Offensive struggles proved too much to overcome for the Bradley men’s basketball team Sunday in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament championship game.
The second-seeded Braves connected on just one field goal during a 12-minute stretch spanning both halves. When Bradley could not mount a rally in the final minutes, top-seeded Drake pulled away for a 63-48 victory in the Arch Madness final at Enterprise Center in St. Louis.
“They were the better team today, unfortunately,” Bradley coach Brian Wardle said of Drake during his postgame news conference. “This team I coached this year was one of the most connected teams I've ever coached in my life. Seeing them, how close they were, it was unique.
“We're heartbroken, still in shock a little bit, crushed. It's going to take some time with this team, because of how bad they wanted this moment and how hard they've worked to be here.”
With the loss, Bradley (26-8) must hold out hope for an at-large bid to get into the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2019. Meanwhile, the Bulldogs (30-3) captured an automatic berth with their third consecutive MVC Tourney crown — with a first-year head coach and a transfer-heavy roster.
The Braves entered the tournament as the top 3-point shooting team in the country. But they connected on just 5 of 20 long-range attempts, shooting 41.5% from the field overall (17 of 41) to finish with their lowest point total of the season.
Senior forward Darius Hannah led Bradley with 19 points, but no one else reached double figures as fifth-year guard Duke Deen was held to nine points on just six shots. Drake’s Bennett Stirtz, the Valley’s Larry Bird Player of the Year, finished with 24 points and drained 5 of 7 three-point shots.
“As a guy that brought energy every day, a leader off the court and in the community, Peoria did so much for me, just as a guy that wanted to put a smile on his face and just light up the room. It’s kind of hard right now, but we’ll reflect after,” said Deen.
“We fell short, obviously. We wanted it, and all we can do is go out and try to play basketball the right way,” said Hannah. “At the end of the day, it's basketball — win or lose. It doesn't define our character, and Bradley will be back here again in the future.”
Tabbed the preseason conference favorite, Bradley lost to Drake in the Valley tournament for the third year in a row. The Bulldogs posted a 77-51 win over the Braves in the 2023 championship game and a 72-67 win in last year’s semifinals.
“You’ve got to hold it together as a coach, but my tears are going to be coming, probably later tonight when it really hits me,” said Wardle. “It's one of the most emotional locker rooms I've ever seen after a loss like this, and that means that just shows how connected they were, how much they cared, how much they invested.”
Bradley and Drake split their regular-season meetings, with each team winning on the road. The Bulldogs have gone 7-0 since their 61-59 setback to the Braves on Feb. 16.
Drake was playing in its fifth straight Arch Madness final, this time with Ben McCollum as head coach after Darian DeVries moved on to West Virginia.
“I've said quite a few times, our intent when we came in here was to build for the long term and the long haul,” said McCollum. “We wanted to make sure that we assess [players’] character, get essentially intangible talent, tough kids that want to serve each other and love each other.”
McCollum guided Northwest Missouri State to four NCAA Division II national championships, including three straight from 2019-22 [with the 2020 event canceled]. In taking over the Bulldogs program, he brought along four transfers from the Bearcats, including Stirtz, who was named the tourney’s most outstanding player.
“I'm not trying to be a great player or anything. I'm just trying to be there for my team and help us win,” said Stirtz. “I just wanted to play confident today, and just took some open shots and be aggressive today.”
Bradley led through most of the first 16 minutes and didn’t trail by more than three at any point. A second-chance 3-pointer by Demarion Burch put the Braves up 27-24 with 4:02 left before intermission.
But the Bulldogs closed the half on a 7-0 run and continued their surge after the break, pushing the advantage to 39-29 with 11:46 remaining. Bradley’s only basket during the stretch came on a Hannah jumper in the paint at the 15:20 mark.
“I thought we came out played really well in the first half, especially the first 15 minutes or so. Gave up a little momentum into halftime,” said Wardle, who is finishing his 10th season with Bradley. “When they came out, I think, scored four straight to start the second half, and we just were slow to get any offensive rhythm.”
The Braves pulled within five when Deen’s 3-pointer made it 46-41 with 7:17 to play. They wouldn’t get any closer as Drake followed with a 15-2 run that put the contest out of reach.
“Just the last eight minutes, it didn't go our way at all,” said Wardle. “Proud of this team; 26 wins is really hard to do, especially with the expectations and the pressure all year.”
Bradley was seeking its first Valley championship since winning back-to-back crows in 2019-20, although the second of the two did not come with an NCAA Tourney appearance as the onset of COVID-19 forced the event’s cancellation.
The Braves now must wait a week for the announcement of the 68-team NCAA Tournament bracket to see if their unlikely hopes for an at-large call come through.
Wardle said he believes Bradley is an NCAA-caliber team, but he wouldn’t offer an opinion on whether the Braves would go to a secondary tournament if they’re not selected.
“Put us on a neutral floor, we feel we can compete with anyone. But we know that [NCAA bid] is probably not happening. We're realists,” said Wardle. “But we'll kind of take a couple days after this and then reevaluate where we are as a team. Right now, we're too emotional to make any thoughts about what's going to happen down the road.”
