MVC TOURNAMENT NOTES: Bradley is making back-to-back title games for the first time in school history, bidding to become the ninth team to successfully defend its title but first since UNI in 2016. This is Bradley’s fifth straight MVC tournament win, all with coach Brian Wardle wearing red shoes. Bradley improved its MVC Tournament record to 37-37 (8-13 in semifinals; 8-7 as No. 4 seed) including a 9-5 mark against Drake while winning its last four matchups against the Bulldogs in St. Louis. No, 4 seeds are now 39-41 in MVC Tournament history including a 24-27 in St. Louis.
Bradley Notes – The Braves, who have won seven of their last nine games, improve their record to 22-11. Bradley, which won two of three games against Drake this season, improves its series record to 89-67 against Drake. Bradley senior Darrell Brown scored 19 first half points, just one shy of his career-best for a half when he scored 20 in the second half at Drake on Feb. 5 of this year. It’s also the 5th time this season he’s reached 20 or more points in a game, and the 20th time in his career. Speaking of career marks, his career total in points is now 1,839 good for fifth all-time in Bradley history. Danya Kingsby hit double digits for the 8th time this year by scoring 11 points. Nate Kennell reached double digits in scoring for the 22nd time this season with his 12 points, all but two came in the second half. He also added 3 steals. It’s the 8th time this season he’s had 3 or more steals, and he now sits at 99 for his career. Ville Tahvanainen chipped in with 5 points and his four assists which is a career best.
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Drake Notes – The Bulldogs, who had a two-game winning streak halted, falls to 20-14. Drake’s MVC Tournament record falls to 20-42, including a 3-7 mark as the No. 8 seed and a 1-6 record in semifinal round games.
Sophomore center Liam Robbins led Drake with his seventh double-double this season with 19 points and 12 rebounds. He entered game with 25.0 scoring average (21, 29) in two previous games against Bradley this year. He also blocked two shots to move into No. 2 on school career blocked shot list at 134, passing Aliou Keita who had 133 from 2004-07. Robbins also improved his school single-season record to 99.
Sophomore guard Roman Penn added 17 points, seven rebounds and six assists, while sophomore guard DJ Wilkins broke out of shooting slump with 14 points, surpassing his previous combined total of 10 points in last three games. Drake, with four blocked shots today, set school team single-season record for blocked shots at 132, surpassing previous school mark of 130 set last year.
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First Half: Bradley moved ahead 9-4 at the outset and Drake’s DJ Wilkins hit a pair of free throws with 15:22 left to give him four points today and his best scoring output thus far in the tourney. Bradley stretched its lead to 10 at 18-8 as the game reached the second media time out. 10 points is the biggest margin Bradley has had in any of the three games vs. Drake this season. Previous biggest was 9. Liam Robbins scored twice to bring Drake within 20-15 with 9:00 left. Bradley’s lead ranged from 4 to 9 points for six minutes as Darrell Brown scored 11 of 13 Bradley points in a four-minute span as the Braves moved up 38-27 with three minutes left for their biggest lead. Bradley led 44-35 at halftime. The 44 points are the most allowed by Drake in a first half, tying the 44 by Cincinnati vs. the ‘Dogs. Brown led all scorers with 19 for Bradley, including 13 of the Braves’ last 17 points of the half over 5:17 minutes. Robbins paced Drake with 12 and was the game’s leading rebounder with 8. Bradley led rebounding 18-15. Bradley is 16-3 when leading at the half and Drake is 4-9 when trailing at halftime.
Second Half: Nate Kennell hit a three with 17:08 left to give Bradley its biggest lead of the game at 49-36 and he cashed in another trey at the 15-minute mark to offset a three-point play by Drake’s Roman Penn. A 10-0 Drake run, capped by a three from Penn, got the Bulldogs back within 3 at 52-49 with 11:32 to play. The Drake run included three missed free throws as Bradley’s last basket came at 15:08. Bradley answered with two baskets and three free throws at the 9:15 mark to push its lead back to 10 at 59-49 on a 7-0 run. Robbins’s three-point play at 5:55 got Drake back within 61-54 but Koch Bar scored quickly for Bradley. The teams traded threes under the five-minute mark. Darrell Brown got his first two points of the second half on a jumper at 3:20 to make it 68-59. A reversed call on an out of bounds play led to Elijah Childs slipping in a short layup to make it 70-59 with 1:31 left. Bradley salted away its final margin at the foul line.
