Every time the Bradley men’s basketball team (13-2, 4-0 MVC) needs senior Christian Davis to step up and have a big game, he delivers.
Whether knocking down a momentum-changing three, diving for a loose ball or guarding the opposing team’s best perimeter player, the forward’s presence has been felt this season.
Heading into the game Saturday night against Missouri State (7-8, 0-4 MVC), the Braves were fresh off of back-to-back games that went to overtime to start a grueling conference season.
The game was Bradley’s third in seven days, and it was evident in their offensive performance in the first half. The Braves struggled, shooting 37 percent from the field and 31 percent from three.
Bradley’s star backcourt, seniors Duke Deen and Zek Montgomery, struggled to score the ball, combining for five points in the first 20 minutes as the Braves held a 30-28 lead at the break.
Running on fumes and looking to stay undefeated in conference play and at Carver Arena, Bradley needed a spark and Davis delivered.
The Myrtle Beach Invitational MVP scored 14 of his 19 points in the second half. Davis had a near-picture-perfect night. He shot six-for-six from the charity stripe, five-for-five from the field and two-for-two from three while adding three assists and a block.
Davis had a bounce-back game after fouling out in 12 minutes against Indiana State.
“My mentality coming into this game today was to not foul,” Davis said. “Coming off a 12-minute stint against Indiana State in which I fouled out, I just really wanted to be there for my teammates. On offense, spots opened up, and I was able to make shots today. So, nothing different. The prep is always the same.”
“Huge game by Christian, but he’s done that all year for us when we need him,” Wardle added. “That’s what a good team does. Duke’s tired, Zek’s running on fumes. Christian stepped up big today, Darius stepped up big and Corey stepped up big.”
Senior Darius Hannah and junior Corey Thomas joined the forward in the frontcourt. Hannah used an excellent second half to finish the game with 18 points, nine rebounds and four blocks on 80 percent shooting. Thomas led the way in the first half with 10 points, four rebounds and a block. He finished the game with 11 points, eight rebounds and two blocks.
The frontcourt scored nearly 70 percent of the points in the Brave’s 69-60 win in an ugly, physical and defensively slanted game.
“We came in with a gameplan knowing it would be a physical game,” Hannah said. “Missouri State is a great team, a real physical team. We couldn’t find our offense early but got it going in the second half. We defended. That’s what we do.”
” He stepped up, ” Hannah said, referring to Thomas. “He showed up, and that’s what we expected. That’s what he does. He does it every day, and he just has to stay consistent.”
Head coach Brian Wardle was impressed with his team’s ability to step up when the go-to scorers were struggling. Montgomery and Deen have carried a significant load over the last three games. The backcourt has combined for 102 points in 221 minutes over a week.
“Coach talks a lot about finding ways to win, finding a lot of different ways to win,” Davis said. “Being able to win in different kinds of games like low-scoring rock flights to high-scoring shootouts, we have to be able to do it all.”
Bradley is atop the Missouri Valley Conference standings with the win, and a clash with long-time foe Drake is on the horizon.
“We needed to win a game like this,” Wardle said. “We want to show we can win in a lot of ways. We can win in the 50s if we have to. We can win in the 60s. We’ve won in the 90s. We’ve won in the 80s and 70s. If you want to be a really good team, you’ve got to win in different ways.”
The Braves will be back in action on Wednesday, land they are ooking to make a statement win at Carver Arena.
“They’ll have Sunday off,” Wardle said. “I told them to get away from basketball the whole day. Watch football, relax and recover. Monday, we will get back dialed in, watching film and preparing for Drake.”
Be First to Comment