PEORIA — Santa Clara delivered a blow to the Bradley Braves last weekend in Nevada.
But the Braves made sure it was San Francisco who took one on the chin Wednesday in the final of three games this season against the loaded West Coast Conference.
Bradley fell behind in a low-scoring first half, rallied from the 3-point line in the second half, and emerged with a 66-64 victory in a rough-and-tumble old-school physical game against the Dons before 4,918 at Carver Arena.
“Go 0-and-3 against the West Coast Conference?” said Bradley fifth-year senior point guard Duke Deen, who made sure they didn’t. “No, we can’t do that. I just wanted to show the world our toughness. We do it every day in practice. We just got to do it in a game.
“Hitting each other in practice and then not coming out and hitting the other team, that’s blasphemous. I mean, what are we gonna do it for? It’s a waste of energy in practice if we’re not going to do it in the game. We emphasized that this week after the loss to Santa Clara.
“Santa Clara kind of punched us in the mouth. Tonight we brought it to San Francisco. Honestly, I felt San Fran was way more physical than Santa Clara was. But this time, we hit first.”
Deen and guard running mate Zek Montgomery hit big shots in the second half, Darius Hannah played a gritty defensive game and the Braves overcame a 27-25 halftime deficit quickly.
“We needed that,” Bradley head coach Brian Wardle said. “Winning (a tournament championship) in Myrtle Beach was great, but this one was big. It was good to see us be tough and guard for two halves.
“Duke made big shots. Darius had a huge block in the corner and made a couple shots although it wasn’t really going his way tonight. He still stayed true to it, aggressive, and that was big.
“Everybody showed up. We had to today because San Francisco is a tough team, physical, aggressive team. They guard you, they are good offensively.”
Turning the page in the second half
Montgomery opened the second half with a 3 from the right corner 14 seconds in for a 28-27 lead.
Corey Thomas grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back at 18:41, and Montgomery hit another 3 for a 33-30 lead with 18:14 left.
“Basically everyone at halftime had it in their mind to come out hot and get a fast start,” Montgomery said. “I had it in my mind to come out hot, told myself I was going to come out aggressive and that’s exactly what I did.
“It gave us a spark, and we just kept going with it.”
Deen then buried a 3 from the right wing with 16:53 left for 36-30 and the crowd was in it.
“We get out in transition and start hitting 3s … it’s cracking,” Deen said. “From the 10-minute mark on (in the second half) I couldn’t hear nothing. On defense we just had to yell at each other.”
Deen hit a 3 from the top of the key for 42-38 with 9:48 left.
Then he pulled up for 3 from left wing 63 seconds later for 46-38.
Atlason blocked a shot, Hannah backed down Junjie Wang along the baseline, turned and buried a hook with an and-1 for 50-41 with 6:52 left.
The Braves followed a missed San Francisco shot with a rebound and drive to the rim by Hannah for 52-41 with 6:01 left.
“I don’t mind having a good old, drag it out defensive battle, we haven’t had one of those because we’ve been scoring so much,” Wardle said. “So we’ll take it. We have to learn to win a lot of different ways. That’s what championship level teams do.
“Everybody showed up. Giving great effort for your teammates. Talk and energy was there the whole game. It was not in the Santa Clara first half … noooo.”
Down the stretch for 3
Deen hit a 3 off a screen set by Ahmet Jonovic with 3:31 left for 55-47.
Jonovic on the next possession rolled to the net and jammed the ball home for 57-50.
The Dons weren’t done as Marcus Williams hit a 3 with 1:41 left, then Ryan Beasley hit a 3 with 69 seconds to go to chop the Braves lead down to 58-56.
Deen didn’t blink, hitting a clutch answering 3 for 61-56 with 43 seconds left. Williams hit another 3 with 38 seconds left for 61-59.
Hannah and Deen made four free throws to push Bradley back up, 65-59, with 25 seconds left.
San Francisco got two free throws from Williams, while Bradley’s Christian Davis split two to put the game at 66-61 with 5 seconds left.
Williams then hit a 3 at the buzzer.
“We can build off this,” Wardle said. “There’s a lot we can improve on, finishing games, not letting them hit so many 3s at the end. But overall just a great win, we got to take them all when we can get them.”
A lineup change
The Braves have been concerned about rebounding, and made a lineup change Wednesday in part to address that.
Corey Thomas, BU’s 6-foot-10 center, entered the starting lineup while Almar Atlason went to the bench.
“We wanted to go with a little more size in the starting lineup with Corey,” Wardle said. “And bring Almar (off the bench) because of his flexibility (to go in for) Corey or Darius.
“I think Corey will get more comfortable. I liked how Almar guarded, I think that was one of his better defensive games he’s had, especially in the second half.”
Thomas had 5 points, 3 rebounds and a block in 22 minutes. Atlason had 9 points — all on 3s — with 5 rebounds, a block and a steal in 28 minutes.
So the Braves got 14 points, 8 rebounds, two blocks and a steal out of that lineup spot.
They said it
● Bradley head coach Brian Wardle, on whether San Francisco was a must-win game:
“Just another big game. It’s not a must-win. It was a must multiple-effort game. A must play both sides of the ball for 40 minutes game. A must we gotta improve game. If the results are a win, great. But it’s all about the process and getting better.”
● BU guard Duke Deen, on the team’s mindset heading into Wednesday’s game:
“Our mindset after Santa Clara was not to get punked. Be tough on offense and defense. We didn’t let San Francisco drive and get to their spot. Tough hard defense. It was a low-scoring game in the first half, but that was defense.”
● Deen, on the 27-25 halftime deficit that saw both teams shooting under 39%:
“It really wasn’t cold shooting, we missed more layups than we did actual shots. We make the layups and we’re up 10 going into the half. We went to the locker room knowing the shots were going to fall.”
● Wardle, whose team has played three strong West Coast conference teams in Washington State, Santa Clara and San Francisco:
“San Francisco is better than some Power 5 teams. The WCC is loaded this year, you have Gonzaga, San Francisco, Santa Clara, Washington State, Oregon State. That league is loaded. San Francisco is a Power 5 team in my mind. So it’s a good win.”
● Duke Deen, on the importance of the victory:
“I didn’t want to lose. Didn’t care whether the score stayed at 20-20. Just didn’t want to lose.”
● Wardle, on watching his Braves step up to the challenge in the second half:
“Duke responded in the second half. And I thought Darius was just tough today. He was tough. Almar was tough. Zek guarded. We need everyone …”
Bravely Speaking
Bradley improved to 9-2. San Francisco slipped to 9-3. … The win was huge for Bradley because it was a Quad 2 victory, important in NCAA Tournament candidacy. San Francisco came into the game at No. 48 in the NCAA NET rankings. … The Braves were at No. 79 in the Kenpom rankings after the game. San Francisco was at No. 53. Santa Clara was at No. 75 and Washington State at No. 74. … BU guard Duke Deen had a game-high 19 points, and a game-high seven rebounds. Deen, in games within a week before Christmas, now has 19 points, 26 points (2022 vs Stonehill), 14 (2022 vs Akron), 15 (2023 vs Duquesne) and 27 (2023 vs SIUE). … Zek Montgomery had 12 points, two steals and two blocks. … Darius Hannah had 11 points on 3 of 11 shooting, and added six rebounds. … The Braves were out-rebounded, 40-36. … Malik Thomas had 14 points for San Francisco, while Marcus Williams had 18 on four 3s. … The Braves held the Dons to 25% shooting from 3-point range in the first half and 32.4% shooting from the field in the second half. … Bradley made 12 3-pointers, including a combined 8 from Deen and Montgomery. … Next up for the Braves is a 1 p.m. game Saturday against Canisius in Carver Arena.
| TEAMS | 1st half | 2nd half | — | FINAL |
| San Francisco | 27 | 37 | — | 64 |
| Bradley | 25 | 41 | — | 66 |
Deen hit a 3 off a screen set by Jonovic with 3:31 left for 55-47.
Jonovic on the next possession rolled to the net and jammed the ball home for 57-50 with 2:53 left.
Marcus Williams answered that with a 3 for the Dons to cut BU’s lead to 57-53 with 90 seconds left.
Marcus Williams hits a 3 and is fouled by Bradley center Corey Thomas. The game sits at 52-46 Braves with a free throw coming and 5:06 left.
Almar Atlason blocks a shot, the Braves set up Darius Hannah and he backs down Wang, turns and hit a hook and-1 for 50-41 with 6:52 left.
San Francisco misses on its next possession. The Braves get the rebound and Hannah drives to rim for layin and 52-41 lead with 6:01 left.
Duke Deen hits a 3 from the top of the key for 42-38 at 9:48.
Zek Montgomery misses a free throw, and the Dons players on the bench are yelling “Pizza Pizza” at Montgomery, a reference to a BU promotion when an opponent misses two free throws.
Montgomery makes the second one at 9:25, and 37 seconds later Deen races down the floor, pulls up, and drains a 3 from the left wing for a 46-38 lead with 8:45 left.
Bradley up 39-36 with 11:06 left in the game.
Shooting is cooling again, as Braves are 1 of 8 from field in their last eight attempts, and Dons are 1 of 5.
San Francisco leading 14-6 in the paint, and Bradley sends in 7-foot-1 Ahmet Jonovic coming out of the 12-under break.
Darius Hannah and Duke Deen both to the bench with three fouls each at the 14-minute mark.
Hannah, one of the top field goal percentage shooters in the nation, having a tough game at 1 of 8 from the field.
Bradley point guard Duke Deen Duke buried a 3 from the right wing with 16:53 left for 36-30 and the crowd is in it.
San Francisco in a three-possession flurry with two missed shots and a turnover.
Zek Montgomery opened the second half with a 3 from the right corner 14 seconds in for a 28-27 lead.
Corey Thomas grabbed an offensive rebound and put it back at 18:41, and Montgomery hit another 3 for a 33-30 lead with 18:14 left.
Braves improved to 10 of 28 from the field (35.7%) and stayed alive from 3-point range with a 4 of 9 half.
The Dons shot 38.5% and were just 3 of 12 from 3-point range.
Bradley out-rebounded by Dons, 20-18. Malik Thomas of the Dons leads all scorers with 8. BU has six from Almar Atlason.
Darius Hannah with 5 rebounds and Christian Davis with 4.
Almar Atlason left uncovered — no one anywhere near him — and he puts down a 3 from the right corner for 25-24 with 50.4 left in first half.
Corey Thomas’ dunk at 6:56 pulled BU into a 13-13 tie.
Demarion Burch then knocked down a jumper from the left wing and Zek Montgomery heated up.
Montgomery’s turnaround jumper from the right baseline gave BU a 17-14 lead, and then Montgomery drained a 3 from left wing at 4:46 for 20-16.
The Dons answered with a 3 from Marcus Williams to tie it at 20-20 with 2:58 left.
The Braves are shooting 25% from the field while trailing 12-11 with 8:35 left.
The Dons have slid to 38% from the field and are just 1 of 7 from 3-point range.
The game awaits a hot hand.
Braves trying to catch up as Christian Davis hits a 3 from left wing to pull them within 12-8 at the 12-under media break.
Braves are shooting 30% from the field. Dons are 1 of 6 from 3-point range.
The Braves open with a 7-2 deficit, and Almar Atlason comes off the bench for a 3 from the left wing to cut it two.
San Francisco comes off the media break up 10-5 as Malik Thomas finishes and-1.
Bradley Braves change things up, sending 6-foot-10 center Corey Thomas into the starting lineup in place of Almar Atlason. Braves are looking for more rebounding presence.
Braves roll with: Guards Duke Deen, Zek Montgomery, wing Christian Davis, forward Darius Hannah and center Corey Thomas.
San Francisco counters with: Guards Malik Thomas, Marcus Williams and Tyrone Riley IV, forward Ndewedo Newbury and center Carlton Linguard Jr.
- Kenpom ranking: Bradley No. 75, San Francisco No. 53
- Kenpom says: Bradley 73, San Francisco 72 (54%)
- Massey computer says: San Francisco 71, Bradley 69 (56%)
- NET ranking: Bradley No. 72, San Francisco No. 45
- CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Ranking: Bradley No. 7.
- MidMajorBasketball.com Mid-Major Ranking: No. 17
- BracketBustersHoops.com Mid-Major Ranking: No. 20
- Basketball.realgm.com Mid-Major Rankings: No. 21
- Preseason poll: Bradley No. 1 in MVC. San Francisco No. 4 in WCC.
- Records: Bradley 8-2 (1st in MVC). San Francisco 9-2 (1st in WCC)
- All-time series: Bradley, 4-2
- Head coaches: Bradley, Brian Wardle 10th yr (166-140). San Francisco, Chris Gerlufsen 3rd yr (52-28)
- Bradley’s two losses are to West Coast Conference foes Washington State and Santa Clara. San Francisco comes in tied with Washington State for the lead in that lineup. … The Braves are still No. 1 in the nation in 3-point percentage at 44.6% (115 of 258). … Bradley is 8th in the nation in shooting from the field at 50.5%, and No. 2 in effective FG% at 60.5. … The Braves’ 11.5 made 3-pointers per game ranks 5th in the nation. … Bradley guard Zek Montgomery is shooting 52.8% from 3-point range, fifth-best in the nation. … BU forward Darius Hannah has 30 takeaways (19 steals, 11 blocks) in 10 games. … San Francisco brings in 6-foot-5 senior guard Malik Thomas, who pours in 18.6 ppg, shoots 50.4% from the field and has 24 steals. … San Francisco’s starting five includes four seniors, one of which is a fifth-year 7-footer in Carlton Linguard Jr. … The game against San Francisco will be a Quad 2 game for Bradley.
- Date: Dec. 18, 2024
- Time: 7 p.m. CT
- Location: Carver Arena, Peoria, Illinois
What channel is the Bradley vs San Francisco game on today?
Bradley vs San Francisco live stream options
Bradley vs San Francisco will be streaming on ESPN+. A subscription is required.
Bradley basketball vs San Francisco betting odds
Game lines and odds from BetMGM as of Wednesday:
Record: 8-2
- Nov. 4: Bradley 88, Southeast Missouri State 60
- Nov. 8: Washington State 91, Bradley 74
- Nov. 12: Bradley 85, UTSA 72
- Nov. 16: Bradley 76, Northern Illinois 60
- Nov. 21: Bradley 82, Texas State 68
- Nov. 22: Bradley 77, Wright State 74
- Nov. 24: Bradley 80, Middle Tennessee 69
- Nov. 29: Bradley 107, Judson 41
- Dec. 3: Bradley 83, Southern Illinois 60
- Dec. 14: Santa Clara 84, Bradley 74 at Jack Jones Classic
- Dec. 18: vs San Francisco, 7 p.m. Carver Arena | ESPN+
- Dec. 21: vs Canisius, 1 p.m. Carver Arena | ESPN+
- Dec. 29: vs Valparaiso, 3 p.m., Carver Arena | ESPN+
Buy Bradley basketball tickets this season via StubHub
Bradley basketball news
(This story has been updated to add additional information, photos and video)
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 X.com @icetimecleve.
We occasionally recommend interesting products and services. If you make a purchase by clicking one of the links, we may earn an affiliate fee. USA TODAY Network newsrooms operate independently, and this doesn’t influence our coverage.
