PEORIA — Bradley Braves center Ahmet Jonovic proved to be a big problem Saturday for Illinois State.
The 7-foot-1, 260-pound Serbian found himself often guarded by Landon Wolf. He’s a 6-foot-5 guard.
“I’ve been guarded back home, and here, by all kinds of players,” Jonovic said, grinning. “So it was fine. You focus on not making an offensive foul, staying balanced and execute the play the coach sends.”
Jonovic did exactly that, delivering 14 points on 5 of 7 shooting in 21 minutes. He forced Wolf into four fouls. He grabbed six rebounds – of which five were offensive. He jammed a ball back at Wolf for a blocked shot.
“Because (he) was smaller I was trying to attack them down, get closer to the basket and make sure of my balance because they try a couple times to pull the chair on me and make me travel,” Jonovic said. “It worked out OK.”
It was an important game for Jonovic and his fellow big men. Bradley head coach Brian Wardle said the team needed more from its 4s and 5s after Wednesday’s loss at Valparaiso.
They got more on Saturday. Jonovic, A.J. Smith and Timoty van der Knaap combined for 32 points and 20 rebounds.
“Our 4s and 5s played well today,” Wardle said. “If you look at our rebounding numbers, how they defended, that’s all we need. It’s all we need. We’ll always find ways to win games if we can get that consistent production there at the 4 and 5 spots.”
Why the mismatch?
Illinois State was without its leading scorer and elite center, 6-foot-9, 280-pound hammer Chase Walker. He missed his third straight game while recovering from a hamstring strain.
They opted to shift to a small lineup in hopes they’d force Bradley’s big men off the floor. Wardle referred to opposing small-ball lineups as something that scares him. But the Braves kept their bigs out there. And Jonovic made ISU pay.
“Yeah, it certainly was tough,” Wolf said. “(Jonovic is) obviously a really good player, too. He gets to his spots and obviously, being undersized and trying to push him off the block … he doesn’t move much. So it was tough. It was frustrating.”
The Redbirds had 7-foot-1 Brandon Lieb available, but he played less than 13 minutes. Doubling in the post and helping defensively when the ball went inside was part of the game plan, but it just didn’t stop Jonovic.
With Walker in the lineup in their Jan. 17 matchup in Normal, Jonovic had 7 points, 6 rebounds, 2 blocked shots and was handcuffed with 4 fouls in Bradley’s 26-point loss.
“I thought we were giving away a lot of height and weight there (in Saturday’s rematch),” ISU head coach Ryan Pedon said. “I thought they did a good job of creating opportunities for Meta inside. You gotta battle, fight, give a greater level of effort than anybody around you.
“He has a way of wearing on you because of his size. There was no throwing in the towel. When any team loses its leading scorer it’s going to effect you. And we don’t have a ton of depth at the center position.”
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: How Illinois State came up short vs the Bradley Braves 7-foot-1 Serbian center
Reporting by Dave Eminian, Peoria Journal Star / Journal Star
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