Final Score (W-L)        1   2   F
Bradley(3-21, 1-10 MVC) 29  42  71
MO St. (10-13, 6-5 MVC) 37  40  77
Attendance: 3,723 | Officials: Gerry Pollard, Zelton Steed, Hal Lusk

The Lead
Bradley closed an early 18-point deficit to two points, 73-71, with 41 seconds remaining, but Missouri State held on for a 77-71 Missouri Valley Conference win Tuesday night at JQH Arena. Chris Kendrix came off the Missouri State bench to score a game-high 21 points, while Bradley freshman guard Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye also came off the bench to score a career-best 20 points.

Season-Highs
Bradley scored a season-best 71 points by shooting a season-best 46.0 percent (23-50) from the field. Missouri State shot 42.9 percent (21-49) from the floor, but outscored the Braves by 13 from the free throw line, 30-of-37 compared to 17-for-21 by Bradley.

Series Update
By winning its third straight game in the series, Missouri State improved to 36-19 all-time against Bradley. The Bears are 7-1 against Bradley at JQH Arena and have improved to 21-4 all-time at home against the Braves with their seventh consecutive home win in the series.

Slow Start
Bradley started slow by missing its first nine field goal attempts and committing 10 turnovers during Missouri State's 22-4 surge to start the game. The Braves did not score until 13:35 remaining in the first half when Antoine Pittman made two free throws and Bradley did not convert a field goal attempt until a Donte Thomas jumper with 8:30 remaining in the first half.

First-Half Rally
After falling behind by as many as 18, 22-4, Bradley held Missouri State without a field goal for more than eight minutes. The Braves eventually cut their deficit into single digits, 27-18, on a Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye 3-pointer with 4:17 left in the first half. Jared Dixon's answer with 4:01 left was Missouri State's first basket since and Obediah Church dunk with 13:22 left in the first half, a span of 9-minutes, 21-seconds without a field goal. The Braves got within eight points when Scottie James split two free throws with 45.3 seconds left for a 37-29 deficit. After forcing a steal, Bradley came up empty on a lob play and settled for the 37-29 deficit at the intermission.

Second Half Start
After closing a 22-4 deficit to 37-29 by halftime, Bradley's Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye and Luuk van Bree made consecutive 3-pointers to start the second half, pulling Bradley to within 37-35 with 19:26 left. With Missouri State leading 47-43, Bears forward Camyn Boone scored five straight points for the Bears to push the home team's lead to 52-43 and a Chris Kendrix trey with 12:38 left put Missouri State back up by double-digits, 55-45. The Bears made nine of their first 13 second-half field goal attempts to extend their lead to 62-49 with 9:23 remaining.

One Final Surge
Bradley scored six straight points on two Suggs free throws and short jumpers by Luuk van Bree to slice the 13-point deficit to 62-55. Bradley had two baseline jumpers to close the gap to five points, but neither fell. After a van Bree 3-pointer pulled the Braves to within 67-60, he fouled out on the ensuring Missouri State possession with 4:36 left. Camyn Boone split the resulting free throws and Antoine Pittman scored on a driving hoop with 4:16 left to get the Braves back within six, 68-62. Donte Thomas sliced the deficit to 70-65 with 2:51 left. Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye cut the deficit to 71-67 with 2:18 left, but Chris Kendrix caught a loose ball and buried a fadeaway 15-footer to beat the shot clock for a 73-67 Missouri State advantage with 1:41 left.

The Final Minute
Two Callum Barker free throws and a driving Pittman layup with 41 seconds left got the Braves to 73-71. Dorrian Williams made two free throws with 13.1 seconds left. Bradley advanced the ball to midcourt and took its final timeout with 9.6 seconds left. Donte Thomas missed a deep 3-pointer and Missouri State rebounded the miss. Jarred Dixon made two free throws for the final scoring.

Bell's Return
After missing the previous eight games with a fractured right hand suffered in the Jan. 3 game versus Wichita State, Bradley senior guard Ka'Darryl Bell was cleared to play by doctors Monday. Bell checked into the game with 12:26 remaining in the first half and played nine minutes, finishing with six points.

Van Bree for Three
After an 0-for-3 start to the first half, Luuk van Bree buried his first 3-point attempt of the second half to pull Bradley within 37-35. Van Bree has made a 3-pointer in eight straight games and in 15 of his last 16 games. Van Bree finished the game 2-for-5 from beyond the arc. He leads the Braves and all MVC freshman with 36 3-pointers on the season.

Pittman Streak Ends at 20
Freshman guard Antoine Pittman became the second Bradley player to make at least 20 consecutive free throws this season by making his first four attempts Tuesday. His streak ended at 20 with an 0-for-2 trip to the line with 11:06 left. Ronnie Suggs also made 20 consecutive free throws earlier this season.

Youthful PT
Even with the Ka'Darryl Bell's return to the lineup, Bradley's lineup still featured only two non-freshmen Tuesday night – Bell and sophomore forward Donte Thomas. In turn, the Braves played the entire game with at least three freshmen on the court together for the 24th time in as many games this season. In all, Bradley's nine available freshmen Tuesday night combined for 159 of the 200 possible individual minutes. For the season, Bradley's freshman have played 4,030 of the season's 4,850 possible individual minutes (83.1 percent of the total playing time).

Up Next
Bradley returns home for its next two games, Saturday night versus Indiana State and Feb. 10 versus Loyola Chicago, both 7 p.m. tipoffs at Carver Arena. Saturday will be the annual Hall of Fame Game. The Bradley Athletics Hall of Fame will welcome four new members Saturday – men's basketball star Phillip Gilbert, softball slugger Julie Jehle Barnett, soccer All-American Hamid Mehreioskouei and volleyball star Jenna Passman Regan. The quartert will be the featured guests at Friday's Braves Club Game Day Luncheon, presented by Busey Bank.