Peoria, Illinois. Bradley's strong second half pushes them past pesky UNI in MVC opener.

1st Half

Bradley and Northern Iowa collided in Carver arena for the second time in two years to begin the Missouri Valley Conference slate. Last season saw Bradley win a narrow 71-69 contest in a game that Bradley needed to have. Tonight would set the tone for both teams December schedules with UNI being the aggressors early jumping out to an early 7-2 run. The lead would stay with UNI for the majority of the half due to UNI's six timely made three-pointers, although Bradley would close the gap late heading into the locker room down a single point 30-29. The Panthers were led by Bowen Born and Trey Campbell who combined for 19 of their 30 team points. Bradley had a much more balanced attack with six different Braves finding the score column, none had more than seven led by Duke Deen.

2nd Half

Neither team found much room to work early in the second half with the lead fluctuating between 1-5 points for UNI. Bradley would finally take the rim off the basket after holding UNI scoreless from the field for over three minutes for the third time in the ball game. BU would finally find some momentum stemming off a 16-2 run fueled by Connor Hickman's 8 point out burst and ruckus Carver crowd. The Panthers wouldn't go quietly into the night as Bowen Born continued to give Bradley fits finishing with 22 points going 7-13 from the field and 4-8 from three. Bradley would throw the knockout punch with 5 minutes to go as Duke Deen rattled off back-to-back three-pointers to finish with a team high 18 points on the night and push the Bradley lead to 15 where it would never leave.

Notables

• Bradley collected win number six under Brian Wardle in MVC home openers. 

• The win streak at Carver Arena improves to 12-games in a row, and features an 8-game win streak over MVC teams.

• Rienk Mast recorded a double-double in his second game back in the Bradley lineup with a 13 point and 11 rebound performance in 27 minutes. Mast is still under a slight minutes restriction.

• BU held the MVC's leading rebounder (Tytan Anderson) to just 8 rebounds and 2-11 from the floor.

• Duke Deen collected a new career high in points scored with 18 on 7 made shots in 14 attempts for an even 50%.

Whats next

Bradley will travel to Springfield, MO to take on Missouri State on Saturday. The Bears lead the all-time series 25-43 and have won the last 4 meetings. Bradley's last win in Springfield came in January of the 2019-20 season 91-78. You can stream Bradley vs Missouri State on ESPN+ or on the radio with 1470 WMBD.