Bradley (13-3, 4-1 MVC) and Drake (13-2, 3-2 MVC) have one of the biggest rivalries in college basketball. The Braves and the Bulldogs have played each other 167 times, dating back to 1942, making the longest rivalry in conference history.
Bradley leads the series 93-74, but Drake has dominated the matchup recently, winning the last four games, including two in the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) Championships.
The rivalry was renewed Wednesday night in arguably the season’s biggest game for both squads. The Bulldogs were fresh off back-to-back losses in conference play and the Braves held the top spot in the MVC with a chance to build a three-game lead.
The loss to Murray State was just the third time in the last ten seasons that Drake head coach Ben McCollum had lost two games in a row.
The Bulldogs were wounded and desperate, and they played that way.
In a must-win game, the reigning MVC champs were more physical than Bradley, outhustled the Braves and received more production from its bench en route to a 64-57 win.
“I always want a full dog,” head coach Brian Wardle said. “Like a full, happy dog, not a wounded dog. We tried to warn them. We tried to get physical with them in practice. They were coming in, and it was a must-win for them. They’re going to come in desperate, and they played that way. They played better than us, especially in that second half.”
Braves start strong
Through the first ten minutes of the game, it appeared that Bradley might run away with the game. The Braves defended Drake’s best player, junior guard Bennett Stirtz, very well. The Bulldogs love to utilize Stirtz in ball screen actions to allow the guard to get downhill. Wardle placed arguably Bradley’s best perimeter defenders, senior forward Christian Davis and sophomore guard Demarion Burch, on Stirtz.
“I thought it was a team effort on Stirtz,” Wardle said. “They run so many ball screens, throw-and-go, and handoffs for him. You have to stay really alert.”
The star guard could not get a clean look at the rim, which caused the Bulldogs’ offense to suffer. To begin the game, the Braves held Drake to one-for-seven shooting, which allowed their offense to get rolling.
Senior forward Darius Hannah led the attack as he knocked down threes and converted on post-ups. Bradley moved the ball well and took quality shots to build a 17-8 lead with 11:58 to play in the first half.
The tide began to turn after a Drake timeout and a few substitutions. The Bulldogs started to play more physically on both ends of the floor. Offensively, they crashed the glass, dominated the paint and got to the foul line.
Bradley began turning the ball over and giving up offensive rebounds, which has been a problem this season.
The Bulldog’s aggression led to a 14-5 run that tied the game 22-22 with 4:29 remaining in the first half. The familiar foe jockeyed for position as the frame closed, but neither could gain any separation and the score was tied 31-31 at the break.
Offensive slump
The beginning of the second half was similar to the ending of the first. It was a defensive game. The Braves could not get much going offensively, so they relied on senior Zek Montgomery to shoulder the load.
The senior guard scored well in isolation from the wing and the post. Montgomery beat defenders off the dribble, backed down smaller guards and got to the free-throw line. Bradley scored nine points in the first nine minutes, and Montgomery contributed seven of them.
“Sometimes when teams get physical guys go one-on-one, and that’s what you don’t want,” Wardle said. “That’s not our strength. Zek’s our best one-on-one player, so he did well in this game. That doesn’t surprise me.”
After Montgomery’s flurry of buckets, Drake dominated the game. The Bulldogs went on an 11-0 run in two minutes to take a 49-40 lead that Bradley could not recover from. During the run, the Braves turned the ball over and failed to defend the offensive glass and the paint.
Montgomery was the only Brave to find offensive rhythm in the second half. After scoring 12 points in the first half, Hannah was held to two in the second half.
“I should have stayed aggressive,” Hannah said. “They sent a double a couple of times but that doesn’t stop me from being aggressive.”
Senior guard Duke Deen struggled to score in the first half but finished with five assists. In the second, Deen shot 0-5 from the floor and had zero assists and three turnovers. Drake made a point of blitzing Deen on ball screens and, on some occasions, trapping him to get the ball out of his hands.
“I have to get off the ball quicker and make the right reads,” Deen said. “Once they do blitz, I just have to get off the ball honestly and just try to make a play. If two people are on me then someone is open. I just have to make the right read.”
“We run a ton of sets for him [Deen],” Wardle said. “We try to run him off of flares, pins and dribble handoffs. We tried to get him going somehow. A great player like Deen can get himself going, too. We always try to run stuff to get our best players going. We do our best to lead them that way.”
Major takeaways
Bradley lost the game but still holds the MVC lead by one game. However, the reasons for their loss to Drake have been a trend this season. The Braves finished with 17 turnovers and rank 237th in the nation in turnovers. They also allow 9.2 offensive rebounds per game, which ranks 233rd in the country.
Drake’s bench outscored the Braves 44-12, and the Bulldogs scored 34 points inside the paint.
“Their bench came in and punked us in the paint,” Wardle said. “That’s the story of the game. We got punked in the paint today. ”
“Congrats to Drake, they were the tougher and better team today,” Wardle continued. “They got physical with us after the first ten minutes of the game, and we did not respond well. That’s been kind of what teams do to us. It was not our best performance. It was not Bradley basketball.”
Bradley can get back on track on Saturday as they travel to Chicago to play UIC.
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