Things were looking up for the Evansville basketball team at the final media timeout of the first half Saturday at Bradley.
Redshirt senior Blake Simmons drained a 3-pointer from the right corner to notch career point No. 1,000. That made it a one-point game and helped erase the Braves’ 14-2 run to start off the night.
Then, the Purple Aces went cold. Ice cold, and it bled into the second half.
Bradley scored the next 16 points of the game and cruised to a 66-53 victory, extending its Carver Arena record to a perfect 10-0 in front of a season-best crowd of 6,205. UE (12-9, 2-6) lost its third straight game and traveled back from Peoria, Illinois, in sole possession of last place in the Missouri Valley Conference.
In a span of 6 minutes, 12 seconds, the Braves (14-7, 4-4) pushed their lead from 26-25 to 42-25.
Neither team had a timeout left in the last four minutes of the opening half. Bradley didn’t flinch.
Sophomore Nate Kennell popped a wide-open 3 from the wing to begin the run. Junior Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye followed suit two possessions later. Later, on each team’s final possession before the break, Lautier-Ogunleye forced MVC leading scorer Ryan Taylor into a tough shot – holding him scoreless for the half – and senior Donte Thomas drained a kick-out, corner 3 to cap a 10-0 run in the closing seconds.
It was just Thomas’ third trey of the season.
Nothing came easy for the Aces, who shot 30.0 percent in the first half and 33.3 in the second. It was a continuation of Wednesday’s Indiana State game when they were held to 34.6 percent on the game. Averaging 0.79 points per possession against the Braves was the second-lowest of the season ahead of the blowout at Duke.
Taylor was limited to a season-low 10 points on 4 of 17 field-goal shooting. It was a forgettable week for the 6-foot-6 junior, who was 3 of 16 in a loss to the Sycamores.
An 11-point halftime deficit wasn’t unsurmountable. But not even the break could halt the momentum Bradley had built.
Elijah Childs posted up in the paint and made a contested jump hook to start the second stanza. After another forced shot by Taylor, Braves’ senior Darrell Brown got a tear-drop layup to fall to extend the lead to 40-25. A couple possessions later, Childs forced a steal on a pick-and-roll pass from Dru Smith that led to a two-handed dunk by Lautier-Ogunleye in transition.
UE kept fighting and trimmed the lead to five at 44-39 after a trey by Smith with 12:21 to go.
But it was the same story. Kennell answered with a 3 on the way to Bradley ballooning its lead back up to 14. The Aces were in the bonus for the remaining 5:54, but earned just two trips to the free-throw line down the stretch until the final seconds of the game.
Up next, UE travels north for a 7 p.m. tip against Valparaiso (11-9, 2-5), which hosts Loyola at 3 p.m. Sunday.
BOX SCORE
BRADLEY 66, EVANSVILLE 53
PURPLE ACES (12-9, 2-6): Traore 0-1 0-1 0, Taylor 4-17 1-2 10, Smith 3-6 2-2 9, Riley 1-6 4-4 6, Simmons 4-10 0-0 12, Hall 1-2 0-0 2, Chatkevicius 3-9 1-1 7, Frederking 2-6 2-2 7. Totals 18-57 10-12 53.
BRAVES (14-7, 4-4): Thomas 4-8 4-7 13, Childs 4-8 3-6 11, Brown 6-16 2-2 17, Lautier-Ogunleye 4-8 2-3 12, Hodgson 3-5 0-0 7, van Bree 0-1 0-0 0, Bar 0-1 0-0 0, Kennell 2-7 0-0 6. Totals 23-54 11-18 66.
Halftime--Bradley 36-25. 3-Point Goals--Evansville 7-18 (Simmons 4-7, Frederking 1-1, Smith 1-3, Taylor 1-7), Bradley 9-24 (Brown 3-8, Lautier-Ogunleye 2-4, Kennell 2-7, Thomas 1-1, Hodgson 1-2, van Bree 0-1, Childs 0-1). Fouled Out--None. Rebounds--Evansville 25 (Chatkevicius 8), Bradley 39 (Thomas 12). Assists--Evansville 10 (Smith, Frederking 3), Bradley 11 (Lautier-Ogunleye 4). Total Fouls--Evansville 20, Bradley 17. A--6,205 (11,433).