PEORIA, Ill. -- Indiana State guard Jake Odum scored a game-high 27 points, highlighted by two late 3-pointers and a 13-for-13 effort at the free throw line, helping the visiting Sycamores to a rare road win against Bradley, 68-62, Wednesday night at Carver Arena.
Indiana State entered the game just 32-7 all-time in Peoria and with losses in 14 of its last 15 visits to Carver Arena, but the Sycamores used a 7-0 run midway through the second half for the game's fifth lead change and never looked back.
Odum started the surge with two free throws for a 42-42 tie with 9:45 remaining, then fed Manny Arop for a go-ahead 3-pointer and completed the mini-run with a layup for a 47-42 Sycamores lead with 8:32 left.
Indiana State eventually stretched its lead to 59-50 on a pair of Arop free throws with 1:47 remaining, but the Braves made one last push at a late rally. Bradley closed to 63-58 on two Walt Lemon, Jr. free throws with 38 seconds left and the Braves forced Indiana State's 18th turnover of the game on the ensuing inbounds play. Bradley's attempt to make it a one-possession game was short-circuited, however, when Odum drew a charge on Ka'Darryl Bell with 35 seconds remaining, all but sealing the game.
Lemon led the Braves with 22 points and added five steals to become the 56th player in Missouri Valley Conference history to score 1,600 career points (1,608) and the fifth Bradley player to record 200 steals (201), but he also committed seven of Bradley's 12 turnovers. Bradley forward Tyshon Pickett had a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds and dished out a career-best five assists, while reserve center Jordan Prosser finished with 10 points for his first double-digit scoring game of the season.
Khristian Smith had 14 points and a team-best nine rebounds off the Indiana State bench and Arop completed the double-digit scoring with 12 points.
While the Braves went into a shooting slump when the second foul on Auston Barnes, a charge that wiped out a hoop that would have given Bradley a 15-8 lead, with 12:48 left in the first half. Bradley's next eight possessions after the charge resulted in two more turnovers and 0-for-6 shooting and the Braves were just 3-for-18 shooting in the final 13:31 of the first half.
Compounding the issue, the Braves also were 1-for-5 at the free throw line in the first half, including a miss on the front end of a 1-and-1 opportunity. Despite limiting Indiana State to 9-for-24 (.375) field goal shooting in the first half, Bradley faced a 27-20 deficit at the break.
Bradley finished the game 9-for-17 (.529) at the free throw line, compared to a 25-for-32 (.781) effort by Indiana State.
With its modest 4-game home winning streak snapped, Bradley will return to the road for its next two games, beginning with a Saturday evening visit to Interstate 74 rival Illinois State. The Braves took round one in the annual series, 64-55, Jan. 29 at Carver Arena and the teams will enter Saturday's game part of a 4-way tie for fourth in the league standings. Saturday's 6 p.m. game at Redbird Arena will be televised by the MVC-TV Network.
