With Bradley leading Northern Iowa 70-56 with 2:49 to play, senior Zek Montgomery had the ball in his hands.
The wing caught the ball at the elbow, used his pivot to face up, dribbled the ball to the middle of the floor, posted his defender up and used his size and footwork to finish a layup. Montgomery was fouled on the layup attempt and knocked down the free throw to complete the three-point play, which added a historic moment to his rollercoaster of a career.
One thousand points.
Full circle moment
“It’s something I’ve always wanted,” Montgomery said. “I just always wanted to reach 1,000 points just for my mom. It meant a lot that she was here tonight.”
Montgomery’s mother, Erica, had not seen her son play at Carver Arena in two years. He transferred to Rhode Island for a year before returning home to Peoria. The last time she visited the 309 was to watch Montgomery and the Braves clinch the regular-season championship in 2023.
Montgomery reached his goal on an isolation post-up, a play type in which he’s thrived. According to Synergy, the wing has scored 1.211 points per possession when operating in the post, which ranks in the 93rd percentile of the country.
Montgomery developed his post-up game while away from Bradley and has used it when the Braves need a big bucket late in games.
“I always had it, but I never really used it until I got to Rhode Island,” Montgomery said about his post-up game. “I was playing minutes at the four, which developed my post game more.”
The senior’s teammates and assistant coaches Mike Bargen and Pat Althoff knew of Montgomery’s milestone and were excited about the accomplishment.
“I looked at him [Duke Deen] and said I need two more points,” Montgomery said. “We were at the free throw line and he asked me, ‘Do you need four or two?’ I told him I only need two more points, bro.”
“What you didn’t hear is that when we were on the bench, Al [Almar Atlason] tells Pat [ Althoff], Pat tells Bargs, [ Bargen] and Bargs calls the iso on the elbow,” senior forward Christian Davis revealed to Montgomery.
Other teammates feel that Montgomery could have reached his goal before Sunday evening.
“Man, you could’ve been had 1000 points,” Deen said to Montgomery.
“You’re right I could’ve, but aye I got it now, it’s over,” Montgomery said. “I’m a part of the club with you.”
Senior night
Montgomery, Davis and Deen, along with their fellow seniors Cade Hardtke, Sam Hennessy and Connor Dillon were honored before the game on Sunday evening with their families.
The moment was emotional for both players and coaches.
“I got in my feelings there,” Deen said about the senior night presentation. “Not crocodile tears but just a couple. Coach took a chance on me. I am forever thankful for that. You can’t overlook what they did for me here. They embraced me with open arms through the good and the bad. They let me shoot threes from wherever. I just love it here. I am definitely going to buy a house here. I just love Peoria dawg.”
“Senior days are hard,” head coach Brian Wardle added. “They’re always emotional. I choked up talking to the team at some point today, but it’s special, and that’s why you coach. To see them grow and mature as men off the floor means more to me. I’ve seen how they’ve changed, confident wise, and growth wise as humans.”
Despite all the emotions, there was basketball to play and business to be handled.
Battle for second
The game against Northern Iowa was the last of the regular season. Both teams were tied with 14-5 conference records.
The winner got second place, and the Braves put on a show.
Bradley (24-7, 15-5 MVC) used a balanced scoring attack, sound defense in the second half and productive play from its bench to secure a 73-56 win.
In the first half, the Braves’ offense clicked. The team moved the ball and used several off-ball actions to free up players for open looks. Bradley uses a heavy dose of ball screens to generate offense, but the team has begun diversifying its offense as Arch Madness approaches.
“I like where we are at right now,” Wardle said. “I like the tweaks we made offensively. We had some good throw-and-gos and some good cutting actions. We didn’t get many high-lows today, but I think there are some things that we get to keep working on that can help you steal some points down in St. Louis, and that’s going to be big for us to do and keep executing on it.”
“I think our pick and roll has been pretty steady,” Wardle added. “We can continue to get better [at] making reads and looking at rejects more. When we execute those and set good screens, we’re hard to guard.”
The Panthers may agree that the Braves are hard to guard. Five players finished in double figures, and the team shot 48% from the field and 44% from three.
Bradley’s offense was as efficient as it has been all season, but its defense built the cushion in this game.
After allowing Northern Iowa to shoot 15-27 (55.6%) from the field and two-for-five (40%) from three in the first half, the Braves buckled down and put the Panthers in a box. They held the team to six-for-26 (23.1%) from the field and four-for-15(26.7%) from behind the arc.
“To secure the two seed, we had to play a very good game today,” Wardle said. “I thought offensively in the first half we were really good, about as efficient and as good as we’ve been all year. The defense was really good in the second half, probably one of our better halves of the year. We had to raise our level to play them and it was a balanced attack offensively and a total team defense. That’s Bradley basketball right there.”
Arch on the horizon
The Braves will need to maintain this level of play and continue playing Bradley’s brand of basketball as Arch Madness approaches, but as the most experienced team in the Missouri Valley Conference, they’re ready for anything.
“There are so many teams in our league that can beat anyone,” Wardle said. “UIC came in and beat us. You can lose to anyone in Arch Madness, so you have to come in with a chip on your shoulder. You can’t come in happy. I love playing happy teams.”
“We can’t go down there looking for a foul call,” Deen added. “I’m used to it, we’re used to it. I’m curious to see how everybody adjusts to the refs down there because it’s a different ball game. It’s all physicality. If you go out there looking for a little bump, they’re not gonna call it. You gotta play through it.”
After the win, the Braves will rest for a few days before returning to action against the winner between Murray State and Evansville at 6 p.m. on Friday in St. Louis.
