2020-2021 Season Recap

Bradley tipped off their season at the Cintas Center in Cincinnati, Ohio for the Xavier Invitational. Bradley came away with the victory in Game 1 against a tough Toledo team 61-59 on a buzzer beating layup by Terry Nolan Jr, that was featured on SportsCenter. The Braves would lose at the free throw line in the second game against Xavier 51-50 after Nolan Jr was unable to convert a one-and-one that would have tied the game and given Bradley a chance to secure the victory. Bradley rebounded nicely in the next game against Oakland with a 74-60 victory that would send the Braves back to Peoria with a 2-1 record. 

Bradley would then open up a 5 game home stand, in which they would go a very impressive 4-1. They opened things up with a game against Division 3 Judson University and the Braves rolled to a 105-32 victory, a game that saw 5 Bradley players finish in double figures. The lone home loss would come next against a young and talented South Dakota State team who would go 17-26 from beyond the arc, good for an outrageous 65.4%. The Braves would finish up the home stand with 3 straight victories against D-2 Lewis University, Jackson State and Miami(Ohio), the latter of which was won on another Terry Nolan Jr layup late in the game. In what was perhaps the robbery of the season the Braves went to Columbia, Missouri to take on the then #14 Mizzou Tigers and took them down to the wire. If it wasn't for a missed free throw by freshman Jayson Kent, a blatant backcourt violation that went uncalled, and a very questionable and-1 Bradley would have won this game but instead they fall 54-53 and wrapped up non-conference play 6-3. 

After some COVID-19 issues postponed Bradley's opening Valley series's against Valparaiso and Loyola-Chicago it was nearly 4 weeks before the Braves would play another game. Their MVC season would finally tip off January 10/11 on the road against a UNI team that was the preseason favorite to win the Valley.  The first game wouldn't go as Bradley planned, falling 78-72 to UNI thanks in large part to a game high 18 points from Austin Phyfe. The Braves would respond with a 3 game winning streak that included a victory in game 2 over UNI 75-73 and a Saturday/Sunday sweep of Evansville. Through 4 games Bradley was off to a great start in conference sitting at 3-1. The winning ways would be few and far between the rest of the season for the Braves. They would follow up that strong start with a 6 game losing streak, where they would lose 4 of those games by double digits. Those losses were on the road against Illinois State, at home against Loyola-Chicago twice, and then a road game at Valpo and two more road games at Indiana State. The second loss to Indiana State was a particularly rough day for the Braves, shooting just 17% from 3 and turning the ball over 12 times in a 67-55 defeat. 

From 3-1 to 3-7 Bradley was reeling but they had a home series against Southern Illinois up next with a chance to get back on track. They would do just that with an impressive 74-66 victory where the Braves were led by game high scorer Terry Nolan Jr with 23 points. Game 2 saw Bradley lead most of the game before letting SIU get back into the game and get up by as many as 8 points in the second half. The Braves would show heart and battle back to tie the game at 68 all before Ja'Shon Henry was called for a ticky tack foul with 2 seconds left that allowed SIU to knock down a free throw and steal the game 69-68. The next matchup was a road rematch against Valpo and Bradley would put together their most complete and most impressive win of the season in a 76-52 rout. 6 Braves scored in double figures and they were led by Ville Tahvanainen's 14 points. That victory put Bradley back to .500 at 11-11 overall and 5-8 in Valley play. 

Bradley would find themselves shorthanded for the Missouri State series, after losing 4 players minutes before the game, and would drop both of those games 80-58 and 72-57. The next two games wouldn't fair any better for the Braves as they would get beat by 17 at home courtesy of the ISU Redbirds and then Drake would come into town and take game 1 by a score of 80-71. The regular season would end on a high note though as Bradley, with just 6 scholarship players available, would find a way to beat Drake at home 67-61 to deny the Bulldogs a share of the MVC regular season title. Darrius Hannah had his welcome to Peoria moment in that game when he put Drake's Joseph Yesufu on a poster with a vicious and-one dunk that got everyone in Carver Arena on their feet. Despite the victory the Braves would still finish the season an underwhelming and unexpected 12-15 overall and just 6-12 in the MVC. 

Riding high off their season finale victory Bradley looked to go down to Arch Madness, where they hadn't lost in two years, and try and punch their ticket to the NCAA tourney. With 8 players healthy and ready to go come game time Bradley was already stretched thin before the game even tipped off. Every time the Braves got something going offensively and started cutting into SIU's lead, the Salukis had an answer and kept Bradley at a distance the entire game. When the final buzzer sounded Bradley was on a wrong side of a 73-63 and their run at Arch Madness had come to an end. Rienk Mast did provide Bradley fans with a little bit of hope with a 24 point 10 rebound performance despite the tough loss. 

Elijah Childs was the Braves leading scorer this season at 14.2ppg followed by Terry Nolan Jr at 11.2 and Ja'Shon Henry at 10.9. Childs also led the Braves in rebounding at 8.3rpg and Center Ari Boya, who missed a chunk of the season with a foot injury, was second at 6.6 rebounds per game.