PEORIA — The Bradley Braves celebrated their past, couldn’t handle UIC in the present, and absorbed a loss that forecast a Missouri Valley Conference race tightening in the future.
The Braves could not hold off UIC from the 3-point line and saw a streaking Flames team bury 12 shots from long distance Saturday to beat Bradley 85-70 before 6,209 at Carver Arena.
UIC, the hottest team in the Valley, won its sixth straight game and beat the Braves soundly on their home court for the second year in a row.
“This is our team this year, we’re streaky,” Bradley head coach Brian Wardle said. “And we have not played well in front of big crowds. I was a little nervous about that. I knew we would have a big crowd because of the three teams we were honoring, and we haven’t performed well in these big crowd games. I think five of our losses are in front of our biggest crowds.
“They were just better than us in all areas. I don’t think anybody on our team played well tonight. … it’s disappointing. Poor performance by us.”
The Bradley program hosted a reunion of sorts as members of three glorious teams from the Braves past gathered for a halftime celebration, among them Hersey Hawkins, who watched the game from a front row seat at mid court.
The 2025-26 season has marked three important anniversaries for the Braves program, including 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.
They saw their Hilltop descendants struggle against a UIC team that was second-worst in the Valley in 3-point shooting (30.7%) and 3s made per game (6.0). Instead, the Flames put together an outlier, delivering a 12 of 24 night from the 3-point line, including five made each from Elijah Crawford and Josiah Hammons.
Bradley had quality shots of its own, but they didn’t fall during a 6 of 22 night from 3-point range. Leading scorer Jaquan Johnson had one point in the first half and finished with five for the game. They soon found themselves down by double digits, and frustration showed in their performance at both ends.
“I was nervous if we started missing shots, if we were struggling to score, how would we compete?” Wardle said. “And that’s exactly what happened. We struggling to make shots. I thought we got some good looks. Then we stopped competing on the defensive end and we’re not a good enough defensive team when we do that.
“We’re not a good defensive team. I can’t get them to guard, the effort level and the talk I like. I work on it every day. I might just start working on all offense every day because, I’m serious, I can’t work on defense more and try to get them to buy in and that’s how you win in this league or any conference in general.”
“Big-time chip on our shoulder”
UIC clearly looked at this outcome as a trophy-case victory.
When the final horn sounded, second-year head coach Rob Ehsan turned and celebrated with a block of UIC fans behind the bench, pumping his right arm again and again.
Team staff appeared to shoot video and/or pictures of the grandstand reaction and the final score on the overhead videoboard. It was a prize.
“I think more for UIC (being hottest team in the Valley), and where we’ve been picked (in pre-season poll) since I’ve been in the job here, dead last, last year, picked near the bottom again this year,” Ehsan said. “And they do it every year to us, so I think it’s more … it’s created, 100%, a big-time chip on our shoulder. We don’t get the publicity or the press that a lot of other teams get, teams that have had great tradition.
“We’re trying to build that tradition, and I think it has definitely created an edge to our team wanting to prove to people how good we are and what we went through this year, too.”
Last season, UIC came into Carver Arena and beat a 28-9 Bradley team, 93-70, and shot 53.1% from the field and 51.9% (14 of 27) from 3.
On Saturday, in their second trip into Peoria under Ehsan, the Flames shot 50% from the field and went 12 of 24 from 3.
Two games, two lopsided wins, and a combined 64 of 124 from the field (51.7%) and 26 of 51 from 3 (51%).
“You know, it’s weird how well we’ve shot the ball in this building,” Ehsan said. “Part of it is coincidence, or timing. I’ve talked to the team over the last couple weeks, we’re going to have a game where multiple guys shoot the ball well, because we have not shot the ball well, especially from 3, for long periods of time. I felt like tonight was probably one of those games where we kind of got going and then the shooting became contagious.”
When it got away
The Braves shooting struggled, but still they managed to build a five-point lead in the first half seven minutes into the game.
They still led by three as the midway part of the first half approached.
But UIC broke away on a 22-6 run over a span of 7:01 to build a 34-23 lead with 3:26 left in the half.
Flames guard Andy Johnson had 11 points in that run for UIC. The Braves went 1 of 7 from the field and 0 of 4 from 3-point range during that stretch.
“We have to give credit to UIC, they were the tougher team,” Bradley forward Timoty van der Knaap said. “They were more physical than us, especially in the first half. They were on fire, they won their last five games. They came here and wanted it more than us.”
UIC poured it on in the second half and led by as much as 24 with four minutes left in the game. The Braves put up an 8-0 run in the final minutes.
“We just didn’t keep our principles,” Bradley center Ahmet Jonovic said. “I think we just need to compete more in the moment when we can’t score. We need to stay clear-minded and execute on the defensive side. We need to do what coach asks us, and play much smarter next time out.”
Bravely Speaking
The Braves slipped to 14-8 overall and 7-4 in conference. They are third in the MVC, two games behind co-leaders Belmont and Murray State, and a half-game ahead of Illinois State and UIC. … UIC improved to 11-10 (6-4), tied for 4th in the Valley. … Bradley scoring leader Jaquan Johnson was held to 5 points on 1 of 7 shooting. He picked up his national-best 68th steal. … Braves forward Timoty van der Knaap just missed a double-double with 12 points and 9 rebounds. … Ahmet Jonovic had 11 points and 5 rebounds. … Alex Huibregtse put in 11 points and a trio of 3s. … The Braves were out-rebounded 37-28. … UIC got a game-high and career-high 26 points from sophomore BYU transfer Elijah Crawford, who was 5 of 6 from 3. … Flames got 18 points from Josiah Hammons and 8 rebound from Sam Silverstein. … Bradley head coach Brian Wardle is 17-5 all-time against UIC, including his years at the helm in Green Bay. … 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. … The Flames are one of only four schools in the nation (with Arizona, Fairfield and UT Martin) to have three freshmen start at least eight times this year. … The Braves are off until Jan. 31, when they face Drake in a 7 p.m. road game.
The Journal Star brought you live updates from Carver Arena. See highlights below:
Bradley vs. UIC final score
FINAL: UIC 85, Bradley 70
3 … and 1
Josiah Hammons hits a corner 3 and is fouled by Matthew Zobrist. He makes the and-1 and Bradley trails 79-58 with 5:56 left.
UIC 71, Bradley 53
UIC is dominating the boards 34-21, and now has 10 made 3-pointers to blow open an 18-point lead.
Clock down to 7:42 left now.
Bradley trails by 12
The Braves are down 57-45 with 12 minutes left. UIC has 9 made 3-pointers. Josiah Hammons just sank one of them, then followed a missed shot by Alex Huibregtse with a breakaway layup.
UIC from 3
The Flames are 8 of 18 from 3-point range in the first 27 minutes.
They came in to this game second-worst in the Valley in 3-point shooting percentage at 30.7%, and second-worst in 3-point shots made at 6.0 per game.
HALFTIME: UIC 39, Bradley 28
Buzzer shot
UIC guard Elijah Crawford sinks a 3 from straightaway as time expires to give the Flames a 39-28 lead over the Braves at halftime.
Jaquan Johnson to the line
The Braves scoring leader, Jaquan Johnson, has no points in the first half, but he is at the free throw line now with 4.9 seconds left.
He splits them.
BU gone cold
The Braves are down 34-23 with 3:26 left as UIC is rolling on a 22-6 run over the last 7:01.
Andy Johnson has 11 points in that run for UIC. The Braves are 1 of 7 from the field and 0 of 4 from 3-point range.
They are shooting 27.3% from the 3-point line and 33.3% from the field. UIC is 50% from distance (5 of 10).
UIC on a run
The Flames put together a 16-2 run over 4:44 to build a 28-19 lead with 5:45 left in the first half.
Andy Johnson has a pair of 3s and three free throws (fouled on a 3-point attempt) during that run.
Bradley missed all five shots it took from the field during that run.
UIC 20, Bradley 19
The Flames are 4 of 8 from 3-point range so far. They are a 30% shooting team from long distance.
Bradley shooting 37.5% from the field and from 3.
Desperate measures
Bradley senior guard Alex Huibregtse heaves up a 3-pointer from the left wing as time is expiring on the shot clock, and it goes in.
BU leads 15-12 with 11:09 left.
A.J. Smith hits from deep
Bradley reaches the first media break with a 12-10 lead on a corner 3 from forward A.J. Smith with 15:30 left.
Hersey Hawkins sitting courtside taking in the game.
Injury update
Bradley freshman guard Dietrich Richardson will miss his second game with a neck strain.
Richardson said he hopes to be medically cleared on Monday for a return to action.
UIC will be without freshman guard A.J. Morgan, ruled out with an injury.
Projected starting lineups
Bradley vs. Illinois-Chicago by the numbers
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Bradley vs UIC live stream options
Bradley vs UIC will be available via ESPN+.
Bradley basketball vs UIC betting odds
Game lines and odds via OddsShark as of late Friday night, Jan. 24:
How Bradley beat Indiana State
What Bradley had to say after rallying from eight points down with under five minutes left to beat Indiana State with a 15-0 run to the buzzer on Wednesday:
Bravely Speaking
Bradley coach Brian Wardle has 107 career wins in the Valley, second all-time for the program. Jim Molinari leads with 110. The BU head coach reached a milestone Wednesday with his 200th overall career win at Bradley’s helm, second-most in program history. … Wardle is 17-4 all-time against UIC, including his years at the helm in Green Bay. … The Braves had just 3 turnovers Wednesday against Indiana State, while forcing 19. The three by BU marked the second-fewest turnovers in a single game in Bradley history, matching three in a loss at Valparaiso on Feb. 22, 2020. The program record is two against Wichita State on Feb. 2, 1989. The records go back to the shot clock era since 1986-87. … BU guard Jaquan Johnson has 67 steals, which leads the nation. His 3.2 steals per game rate is second. … Bradley leads the MVC in forced turnovers at 15.3 per game. … The Braves are 10-1 overall and 6-0 in conference play when they win the rebounding battle. … Bradley is 10-1 in games where Johnson scores 17+ points. … BU is 10-1 in games it allows 70 or fewer points. … Bradley is 52-9 at Carver Arena over the last three seasons. … 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. … The Flames are one of only four schools in the nation (with Arizona, Fairfield and UT Martin) to have three freshmen start at least eight times this year.
Bradley basketball schedule
Record: 14-7
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. Illinois-Chicago: Braves can’t stop Flames’ 3-point shooting in loss
Reporting by Dave Eminian, Peoria Journal Star / Journal Star
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