At halftime, the Bradley men’s basketball team trailed 35-31 to Evansville, who, before the game, were 4-9 and were amidst a four-game losing streak.
The Purple Aces were on fire offensively, starting the game on a 13-0 run and shooting 15-30 (50%) and 5-11 (45.5%) from three in the period. The Braves struggled to contain drives, navigate pick-and-roll actions, and handle the versatility of Evansville’s forwards.
But most importantly, sophomore guard Jaquan Johnson, Bradley’s leading scorer at over 18 points per game, was held to just two points and three field goal attempts in the opening period.
As the Braves met in the locker room, Johnson’s teammates and coaches stressed that he needed to be more aggressive if Bradley was to win the game and close 2025 on a high note.
“I was trying to get a feel for the game,” Johnson remarked about his slow start. “My coaches have been talking to me about trying to get others involved, and then trying to get yours because it will open the game up for you. But going into the locker room, the team got on me and told me to do what I do and gave me the courage to do it.”
What he did, like he’s done on many occasions this season, is exert his will and take over the game.
Bully on the attack
On the Braves’ first two possessions of the second half, he continued to try to find his teammates, finding fellow sophomore Timoty Van der Knaap wide open for two three-point looks, but he missed both, and the Braves’ offense continued to struggle.
Then it seemed as though a switch flipped in Johnson’s brain, as he recognized a need to get downhill and score the ball.
On the Braves’ ensuing possession, Johnson attacked reigning Missouri Valley Conference Defensive Player of the Year Conor Turnbull on a switch and finished a heavily contested layup over the near seven-footer.
The bucket got him going, and “Bully”, as his teammates and coaches affectionately call him, began to attack the rim relentlessly. He used his combination of speed, strength and handle to blow past Evansville defenders and either finish at the rim or draw a foul.
“It was just the flow of the game,” Johnson said. “I saw that I could get downhill and started feeling it. I know when I start feeling it, guys want me to keep going, so I just took what the defense gave me.”
Johnson outscored the Purple Aces 11-1 over three minutes to ignite a 13-1 run that gave Bradley a 42-36 lead.
Evansville responded with a 19-8 run of its own, led by senior forward AJ Casey, who scored or assisted on 11 of the Purple Aces’ points, but it wasn’t enough.
Time after time, Johnson made a play when the Braves needed it.
A midrange here, a drive to the cup there or finding an open teammate for a basket.
The climax of his personal onslaught came with 1:55 to play, and Bradley leading 65-64. Johnson navigated a ball screen with senior Ahmet Jonovic, and the Evansville defenders went under on the screen to stop him from getting downhill.
The guard probed for a second and then stepped back and drained a three to give Bradley a four-point lead, and they went on to win 76-68.
The players, coaches and fans in the arena watched in awe as the MVC’s leading scorer proved again why he’s blossoming into one of the best players in the conference this season.
“I’m trying to turn the crowd up for him,” senior forward Corey Thomas remarked about watching Johnson’s performance. “As soon as he hit the and-one, I’m in the middle of the court like ‘turn it up; get loud’. I love watching him do what he does. This is my dawg. This is my right hand. You can’t complain about watching good basketball.”
Price of admission
The Braves, as a whole, are playing good basketball. The win over Evansville marked Bradley’s seventh straight after starting the season 3-4. Outside of Johnson, Thomas pitched in nine points and 11 rebounds, and freshman guard Montana Wheeler continued to be a bright spot, adding 12 points and an assist.
“It was a total team effort,” head coach Brian Wardle said. “I went through after the game, told all the guys that this is how we’re going to win this year. Every game is probably going to be a grind-it-out. It’s going to be close. That’s okay. We gotta execute down the stretch. We gotta get stops when we need stops, and make our free throws. And that’s what we did tonight.”
Despite the win streak, Wardle is continuing to look for ways to improve and buck the trend of slow starts in games.
“Our starting five is not playing well in the first four minutes,” Wardle said. “That’s been quite a few games now, so I might take a look at it if we have to change it up and start a different lineup, just to get a little bit more energy. I thought the group that began the second half got a lot of stops.”
“That’s our team, though,” Wardle continued. “We’re very entertaining, and we’re the price of admission. Fans come watch us because this group is going to entertain you. Don’t know what you’re going to get. I don’t know what I’m going to get, but they’re going to play hard, they’re going to be resilient, and they are tough, and that I can guarantee you, and we just keep finding ways to win games.”
The Braves will look to continue finding ways to win on Thursday, when they travel to Nashville to play Belmont in their first contest of 2026.
