Bradley BRAD 13-5, 4-1 MVC

Missouri State MSU 8-10, 2-3 MVC

Bradley BRAD

13-5, 4-1 MVC

Final

Jan. 15, 2020

Missouri State MSU

8-10, 2-3 MVC

Score By Periods
Team	1	2	F
Bradley BRAD	51	40	91
Missouri State MSU	41	37	78

Box Score

3-Point Barrage Leads Bradley Past Missouri State

Box Score (PDF)

Game Recap: Men's Basketball | 1/15/2020 10:13:00 PM

Springfield, Mo. – The Bradley men's basketball team connected on 17 triples to earn a road Missouri Valley Conference victory against Missouri State on Wednesday night, 91-78. The Braves improve to 13-5 this season and 4-1 in conference action, while the Bears drop to 8-10 and 2-3 in league play.

The Braves made 17-of-30 3-pointers on the night to earn the victory. It marks the highest total in a Valley game in school history and the second most overall in any contest.

Senior Nate Kennell led the charge with a 7-of-10 clip from beyond the arc, matching his career high with 25 points. His seven triples also tied his personal best and are just one shy of the school record.

Five Braves, overall, connected on multiple 3-pointers in the winning effort. Sophomore Ja'Shon Henry posted his first collegiate double-double with career-best totals of 17 points and 13 boards. Senior Darrell Brown and junior Danya Kingsby added 12 points apiece with Brown also posting a game-high eight assists.

Senior Koch Bar just missed his second double-double of the season with 11 points and nine boards, while freshman Ville Tahvanainen added nine points – all coming via the 3-pointer during a key late Bradley run.

Bradley started the game strong and raced to the early advantage thanks to Kennell's hot shooting. The senior scored eight points in just over five minutes to start the game as Bradley grabbed a 16-7 early advantage.

The Braves continued to pour it on offensively in the opening 20 minutes of action. Kingsby scored all 12 of his points in the first 20 minutes of action – just one shy of his career best for a game. The Bradley lead would reach as many as 16 points, 51-35, before Missouri State sunk two 3-pointers in the closing minute for a 51-41 game at the half.

The second half started as a different story as the Bears rode a wave of hot shooting to eventually go up double digits themselves. During the first 10 minutes of the period, the Bears outscored Bradley, 27-7, to seize in front, 68-58.

Back-to-back 👌 from Ville Tahvanainen has tied the game at 70! 🅱️🏀 pic.twitter.com/gE3qxveBk0
— Bradley Basketball (@bradleyumbb) January 16, 2020

The Braves, however, did not quit – regrouping and rallying back. Tahvanainen keyed the late surge as the rookie knocked down back-to-back 3-poiners to pull the Braves even at 70 with 6:26 remaining. After the teams traded baskets, Tahvanainen then added his third triple in just 88 seconds as Bradley reclaimed its lead, 75-72. His three 3-pointers ignited the Bradley offense as the Braves made eight of their final 11 attempts and all six free throws, pulling away for the 91-78 final score.

Overall, Bradley shot 47.0 percent from the field in the winning effort with its 56.7 percent clip from 3-point range. Missouri State connected on 41.4 percent of its shots with an 11-of-24 mark from beyond the arc.

The Braves look to continue their winning ways with a home matchup against Northern Iowa on Saturday. The two teams tied for first in the Valley standings square off at 5 p.m. at Carver Arena on ESPN2.

Game Notes: Bradley's school record for 3-pointers in a game is 20 against Florida A&M on Nov. 21, 2006 … BU's season-high prior to Wednesday was 13 3-pointers, against Kansas State on Nov. 27 … The Braves are 4-1 in Valley play for the first time since a 4-1 start in 2008-09 … Kennell (7), Henry (3), Tahvanainen (3) and Kingsby (2) all either set or matched their career highs in 3-point makes on Wednesday … Bradley is now 6-23 all-time at Missouri State with two of the wins coming in the last three seasons … With his 12 points, Brown moved into 12th place in the school's all-time scoring list with 1,616 points – passing Gene Melchiorre, who had 1,608 points from 1947 to 1951 … Henry is the fifth different Brave to register a double-double this season.

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