PEORIA, Ill. -- With three of its four seniors scoring in double-figures, Bradley (20-11, 10-8) pulled away in the second half to earn a 74-58 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball victory against visiting Indiana State (12-17, 5-13) in front of 11,007 Senior Night fans Saturday night at Carver Arena.
Junior guard Jeremy Crouch paced a balanced Bradley offensive attack with 13 points and junior point guard Daniel Ruffin added 12 points and six assists. Senior guard J.J. Tauai added 12 ponits, senior guard Will Franklin 11 and senior center Zach Andrews 10 to complete Bradley's double-digit scoring. Sycamores center Jay Tunnell scored a game-high 14 points, but guard Gabe Moore was the only other Indiana State player to reach double-figures, finishing with 10 points and a game-high seven assists.
After taking a 34-30 lead into halftime, Bradley held only a 39-38 lead after Indiana State reserve center Mick Yelovich scored on an inbounds play with 16:35 left. Crouch, The Valley's top 3-point shooter, answered with a trey from the top of the key with 16:02 left to start an 11-0 Bradley run. Crouch followed his trey with a steal and breakaway layup, then Franklin and senior Danny Adams hit back-to-back 3-pointers to put Bradley up 50-38 with 13:46 left.
After Adam Arnold interupted the run by making 1-of-2 free throws and Tunnell hit a 3-pointer of his own to pull the Sycamores within 50-42 with 12:58 to go, Bradley resumed its surge with a 14-5 run, which was finished off by Crouch's third 3-pointer of the night for a 64-47 lead with 8:16 to go. Bradley eventually built the lead to a game-high 19 points, 74-55, on Franklin's third 3-pointer with 4:06 left before going scoreless the rest of the game.
Bradley turned up its defensive pressure in the second half, limiting Indiana State to 38.1 percent (8-21) from the field after the break while also forcing the Sycamores into 12 second-half turnovers. Bradley, which committed only six turnovers, owned a 21-4 advantage in points off turnovers for the game and outscored the Sycamores 14-0 in transition.
By winning four of its final five games, Bradley got to 20 wins in consecutive seasons for the first time since a three-year run from 1994 through 1996. The Braves also locked up sole possession of fourth place in the final Valley standings and will play fifth-seeded Northern Iowa (18-12, 9-9) in Friday's 2:35 p.m. quarterfinal game of the 2007 State Farm MVC Tournament at the Scottrade Center in St. Louis. The Panthers swept the regular-season series against Bradley, most recently handing the Braves a 79-70 home defeat Tuesday night at Carver Arena.
