Bradley basketball team's NIT run ends with loss to No. 2 seed Wisconsin

The Bradley Braves had one player reach a milestone, another reach the pinnacle of his college career, but neither were enough to stop Wisconsin's Mt. Rushmore center from sending the hilltoppers home Tuesday in the first round of the NIT.

Rienk Mast reached 1,000 career points, Ja'Shon Henry played his final college game and the Braves' terrific season reached its conclusion with an 81-62 loss to the Badgers at Kohl Center in Madison, Wis.

Wisconsin 7-foot center Steven Crowl scored a career-high 36 points — the most by any player on the team in a game this season — and added nine rebounds to put the Braves out.

"I've seen all the bigs that have come through here in the last 20 years and I think he can be right there with those guys who are on the Mt. Rushmore, so to speak, of stretch bigs that we've had here," Wisconsin coach Greg Gard said. "Getting him to believe that, that's the biggest thing. Tonight was a big step in that."

It proved to be the last step for the Braves, who saw their experienced trio of Henry, Mast and Ville Tahvanainen play together for the final time.

Box score: Bradley vs. Wisconsin | Preview: What to know about the game | Results: NIT

Henry the fifth-year forward, is done with his college career. Mast, a junior, and Tahvanainen, a senior, could return, but have not announced a decision yet.

There was no remote access to Bradley players for interviews after the game. The NIT provided taped interviews from Wisconsin players and both coaches.

"I told him (Henry) in the locker room, I was so proud of him," Bradley coach Brian Wardle said. "He missed one game. Best season he's had. Showed a lot of toughness, he's a winner. Two Arch Madness championships, two NCAA bids, NIT … And he's such a great person.

"It's hard losing this game because we're a very close group. Very connected team and I love my players. They were a joy to coach all year and I thanked them in that locker room."

The Braves had trouble with Crowl — who has been a poor 3-point shooter this season — and put Mast, Darius Hannah and 7-foot-1 Ahmet Jonovic on him at various times.

Hannah got in early foul trouble and it changed the game for the Braves.

"I think we were more frustrated with our rotations because I had to go out of sync because of foul trouble," Wardle said. "Darius Hannah was playing great, and I couldn't keep him on the floor. Every time he came in the whistle blew on him.

"Frustrating game for us because we're coming from Arch Madness where nothing is called, and it's a physical fist fight. So 20 team fouls (called on Bradley in the NIT) was an adjustment for us. We had some silly fouls. That's mental toughness. Smart teams win in March, I tell my team that all the time, gotta play smart. Wisconsin was the smarter team today."

Crowl on the prowl

Crowl hit a pair of free throws, then a 3 from the left wing over Jonovic for 37-29 with 3:50 left in the first half.

Crowl hit a long 3 from above the arc that went glass and in with 39 seconds left in the half for a 40-33 lead.

Bradley point guard Duke Deen hit a dazzling shot, a running, fading jumper near the baseline to get the Braves within 40-35 with 15 seconds left.

But Crowl opened the second half with two dunks, and guard Max Klesmit added two buckets and then a layup on a back cut to push Wisconsin's lead to 50-41 with 15:54 left.

Then Crowl hit his fourth 3-pointer to put the Braves down 53-41 with 15:07 left.

And then his fifth 3-pointer for 29 points and a 58-44 lead over the Braves with 13:15 left.

And then another dunk and-1 for a 62-49 lead with 7:52 left.

"Once you see a couple buckets go in, a couple free throws go in, you start feeling good," Crowl said. "Then you see a couple 3s go in and you keep shooting them until you miss.

"It's (about) not being aggressive, not seeing those (3-pointers) fall earlier in the season and not having that confidence. Seeing those 3s drop just gave me the confidence to keep shooting them when I was open."

The Braves couldn't stop him. Nor could they control Max Klesmit, who added 16 points and three steals.

"Crowl had gotten open looks in the film I watched," Wardle said. "Wide open. I didn't want to give him those, we were trying to fly at him. It didn't matter. We changed our ball screen coverage to try to take away his pops, didn't matter, he made a couple tough ones again.

"But give him a lot of credit. That's what you need in the postseason, you need guys to step up and make big shots. Maybe do things they haven't done in the regular season and he did that today. Tonight we might have gotten him going in the NIT."

Hannah fouled out of the game. Jonovic played a season-high six minutes and had two fouls.

"Crowl played out of his mind today," Wardle said. "He went 5-of-7 from 3. Give him credit, he had a career game. Klesmit too, hadn't seen him play like that on film. So they had two guys really step up for them."

Mast makes it

Bradley center Rienk Mast hit a 3-pointer from the left wing with 4:13 left in the game. That cut the Braves deficit to 71-58. It also put Mast in elite company, allowing him to finish the season with 1,001 career points.

He is the 52nd player in BU history to reach 1,000 points, and joins longtime teammate Ja'Shon Henry, who reached that plateau earlier this season.

In the huddle

• Bradley coach Brian Wardle, on 7-foot Wisconsin center Steven Crowl's key 3-pointer late in the first half that banked in off the glass from above the arc: "It's a running joke for us, banked-in 3s against us. That's a sign the basketball gods are not with you that day. Another banked 3 in this building doesn't feel good."

• Wisconsin coach Greg Gard, on the Braves: "Bradley is an NCAA Tournament team. Bradley wins the MVC regular-season (finale), Drake beats them in St. Louis in the (tournament) championship game and Drake is an NCAA 12 seed. So I felt this was like playing a NCAA 12 seed for us."

• Wisconsin guard Max Klesmit: "Everyone was aggressive tonight within the confines of what we like to do on offense."

• Wardle, on Bradley's shooting dip in the three games in St. Louis and Tuesday's NIT game: "I got to look back and reflect on why did our offense get stagnant down the stretch? Our jump shooting and free throws just went away."

• Wardle, on the big picture: "This is motivating right now for the offseason. I told the guys we gotta get better. If we bring our core back we're going to be good again. I'm proud of this group. Proud of the leadership developing. This team was a group of really good guys, who brought it every day."

• Wardle, on Bradley's 11 turnovers to Wisconsin's 3: "We had 3 moving screens — that's turnovers. We had three passes our bigs didn't catch. We had an offensive rebound get knocked out of our hands … We did not turn them over, though, and that's Wisconsin basketball, they don't turn the ball over and they don't foul."

Bravely Speaking

The Braves finished 25-10. Wisconsin is 18-14 and moves on to a second-round NIT game against Liberty. … The Braves changed up their starting lineup, leaving Duke Deen on the bench, moving Connor Hickman to point guard, putting Zek Montgomery at 2-guard, starting MVC Sixth Man of the Year Ja'Shon Henry at forward, with forward Malevy Leons and center Rienk Mast. … Mast had a double-double with 14 points and 12 rebounds. … Montgomery played well, posting 12 points on 5-of-11 from the field, plus four rebounds. … Deen came in off the bench and played 21 minutes, with eight points, including 2-of-4 from 3-point range. … Bradley shot 5-of-23 from 3-point range. … Bradley outrebounded Wisconsin, 39-35, and outscored them from the bench, 23-9. … Wisconsin got 36 from Steven Crowl, 16 from Max Klesmit, and 14 from freshman guard Connor Essegian, who was 9-of-9 from the free throw line.

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: Wisconsin 81, Bradley 62

Congrats to Rienk Mast

10:25 p.m.: Rienk Mast hits a 3 from the left wing to reach 1,000 points in his Bradley career, the 52nd player in program history to get there.

This 3 gave Mast 1,001 career points and cut Wisconsin's lead to 71-58 with 4:15 to go.

Crowl on the prowl

9:54 p.m.: Wisconsin center Steve Crowl opened the second half with two dunks, and guard Max Klesmit added two buckets and then a layup on a back cut to push Wisconsin's lead to 50-41 with 15:54 left.

Then Crowl hit his fourth 3-pointer for a career-high 26 points -- the most scored in a game by a Wisconsin player this season. That put the Braves down 53-41 with 15:07 left.

By the numbers

9:33 p.m.: Wisconsin 7-foot center Steven Crowl has a game-high 19 points, plus six rebounds, at the half.

Bradley center Rienk Mast has six points and five rebounds, while BU guard Zek Montgomery has team-best eight points.

Ahmet Jonovic played six minutes in the first half, his longest run of the season for the freshman from Serbia. He has not scored, and has two fouls.

Bradley 2 of 12 from 3-point range, but shooting 46.9% from the field (41.9% for Wisconsin) and holds 22-16 rebounding edge.

HALFTIME: Wisconsin 40, Bradley 35

9:30 p.m.: Crowl hit a long 3 from above the arc that went glass and in with 39 seconds left in the half for a 40-33 lead.

But Bradley point guard Duke Deen hit a running, fading jumper near the baseline to get the Braves within 40-35 with 15 seconds left.

Wisconsin big man dominating

9:20 p.m.: Ja'Shon Henry power up at the rim and fouled by Wahl. Misses the free throw but Bradley closes to within 32-29.

But Crowl hits a pair of free throws, then a 3 from the left wing over Jonovic for 37-29 with 3:50 left.

Crowl has game-high 16 points in first half.

Braves push back

9:11 p.m.: The Braves came off their timeout with a 7-0 run to get within 26-20 on Zek Montgomery's layup and-1, Rienk Mast's jumper and Malevy Leons' jumper.

Braves fall back by 13

9:02 p.m.: Wisconsin center Steven Crowl hits a 3 with 9:43 left for 26-13 and forces timeout Bradley, capping an 11-2 run over 3:34.

Clash of 7-footers

8:51 p.m.: Wisconsin takes an 11-8 lead to the first break. Badgers' 7-footer Steven Crowl has six points, and Bradley put 7-foot freshman Ahmet Jonovic in the game early to defend him.

Starting lineups

8:40 p.m.: Braves going with Connor Hickman and Zek Montgomery at guards, Malevy Leons at forward and Rienk Mast at center. MVC Sixth Man of the Year Ja'Shon Henry is starting at forward. Starting point guard Duke Deen opens on the bench, while Hickman moves over to point guard and Montgomery is a 2 guard.

Wisconsin goes with Hepburn, Essegian and Klesmit at guards, Wahl and Crowl at forwards.

Other Bradley basketball stories

• NIT selection: Bradley 'excited to play' Wisconsin in the NIT first round

• The numbers: How Bradley attendance numbers compared to last season

• Coming and going: Bradley roster 2023-24: Which Braves have eligibility remaining for next season

• MVC awards: Bradley basketball pulled in a Missouri Valley awards haul. Here's what BU won

• Remember when: Catching up with Bradley's last MVC champion

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Bradley's NIT run ends with loss to No. 2 seed Wisconsin