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2023–24 Bradley Braves men's basketball team

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2023–24 Bradley Braves men's basketball
SoCal Challenge Surf Division Champions
NIT, Second Round
ConferenceMissouri Valley Conference
Record23–12 (13–7 MVC)
Head coach
Associate head coachMike Bargen
Assistant coaches
  • Jimmie Foster
  • Mike Black
Home arenaCarver Arena
Seasons
2023–24 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
Indiana State 17 3   .850 32 7   .821
Drake 16 4   .800 28 7   .800
Bradley 13 7   .650 23 12   .657
Northern Iowa 12 8   .600 19 14   .576
Belmont 12 8   .600 20 13   .606
Southern Illinois 11 9   .550 19 13   .594
Illinois State 9 11   .450 15 17   .469
Murray State 9 11   .450 12 20   .375
Missouri State 8 12   .400 17 16   .515
Evansville 6 14   .300 17 18   .486
UIC 4 16   .200 12 21   .364
Valparaiso 3 17   .150 7 25   .219
2024 MVC tournament winner

The 2023–24 Bradley Braves men's basketball team represented Bradley University during the 2023–24 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Braves, led by ninth-year head coach Brian Wardle, played their home games at Carver Arena located in Peoria, Illinois, as members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 23–12, 13–7 in MVC play to finish in third place. They defeated UIC in the quarterfinals of the MVC tournament before losing to Drake. They received a bid to the National Invitation Tournament as a No. 3 seed. They defeated Loyola Chicago before losing to Cincinnati in the second round.

Previous season

[edit]

The Braves finished the 2022–23 season 25–10, 16–4 in MVC play to win the regular season championship for the first time since 1996.[1] They defeated Northern Iowa and Indiana State in the MVC tournament before losing to Drake in the championship game.[2] As a regular season champion who did not win their conference tournament, they received an automatic bid to the NIT.[3] There they lost to Wisconsin in the first round.[4]

Roster

[edit]
2023–24 Bradley Braves men's basketball team
Players Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown
G 0 Demarion Burch 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Fr Milwaukee-Hamilton High School Milwaukee, Wisconsin
F 1 Almar Atlason 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 230 lb (104 kg) Fr KR Reykjavík Reykjavík, Iceland
G 2 Emarion Ellis 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS So Marquette Davenport, Iowa
C 4 Ahmet Jonovic 7 ft 1 in (2.16 m) 260 lb (118 kg) So OKK Beograd Prijepolje, Serbia
G/F 5 Christian Davis 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) 200 lb (91 kg) RS Jr Le Moyne Denver, Colorado
G 10 Connor Hickman 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 200 lb (91 kg) Jr Bloomington High School South Bloomington, Indiana
G 12 Cade Hardtke (W) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 190 lb (86 kg) Jr Glenbard South High School Lombard, Illinois
G 13 Sam Hennessy (W) 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Jr Benet Academy Naperville, Illinois
F 14 Malevy Leons 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 210 lb (95 kg) GS Mineral Area College IJmuiden, Netherlands
G 21 Duke Deen 5 ft 8 in (1.73 m) 170 lb (77 kg) Sr Troy Shreveport, Louisiana
F 24 Kyle Thomas 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) 235 lb (107 kg) So Eastern Illinois Bolingbrook, Illinois
F 25 Goanar Biliew 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Sr Des Moines Area Community College Denison, Iowa
F 34 Connor Linke 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 240 lb (109 kg) Sr St. Charles North High School St. Charles, Illinois
F 35 Darius Hannah 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) 205 lb (93 kg) Sr Milwaukee Academy of Science Milwaukee, Wisconsin
Head coach
Assistant coach(es)

Legend
  • (C) Team captain
  • (S) Suspended
  • (I) Ineligible
  • (W) Walk-on

Roster
Last update: November 16, 2023

Schedule and results

[edit]
Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site (attendance)
city, state
Exhibition
November 1, 2023*
7:00 pm
St. Ambrose W 74–61 
Carver Arena (3,841)
Peoria, IL
Regular season
November 6, 2023*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at UAB W 73–71 OT 1–0
Bartow Arena (3,632)
Birmingham, AL
November 11, 2023*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Utah State W 72–66 OT 2–0
Carver Arena (5,845)
Peoria, IL
November 14, 2023*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Tarleton State
SoCal Challenge campus site game
W 86–63  3–0
Carver Arena (4,032)
Peoria, IL
November 20, 2023*
9:30 pm, CBSSN
vs. Tulane
SoCal Challenge Surf Division semifinals
W 80–77  4–0
The Pavilion at JSerra (498)
San Juan Capistrano, CA
November 22, 2023*
9:30 pm, CBSSN
vs. UTEP
SoCal Challenge Surf Division championship
W 63–59  5–0
The Pavilion at JSerra (499)
San Juan Capistrano, CA
November 25, 2023*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Vermont W 79–70  6–0
Carver Arena (5,068)
Peoria, IL
November 29, 2023
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at Murray State L 72–79  6–1
(0–1)
CFSB Center (5,211)
Murray, KY
December 2, 2023
1:00 pm, ESPNU
Indiana State L 77–85  6–2
(0–2)
Carver Arena (5,639)
Peoria, IL
December 5, 2023*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at Akron L 52–67  6–3
James A. Rhodes Arena (3,100)
Akron, OH
December 15, 2023*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Cleveland State L 69–76  6–4
Carver Arena (4,842)
Peoria, IL
December 18, 2023*
7:00 pm
vs. Duquesne L 67–69  6–5
Lebron James Arena (1,375)
Akron, OH
December 21, 2023*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
SIU Edwardsville W 75–64  7–5
Carver Arena (4,875)
Peoria, IL
December 28, 2023*
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Truman State W 69–47  8–5
Carver Arena (4,866)
Peoria, IL
January 3, 2024
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at Valparaiso W 86–61  9–5
(1–2)
Athletics–Recreation Center (1,328)
Valparaiso, IN
January 6, 2024
3:00 pm, ESPN+
Missouri State W 86–60  10–5
(2–2)
Carver Arena (5,174)
Peoria, IL
January 10, 2024
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Evansville W 86–50  11–5
(3–2)
Carver Arena (4,093)
Peoria, IL
January 13, 2024
1:00 pm, ESPN+
at UIC W 77–59  12–5
(4–2)
Credit Union 1 Arena (1,328)
Chicago, IL
January 17, 2024
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at Southern Illinois W 70–69  13–5
(5–2)
Banterra Center (4,614)
Carbondale, IL
January 20, 2024
1:00 pm, ESPN+
Belmont W 95–72  14–5
(6–2)
Carver Arena (6,521)
Peoria, IL
January 24, 2024
6:00 pm, ESPN+
Murray State W 71–63  15–5
(7–2)
Carver Arena (4,581)
Peoria, IL
January 27, 2024
5:00 pm, ESPN+
at Indiana State L 86–95 OT 15–6
(7–3)
Hulman Center (8,223)
Terre Haute, IN
January 31, 2024
7:00 pm, CBSSN
Northern Iowa W 85–69  16–6
(8–3)
Carver Arena (4,861)
Peoria, IL
February 3, 2024
5:00 pm, ESPN+
at Illinois State
I-74 Rivalry
W 73–60  17–6
(9–3)
CEFCU Arena (6,871)
Normal, IL
February 7, 2024
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at Evansville L 70–73  17–7
(9–4)
Ford Center (3,542)
Evansville, IN
February 10, 2024
5:00 pm, ESPN+
Drake L 67–74  17–8
(9–5)
Carver Arena (8,023)
Peoria, IL
February 14, 2024
7:00 pm, ESPN+
UIC W 85–73  18–8
(10–5)
Carver Arena (4,403)
Peoria, IL
February 18, 2024
3:00 pm, ESPN+
at Northern Iowa L 63–74  18–9
(10–6)
McLeod Center (3,780)
Cedar Falls, IA
February 21, 2024
7:00 pm, ESPN+
at Missouri State W 86–62  19–9
(11–6)
Great Southern Bank Arena 
Springfield, MO
February 24, 2024
5:00 pm, ESPN+
Illinois State
I-74 Rivalry
W 48–45  20–9
(12–6)
Carver Arena (9,201)
Peoria, IL
February 28, 2024
7:00 pm, ESPN+
Southern Illinois W 86–67  21–9
(13–6)
Carver Arena (6,168)
Peoria, IL
March 3, 2024
1:00 pm, ESPN+
at Drake L 66–74  21–10
(13–7)
Knapp Center (6,051)
Des Moines, IA
MVC Tournament
March 8, 2024
8:30 pm, MVC TV
(3) vs. (11) UIC
Quarterfinals
W 74–47  22–10
Enterprise Center (5,813)
St. Louis, MO
March 9, 2024
5:00 pm, CBSSN
(3) vs. (2) Drake
Semifinals
L 67–72  22–11
Enterprise Center 
St. Louis, MO
NIT
March 20, 2024*
6:00 pm, ESPN+
(3) Loyola Chicago
First Round – Indiana State Bracket
W 74–62  23–11
Carver Arena (4,691)
Peoria, IL
March 23, 2024*
1:00 pm, ESPN+
(3) at (2) Cincinnati
Second Round – Indiana State Bracket
L 57–74  23–12
Fifth Third Arena (4,732)
Cincinnati, OH
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.
All times are in Central.

Sources:[5][6]

References

[edit]
  1. ^ "Bradley wins MVC Regular Season Title for first time since 1996, defeating Drake 73-61". 25newsnow.com. 27 February 2023. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  2. ^ "Drake vs. Bradley - Men's College Basketball Box Score - March 5, 2023". ESPN. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  3. ^ Jacques, Mike "Jocko" (2023-03-12). "Badgers men's basketball makes NIT after not being selected to NCAA Tournament". www.nbc15.com. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  4. ^ "Bradley vs. Wisconsin - Men's College Basketball Game Recap - March 14, 2023". ESPN. Retrieved November 10, 2023.
  5. ^ "2023-24 Men's Basketball Schedule". Bradley University Athletics. Retrieved November 16, 2023.
  6. ^ "Bradley Braves 2023-24 Regular Season NCAAM Schedule". ESPN. Retrieved November 16, 2023.