Bradley men’s basketball won their first game of the season over Southeast Missouri State 88-60 on Monday night at Carver Arena.
The Braves started the game on a 15-2 run and never looked back. Senior guard Christian Davis was a key player early on and finished with 15 points while shooting six-for-seven from the field. Davis also recorded six rebounds and three assists.
“[Davis] made shots, made big rebounds, just made effort plays too for us that changed the momentum,” head coach Brian Wardle said. “And he can be that defender. He’s long, he can cover space.”
Bradley’s defense was pesky in the first half, forcing the Redhawks to turn the ball over 10 times. The Braves capitalized on those turnovers, creating 19 points from disruptive plays without fouling.
The Braves led at halftime 46-29 but came out flat to start the second half, similar to their performance in the exhibition game against Milikin.
“I thought we were playing hope defense. Hope defense gets you beat,” Wardle said. “We got to start faster in the second half like we do in the first half. We’ve had two good starts in the first half, but not in the second half. So that’s something we’ll correct and try to get better with.”
Davis was joined by freshman guard Jaquan Johnson, who scored 15 points, and sophomore forward Almar Atlason, who put up 13 points and eight rebounds.
“[Jaquan’s] a physical downhill guy that can finish with either hand, has a knack to get to the foul line,” Wardle said. “I thought he had some really good moments for us today.”
Johnson is only a freshman but made drives to the basket like some of his veteran teammates. His first score was an and-one bucket midway through the first half that sent the crowd and his teammates into a frenzy.
“It was great,” Johnson said. “Obviously, this is a great environment to be in. Great team to play for. Great coaches that I love.”
Johnson and sophomore guard Demarion Burch had important roles coming off the bench and showed their playmaking abilities. The duo and senior guard Duke Deen could put together a solid rotation and give Wardle a variety of lineups for the Braves.
“Last year we rode Duke pretty hard for a lot of minutes, and [it] probably caught up with us a little bit at the end in the conference tournament,” Wardle said. “So I think Quan can hopefully keep getting better and we’ll put him out there to release some pressure off Duke.”
Bradley showed its depth and versatility in this game. Deen and senior guard Zek Montgomery scored a combined total 14 points on a four-for-13 shooting performance, but the rest of the team carried the scoring load. The team finished the night with a field goal percentage of 55.6 percent and made 10-of-22 three-point shots.
“The way that we can dump it inside and then also stretch the floor, that kind of versatility is something,” Davis said. “It’s one of our biggest strengths and we’re going to leverage it on here.”
After missing last week’s exhibition game against Milikin, senior forward Darius Hannah started and looked like the player Bradley fans have grown accustomed to. Hannah finished with nine points, three rebounds and five assists in 29 minutes of floor time.
The Braves move on in preparation for their next game at Washington State on Friday night. The Cougars were an NCAA Tournament team a year ago and will be a good road test for the Braves early in the season.
“It’s just a first step,” Atlason said. “We don’t have time to think about what can happen in five months or something. […] So take one game at a time and then that’s how we get to our goals eventually.”
