PEORIA, Ill. -- Bradley came into Tuesday night's Missouri Valley Conference game against Northern Iowa as the hottest-shooting 3-point team in the country, but the visiting Panthers (17-12, 8-9) sizzled from the floor and eventually pulled away for a 79-70 victory in front of 9,049 fans at Carver Arena.
After going scoreless on 0-for-5 shooting in the first half, UNI senior guard Brooks McKowen scored 15 points in the second half to share team-high scoring honors, while also adding eight assists against no turnovers and seven rebounds. Reserve guard Travis Brown matched McKowen with 15 points, while the post duo of Eric Coleman (14 points, 10 rebounds) and Grant Stout (10 points, 10 rebounds) both recorded double-doubles. Junior guard Jared Josten chipped in with 11 points.
Bradley junior point guard Daniel Ruffin scored a game-high 20 points and added nine assists, while senior center Zach Andrews put up his eighth double-double of the season with 14 points and 12 rebounds. Bradley's top two scorers on the season, Will Franklin (15.2 ppg) and Jeremy Crouch (14.4 ppg), combined for only 17 points on 5-for-19 (.263) shooting.
While Bradley was riding a three-game winning streak into a season-ending two-game home stand, UNI had lost eight of its last nine, including five in row. The Braves also entered the game leading the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (.430) and had made 38-of-74 (.514) of their 3-point attempts in the previous three games. Conversely, UNI had failed to shoot better than 43.1 percent from the floor during any of their five straight losses.
The Braves matched UNI shot-for-shot in the first half, building a 43-36 lead by hitting 16-of-31 (.516) field goal attempts, including 8-of-15 (.533) from behind the arc. Bradley went cold in the second half, however, making only 9-of-28 (.321) overall and 4-of-14 (.286) from 3-point range. After shooting 53.6 percent (15-28) in the first half, the Panthers turned up the heat in the second half by making their first seven field goal attempts. UNI cooled only slightly after the hot second-half start, finishing the period 14-for-18 (.778) from the floor. The Panthers also made all four of their second-half 3-point tries to complete an 8-for-10 effort for the game and sank 11-of-12 (.917) free throw attempts in the second half.
Bradley three times extended its lead to nine points in the second half, the last time when Ruffin converted an old-fashioned 3-point play for a 55-46 advantage with 14:37 remaining. UNI fought back with an 8-0 burst, two Stout interior baskets and a Brown 3-pointer, to pull within 55-54 with 12:23, but the Braves appeared to regain control on back-to-back 3-pointers from Crouch and Danny Adams.
The Braves went ice cold, however, and scored only one basket during a span of 8-minutes, 10-seconds and the Panthers took advantage with a 17-2 run to turn the game. Stout gave UNI the lead for good, 65-63, with a basket from just outside the lane with 6:52 left and Josten capped the surge with two free throws for a 71-63 lead with 2:33 remaining. Bradley closed to within 73-69 after Andrews rebounded a missed Crouch free throw and made two charity shots of his own with 1:48 left, but the Panthers prevented a Braves rally by making all six of their free throw attempts in the final 48 seconds.
Bradley will try to regain some momentum heading into the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament when the Braves host Indiana State in Saturday's 7:05 p.m. regular-season finale at Carver Arena. Saturday's game will be the final regular-season home game for four Braves seniors -- Danny Adams, Andrews, Franklin and J.J. Tauai. In addition to the traditional Senior Night pregame and postgame ceremonies, the first 5,000 fans wearing red will receive a mini-megaphone, courtesy of Verizon Wireless. Single-game tickets for Bradley home games at Carver Arena range are $8, $12 and $18 and may be purchased in advance from the Robertson Fieldhouse box office (309-677-2625), the Carver Arena box office or any TicketMaster outlet.
