How Bradley rolled past Illinois-Chicago to tighten MVC basketball race

The Bradley Braves punished Illinois-Chicago from the outside to put themselves back on the inside track in the Missouri Valley Conference race Sunday.

Bradley nailed 11 3-pointers, had a stretch of eight straight points in the paint, and put four players in double figures to knock off UIC, 83-76, in a game they led by as much as 17 points late in the second half at Credit Union 1 Arena in Chicago.

While the Braves were improving to 15-8 overall and 8-4 in the Valley, league co-leaders Belmont and Southern Illinois both lost. That pulled Bradley to within one game of the top spot in the MVC.

Box score: Bradley at Illinois-Chicago | Preview: BU at UIC | Standings: MVC

"It was rewarding today," said Bradley guard Duke Deen, who had a team-high 21 points. "We hurt them inside, made big shots outside. We just found out that Belmont and SIU both lost. That's exciting for us. We have to take care of our own business."

Deen had 21 points and four assists, and hit 4 of 6 from 3-point range and added 7 of 9 at the free throw line — including eight trips to the line in the final minutes to lock the game down.

Malevy Leons had 19 points — including making 3 of 7 from 3-point range, an 8-of-16 shooting day from the field and seven rebounds to form a one-two punch with Deen that snuffed out the Flames.

"Deen made some big shots, momentum-changing 3s," Bradley coach Brian Wardle said. "He was cutting with pace, really set the whole tempo for us and got us moving. He had a terrific game.

"He got to the foul line at the end, really stressed their defense."

Closing time

UIC lost its ninth straight game. A team now 1-11 in conference play, the Flames were amped to host Bradley, having that game circled on the calendar.

"We have to remember that people get excited to play us," Wardle said. "We have to keep up our intensity in games like this and make sure we play the whole 40.

"I thought, defensively, in the second half we actually weren't very good. Didn't really close the game out. We were up 15 at one point and didn't keep our intensity and talk."

The Flames reduced Bradley's lead to one with 14:25 left in the game.

But Bradley countered with a 26-10 run over the next 7:48, hitting 10 of 12 from the field as Leons had a dunk, a layup and 3.

Deen started that run with a jumper, fifth-year senior Ja'Shon Henry had a key sequence in which he hit a jumper-and-1, and Zek Montgomery closed it with a 3 for a 70-53 lead with 6:54 left.

"Ja'Shon Henry had a huge and-1 for us," Wardle said. "He made some senior plays, and we had to limit him because he had foul trouble, but he made big plays in big moments."

Henry fouled out later, and Deen sealed the game with seven free throws in the final 38 seconds while UIC finished the game on a 20-10 run, including a pair of 3s and nine points from Jace Carter.

But Bradley turned it up when it had to.

Deen hit a jumper, then stole a pass and raced down for a pullup 3 for a 49-43 in a span of 72 seconds.

Leons and Rienk Mast delivered consecutive layups, and then Leons hammered home a dunk with 11:58 left.

Mast dropped a hook in for 57-46 to give Bradley eight straight points in the paint with 11:25 left.

Ja'Shon Henry backed into the paint, turned and hit a jumper and-1 for a 62-51 lead with 8:53 left.

Then guard Connor Hickman stole the ball to break up UIC's answering possession, fed Leons, and he drained a 3 for 65-51 with 8:28 left.

It was enough to hold off UIC, which missed its first nine attempts from 3, then re-loaded and went 9 of 15 from long range the rest of the way.

"We started seeing how to break them inside and then we hit all those 3s and just deflated them," Leons said. "I felt great, my shots were falling in."

The UIC series

Deen had 35 points in 43 minutes combined in the two-game series against UIC, which the Braves swept 79-45 and 83-76. Montgomery had 30 points and 14 boards in 63 minutes during the Flames. Mast had 28 points and 25 rebounds in 61 minutes.

Bradley shot 19-of-45 from 3-point distance in the series.

UIC star Jace Carter had 42 points, 17 rebounds in 70 minutes in the two games against BU.

"I didn't think it was just this opponent that made me feel comfortable, we were doing things that worked, running our plan and I was getting my shots down," Deen said. "It's our team, how we made things work."

In the huddle

• Bradley forward Malevy Leons, on starting strongly against a UIC team that had lost 8 straight: "We wanted to come out aggressively against them, just be in control of the game."

• Bradley coach Brian Wardle, hearing that Belmont and SIU both lost Sunday to tighten the race for BU: "We'll see what happens next."

Bravely Speaking

Bradley is 15-8 overall, 8-4 in the Valley. UIC is 9-14 (1-11). … MVC co-leaders Belmont and Southern Illinois both lost Sunday, allowing the pack to close within one game. Belmont lost to Drake, 79-61, and SIU lost to Illinois State, 72-66. That left SIU and Belmont in first at 9-3, while Bradley, Drake and Northern Iowa all sat at 8-4. … Bradley has Southern Illinois at home on Wednesday. … Bradley senior Ja'Shon Henry fouled out with 4:16 left in the game. … Rienk Mast had 15 points and eight rebounds for the Braves, while Zek Montgomery added 15 points and seven rebounds. … UIC's nine-game losing streak started on New Year's Eve with a 79-45 loss to Bradley in Carver Arena.

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 Twitter @icetimecleve.

FINAL: Bradley 83, UIC 76

Braves 70, UIC 58

3:49 p.m.: Bradley in command with 3:47 left. Ja'Shon Henry has fouled out.

Malevy Leons with 19, Duke Deen with 14, and they have combined for seven 3s.

Bradley opens big lead

3:36 p.m.: Rienk Mast dropped a hook in for 57-46 to give Bradley eight straight points in the paint with 11:25 left.

Ja'Shon Henry backed into the paint, turned and hit a jumper and-1 for a 62-51 lead with 8:53 left.

Then Connor Hickman stole the ball to break up UIC's answering possession, fed Malevy Leons, and he drained a 3 for 65-51 with 8:28 left. Leons has 19.

Braves respond

3:25 p.m.: UIC closed to within 44-43 with 14:42 left in the game.

But the Braves responded with an 11-3 lead over the next 2:44 to build a 55-46 lead.

Duke Deen hit a jumper, then stole a pass and raced down for a pullup 3 for a 49-43 lead 72 seconds later.

Leons and Mast delivered consecutive layups, and then Leons hammered home a dunk with 11:58 left.

Flames on a run

3:11 p.m.: UIC's Jace Carter hits a pair of 3s on either side of Tre Anderson's driving layup in the first 2:03 of the second half and suddenly Bradley's lead is cut to 39-36.

Bradley takes a timeout.

HALFTIME

2:53 p.m.: Bradley 36, UIC 28

Closing time

2:52 pm.: The Flames, meanwhile, missed their first nine shots from 3-point range before Christian Jones made their 10th attempt from the right corner with 4 seconds left.

Bradley went to halftime up 36-28 on nine points from Duke Deen, eight from Zek Montgomery and seven each from Malevy Leons and Rienk Mast.

The Braves had 11 assists in the first half.

Deen hits another 3

2:40 p.m.: Deen drained another 3 for a 28-19 lead with 6:23 left, giving him nine points on a trio of 3s during a 17-5 Bradley run over 5:02.

The Duke reigns

2:29 p.m.: Bradley guard Duke Deen hits a 3, then sets up Rienk Mast for a layup and Malevy Leons for a dunk to help build a 24-19 lead with 7:54 left in the first half.

Bradley strikes for the lead

2:24 p.m.: The Braves came off a media timeout with back-to-back 3s by Duke Deen and Malevy Leons 20 seconds apart to take a 17-14 lead and force a quick timeout by UIC with 10:45 left.

Tahvanainen for 3

2:22 p.m.: The Braves drifted behind by five before Ville Tahvanainen came off the bench for a 3 from the left corner to pull them within 13-11 with 11:54 left.

Zek starts quick

2:11 p.m.: Bradley wing Zek Montgomery hits a jumper and makes two free throws to cover most of Bradley's scoring early.

UIC up 7-6 as the first media break arrives.

Starting lineups

1:59 p.m.: Bradley going with guards Duke Deen and Connor Hickman, forward Malevy Leons, wing Zek Montgomery and center Rienk Mast.

UIC counters with guards Jace Carter, Christian Jones, Tre Anderson, Toby Okani and forward Filip Skobalj.

Other Bradley basketball stories

• Analysis: 14 things to know about Bradley after the first half of the Valley season

• Newest Brave: High-scoring prep combo guard from Milwaukee commits to Bradley basketball

• 'Technology, trust and an 11-hour flight: How Bradley landed this unique 7-foot-1 recruit

• Braves vs. Braves: How does Bradley compare to its recent tournament teams?

• Darius Hannah: Bradley Braves man in the middle has found a basketball family

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: How Bradley rolled past Illinois-Chicago to tighten MVC race