A 'butt-whupping': How Bradley Braves were beaten by Drake, 86-61

dave eminian, journal star

Sun, Jan 15, 2023, 1:41 AM·10 min read

Bradley University point guard Duke Deen shoot over Roman Penn during the Braves 86-61 loss to Drake in a Missouri Valley Conference game at Knapp Center in Des Moines, Iowa on Saturday, Jan. 15, 2023.

The Bradley Braves discovered they aren't the only team with an imposing homecourt presence.

The Braves had high expectations, but instead saw their road frustration rise Saturday in an 86-61 loss to Drake in a key Missouri Valley Conference game at Knapp Center in Des Moines, Iowa.

Little point guard Duke Deen tried to put the Braves on his shoulders, scoring eight points in the opening minutes while holding Drake star Tucker DeVries scoreless in the game's first 6:30.

"Duke tried," Bradley head coach Brian Wardle said. "Duke was leading his butt off, trying. Now we have to recover from this butt-whupping and get ready to play Wednesday (at Indiana State).

"We've got to handle adversity better, we have to be mentally tougher and move on quicker to the next possession.

"We're doing everything we can as a staff to help these young men. But honestly, it gets to a point in time where as a player you've got to do it. No one can do it for you. We just need more guys to show up."

The Braves have a 17-game home win streak, now the sixth-longest active streak in the nation among NCAA Div.-I teams. But they are 2-7 away from home and have lost four straight away from Carver Arena.

Drake's 12th straight home win left the Braves 0-3 on the road in the Valley as they gave up a season-high 86 points.

Live stats: Bradley at Drake | Preview: BU at Drake | Standings: MVC

Deen did everything he could, helping Bradley to a 10-6 lead in the opening minutes holding down DeVries early on, then going on to a team-high 21 points and 5 of 12 from 3 in 34 minutes.

"We scouted for him, watched his film," Deen said. "We knew he liked to post up, what spots he liked to get to. I just wanted to take that battle on, show the team we were here and try to set an example."

Deen was vocal on the floor and in the huddles, imploring his teammates to step it up.

"I didn't want us to give up," Deen said. "I wanted us to fight to the end, that was important. I said that before the game -- fight to the end -- and I just wanted to re-emphasize it."

A surprise on the bench

Bradley has had the deepest and best bench group in Valley, but it didn't play out that way Saturday.

Drake's bench out-scored Bradley's 33-8, only the second time in the last eight games that has happened.

"Their bench really stepped up," Wardle said. "I thought (Conor) Enright and (Sardaar) Calhoun played great for them in the first half, making shots all over the floor, from 3, too."

That Drake tandem combined for six 3s and 24 points in the first half, and finished the night with 29 points.

How it happened

Bradley forward Malevy Leons had a double-double with 10 points and 10 rebounds.

Rienk Mast was in a battle against Darnell Brodie, each with 10 points and Brodie with one rebound more (7) than Mast.

DeVries, meanwhile, had 28 points on 10 of 19 from the field and 5 of 8 from 3.

He got all his points in the last 23 minutes he played, after having trouble from Deen in the first 6:30.

But the game turned quickly when DeVries and the Drake reserves started to break Bradley's defense, and the Braves missed 11 straight 3s over the final 12:30 of the first half and found themselves down 45-23 at the half after shooting 26.7% from the field.

The Braves tried to rally at the outset of the second half, but Mast and Leons quickly got in foul trouble and had to sit down.

Bradley closed to within 16 when Deen hit his fourth 3 just 3:08 into the second half. But Drake went on a 16-7 run over the next 6:41 to open a 25-point lead.

"I'm disappointed in a lot of things, but Drake was a better team tonight," Wardle said. "Our attention to detail was very poor, you could tell we weren't listening to each other well on the defensive end. We started both halves well, but as soon as I went into the bench we started to struggle a little bit.

"And then we let our offense dictate our defense again. Our defense was very poor. Very poor most of the game. So was our offense. It was just not a good game.

"We were trying all kinds of different things (defensively) at the end of the first and second half, honestly, because our normal defense was not working because our talk wasn't there. We had 5-6 game keys and we didn't accomplish one of them tonight."

In the huddle

● Bradley head coach Brian Wardle, on the team's bench matchup against Drake:

"Our bench has been a strength of ours at home, but on the road we struggle. We got to keep getting better there."

● Wardle, on his older, experienced players:

"Our veterans did not show up and play well tonight. We don't have many guys who've been in the program over two years, and we need those guys to show up on the road. To win on the road in general, veterans got to show up and be dialed in, lead by example and talk on the road, and we've struggled to have that this year."

● Bradley point guard Duke Deen, on a Drake starting lineup that included four fifth-year starters:

"They know how to play together, guys who've been in the program for a long time. They just stick together as a team."

● Deen, when asked what the team learned from this game:

"I learned that we still got work to do. We have to hit the courts every day, we have work to do."

● Wardle, on how the team can get better on the road:

"You get embarrassed and you get quiet, you get upset you get quiet, we have to get better at not letting that happen. Move on to the next play. Keep our confidence."

● Drake head coach Darian DeVries:

"I feel like we've been trending in the right direction for a while. Getting bench production was huge for us and completely changed the game."

Bravely Speaking

Bradley slipped to 12-7 overall and 5-3 in the Missouri Valley Conference, and are tied for fourth with Drake, Murray State and Northern Iowa. … Drake is 14-5 (5-3). … The Braves have held opponents to 61 points or less in 12 games this season. … Bradley forward Christian Davis missed the game with an ankle sprain. … Bradley has won at Drake twice in the last 12 years. … Bradley guard Ville Tahvanainen was 2 of 2 at the free throw line to extend his free throw made streak to 29 in a row. That pushed him past Daniel Ruffin and into a tie with Roger Phegley (1977-78) for ninth all-time in Bradley history. Tahvanainen's last missed free throw was a second attempt with 16:38 left in the second half against Indiana State in a Jan. 2, 2022 loss at Carver Arena. His current streak started on Jan. 5, 2022 at home in a buzzer-beater loss to Missouri State. That's also the last home game Bradley lost before starting a 17-game win streak. Tahvanainen is 13 of 13 at the line this season. … Bradley was beaten on the boards, 36-28, and on points in the paint, 32-24. … Drake shot 48% from 3 (12 of 25). … Bradley guard Connor Hickman was 2 of 11 from the field and 9 of 5 from 3. Hickman is 9 of 36 (25%) from 3-point range in his last seven games. … Bradley's home game against Belmont on Jan. 21 has been assigned to Bally Sports and NBC Sports Chicago as a 3 p.m. tipoff. ... Next up for the Braves is a trip to MVC leader Indiana State on Wednesday.

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: Drake 86, Bradley 61

Tucker DeVries

8:41 p.m.: Bradley has 19 points from Duke Deen, but trails 83-57 with 1:35 left. Drake's Tucker DeVries with 28 points on 10 of 19 shooting and five 3s.

Bradley chips away

8:12 p.m.: Duke Deen hit his fourth 3, then set up Darius Hannah for a dunk as Bradley cut its deficit to 16 four minutes into the second half.

Rienk Mast chased to the bench with his third foul in opening minutes of the half. Malevy Leons soon followed with his third foul.

Drake sitting at 54-35 at the media break with 15:37 left.

HALFTIME: Drake 45, Bradley 23

7:50 p.m.: Bradley missed 11 straight 3s over the final 12:30 of the half. Leons 3 for a 13-9 lead at 12:49 was the last made 3 for a BU team that shot 3 of 19 (15.8%) from long range.

Bradley got 10 points from point guard Duke Deen. The Braves bench was out-scored 24-4, as Drake reserves Sardaar Calhoun (3 of 5 from 3) and Conor Enright (3 of 4 from 3) combined for all of those points.

Bradley shooting 8 of 30 (26.7%) from the field, while Drake is at 17 of 30 (56.7%).

Braves in a big hole as halftime nears

7:45 p.m.: Drake on a 31-19 run on a 19-4 run during which Bradley missed seven straight 3s.

Conor Enright hits a 3, Duke Deen loses control of the ball and Drake takes off down court for another 3 by Sardaar Calhoun for 40-21 to force Bradley into a timeout with 2:42 left.

The Drake bench has built a 24-2 advantage, a surprise against a Bradley team whose bench has been the best in the Valley.

Bradley trails after big Drake run

7:30 p.m.: Drake on a 20-7 run to build a 24-17 lead as the media break hits at 7:22 left.

Bulldogs hit a trio of 3s inside that run and has 10 points off the bench. Bradley center Rienk Mast yet to score, while counterpart Brodie has 6 points and 3 rebounds.

The Braves missed seven of eight shots from the field.

Tahvanainen extends free throw streak

7:24 p.m.: Bradley guard Ville Tahvanainen hits two free throws at 11:33 left in the first half. That extended his consecutive free throws made streak to 29, passing Daniel Ruffin's 28 in a row (2005-06) for the 10th spot all-time in Bradley history. Tahvanainen's last missed free throw was a second attempt with 16:38 left in the second half against Indiana State in Jan. 2, 2022 loss at Carver Arena. His current streak started on Jan. 5, 2022 at home in a buzzer-beater loss to Missouri State.

Drake makes a charge

7:21 p.m.: Back-to-back 3s for Drake via offensive rebounds from Connor Enright and Tucker DeVries (his first points of the game at 12:27 left) pull the Bulldogs back to within 13-12 with 11:33 left.

Quick start for Braves

7:12 p.m.: Braves off to a 10-4 start in first 4:50 of the game as point guard Duke Deen wins the early matchup against Drake's Tucker DeVries.

DeVries, the MVC's fourth-leading scorer, has no points yet, while Deen hits a pair of 3s and has 8 of BU's 10 points in the early going, while matched up against DeVries.

New on Yahoo