PEORIA — The Bradley Braves spotted Evansville the first 13 points of the game Monday and trailed by four at halftime.
Then Jaquan Johnson happened.
The BU guard poured in 11 points during an early second-half run to give the Braves their first lead and spark them to a 76-68 victory over Evansville before 5,917 at Carver Arena.
It was the seventh straight win for the Braves, who escaped a 4-9 Evansville team that was just one point down with 2:16 left.
The dagger came when Johnson lobbed a pass for an alley-oop dunk by Ahmet Jonovic with 54 seconds left for a 72-66 lead. The 7-foot-1 Serbian screamed and pounded his chest as he headed back down the court.
A pair of layups from Montana Wheeler 46 seconds apart gave Bradley a 59-55 lead with 6:29 left.
The Braves erased a four-point halftime deficit and took their first lead of the game when Johnson went off for 11 points amid a 13-1 run over 3:39, building a 44-36 lead and forcing an Evansville timeout with 15:15 left.
Johnson made two big plays at the rim — the second an and-1 — to pull Bradley even for the first time at 36-36 with 17:51 left. Then he drove a third time and cashed in two free throws for BU’s first lead of the game, 38-36, with 16:55 left.
Johnson then made a fourth consecutive drive, picked up two more free throws and gave BU a 40-36 lead with 16:15 left.
The Aces had surprised Bradley and took a 35-31 lead to halftime.
It was a rough start for the Braves, who missed their first six shots, plus a pair of free throws, and found themselves down 13-0 on a trio of Evansville 3-pointers with 16:55 still left.
The Braves have moved into the No. 25 spot on the collegeinsider.com Top 25 poll, the first time they’ve been there since they were at No. 18 in the early days of the season.
The Journal Star brought you live updates, scores and highlights from the game. They are below the gallery:
Bradley vs. Evansville score update
FINAL: Bradley 76, Evansville 68
Wheeler delivers a spark
Bradley back to a 59-55 lead with 6:29 left as freshman guard Montana Wheeler puts in consecutive layups 46 seconds apart.
Elsewhere in the Valley
Indiana State takes out 12-1 Belmont, 81-80 in OT, at Terre Haute. Belmont’s Nic McClain missed a driving layup at the buzzer.
Evansville 53, Bradley 52
AJ Casey hurting the Braves in the paint, has 16 now to pull Aces back into a lead with 9:01 left.
Evansville breaks its drought
The Aces started the second half with an 0 of 11 run from the field. But they get a rebound, putback and-1 from AJ Casey for their first bucket, then a 3 from Alex Hemenway and suddenly Bradley’s lead is down to 44-42 with 13:25 to go.
Johnson goes off for 11 as Bradley lead builds
The Braves erased a four-point halftime deficit and took their first lead of the game when Jaquan Johnson went off for 11 points amid a 13-1 run over 3:39, building a 44-36 lead and forcing an Evansville timeout with 15:15 left.
Bully brings Braves back
Jaquan Johnson with two big plays at the rim — the second an and-1 — to pull Bradley even for the first time at 36-36 with 17:51 left.
Then he drives a third time and cashes in two free throws for BU’s first lead of the game, 38-36, with 16:55 left.
HALFTIME: Evansville 35, Bradley 31
Aces stretch lead
A pair of 3s from 6-foot-10 Australian Josh Hughes fuels an 8-2 run over a span of 2:30 to put Evansville up 31-24 with 3:40 left in the first half.
0 vs 0
Bradley guard and MVC scoring leader Jaquan Johnson with no points through 17 minutes.
Evansville leading scorer Connor Turnbull with no points through 17 minutes.
UPDATE: Johnson with a runner in the lane for his first points with 6:08 left.
Evansville bench yelling to teammates on the floor “Keep him out of the paint. Keep him out.”
Alley … oops
The Braves have tried an alley-oop dunk four times in the first 12:15 of the game, and misfired on the dunk all four times. Evansville’s AJ Casey got a dunk at the other end and was whistled for a technical for hanging on the rim.
Alex Huibregtse made both free throws, and the Braves sit at 21-18 behind with 7:45 to go.
Braves working their way back
Timoty van der Knaap with a pair of 3s from the right corner 27 seconds apart to pull Bradley within 13-10 at the 13:24 mark.
Stunning start
The Braves open with five missed shots from the field — including two alley-oop dunks by A.J. Smith and Ahmet Jonovic — and then a pair of missed free throws from Smith.
Meanwhile, Evansville banks a trio of 3-pointers for a 13-0 lead and BU takes timeout with 16:55 left in the first half.
Projected starting lineups
Where the Braves left off
The Braves won their Missouri Valley Conference home opener for the sixth time in seven years on Dec. 21, their final game before Christmas break.
It also was their sixth straight victory to get to 9-4 overall. They got there by holding off Southern Illinois in the final two seconds for a 73-69 win at Carver Arena.
“9-4 is good, six in a row is great,” Bradley head coach Brian Wardle said. “But tomorrow we’re back to Square One.”
MVC league honors
Bradley Braves point guard Jaquan Johnson was named Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week after leading the Braves to a 2-0 mark last week with wins against Indiana State and Southern Illinois.
It was the second time this season the sophomore guard, Valley scoring leader and national steals leader earned weekly honors.
Johnson ended his week with a final line of 20 points per game, 4 assists per game, 4 steals per game, and 3 rebounds per game while shooting 47.8% from the floor and 40% from 3.
He collected back-to-back contests of scoring at least 20 points for the first time in his career. Johnson led the Braves in points, assists, and steals, while having only three turnovers in roughly 66 minutes played.
Bravely Speaking
Bradley is at 10-4 overall, 3-0 in the Valley. The Braves are tied for the MVC lead with Illinois State and Murray State, all at 3-0. … Evansville is 4-10 overall, 0-3 in the Valley and in last place. … The Braves are 28-5 all-time at home against Evansville. … Bradley coach Brian Wardle now has 103 career wins in the Valley, second all-time for the program. Jim Molinari leads with 110. The BU head coach is at 196 overall wins at Bradley’s helm, breaking a tie for third-place in program history with Chuck Orsborn and one behind second-place Joe Stowell. … Jaquan Johnson picked up one more steal and leads the nation with 48 steals after 14 games. The BU sophomore point guard is on pace for 116 steals. There hasn’t been a player in NCAA Division I surpass that single-season total since Washington guard Matisse Thybulle had 126 in 2018-19. That 116-steal threshold has been crossed just four times in the last 20 years. … Johnson is second in the nation at 3.43 steals per game. … Johnson is first in the Valley in points per game, first in steals per game, first in free throw attempts, fifth in field goal percentage and seventh in assists per game and free throw percentage. … The Braves have nine underclassmen on the roster headed into 2025-26 making them the second youngest team in the MVC only to Valpo. … The 2025-26 season marks three important anniversaries for the Braves program: 20 years for the 2005-06 Sweet 16 team; 30 years for the 1995-96 MVC regular-season championship team, and 40 years for the 1985-86 MVC Regular-season championship team. … Evansville’s starting five included 6-foot-10 Josh Hughes, 6-10 Connor Turnbull and 6-9 A.J. Casey.
Bradley vs. Evansville by the numbers
What time does Bradley play today?
What channel is the Bradley vs Evansville game on today?
Bradley vs Evansville live stream options
Bradley vs Evansville will be available via ESPN+.
Bradley basketball vs Evansville betting odds
Game lines and odds via OddsShark as of Sunday night, Dec. 28:
Bradley basketball schedule
Record: 10-4
Buy Bradley basketball tickets this season via StubHub
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: Bradley basketball vs Evansville recap: Braves rally to beat Aces
Reporting by Dave Eminian, Peoria Journal Star / Journal Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
