PEORIA Ill. – Bradley Men's Basketball took down Northern Iowa on Wednesday night by a final score of 85-69. The Braves now sit at 16-6 overall with an 8-3 MVC record.
The Braves started out hot with a 43-30 lead over the Panthers in the first half. Bradley held the rebounding edge over Northern Iowa with 19. Bradley also recorded five steals and three blocks.
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"We had a great start," head coach Brian Wardle said. "It's always nice to have a bit of a cushion, especially when you're playing a good team."
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Connor Hickman led Bradley in the half with 16 points and 10 in the first 10 minutes. He made four three-pointers and was 6-for-10 from the field.
Malevy Leons had 10 points and made a three-point shot at the buzzer.
Darius Hannah tallied six points, six rebounds and three blocks in the half.
Bradley topped Northern Iowa by a score of 85-69 after the two teams went 39-39 in the second half. On the board, Bradley tallied 36 rebounds, while UNI had 31. The Braves also had 30 points in the paint and 23 points off the bench. They collected nine steals and seven blocks to Northern Iowa's zero blocks.
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"Every game is a battle," Hickman said. "You gotta be focused because you're playing great teams like UNI every night, and they capitalize on your mistakes."
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Hickman led the game with 22 points and 9 made shots in 14 attempts. He also added two rebounds, three assists and a steal. Leons ended his night with 18 points, eight rebounds, two steals and a block. Hannah had 12 points, four offensive rebounds out of nine total, five blocks and two steals.
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"[Hickman] was in attack mode early," Wardle said. "I thought he played really well [and] defended well on both ends of the floor. When he's aggressive like that for two halves, we're tougher to guard."
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Christian Davis recorded 10 points and five rebounds off the bench. Duke Deen had seven assists and three steals to lead the game. Kyle Thomas tallied seven points and two rebounds in five total minutes.
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"You're gonna lose some games, and you're not going to have your best days, but it's always how you respond," Hickman said. "I think whenever we've had tough games where we don't look our best, we come out that next game and really respond."
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Looking Ahead
The Braves go back on the road on Saturday afternoon to play Illinois State at 1 PM. On Feb. 7, Bradley travels to Evansville to take on the Purple Aces at 7 PM. They come back home on Feb. 10 to play Drake at 5 PM.
Tickets
The Bradley Ticket Central page can be found here.