After a 64-59 win against Southern Illinois, the Bradley men’s basketball team will take on Drake today at 2:30 p.m. in the semifinal of the Missouri Valley Conference tournament. The Bulldogs shocked North Iowa in historical fashion, becoming the first team to play on Thursday to advance to the semifinals since Bradley in 1998.
The Bulldogs won by 21 in the first quarterfinal on Friday, but the Panthers nearly came back in the second half. It’s evident, and the Braves think so too, that anything can happen in March.
The Braves have less than 24 hours to prepare and said they planned to watch game film last night and get physically prepared.
According to sophomore forward Ja’Shon Henry, exploiting the Bulldogs’ weaknesses is key.
Head coach Brian Wardle said the Braves remained in the game versus Southern Illinois thanks to defense and rebounding. Bradley outrebounded the Salukis 43 to 29.
Wardle said that rebounding will be key against Drake. In their first meeting where the Braves won 80-72, they outrebounded the Bulldogs 39 to 29. In the second game, Drake led on the glass 31 to 28 in a 73-60 victory.
With Drake sophomore center Liam Robbins up next, the Braves have their hands full. Robbins has scored 50 points across the first two meetings.
“They have a good big [and] good guards, so we just have to do what we do,” senior Nate Kennell said. “We have to prepare the same [as we always do] and lock in on what they do best and try to shut them down. Our ‘A game’ is tough to beat.”
On Thursday, Drake senior Anthony Murphy helped beat Illinois State by scoring 17 points. In the win over UNI, redshirt-sophomore Roman Penn scored 26 on 10-17 shooting.
“There’s no way [my team will] come out and be tired [on Saturday],” Drake head coach Darian DeVries said. “They want that next game, and then they want to play one more. They’ll be ready to go. They’re resilient.”
