Final Score (W-L)         1   2   F
IL State(10-10, 4-3 MVC) 27  28  55
Bradley (3-17, 1-6 MVC)  23  29  52
Attendance: 7,300 | Officials: Tom O'Neill, Rick Hartzell, Randy Heimerman

Final Minute
Having trimmed a 14-point second half deficit to 52-48, Bradley took possession with 1-minute remaining. Donte Thomas missed a 3-point attempt, Bradley's third chance to get its deficit down to one possession in the second half, and Luuk van Bree was called for a foul on the rebound attempt. Illinois State's Nick Banyard split two free throws with 47.3 seconds left for a 53-48 Redbirds lead. Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye missed a deep 3-point try with 25 seconds left, but Illinois State threw away an outlet pass on the rebound. Ronnie Suggs made two free throws with 17.7 seconds left to get Bradley within 53-50. Tony Wills split two free throws with 14.7 seconds left for a 54-50 ISU lead. Lautier-Ogunleye made two free throws with 6.9 seconds left to get the Braves within 54-52. DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell kept Bradley's comeback effort alive by splitting two free throws with 4.6 seconds left, setting the final score, 55-52. Bradley had one last chance by inbounding near midcourt with 1.3 seconds left but Ronnie Suggs' halfcourt shot at the buzzer hit hard off the backboard.

Leaders
Ronnie Suggs shared game-high scoring honors by finishing one below his career-best with 16 points for Bradley, while Donte Thomas added 12 points and seven rebounds for the Braves. Parris Lee matched Suggs with 16 points for Illinois State and DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell chipped in 15 for the Redbirds. Deontae Hawkins matched his career-high with 15 rebounds, the first Bradley opponent to snare at least 15 boards since Tulane's Josh Davis grabbed 17 March 23, 2013 in the second round of the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament at Renaissance Coliseum.

Highs and Lows
Bradley committed a season-low 12 turnovers. By forcing 15 Illinois State turnovers, Bradley won the Points-Off-Turnovers stat, 10-9. Benefitting from Illinois State's 26 fouls, Bradley outscored the Redbirds by seven points at the free throw line, 18-11. The +7 advantage at the stripe was Bradley's second-best mark of the year, trailing only a 9-point margin in the season-opening win against Ball State. Wednesday's crowd of 7,300 was Bradley's best attendance number of the season.

Second Half Start
Illinois State built on its 27-23 halftime lead by scoring 14 of the first 18 points to start the second half for a 41-27 lead after a DeVaughn Akoon-Purcell basket with 12:24 left in the game. Bradley missed eight consecutive field goal attempts during a 2-for-13 field goal shooting start to the second half.

Missed Opportunities
Bradley had 3-point attempts in the air on consecutive possessions by Antoine Pittman to slice its deficit to one possession at 46-41 and 47-41, but both shots missed, allowing Illinois State to gain some breathing room by pushing its lead back to eight, 49-41, on a Paris Lee jumper with 5:11 left. Lee later buried a 3-pointer for a 52-44 Redbirds lead with 3:37 remaining.

Series Update
With its 12th win in the last 14 games in the series, Illinois State reduced Bradley's overall series lead to 63-58. The Redbirds have won four straight against Bradley and two in a row at Carver Arena.

I-74 Rivalry Debut
With 17 minutes played spanning the two games during the 2014-15 season, Bradley sophomore forward Donte Thomas was the only member of the Bradley Basketball program, player or coach, to previously experience the I-74 Rivalry against Illinois State. Thomas played 28 minutes Wednesday, leaving the other 172 minutes of individual time to the Bradley freshmen.

Thomas Back in Starting Five
After starting five freshmen in each of the previous three games, Bradley inserted sophomore forward Donte Thomas back into the starting lineup Wednesday. The change meant the Braves started four freshmen and one sophomore: Thomas (F), Luuk van Bree (F), Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye (G), Ronnie Suggs (G) and Antoine Pittman (G).

Cold Start
After a 2-for-3 start from the field helped Bradley to an early 6-2 lead, the Braves missed 11 of their next 12 field goal attempts. Further hindering the cold start, Bradley simultaneously missed six of its first nine free throw attempts, including the front end of two 1-and-1 opportunities, allowing Illinois State to build a 21-10 lead. Illinois State closed the half by making only one of its final seven field goal attempts, however, allowing the Braves to close within 27-23 at the break.

Youthful PT
With only one non-freshman available to play for the fifth consecutive game, Bradley once again played the entire 40 minutes Wednesday night with no fewer than four freshmen on the floor together. Sophomore forward Donte Thomas is the only non-freshman currently on Bradley's active roster – senior center Mike Shaw has not played at all this season due to chronic back pain and senior guard Ka'Darryl Bell has missed the last five games with a fractured right hand. In 810 minutes of game time, Bradley now has played 83.6 percent of the season (677:30) with at least four freshmen on the court together, including 28.3 percent (229:06) with five freshmen playing together.

First-Half Technical
Illinois State head coach Dan Muller was hit with a technical foul for consistent arguing of a foul call against the Redbirds with 3:41 left in the first half. Ronnie Suggs made both free throws resulting from the technical and Donte Thomas made both free throws that resulted from the original foul, pulling Bradley to within 23-19 on the four-point possession.

Free Throw Streak Snapped
Bradley freshman guard Ronnie Suggs made his first five free throw attempts Wednesday to push his streak to 20 consecutive makes. Suggs split a trip to the line with 4:00 remaining to pull Bradley within 49-44. Antoine Pittman did not attempt a free throw Wednesday and now owns the team's longest active streak of consecutive makes at 15 in a row.

Up Next
Bradley will play three of its next four games on the road, beginning with Saturday's 2 p.m. game at Wichita State. The game against the Shockers will complete the season-series (Wichita State won the first meeting, 85-58, Jan. 3 at Carver Arena). The Braves will return home to host UNI Jan. 27, marking the third time this season Bradley will have played consecutive games against teams that won at least 30 games last season.