When Jaquan Johnson took his seat in the post-game presser, sweat beaming off his forehead, he didn’t look like a player who’d just dropped 23 points and four assists to knock off Bradley’s biggest rival.
There was no smile, no laughter — just a look of determination on his face as he soaked in the vengeance he’d earned his team after an embarrassing loss to Illinois State just over a month ago.
“We lost by 26 in the first game,” Johnson said. “That’s all we’ve been talking about all week. Coach had us fired up in the weight room. Before we say any sentence, we had to say 26, as a reminder of how badly they beat us the first time.”
The extra motivation in the weight room paid dividends, as the Braves flexed their muscles and exerted their dominance over a wounded Redbirds team without their best player, and starting center, Chase Walker.
Bradley took advantage of Walker’s absence while he nurses a hamstring injury by bludgeoning Illinois State in the paint, scoring 48 points inside the arc, tied for the most in any game this season.
“We wanted to get post touches, pound the ball inside,” head coach Brian Wardle told the Scout after Bradley’s 74-60 win. “Whether off the dribble, in the post, or on offensive rebounds. We just wanted to attack that paint. We did a good job; we took some bad ones, but overall, we kept putting pressure on them in the paint.
“That was the strategy if Walker played or not.”
The Braves’ Serbian giant, center Ahmet Jonovic, who has had countless battles with Walker over the years, was the biggest beneficiary of his absence. Bradley got Jonovic the ball early and often, and he often found himself guarded by players much smaller than him. When his teammates couldn’t get the ball to him, he dominated the offensive glass, leading to fouls and second-chance points.
“Because they are smaller than me, I tried to back them down and get closer to the basket,” Jonovic said. “I had to stay on balance because a couple of times they tried to pull the chair and make me travel, but I stayed on balance and executed the plays that coach said to.”
In the first half, Bradley’s offense saw some of its best execution of the season, given the stakes. After jockeying for position through the first ten minutes of the contest, the Braves turned on their physicality on both sides of the ball and went on a 14-2 run to build a 15-point lead that blossomed to 18 by the halftime break.
“Our physicality was big,” Wardle said. “There’s our team, there’s a second team and the third team is the refs. You’ve got to adjust to both Illinois State and how the game is being called that night, because it’s different every night. And tonight they let it be physical, and that’s great. The refs weren’t really a factor; The players decided the game.”
After the break, Bradley continued to maintain its energy and physicality, dominating in the paint. They held the Rebrids to 1-7 shooting and five turnovers in the opening ten minutes of the second half to take a 58-40 lead.
However, it wouldn’t be a rivalry game without some suspense, and the Redbirds weren’t going to go down without a fight. The 18-point lead somewhat took the crowd out of the game as the Braves had been in control for so long, leading to diminished energy throughout the arena.
Illinois State capitalized on this, going on a 17-2 run behind threes from guards Jack Daugherty and Mason Klabo. Bradley’s offense stagnated, settled for tough shots and lost the energy and intensity that helped them build its lead.
“I’m gonna take some of the blame for that,” Wardle remarked about Illinois State’s run to get back in the game. “I think we played too slowly. I slowed us down too much. We probably could have gotten out in transition and maybe open it up again. We took some bad shots during that stretch, too, which let them get back in the game. Then we just overhelped or made mental mistakes defensively, and they countered us.”
Before they knew it, the Braves’ lead was cut to three, and Wardle was forced to call a second timeout to stop the bleeding.
Bradley was in danger of suffering an embarrassing loss and being swept by Illinois State for the first time since 2021. The momentum was in Illinois State’s favor, and the Redbird faithful who made the trip down I-74 made their presence felt.
But somehow, amidst the storm of rival fans cheering on their opponents, and the suffocating pressure that comes with allowing a big run, one of the Missouri Valley Conference’s youngest teams was able to find peace amongst the chaos.
“One was an energetic timeout, with lots of enthusiasm and intensity, and the other one was more calming,” Wardle said about his two timeouts down the stretch of the game. “When they cut it to like three, you’ve got to be calm, and you’ve got to talk about execution. Now, here’s what we got to do: make we’re doing this, Miss, we’re doing this.”
“That’s where you just have to get your head right.”
The Braves and Johnson, in particular, didn’t have his “head right” right away. On the Braves’ ensuing possession after the timeout, he forced a three-pointer that missed badly, which was fortunately rebounded and put in by Jonovic.
After getting a stop, he ran in transition and shot a wild layup attempt that fell off the rim and into the arms of Illinois State. Then he shot another three that fell off the rim, but Jonovic grabbed an offensive rebound again.
Following the second shot, Wardle signaled to backup point guard Montana Wheeler to take Johnson’s place, but before he could put him in, Jononvic found Johnson after his rebound. He drove to the rim and dumped off a pass to forward AJ Smith to give Bradley a seven-point lead and force the Redbirds’ timeout.
As he walked towards the Braves’ bench, Wardle embraced his star player, and Johnson apologized for his mistakes down the stretch.
“I’ve known Quanny [Johnson] for about four years,” Wardle said. “We started recruiting when he was in junior high school. He’s a great person. A very smart player needs to be pushed in certain areas at times, but he always responds. And he’s a high-character kid, because high-character kids respond every time you challenge them.”
“I told him to get your mind right and get right back in.”
Johnson immediately stepped up to the occasion, leading the Braves on a 10-3 run, in which he scored seven points.
With 1:42 to play, he ripped the ball from an Illinois State guard, ran down the floor uncontested, and finished a layup to give Bradley a 12-point lead and force another Redbirds timeout.
After the bucket, he let out a cry of emotion, and the Braves faithful in the arena showered him with cheers.
“I feel like we got the best crowd in the valley,” Johnson said. “So just knowing that we had 10,000 just juices this up even more. I love the crowd. I feel like they were definitely a key in this game.”
The win meant more than a typical win over your biggest rival. It was a testament to how far Bradley has come this season, a show of pride and an act of redemption after a blowout loss earlier this year.
“I feel like we’ve just grown throughout the season,” Johnson said. “We’ve been through everything: close games, blowouts, things like that. We been through it all. Guys are bonding together, and we trust each other.”
“We just know to stand together.”
