As Alex Huibregtse walked to the free-throw line, he could not help but think of the events of the game prior.
Thursday night, Bradley led Indiana State by three with 1.6 seconds left and just needed senior forward AJ Smith to convert one free throw to ice the game.
Smith missed, and then Sycamores guard Jo Van Buggenhout launched a 70-foot shot to beat the buzzer and take the game to overtime.
Bradley prevailed in that game, but it took three overtimes to do it. With the game on the line and Christmas break on the horizon, Huibregtse didn’t have any plans of playing another second.
“Yeah, we definitely didn’t want to go into three more overtimes again,” Huibregtse said. “That was all on my mind when I stepped up to the line, just like nobody talk to me. Just let me make these free throws. Let’s get out of here.”
The sixth-year senior took a deep breath before the ref passed him the ball, calming himself before the crucial shots.
He took a quick second to practice his form, then smoothly knocked down the first free-throw to give the Braves a three-point lead.
On the next free throw, he repeated the process. A deep breath, a quick second to practice his form, and then he calmly knocked down the free throw to give Bradley a 73-69 win over Southern Illinois.
The victory marked the Braves’ sixth straight win and a 2-0 start to Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) play.
But for Huibregtse, the win meant a bit more.
The Salukis are led by head coach Scott Nagy, the former Wright State head coach, who mentored Huibregtse for four years before he transferred to Bradley.
“He was one of the few coaches who believed in me coming out of high school,” Huibregtse said. “They kind of took a chance on me. I didn’t have many offers. I have an amazing relationship with him. I love that guy. I love playing for him. I was pretty heartbroken when he left us at Wright State. But you know, it’s a business decision for him, and I think it was best for him, but, yeah, I love coach a lot, and it means a lot.”
Despite their relationship, Nagy didn’t take it easy on Huibregtse or his teammates. Southern Illinois gave the Braves all they could handle.
Scrappy Salukis
Much of the game was a seesaw affair. Every time the Braves tried to build a cushion, Southern Illinois responded with a run to keep itself within arm’s reach.
Bradley led by nine with 2:50 to play; the game was seemingly in the bag.
However, the Salukis wouldn’t be put down.
In the last three minutes, Southern used a full-court press and increased ball pressure to force Bradley into 0-2 shooting and two turnovers on four of its final five possessions before the Huibregtse free throws.
Meanwhile, they knocked down back-to-back three’s, after missing 16 straight in the second half, to cut their deficit to two with 0:17 left.
After the bucket, they came out in the press again, trapping sophomore guard Jaquan Johnson near midcourt and forcing another turnover in the backcourt.
Saluki’s sophomore Quel’Ron House secured the ball with 0:08 to play, drove to the rim and dumped the ball to fellow sophomore Rolyns Aligbe, who was wide open for the game-tying two.
But Aligbe fumbled the pass, turning over and erasing Southern Illinois’s chance to win the game.
Bradley escaped the chaotic sequence, but its execution down the stretch and throughout the game was sloppy, and the process of the win was below its standards.
“That was on me,” Johnson said about his late turnover. “I can’t pick up my dribble, knowing that they’re not going to foul me, because we were only up two. That’s just knowing the time and score better. We knew that was an aggressive team that was going to fight to the end, and they did for sure.”
The Braves routinely conceded drives that led to easy baskets and had lapses in their pick-and-roll defense. Offensively, they struggled to execute under the Salukis’ pressure and had a season-high 15 turnovers.
“I don’t think it was necessarily a step forward for us today,” Huibregtse remarked about the win. “We made a lot of errors that weren’t in the game plan. It’s great that we pulled out the win, but we’re definitely going to have a lot to learn on film.”
Head coach Brian Wardle shared a similar sentiment.
“It’s tough coming off a triple overtime, traveling, then playing at one o’clock on Sunday,” head Wardle said. “So I’m proud of them. We looked tired, mentally. Our execution out of timeouts was very poor. We’re streaking today up and down. Not very good, not very connected.”
“So it was a good win, but the standards are high,” Wardle continued. “I’m going to keep it there and keep telling the truth, and we’ve got to keep finding ways to focus, be in the moment, listen and execute, because our execution was the key to the game.”
Despite the inconsistency in its execution, Bradley was able to come away with the victory thanks to their ability to attack the rim, draw fouls, move the ball and knock down threes. The Braves had 15 assists on 24 field goals, made 18 of their 20 free throws and shot 43.8 percent from three.
Johnson led the way with 20 points, five rebounds, five steals and four assists. He now leads the conference in points per game (18.5) and steals per game (3.6) and is 8th in assists per game.
When asked if he feels like he’s the best player on the floor in every game he plays, he kept it short and sweet.
“I mean, yeah, that’s just the confidence that I got growing up,” Johnson said. “I know that I put in the work, and it’s going to show.”
Johnson’s next opportunity to show it will be Dec. 29, when Bradley goes on the road to play Evansville in its last game of the calendar year.
But first, a break for Christmas, where the Braves will get to step away from the court and spend time with their families.
“I told them I want them to have a great Christmas, be with their loved ones,” Wardle said. “But when they get back, let’s really work on listening and executing and talking to each other to execute better, because I think that can go way, way up.”
