Peoria, IL -- The Bradley Braves 18-5 (9-3 MVC) fell to the UNI Panthers 14-9 (8-4 MVC) in a road MVC contest.
Game Recap
The Bradley Braves fell to the UNI Panthers in a road Missouri Valley Conference contest on February 2nd. In the first half, the Braves traded punches with the Panthers through the opening minutes swapping the lead three times, but both teams' defenses made life difficult for the opposing offense, with neither side having a double-digit scorer in the first half. Ahmet Jonovic and Jaquan Johnson provided the early offense for the Braves, combining for 14 of BU's 25 first-half points. Northern Iowa carried a nine-point lead into the halftime break at 34-25, fueled by Tytan Anderson and Cael Schmitt's combined 18 first-half points on 7-of-11 shooting from the floor.
As the second half began, UNI was able to get things moving from the three-point line with Max Weisbrod, who collected 15 points in the second half, with 12 of those coming from beyond the arc. Bradley's bench would carry the bulk of the scoring for the Braves for the remainder of the contest, contributing 50 points from non-starters. Jaquan Johnson had a major impact on the second half, finishing with a career-high 27 points and seven rebounds, while also recording two steals. Johnson's 27-point performance is just outside the BU top-3 for single-game scoring totals by a freshman. Demarion Burch also came off the bench and provided a nice boost, scoring 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting, including a perfect 3-of-3 from three-point range. Burch also added two rebounds, two assists, and a block.
BU Single Game Freshman Scoring Top-3
1. Darrell Brown Jr. 34pts
2. Deon Jackson 31pts
3. Mitchell Anderson 30pts
The BU starting five had an uncharacteristically poor shooting day, with Deen, Montgomery, Hannah, and Davis combining for a 3-of-11 outing for seven-points. Jonovic finished with 10 points, four rebounds, two assists, and a block. As the game passed the under-eight media timeout in the second half, the Panthers pushed their lead to a game-high 30 points. However, a Bradley surged over the next six minutes, trimmed the deficit to 14 points, capped by a buzzer-beating three-pointer from Johnson.
Bradley will be back in action on Wednesday night when they host the Belmont Bruins 15-8 (7-5 MVC) at Carver Arena at 8:00 PM CST on the MVC TV Network. The game will also be available for streaming on ESPN+.