PEORIA, Ill. – Bradley scored the game's first 11 points and built its lead to as many as 25 points early in the second half, then had to hold off a late Chicago State (2-2) rally before securing a 77-64 win in the third round of the Global Sports Invitational Friday night at Carver Arena.
The Braves improved to 4-0 for the second time in four years, but just the third time since 1985-86. Bradley will try for its first 5-0 start since 2006-07 when the Braves visit Illinois Sunday (5 p.m.) in their final game of the season-opening multi-team exempt event.
Sophomore guard Omari Grier scored a game-high 19 points, while junior forward Auston Barnes posted his second double-double in as many games with career-highs of 15 points and 11 rebounds. Freshman center Xzavier Taylor added 11 points off the bench for the Braves. Matt Ross (18 points, 11 rebounds) and Nate Duhon (17, 10) both posted double-doubles for Chicago State, while Quinton Pippen completed the double-digit scoring with 15 points for the Cougars.
Bradley made 18-of-30 (.600) field goal attempts in the first half, while limiting Chicago State to 9-for-31 (.290) shooting en route to a 46-26 lead at the break. The Braves opened the second half with a 7-2 mini-burst for a game-high 25-point cushion, 53-28, but foul trouble and a rash of turnovers allowed the Cougars to climb back into the game.
The Braves still held a 62-43 lead when season scoring leader Walt Lemon, Jr. fouled out with 9:17 remaining. Bradley, which scored its 62nd point on a Ka'Darryl Bell 3-pointer with 11:03 remaining, did not get another field goal a Barnes jumper with 3:47 left gave Bradley a 67-55 lead.
Chicago State did not quit, though, and eventually cut its deficit to seven points on three occasions in the final 1:22, but the Braves went 8-for-8 at the free throw line in the final 1:21 to secure the win.
Though the Braves committed 22 turnovers, Bradley finished the game with a 44-34 rebounding advantage and limited Chicago State to 39.1 percent (25-64) shooting from the field, including a 4-for-23 (.174) effort from 3-point range.
Sunday's game at Illinois is not being televised live. It will be available for viewing on the Big Ten Digital Network, a web-streamed production requiring a subscription fee through the Illinois website (www.fightingillini.com).
