hannah hammered down three straight dunks for 60-31, with Hannah getting two of them, including an alley-oop.

Henry added two layups and a free throw and the Evansville bench fell silent after that as Bradley worked to a 65-32 lead midway through the half.

Braves maintain big lead

8:09 p.m.: The Braves are up 50-31 with 15:54 left in the game against Evansville. Connor Hickman with a game-high 14 points.

Elsewhere: Southern Illinois knocks Indiana State out of the undefeated ranks in the Valley with a 69-61 road win, bringing the pack to within a game of the Sycamores.

HALFTIME: Bradley 46, Evansville 30

7:45 p.m.: The Braves led by as much as 19 in a first half that saw them bury 9 of 16 from 3-point range. BU shots 56.3% from 3 and 48.5% from the field.

Connor Hickman hit three 3s and led all scorers with 12 points, while Malevy Leons and Duke Deen each hit a pair to help the Braves dominate.

The Braves had only 3 turnovers in the half, while Evansville had 9, of which Bradley created a 13-2 scoring advantage.

Evansville got 8 points from Kenny Strawbridge Jr.

Evansville forced into timeout

7:27 p.m.: Bradley point guard Duke Deen hits 3 from right wing off feed from Malevy Leons for 25-13 at 9:56.

Then guard Connor Hickman hits a 3 from right corner behind a screen at 9:02, then following a stop, Deen hits a 3 from right wing at 8:45 for 32-15.

Braves are 7 of 9 from 3-point line in first 12 minutes.

Timeout, Evansville.

Jam time

7:19 p.m.: Ja'Shon Henry and Darius Hannah into the game, and each jams one to help Braves build a 19-11 lead at the 12-minute break.

Bradley from 3

7:10 p.m.: Braves hit the first media break with a 13-8 lead, draining a trio of 3s in four tries.

Malevy Leons opens the second straight game with a 3 from the left wing, then follows with a corner 3 on the next possession to get Bradley rolling.

Starting lineups

6:52 p.m.: Bradley stays with its customary lineup, guards Connor Hickman and Duke Deen, with forwards Malevy Leons, Rienk Mast and wing Zek Montgomery.

Evansville goes with guards Gage Bobe, Marvin Coleman II and Kenny Strawbridge Jr., 6-10 forward Yacine Toumi, and forward Preston Phillips.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Bradley basketball bludgeons Evansville in historic win for the Braves