Bradley hit its shots, picked up a rare sweep at Northern Iowa, and stayed in first place

Mission accomplished.

Connor Hickman and Rienk Mast each got what they wanted Saturday, and that gave the Bradley Braves what they needed — a road win with a historic tint that kept them at the top of the Valley race.

Hickman had a career-high 17 points and held MVC scoring ace Bowen Born to 11, while Mast served as a closer to give the Braves a 77-69 victory over Northern Iowa on Saturday in a Missouri Valley Conference game at McLeod Center in Cedar Falls, Iowa.

That gave Bradley its first season series sweep over Northern Iowa in 17 years.

Box score: Bradley 77, Northern Iowa 69 | Preview: BU at UNI | Standings: MVC

"17 years? I like hearing that," Bradley coach Brian Wardle said. "It was big, we made timely shots late in the shot clock, near the end of the game, those are things we weren't doing in our previous road games where we lost some close ones. That's the difference.

"Proud of our group. Proud of Rienk and Connor Hickman, the way Hickman played that whole game for us. We needed him tonight. Throughout the year we've had a hard time closing games out, but we've been able to do it recently and I think Rienk's been a big part of that. Tonight it was Hickman, too."

Hickman's career-best 17 points included five 3s. And defensively, he held Born to five points at halftime and 11 for the game on 3-of-11 shooting from the field and 2-of-9 from 3.

"This game I was just trying to focus on my defense, not pressure myself on offense," Hickman said. "I think that's what led to a lot of good things happening.

"Born is a great player, he's what makes them go. I really had to focus in, say 'This is my job tonight, stop him.' He's going to hit some shots, but I got to make them all tough shots, can't give him good looks.

"I think this was my best game of the season."

They didn't blink

Bradley launched a 22-6 run over a stretch of 11:18, during which Duke Deen had nine points and the Braves nailed seven 3s to take a 37-27 lead to halftime.

Northern Iowa made a run at Bradley midway in the second half when the Braves missed five straight shots and lost the ball on an over-back turnover, a stretch during which UNI's Michael Duax had a layup, James Betts hit a jumper and Trey Campbell sank a 3, then Duax with another layup to get Bradley's lead down to 52-50.

But Malevy Leons stopped the bleeding with a corner 3 — his third of the game — to push back a 55-50 lead with 8:19 left.

Then Mast took over.

"I was kind of mad at myself for that first half," Mast said. "I wasn't playing like I should be playing. So when I saw my chances in the second half I made the plays. They went in at a crucial time. I was just trying to make plays for the team. Everyone felt the team needed something at that moment.

"We were struggling, and I was trying to bring a spark."

Mast bulled his way to the rim, elbowing aside one defender, muscling up between two others for 57-52 at 7:41. Then Mast hit a jumper at 7:06 for 59-54 lead as the rivals continued to trade buckets. Mast drove and drained a pull-up jumper for 61-55.

Then Hickman slid around a Mast screen and nailed a 3 from left wing for 64-55 lead with 5:27 left.

Mast bombed away for a 3 from the left wing with 2:45 left for 71-59, and UNI was done.

"It's hard to win on the road hard, to win in this arena, I'm very proud of our guys for getting this one," Wardle said. "Zek Montgomery made a big corner 3, Malevy Leons made big 3s, Rienk had that big 3 on the wing … guys stepped up and made big shots at big moments.

"I've said all year that's what it takes to win on the road."

A defensive 1-2 punch

The Braves defense has shut down two of the Valley's top five scorers in consecutive games this week.

BU held SIU's Marcus Domask and UNI's Bowen Born to a combined 16 points on 4-of-16 shooting from the field and 3-of-12 from 3-point range.

BU held Domask — fifth in the Valley at 17.1 points per game — to five points on Wednesday. Born — second in the Valley at 19.3 points per game — was held to five in the first half and 11 in the game Saturday.

"Hickman was great," Wardle said. "He fought through screens, trailed Born. We tried to run Born off the 3-point line as much as we could and make him shoot 2s. He moves well without the ball and with it.

"They caught us when we overhelped a few times … but every time that happens it's taking away a 3-point shot from their shooters and I'm OK with that."

In the huddle

• Bradley center Rienk Mast, on how the team seems better on the road than it was just a few weeks ago: "It brings more confidence, when you see it (guys responding) you play with a lot more confidence. More now than earlier in the season."

• Bradley coach Brian Wardle, on how his team has improved on the road: "We shot the ball very well from 3, confidently. You could tell our guys were locked in. There's no magic sauce here. We continue to get better, build confidence, work on things to improve."

• Mast, on Bradley's first series sweep of UNI in 17 years: "We're trying to win the regular season Valley title, that hasn't been done in a long time. Tonight we got (a series sweep) for the first time in 17 years? Well hopefully, we break a few more records."

• Wardle, on how Bradley finds different ways to win, after his team's bench — one of the top scoring units in the Valley — produced just four points: "Our bench … Ja'Shon Henry didn't give us a whole lot of points, Ville Tahvanainen didn't really get it going, we just didn't get any scoring from our bench. Our starting five were huge and played well. We find different ways to win."

Duke dinged

Bradley starting point guard Duke Deen left the game for about four minutes midway through the second half, hobbling with a sore right ankle. He returned and played down the stretch, but was visibly limping.

"Duke stepped on a foot on a rebound and rolled his ankle," Wardle said. "He was cleared to return by the medical team, and did. But we'll take it one day at a time after this."

Bravely Speaking

Bradley improved to 17-8 overall and 10-4 in the Valley. Northern Iowa is 12-12 (8-6). … Drake escaped Valparaiso in double overtime. Indiana State made 19 3s to destroy Murray State. All that left Bradley in a first-place tie in the MVC with Belmont and Drake at 10-4, followed by Southern Illinois at 9-4 and Indiana State at 9-5. … Bradley was 16 of 26 from 3-point range (61.5%). The 16 made 3s were the most in a game for BU since it made 17 in a 91-78 win over Missouri State on Jan. 15, 2020. … The 16 made 3s by the Braves were the most allowed at home by Northern Iowa in its history. … Bradley had four players in double figures. Malevy Leons had 19 points on four 3s, and Rienk Mast had 18 points on 8 of 12 shooting and 2 blocks. Connor Hickman had 17 points on 6 of 10 from the field with five 3s and three steals. Duke Deen had 11 points, five rebounds and four assists. … UNI got a team-best 16 points and 6 rebounds from James Betz, plus 14 points from Michael Duax. … Bradley shot 54.9% from the field to UNI's 47.1%. … Bradley had 14 assists, but UNI won the rebounding, turnovers, bench scoring and points in the paint and points off tunovers categories. … Bradley has won four straight and gets a rematch with rival Illinois State on the road Wednesday. ... Home of the Brave, the NIL collective in Peoria created to support Bradley men's basketball, has launched a fundraiser through its website https://hotbrave.com/. The public can go into the site and pledge a monetary amount for each 3-pointer the Braves make in their men's games, or each rebound they secure, through the rest of the season.

Home of the Brave

Home of the Brave, the NIL collective in Peoria created to support Bradley men's basketball, has launched a fundraiser through its website https://hotbrave.com/.

The public can go into the site and pledge a monetary amount for each 3-pointer the Braves make in their men's games, or each rebound they secure, through the rest of the season.

Bradley has 62 rebounds and made 21 3s in the first two games since the fundraiser launched.

The money raised will be split, with half going to the athletes, and the other half to Friendship House via former BU player Marcellus Sommerville.

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 77, Northern Iowa 69

Braves trying to close it

6:52 p.m.: Bradley up 71-66 with 56 seconds left. BU has the ball and the possession arrow.

Leons dunks it

6:42 p.m.: Malevy Leons with a dunk for 68-57 lead at 4:01, and commercial timeout arrives with 3:21 to go. With the game hanging in the balance, Rienk Mast notched eight points on an 11-5 BU run over 3:29 to keep it in hand.

Braves punch back

6:37 p.m.: Rienk Mast bulls his way to the rim, elbowing aside one defender, muscling up between two others for 57-52 at 7:41.

Then Mast hit a jumper at 7:06 for 59-54 lead as the rivals continued to trade buckets.

Mast drives, pull-up jumper for third straight basket and 61-55 lead.

Then Hickman slides around a Mast screen and drains 3 from left wing for 64-55 lead with 5:27 left.

Northern Iowa back in it

6:29 pm.: Bradley missed five straight shots and lost the ball on an over-back turnover as UNI rallied to within two.

Michael Duax had a layup, James Betts hit a jumper and Trey Campbell sank a 3, then Duax with another layup to get Bradley's lead down to 52-50 midway through the half.

Leons stopped the bleeding with a corner 3 -- his third of the game -- to push back a 55-50 lead with 8:19 left.

Braves 52, Northern Iowa 43

6:15 p.m.: The Panthers chipped BU's lead down to six points in the opening minutes of the second half, but a layup by Ja'Shon Henry and a 3 by Connor Hickman pushed it back out to 52-43 with 13:20 left.

HALFTIME: Bradley 37, Northern Iowa 27

5:55 p.m.: Deen had 11 points at the half, while Connor Hickman and Malevy Leons each had 8. Deen also had four rebounds and three assists.

Northern Iowa sharpshooter Bowen Born had 5 points and the Panthers were just 4 of 16 from 3-point range.

Braves on a run

5:45 p.m.: The Braves roared to a 22-6 run over the final 12 minutes, during which Duke Deen had nine points and the Braves nailed seven 3s to take a 37-27 lead to halftime.

ESPN oops

The Bradley-Northern Iowa game, live streamed on ESPN+, suddenly vaporized, becoming the Lakers game with Lebron James chasing the NBA scoring record.

The switching problem happened on the broadcast version, too, carried by ESPNEWS.

The mess-up stayed that way for several minutes, and eventually the Bradley game returned on both the ESPN+ stream and the ESPNEWS network feed.

Bradley fans were not amused.

Deen returns, hits a 3

5:35 p.m.: Deen returned about four minutes after his ankle injury, then pulled up and hit a 3 with 5:55 left for a 27-19 lead.

Bradley trailed 17-15 until Rienk Mast hit a 3 from the right wing with 12:32 left.

That triggered a 22-6 BU run over the next 11:18, during which Duke Deen had nine points and the Braves nailed seven 3s to take a 37-27 lead to halftime.

Bradley 24, Northern Iowa 17

5:25 p.m.: Rienk Mast 3 from right wing for 18-17 lead at 12:32 left started a run of three straight 3s for Bradley.

Duke Deen hit a 3 at 11:50, then Connor Hickman hit one at 11:11 for a 24-17 lead. Deen went out with an ankle injury for a bit.

Tied at the first break

5:08 p.m.: Bradley gets 3s from Zek Montgomery and Malevy Leons to take a 9-9 tie to the first media break with 14:54 left.

Starting lineups

4:46 p.m.: Bradley standard lineup is in play, with guards Connor Hickman and Duke Deen, forward Malevy Leons, center Rienk Mast and wing Zek Montgomery.

Northern Iowa starts with guards Tytan Anderson, Trey Campbell and Bowen Born, and forwards James Betts and Michael Duax.

Other Bradley basketball stories

• 'Just call me Duke': Meet Bradley's dynamic little point guard

• Analysis: 14 things to know about Bradley after the first half of the Valley season

• Newest Brave: High-scoring prep combo guard from Milwaukee commits to Bradley basketball

• 'Technology, trust and an 11-hour flight: How Bradley landed this unique 7-foot-1 recruit

• Braves vs. Braves: How does Bradley compare to its recent tournament teams?

• Darius Hannah: Bradley Braves man in the middle has found a basketball family

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Bradley basketball sweeps Northern Iowa for first time in 17 years