The second-seeded Bradley men's basketball team lost to No. 6 Northern Iowa, 73-69, in the second Missouri Valley Conference Tournament semifinal game Saturday in St. Louis.
After trailing by 18 in the first half and 13 at halftime, the Braves (21-12) got within three points in the final seconds but couldn't finish off the comeback at Enterprise Center.
The Panthers’ offense shot from an impressive clip in the first half, going into the break up 45-32, largely thanks to shooting 20 for 28 from the field. Despite improved shooting for the Braves in the second half, UNI continued to keep pace.
Bradley got within five points when Ahmet Jonovic’s three-point play made it 67-62 with 3:26 remaining. UNI pushed it back to 72-64 before Bradley got a layup from Jaquan Johnson followed by a 3-pointer from Montana Wheeler with 9 seconds left.
Northern Iowa’s late lead allowed them to survive a final 3:08 without a field goal. Several late turnovers from the Bradley offense made it more difficult to capitalize. UNI was also turnover-prone in the last stretch, with five giveaways after the final field goal.
Timoty van der Knaap led the Braves with 12 points and six rebounds.
For the second time in as many nights, 3-point shooting made a big difference for the Panthers, who made 6 of 9 shots from long range. Bradley, meanwhile, connected on 8 of 21 from beyond the arc, for 38%.
Northern Iowa will face No. 5 seed Illinois-Chicago in Sunday's 11 a.m. championship game with the Valley's automatic NCAA Tournament bid on the line. UIC advanced with a 72-51 win over No. 9 Drake in the first semifinal.
UNI will look to become the first team to claim the Arch Madness title by winning four games in four days.
