Bradley BRAD 16-7, 6-4 MVC

Indiana State INS 10-12, 5-5 MVC

Bradley BRAD

16-7, 6-4 MVC

Final

Jan. 28, 2018

Indiana State INS

10-12, 5-5 MVC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Bradley BRAD	36	45	81
Indiana State INS	33	40	73

Box Score

Duane Zehr

Kennell Leads Bradley Past Indiana State, 81-73

Box Score (PDF)

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | 1/28/2018 4:20:00 PM

Terre Haute, Ind. – Behind a career-best 25 points from sophomore guard Nate Kennell, including seven 3-pointers, the Bradley men's basketball team rallied past Indiana State for an 81-73 road victory. With Sunday's win, the Braves move into a tie for second place in the Missouri Valley Conference standings with a 6-4 league record and 16-7 overall, while the Sycamores drop to 10-12 and an even 5-5 MVC record.

Kennell nailed 7-of-9 shots from beyond the arc, just one make shy of the school record, and 8-of-12 overall from the field. The sophomore scored 11 of his 25 points in the final five minutes of the game as Bradley was able to overcome a late six-point deficit for its first win at Indiana State in nine years.

Freshmen Elijah Childs added 10 points, while collecting seven rebounds (four on the offensive glass). Sophomore Darrell Brown also scored nine to go with a game-leading eight assists with rookie Ryan Stipanovich matching Brown with nine points, connecting on all three of his 3-pointers.

? Career-best game from Nate Kennell
? First win at Indiana State in 9 years
? Move into 2nd Place

Let's all celebrate ?? another step for #TheMovement pic.twitter.com/ADYwV9XO7Z
— Bradley Basketball (@bradleyumbb) January 28, 2018

Bradley started the contest strong and used an early 8-0 run to pull ahead, 14-9, thanks to early triples by Kennell and Stipanovich. Bradley led by as many as nine points in the opening stanza before the Sycamores pulled to within three, 36-33, at the half thanks to back-to-back 3-pointers of their own.

The Braves shot 50.0 percent in the first half with a 6-of-9 clip from 3-point range en route to its intermission lead with Stipanovich leading the team with nine points in the opening period.

Bradley maintained its lead for the first nine minutes of the second half before a 10-0 run by the Sycamores put Indiana State in front. 55-49. While ISU held onto its edge for the next seven minutes, the Braves did not allow the Sycamores to go ahead by more than two possessions, setting up Kennell's late heroics.

With Indiana State leading by four, 64-60, with just under five minutes left in the game, senior Donte Thomas knocked down a pair of free throws before a jumper in the paint by junior Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye tied the game on the next possession. Kennell then hit back-to-back triples to cap a 10-0 Bradley run and give the Braves a 70-64 advantage. The sophomore then sent the Braves back home with their first road conference victory of the season when he hit a dagger 3-pointer with just 46 ticks remaining for a seven-point BU edge, 75-68. The Braves hit their final four free throws, sandwiched around a press-breaking dunk from Thomas, for the 81-73 victory.

Overall, Bradley shot 50.9 percent from the field with an 11-of-18 performance from 3-point range (61.1 percent). The Sycamores, who were led by 19 points from Jordan Barnes and 17 from Brenton Scott, made 46.4 of their baskets and 37.5 percent of their 3-pointers.

Bradley, winners of three-straight games, look to continue their winning ways when they put the Valley's longest home-court winning streak on the line against the conference's first-place team, Loyola. Tipoff at Carver Arena is scheduled for 7 p.m. on Wednesday.

Game Notes: Kennell's previous career high was 19 points, set against IUPUI in the season opener … Kennell is the first Brave with seven 3-pointers in a game since Omari Grier against UT Arlington on Nov. 14, 2014, while it marks the 14th time in school history that a BU players has made at least seven (five share the record with eight, last accomplished by Danny Adams in 2006) … Bradley had not shot over 40 percent from 3-point range in any of its last seven games, with its 61.1 clip on Sunday marking the second time this year it has shot over 60 percent in a game … The Braves' bench accounted for a season-best 42 points on Sunday – Bradley had 31 combined bench points in its last three contests … Brown has registered at least seven assists in five games this season, including eight in back-to-back games … Bradley won at Indiana State for the first time since a 63-52 victory in 2009, ending an eight-game losing streak at Hulman Center.

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