PEORIA — The Bradley Braves hoped to launch another National Invitation Tournament run, but they never really got off the ground Wednesday against the Dayton Flyers.
The Braves were down by as much as 23 points on the way to being battered, 80-66, by No. 2 seed Dayton in a first-round matchup before 2,436 at Carver Arena.
Bradley’s season ended at 21-13, while Dayton moved on to a second-round NIT game set for Saturday at UNC-Wilmington.
“Disappointed,” Bradley head coach Brian Wardle said. “A little embarrassed, too, with that effort and how we played. I knew we might be a little rusty to start because we hadn’t played since (March 7), but defensively we were just really, really struggling the whole game.
“Their stars were stars. We, other than (departing senior guard) Alex Huibregtse, I don’t know if we had a lot of guys even perform to an average level. It’s March. You gotta show up. Everyone’s got to play their game. You’re not going to beat Dayton if you don’t have everyone locked and loaded.
“We dug ourselves a hole again in the first half. Dayton punched us in the mouth and we didn’t handle it real well.”
Bradley got the game’s first two points from Ahmet Jonovic in a paint battle against fellow 7-foot-1 center Amael L’Etang. The Braves held that lead for 70 seconds. They never led again after that, as Dayton took off on a 17-5 run over the next 6:10, hitting a trio of 3-pointers including two from all-A10 Conference guard Javon Bennett.
Bradley shot 2 of 10 during that stretch, missed all five 3-pointers it tried, slipped behind by 10 and spent the rest of the night chasing the Flyers to no avail.
Huibregtse made five 3-pointers and led Bradley with 19 points in his final college game. It was a final curtain call for seniors Jonovic, A.J. Smith and Corey Thomas as well.
All of them will wake up Thursday with no more college basketball games to prepare for.
“I think I’m going to take some time to be grateful for the journey,” Huibregtse said. “Grateful for the opportunity to represent Bradley, to play for Coach Wardle, to play with my teammates one more time, just all the years of hard work put in.”
Jonovic, who had six points, three rebounds and a blocked shot in his final 24 college minutes, says he plans to play professionally in Europe.
“I’m thankful to Coach for giving me the opportunity here for the last 3½ years,” he said. “It was amazing for me. I’m really thankful for the all help from him and the coaching staff and my teammates over the years here. And for the fans supporting us.”
A last shift together
The Braves wanted to get a little bit bigger to matchup with Dayton’s long front line, so 6-10 senior Corey Thomas moved into the starting lineup with Jonovic, Huibregtse, A. J. Smith and Jaquan Johnson.
He played nearly 14 minutes, hit a 3-pointer, had five points and two rebounds.
It also meant that all four of Bradley’s departing seniors opened the game together, and late in the second half they eventually subbed out while the Braves cleared their bench all the way down to walk-on Gus Rugaard.
They could not slow down the Flyers, who were in command throughout.
“It looked like they were ready to roll,” Huibregtse said. “I think it was more us, though, we kind of looked like we were checked out, we weren’t competing.
“They came ready to go. As a competitor you want to play and you want to compete and to just, you know, as a team not show up in March, last game or the year, it hurts.”
Jonovic had a jumper, Montana Wheeler a layup and then Huibregtse knocked down a 3-pointer with 4:50 left in the first half to pull Bradley within six points.
But a catastrophic end to the half left the Braves down 47-30 at the break.
With 79 seconds left in the half, De’Shayne Montgomery was fouled on an attempted 3-pointer by Huibregtse, and made all three free throws for 41-30.
The Flyers got a defensive stop, and then a layup from Javon Bennett for 43-30 with 40 seconds left. BU freshman Dietrich Richardson turned over the next possession with a pass out of bounds at the 20-second mark. Bennett brought the ball down the floor, hit a 3-pointer and was fouled by Richardson for an and-1 with 3 seconds left.
That added up to 47-30 at the break, a swing from down eight to down 17 over the final 80 seconds of the half.
“It’s hard to catch up (down 17) in the second half,” Jonovic said. “They are really, really good, talented, and it got to 20 behind and it’s just hard to come back from 20 points down.”
And off they went, first from the court, then from the post-game, and now from the Bradley program.
“It felt good, those moments with the older guys on the court together,” Jonovic said. “It felt amazing. You have a dude behind you that if you fall down, he’s going to pick you up and be there every time.”
“I’m thinking …”
Bradley star guard Jaquan Johnson understands he’ll have a decision to make now that his 2025-26 season has ended.
Will he stay or will he go?
The prevailing belief is he’ll command interest from Power 5 programs offering as much as $1 million to lure him. He’s pragmatic about it, and all he had on his mind before Wednesday’s game was film study, game plan installation, practice and the Dayton Flyers.
“We were thinking our chances were 50-50 to get into the NIT, but we got it and we’re here now and we deserve it,” Johnson said Monday. “Just another chance to play with these guys. And I love the competition that’s in this tournament, I feel like there’s some great teams we can compete against. It’s a plus, Dayton is good tough team for sure.”
And about what happens after the NIT?
“I’m definitely thinking about staying,” said Johnson, who noted he has not received offers from any other programs yet. “Coach Wardle is a great coach, I love playing for him and with these guys around me. So definitely, I’m thinking about it.”
What a steal
Bradley, one of the top teams in the nation in steals per game, did not record a steal in the game against Dayton. It was the only steals shutout tossed at the Braves in their 34 games this season.
Jaquan Johnson finished with 85 steals, tied for third in the nation and one short of the BU single-season record of 86, held by Dyricus Simms-Edwards (2012-13).
They said it
Bravely Speaking
Bradley head coach Brian Wardle, after watching some frustrating officiating, drew a technical foul with 13:04 left. Javon Bennett made both free throws for a 58-39 Dayton lead. A few seconds later officials hit BU’s Jaquan Johnson and Timoty van der Knaap with fouls 15 seconds apart, and Wardle paced the sideline, mock grin, shaking his head. Dayton was 21 of 25 at the free throw line. BU was 10 of 14. … Bradley guard Demarion Burch was a scratch Wednesday, as he was in concussion protocol after taking an errant elbow to the head in practice. … Bradley guard Jaquan Johnson was held to one point in the first half and finished with eight points on 2 of 11 shooting. He had 5 rebounds. … Alex Huibregtse had 19 points and 3 assists in 31 minutes in his final college game. … Freshman guard Montana Wheeler was the only other Braves player in double figures, with 10 points. … BU forward A.J. Smith grabbed 8 rebounds. … Bennett had a game-high 25 points and matched Huibregtse’s 5 of 10 effort from 3. … Dayton’s Amael L’Entang had 11 points and 8 rebounds. … Bradley has won 20+ games under head coach Brian Wardle for four straight seasons. He has seven 20-win seasons at the BU helm, tying him with Chuck Orsborn for the most in program history. … Wardle has 302 wins in his career at Bradley and Green Bay combined. He is 207-159 overall at Bradley, the second-most wins in program history. In Missouri Valley Conference games he has 114 victories, surpassing Jim Molinari this season for the all-time program lead. … Braves guard Alex Huibregtse finished 48 of 95 (51%) from 3-point range in his last 12 college games. He led the Valley in 3-point shooting, and had five games in which he’s made at least six 3-pointers. … The Braves finished with 265 steals for the season, led by Jaquan Johnson with 85 and A.J. Smith with 44. That’s the ninth-best single-season team total in BU history, and one short of the 2006-07 team’s eighth-place slot at 266. … Bradley is 11-9 all-time against A-10 Conference teams and 7-1 at home. … Dayton has eight wins against Quad 1 or Quad 2 teams combined. … Bradley has five. … KenPom ranks Dayton’s defense at No. 32 in the nation.
(This story has been updated with pictures, video and more information)
Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men’s basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on X.com @icetimecleve.
This article originally appeared on Journal Star: ‘Punched in the mouth’: How Bradley Braves men’s NIT run ended with loss to Dayton
Reporting by Dave Eminian, Peoria Journal Star / Journal Star
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