Amid a slugfest with Murray State (16-17, 9-11 MVC), Bradley (25-7, 15-5 MVC) led 61-51 with a little over two minutes to play. The team from the 309 was on defense and needed a stop to put the nail in the Racers’ coffin.
The Braves forced a tough miss, as seniors Zek Montgomery and Darius Hannah partnered to contest a three. Freshman Jaquan Johnson grabbed the rebound, looking to push the pace.
He found Hannah leaking out in transition, and the Braves fans inside the Enterprise Center cheered in anticipation of what was to come.
A signature Hannah slam.
The dunk shut the door on any hopes of a last second comeback from the Racers. Bradley won the game 70-62 and advanced to the semifinals where they will play Valparaiso.
Hannah finished with 17 points and nine rebounds, 12 of which came in the second half. The senior put Bradley’s offense on his back after the Braves struggled to create quality looks. Murray State led 28-27 at the break and was on the way to an upset of epic proportions.
Hannah wasn’t having that.
Darius Hannah dominated in the second half, scoring 12 points on 4-5 shooting and adding five rebounds.
— Latif Love (@LatifNBA) March 8, 2025
He finished the game with 17 points and nine rebounds.
I asked him about his mentality after the break.
“I just basically told them to give me ball, when I got them on… pic.twitter.com/fofVvf4tqD
I demanded the ball,” Hannah said. “I talked to them at halftime and told them to give me the ball. When I got them on my back, it’s a bucket. They did that. I’m proud of them.”
Braves vs. Racers III
The matchup in St. Louis was the third time the teams have played each other this season, and each time has been a battle.
The trilogy was a fitting end to the war.
“We knew we were in for a dog fight tonight,” head coach Brian Wardle said. “Murray State played us very well about a week and a half ago. They played us well twice this year. It’s hard to beat a team like them three times. They’re a competitive group. They’re a tough group, and I give them a lot of credit. Steve [Prohm] had them ready to play.”
Murray State gave Bradley all they could handle. The Racers were physical on both ends of the floor and made it a point to get to the basket. They got to the free-throw line 25 times and knocked down 18. Free throws accounted for 29% of the team’s points and were the biggest reason why they were in the game: they shot 33% from the floor and 24% from three.
I asked seniors Duke Deen, Zek Montgomery, Darius Hannah and head coach Brian Wardle about some of the controversial calls from their win against Murray State yesterday
— Latif Love (@LatifNBA) March 8, 2025
They took accountability for their parts in all of the whistles last night. pic.twitter.com/HjY6JTXv9y
“We’ve got to stop fouling,” senior guard Duke Deen said. “We have to show our hands and move our feet. We got to continue to get better at it. You can’t control the refs. They can’t see everything. You can argue a little bit here and there, but you gotta move on.”
Bradley’s players, coaches and fans did not agree with many of the controversial foul calls made in the game, but the Braves remained level-headed.
“I try to tell my players that I’ll talk to the refs,” Wardle said. “We have to make adjustments defensively. They’re a hard team to keep in front. They were putting their head down and attacking the rim the whole second half. We fouled, but we ended up attacking and drawing fouls on them. It all works itself out.”
Third time is not a charm
The Braves responded to Murray State’s aggressiveness with their own. After shooting two-for-nine from three in the first half, Bradley only attempted four threes in the second and it worked wonders for their offense. The Braves shot 13-for-21 (61.9%) inside the arc and got to the free throw line 21 times.
“We knew what we had to fix going into the half,” Deen said. “We already knew what it was. They weren’t going to back down like that. We’ve played these guys for too many years to not know that. I think we got the jitters out in the first half and we just made plays in the second half.”
Down the stretch of the game, Bradley’s veterans made big plays to secure the win. With 7:54 to play, junior Ahmet Jonovic slammed in a put-back dunk, and 40 seconds later he finished a dunk on a pass out of the pick and roll from Deen.
At 4:25 left, Deen drove to the basket and converted on a contested layup, then Bradley forced a turnover on the ensuing possession which Johnson stole.
While not a veteran, Johnson played a major role in the win, scoring 11 points and adding four rebounds and three assists.
“I think we kind of wore them down a little bit in the second half, and then made enough big plays,” Wardle said. “We got Darius [Hannah] going inside. Duke [Deen] came through and made big plays. So did Zeko [Montgomery] and Quanny [Johnson] got to the foul line. It was just one of those games. It was very physical, very handsy. We can be a lot better tomorrow, but we’ll take wins. We’ll take ugly wins over pretty losses any day of the week.”
Historical win
The win was not only ugly, but historical.
Wardle’s victory was his 12th Missouri Valley Conference tournament win in his career on the Hilltop, making him Bradley’s all-time leader in MVC tournament wins. He passed former head coach Jim Molinari, who won 11 tournament games between 1991 to 2002.
Wardle reached his 100th win in MVC regular season play in the Braves’ win against Northern Iowa on Sunday, and he now trails Molinari at 110 wins.
Despite making his presence felt in Bradley’s history, Wardle noticed something that can not be recorded in a book.
“The numbers are nice, but do you know what’s the coolest part?” Wardle said. “I was talking to Dr. Reynolds before the game and I was like, ‘Look at those Bradley fans out there.’ Chris and I were talking about our first couple of years, we didn’t have a huge group that would come down from Peoria to the tournament. Now, each year it gets bigger and bigger and bigger. Our Bradley fans were out in full force tonight and these guys felt it.”
“During the national anthem, one of my staff members said he almost teared up when the whole crowd yelled ‘Brave’ at the end,” Wardle added. “That’s the stuff I’ll remember. Numbers are great. Records are going to be broken. Someone’s going to come along and be much better than me one day, but I’ll never forget that feeling of our fans in that arena in the quarterfinals and the way they ignited us and cheered for these guys.”
Bradley will need the support of its fans once more in the semifinals at 5 p.m., when it faces a red-hot Valparaiso team fresh off a historic upset against Northern Iowa.
