With 7:42 to play in the first half, and Valparaiso leading Bradley 23-21, sophomore point guard Jaquan Johnson fouled a Valparaiso player while trying to recover a loose ball he had turned over.
The foul was Johnson’s second, which meant his half was more than likely over, and the Braves would have to finish the period without the Missouri Valley Conference’s (MVC) third-leading scorer.
If Bradley were to outshine the Beacons, they’d need someone else to step up, and the player who did has been a bright spot all season: Montana Wheeler.
Montana played poised and looked ready for the moment. He carefully dissected Valparaiso’s defense using ball screens to attack drop coverage and either got himself an open look or dumped the ball off to his bigs for finishes.
Over the final 7:42 without Johnson, Wheeler led a 19-10 run, in which he scored or assisted on 11 points, capped off by a pull-up jumper to beat the halftime buzzer and give Bradley a 40-33 lead at the break.
“Quan [Jaquan Johnson] had those early fouls and, you know, all year, if anyone had a down game or is in foul trouble, I try to be that spark and lift everybody up,” Wheeler said about his run to end the half.
“That’s just who I am. I just try to bring energy to the floor and change the pace of the game with my speed, effort and defense. Tonight, I think I did a good job.”
In the second half, the Beacons tried to battle back into the game several times, but Wheeler and the Braves always had a response. He drove to the paint against Valparaiso’s bigs and finished amongst the trees, got to his spots in the mid range and competed defensively.
The climax of his 18-point, three-assist performance came with 3:26 to play when he flared to the corner as Johnson drove to the paint and drained a game-sealing three to give Bradley a 13-point lead.
“It feels good that I have coaches and teammates who support me and who are encouraging me and empower me to take those shots and be there in the key moments,” Wheeler said.
Wheeler’s 18-point, three-assist outing is the latest entry in what’s been a promising freshman season. He’s become a player that the Braves rely on and grown to the point where he’s held to a standard far beyond his level of experience.
“I don’t think he’s ever been a freshman the way he plays,” graduate senior Alex Huibregtse said. “He’s always composed. You know what you’re going to get out of him. He’s wise beyond his years. All year, we’ve expected him to play like he’s older, and he’s done that. So, yeah, no, he’s not a freshman anymore.”
After the guard’s dagger, Valparaiso attempted to battle back into the game, as senior Owen Dease drained back-to-back threes to cut Bradley’s lead to seven with under a minute left, but the Braves held on to win 72-65, their 10th straight victory at home vs. the Beacons.
Matching physicality with length
Though Wheeler was the star of the show, he was not without his sidekicks. His 18 points were followed by 12 points and five rebounds from senior center Ahmet Jonovic, 11 points from Huibregtse and eight points apiece from Johnson and senior forward Corey Thomas.
Head coach Brian Wardle decided to switch up the starting lineup and play big with Thomas and Jonovic together for the fourth time this season to deal with Valparaiso’s physicality on the inside.
“I’ll probably do it down the stretch, too,” Wardle said about playing bigger lineups. “But definitely with Valpo, they’re playing two bigs, post a lot and are a very physical team. Probably half the league is playing two bigs now, so it’s something we have to do.”
“We weren’t very good defensively with a small lineup, so I tweaked things for them,” Wardle continued. “We tried different things to improve defensively and get everyone connected and doing the right things. And it just, you know, hasn’t really worked. So getting length and size has always been something I love when I’ve been at Bradley.”
It was clear why Wardle loves the extra added length in Bradley’s win. In a very physical game, the Braves defended without fouling, holding Valparaiso, which ranks third in the Valley in free-throw rate, to 10 free-throw attempts. The Braves were aggressive in their ball-screen coverage, getting over and around screens to force tough shots and turnovers.
“We knew that our defense was going to win us the game,” Huibregtse said. “We knew we needed to be physical with ball pressure, you know, pushing their catches out, not letting them run the stuff that they wanted to run, and getting them out of their flow. They like to get downhill, going middle, so the game plan was to keep them out of the middle as much as possible. And we obviously had some lapses – they’re an explosive team with great athletes, but overall, we did a good job.”
Though Bradley left the arena victorious, Wardle wasn’t satisfied with how the Braves ended the game, needing to see more consistency from his team as a brutal end to the regular season looms and March approaches.
“I told the guys I’m proud that we found a way to win,” Wardle said. “But what I felt each half was different. I felt great energy in the first half. We were playing the right way, unselfish on both ends. The ball was popping on offense, and we were pushing it on misses. Then, in the second half, we played too much of my turn offense. We had a lot of play busts and a lot of bad shots in the second half. Luckily, we did get enough stops on the other end, but we’ve got to play better for two halves on Friday night.”
Friday night, Bradley will travel to Cedar Falls to battle Northern Iowa at 7 p.m. to try to maintain a spot inside the MVC’s top three.
