Peoria, IL -- The Bradley Braves earned a 27-point win over the Drake Bulldogs.
Bradley used a dominant first half and a well rounded attackĀ on both offense and defense to pull away from Drake, earning a 93-66 Missouri Valley Conference victory at Carver Arena in Peoria.
The Braves set the tone early, racing out to a 40-19 halftime lead. AJ Smith jump-started the surge by scoring seven of his 18 points during a personal 7-0 run before heading into the under-12 media timeout. Bradley shot 50 percent from the field in the opening half while holding the Bulldogs to just 6-of-24 shooting (25 percent). Drake struggled to generate offense in the interior, converting only two field goals inside the arc and totaling just two points in the paint before the break. The Bulldogs' 19 first-half points marked a season low.
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Bradley continued to apply pressure in the second half, outscoring Drake 53-47 and stretching the margin to as many as 40Ā points. The Braves finished the night shooting 50.8 percent from the floor and knocked down 12 three-pointers. Alex Huibregtse and Smith led the way with 18 points apiece, with Huibregtse connecting on six of seven attempts from beyond the arc. Smith added six rebounds and went 5-for-5 from the free-throw line. Jaquan Johnson contributed 13 points, while Corey Thomas provided a strong lift off the bench with 10 points and nine rebounds.
Bradley ended the night with five players scoring in double figures, tying a season high set earlier in Missouri Valley Conference play against Indiana State.
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Drake was paced by Jaehshon Thomas, who scored a team-high 18 points off the bench. Andrew Alia added 12 points, and Jalen Quinn finished with 11, but the Bulldogs shot just 35.8 percent from the field and were outrebounded 41-34.
The win marked the fourth-largest margin of victory Bradley has recorded against Drake. The three larger wins came in 1950 (29 points), 1959 (34 points) and 1954 (40 points), when the Braves defeated the Bulldogs 93-53 in Peoria. With the victory, Bradley improved to 11-6 overall and 4-2 in MVC play, while Drake fell to 8-8 on the season and 2-3 in conference action.
Bradley returns to action Saturday at 5:00 p.m. inside Carver Arena, hosting the Northern Iowa Panthers. UNI fell to Belmont, 75-68, in earlier Wednesday action. The game will be available to stream on ESPN+ and will air on ESPN2. Fans can also tune in to 1470 WMBD for the Bradley radio broadcast with Dave Snell and Chad Kleine.
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