It probably should come as no surprise Saturday that Bradley’s extreme roller-coaster basketball season would reach new heights. Especially since it came off one of the Braves’ lowest depths.
For the first time in Carver Arena’s 28-year history, the Braves defeated a ranked opponent, thumping No. 19 Northern Iowa 68-59 before an aroused crowd of 9,887.
The loss for the Panthers (22-3, 13-2) prevented them from clinching their first-ever Missouri Valley Conference outright title.
And there was this: The Braves opted for a second-half comeback instead of the kind of the team’s all-too-common second-half meltdown that saw them squander a 12-point lead to arch-rival Illinois State with 10 minutes left on Tuesday.
BU trailed the Panthers at halftime 32-23, but used an 11-0 run out of the locker room to take its first lead.
“Coach got on us (at halftime),” said BU center Will Egolf. “The halftime talk was pretty rigorous.”
Consequently, the second-half defense was even more rigorous.
The Braves stifled UNI on just 19 percent shooting (5-for-26) the final 20 minutes
“We did a good job of taking away things they like to do in the second half,” said BU coach Jim Les. “The first half, not so much. In the first half, we were a step slow. In the second half, we were a step ahead.”
UNI center Jordan Eglseder was particularly stymied. After a productive first half, the 7-foot, 280-pound giant was 0-for-4 with four turnovers the second period.
“I was doing everything I could,” said Egolf. “He’s a big, big boy. It’s a team effort. There’s no way I could guard him on my own. I’d front him and then get help on the backside.”
The defensive intensity began immediately in half No. 2 when Taylor Brown stole a pass, triggering a breakaway layup by Chris Roberts.
Then came an extremely frustrating possession for UNI as Eglseder missed three consecutive point-blank layups, the last one a Roberts block.
Bradley flipped it into an Andrew Warren 3-pointer, cutting the deficit to 32-28 at 18:58.
Then the usually sure-handed Panthers turned the ball over on four of their next five possessions. When they looked up at 14:48, Bradley had its first lead of the game 34-32 on Sam Maniscalco’s 15-foot jumper.
“The turning point was erasing the nine-point halftime lead quickly,” Les said. “The schemes didn’t change. The intensity and the effort did.”
UNI quickly regained the lead, but only briefly. Bradley used another surge, this one 10-2 and capped by Dyricus Simms-Edwards’ drive and free throw.
Again, the Panthers came back, tying it at 46 on two Johnny Moran free throws.
But here came the Braves, once more using inspired defense to spark a 9-1 burst and 55-47 lead, sealed by a Roberts drive and free throw.
“They came out and put a little more pressure on the ball and looked to deny passes more in the second half,” said UNI coach Ben Jacobson. “It’s not something we haven’t seen before. I didn’t think we handled it very well.”
Warren led the Braves with 15 points. But it was the play of the inconsistent Roberts, whose 13 points, two steals, eight deflections and the big block were huge for the home team.
The win for the Braves (13-12, 8-7) left the Braves in a tie for fourth place in the MVC with Creighton with three league games to play.
“It’s a great sign of maturity after the disappointment of the other night to come back this quickly,” Les said. “When they play with that kind of energy and effort, there isn’t a team we can’t beat. We just have to stay with that formula.”
Dave Reynolds can be reached at 686-3210 or at dreynolds@pjstar.com.
