Six-foot 11-inch Bradley senior Koch Bar dunked in traffic with 10:09 remaining in the game to push Bradley’s lead to seven points over Drake in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament semifinal. Fellow senior Darrell Brown hit Bar with a pass after he had escaped Drake sophomore center Liam Robbins, and the Braves didn’t look back.
The trio of Bar, sophomore Ari Boya and junior Elijah Childs were dialed in on how they planned to attack Robbins. Although Robbins scored 19 points and tore down 12 rebounds, five of which were offensive, he fouled out in 35 minutes of play.
Robbins said he needed to play more physical and not take as many fall away shots in the second half.
“They got some really good bigs, Bar, Boya, Childs,” Robbins said. “They were really physical, they did a good job of keeping me moving and getting position on me.”
Arch Madness’ first semifinal was a game dominated by play in the paint. The Braves led the Bulldogs in interior scoring 32-30. Additionally, both teams scored at an efficient clip in the 76-66 Bradley win with the victors converting on 49.1 percent to Drake’s 42.6 from the floor.
Redshirt-junior Danya Kingsby said that forwards played a large role in the outcome of the game.
“Especially Koch, he had a lot of big, big stops for us and a lot of big buckets. They were very aggressive and they hold it down on the defensive end for us.”
Kingsby and Bar attended Arlington Country Day high school in Florida together. He said that Bar’s dunk in traffic is something he used to see but hadn’t at Bradley.
“It was very shocking to see that especially at that very moment because we hadn’t seen it all year from him,” Kingsby said. “On the court, he’s just more aggressive. It’s been a long journey with Koch and I’m proud of him.”
“It’s a different environment, different feeling,” Bar said of the dunk.“I was wide open so I wanted to go for it because Robbins is a good shot blocker and I needed to keep that in mind.”
To Bar, he knew he needed to step up and show his assertiveness on the grand stage. He ran the floor hard and drew two personal fouls.
Head coach Brian Wardle said Bar hasn’t missed a game or practice throughout his four years with the Braves. Bar has struggled on the floor at times during his career, but he stepped up and was aggressive Saturday afternoon, according to Wardle.
“[Bar is] one the most durable, consistent guys I’ve ever been around,” Wardle said. “The defense, too, on Robbins in the second half was tremendous. That’s where you can catch a team in the third game in three days.”
The Braves will now try to beat the winner of Valparaiso and Missouri State at 1 p.m. tomorrow. Missouri State is a physical team that asserts themselves in the paint while Valpo shot 55 percent from the field earlier this season against Bradley.
