And the streak goes on.
For the 12th consecutive year on Saturday, Bradley lost a men’s basketball game at Creighton, this time never leading once as the Bluejays posted an 82-71 Missouri Valley Conference victory.
The Jays stormed to a 13-3 lead in the first seven minutes as BU missed 10 of its first 11 field-goal attempts. But the Braves would have their moments in their final regular-season game before a crowd of 15,169.
The visitors clawed to within 33-32 at halftime on Andrew Warren’s buzzer-beating 52-footer.
Then, in the second half, the Braves sliced a 15-point deficit to four as Taylor Brown turned the massive Qwest Center into his own personal playground, scoring 20 second-half points.
But in the end, the Bluejays managed a double-digit victory over BU for the eighth time in those dozen contests, setting up a rematch between the schools in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament quarterfinals Friday at 2:30 p.m. in St. Louis. Creighton (16-14, 10-8) is the fourth seed and Bradley (15-14, 9-9) is the fifth seed.
“Our defense all night let us down,” said BU coach Jim Les. “We had numerous breakdowns and got away from some of our schemes. On the road, in this building, it left a lot to be desired.”
A key stretch came in the opening moments of the second half. After Warren’s halfcourt shot — teammate Sam Maniscalco bagged a similar fling here a year ago — the Braves couldn’t parlay that momentum back onto the court.
Creighton opened with a 9-point run to push its margin back to 10 again.
“We worried about that,” said CU coach Dana Altman about Warren’s long 3-pointer. “(Bradley) bounced off the floor and our guys were thinking they played pretty well, hitting six 3s, and they’re only up one. We got the ball inside to start the second half and hit a couple of buckets. That gave us some energy again.”
Aided by a Les technical foul that cost the Braves four points, Creighton would build its advantage to 53-38 with 13:15 remaining.
But Brown, who came off the bench for the second game in a row, was in the midst of an impressive offensive display, scoring 18 of 30 Bradley points to pull the Braves within 66-62 with 4:49 left.
Five of his nine second-half baskets were on drives down the lane, several of them finished with his left hand.
“I was seeing the lanes were open, especially on the left side,” Brown said. “When my teammates drive and kick it to me, my defender had to help and they’d get it to me to finish the shot.”
Said Altman: “We couldn’t stop them for a while there at all. Brown got to the basket and did whatever the heck he wanted. He’s a handful.”
While Dyricus Simms-Edwards hit a driving shot on the Braves’ next series for a 69-64 deficit at 4:31, that eighth consecutive scoring possession was Bradley’s last hurrah.
Creighton’s Justin Carter followed with a 3-pointer and the Bluejays sank all 10 of their free-throw attempts down the stretch to seal the win.
A key factor for Bradley was foul trouble by center Will Egolf, who fouled out after just five minutes of action. That left BU with backup Sam Singh or Brown in the middle on defense for most of the game.
Those matchups — many within a 2-3 zone — gave Creighton center Kenny Lawson, Jr. an advantage. He scored 20 points to lead the Jays.
“That’s a position we’ve got to get some production out of,” said Les. “Our production the last few games in that position has been unacceptable.”
With Brown now a reserve, the Braves did get unprecedented production from its bench, a three-man group that scored 44 of the team’s 71 points.
Freshman Jake Eastman gave the Braves a big lift, scoring a career-high 13 points.
“They’re not a very aggressive defensive team and they’re more looking to get out and get their offense going,” Eastman said about Creighton. “So I tried to get in the gaps and attack, give us a spark and get to the line.”
Said Les: “Jake got us back in the game in the first half. He was aggressive and that’s what we needed coming off the bench.”
Considering their woes in this town, the Braves would need much more, though, even against a middling Creighton team.
“They’ve gotten us twice so it’s advantage them,” Les said about the impending matchup. “We’ve got our work cut out for us.”
Dave Reynolds can be reached at 686-3210 or at dreynolds@pjstar.com.
