The Bradley University men's basketball team carries the No. 2 seed into St. Louis this weekend as it seeks its first Missouri Valley Conference Tournament [MVC] championship since 2020.
The Braves take a 20-11 overall record into their Friday quarterfinal matchup against the winner of Thursday’s game between No. 7 Valparaiso and No. 10 Indiana State at Enterprise Center. Tipoff is scheduled for 6 p.m.
Coach Brian Wardle admits either matchup could be a challenge.
“Valpo can beat anyone, and to be honest, Indiana State's really scary. I mean, they can beat anyone,” Wardle said during this week’s pre-tournament teleconference. “We know that; we've had two close games with them.”
Bradley split its two games with Valparaiso last month, winning by seven at Carver Arena on Feb. 3 before falling by the same margin two weeks later on the road. The Braves notched a triple-overtime at Indiana State in December, then topped the Sycamores by seven in Peoria on Jan. 21.
“Valpo is a more physical team. They want to pound the paint,” said Wardle, who tied Bradley’s program record with his seventh 20-win season. “Indiana State wants to spread you out, play with more pace and really try to outscore you.”
The Braves, who were picked fourth in the MVC preseason poll, are led by sophomore point guard Jaquan Johnson, who was named the MVC's defensive player of the year and an all-conference first team honoree after averaging 17.4 points per game with 80 steals in 31 games.
“Everyone who's gotten victories at Arch Madness, you’ve got to defend and you’ve got to be a good defensive team, in my tenure. We've improved. We've improved, there's no doubt about it, the last month. We’ve still got to tighten up some things,” said Wardle.
“But we’ve got to start games and haves better. I think that's the challenge going in to this tournament; how you start games is important and how you start the halves. You’ve got to come out with the right energy level, the right activity, and really execute that first four minutes to set the tone for the rest of the team. We can still do a better job of that.”
Belmont is the No. 1 seed for the tournament, while preseason favorite Illinois State is No. 3. With a win Friday, Bradley would face either ISU, Northern Iowa or Evansville in a 5 p.m. semifinal Saturday. The championship game tips off at 11 a.m. Sunday.
