ST. LOUIS — Forward Darius Hannah scored 17 points, including 12 in the second half, to carry No. 2 seed Bradley past No.7 seed Murray State, 70-62 in the quarterfinal round of the State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament at Enterprise Center Friday night.
Bradley, winning its fourth straight game, improved to 25-7 overall while advancing to the Arch Madness semifinals for a 23rd time where it will face the winner of the Valparaiso-Northern Iowa game which was played later Friday night. The 25 wins equal the ninth-best total in program history, also matched by the 2022-23 and 1946-47 teams.
Behind Hannah, Bradley shot 56 percent (14-25) from the floor in the second half.
Senior guard Duke Dean added 16 points for Bradley, while freshman guard Jaquan came off the bench scoring 11 points. Deen made two three-point baskets, pushing his career total to 101 three-point baskets joining Jeremy Crouch (118 in 2007-08) as the only players in Bradley history to reach triple digits in a season.
Clinging to a 29-28 lead in the second half. Bradley made six straight shots, including two baskets from Hannah, to open up a 42-34 lead with 12:04 remaining. The Braves used a 7-0 run to seal the victory, expanding a 56-51 lead into a 63-51 cushion with 2:24 left following a dunk by Hannah. Murray State made just three of 14 shots in the final 3:37 of the game, while shooting just 32.3 percent (10-31) in the second half.
Junior center Ahmet Jonovic secured his career-best 10th rebound of the game on a follow-slam with 7:54 left in the game for a 51-43 Bradley lead, eclipsing his previous high of nine rebounds most-recently achieved in the last matchup against Murray State Feb. 22.
The Braves improved to 42-41 all-time at the MVC Tournament, advancing to the semifinals for the third consecutive year and the sixth time in eight years Bradley head coach Brian Wardle earned his 12th career MVC Tournament victory, eclipsing Jim Molinari (11) for the most in program history and moving into a tie for sixth place on the league’s all-time list for MVC Tournament wins.
Bradley completed a three-game, season sweep of Murray State and the fourth consecutive win overall against the Racers gives the Braves a 12-9 series edge.
Bradley entered Friday’s game leading the NCAA in three-point field goal percentage, but started the game 1-for-8 (.125) and finished the game (3-for-13) from beyond the arc. Bradley’s three 3-pointers were the fewest in a game for the Braves this season. The Braves countered the off-shooting night from 3-point range by outscoring Murray State 36-26 in the paint.Bradley finished with a season-low six assists.
Senior guard Kylen Milton contributed a team-high 20 points for Murray State. Murray State senior forward Nick Ellington registered his fourth double-double of the season with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Senior guard AJ Ferguson collected his first double-double of the season with 12 points and a team-high 11 rebounds.
Murray State closed out the season with a 16-17 record.
Racers senior guard Terrence Harcum struggled to repeat his outstanding performance in Thursday’s opening round against Evansville (31 points, seven 3-pointers), finishing with just six points. Senior point guard JaCobi Wood, the Racers’ active leader with 1,688 career points, topped the team with six assists but was held scoreless for the first time this season.
