Bradley pulls away late from Missouri State basketball

Missouri State head coach Dana Ford teased there would be changes on the basketball team coming and he wasn't lying. 

Except those changes didn't result in a better result on the scoreboard. 

Bradley (13-5, 4-1) pulled away from Missouri State (8-10, 2-3) with a 91-78 win on Wednesday night at JQH Arena. 

The Bears lost both of their home games on this homestand and will hit the road to play a struggling Evansville team on Saturday. MSU returns home on Jan. 23 to play Valparaiso. 

Here is what happened on Wednesday night:

New lineup, same start

The Bears started the game with three freshmen, Kabir Mohammed and Gaige Prim on the floor, with seniors Tulio Da Silva, Keandre Cook and Lamont West taking a seat. 

Ford had to go back to his seniors quickly as Bradley started the game on a 7-2 run.

After the main seniors returned to the court, they scored the Bears' next 10 points while a 3-pointer from Cook made it a four-point game. 

In response, Bradley's Nate Kennell knocked down a 3-pointer of his own. Before the 10-minute mark of the first half, he had 14 points on 5-of-6 shooting — including starting 4-for-4 from deep. 

Snoozer at half

Bradley, along with Kennell, continued to knock down shots from deep and held an advantage over the Bears on the boards at the half. 

The Braves knocked down eight 3-pointers in the first half, with six of them coming from Kennell. He led the game with 19 points. 

Kennell's final triple of the half came with 58 seconds remaining to take a 16-point lead. In the final minute of the half, Ford Cooper Jr. and West each knocked down a 3 to bring the Bears back within 10 at the break. 

MSU shot 46% in the half to Bradley's 54%, but the Braves had a 20-13 rebound advantage. 

Bears come out on fire to take lead

Missouri State picked up its defensive intensity while it knocked down shots to start the second half to bring the game back within single digits. 

Prim got a jumper inside to go to start the half before Isiaih Mosley drew a foul on a hustle play and knocked down both of his free throws. The 4-0 start to the half put the Bears on a 10-point run extending back to the end of the first half. 

Bradley point guard Darrell Brown ended the Bears' run with a 3-pointer, but the Bears responded with a pair of jumpers from Cook and Ja'Monta Black to cut Bradley's lead to 54-49.

The Bears weren't done there, with Cook knocking down a pair of 3-pointers to go along with a nice Prim bucket on a move in the paint. Cook's second triple of the stretch gave the Bears their first lead of the game with 13:58 left in the game. 

After Bradley responded with a three to tie the game, Black knocked down one of his own to get back out in front. The Bears got a stop and West got a defender to bite on a pump fake before knocking down a triple to go up six.

Bradley's Koch Bar knocked down a free throw before Cooper hit his second 3-pointer of the game to put the Bears up eight. The Bears were on a 31-7 run after the triple — which featured seven 3-pointers.  

Bradley regains lead after finding 3-point shot

All of Bradley's first 19 points of the second half but one came from 3-point range, and the Braves found a groove to tie the game after the Bears went up 10. 

Kennell hit his first triple of the half before Ja'Shon Henry hit one of his own. After a Mosley bucket, Ville Tahvanainen knocked down 3's on back-to-back possessions to tie the game at 70.

The Bears and Braves exchanged buckets before a wide-open Tahvanainen knocked down another three and Brown hit one on the Braves' next possession to go up six with 3:55 remaining.

Bradley puts Bears away 

Missouri State's comeback wasn't meant to be.

Bar got a layup to go before a pair of Brown free throws to start a 4-0 run. The run continued after Kennell hit his seventh 3-pointer of the game for his 25th point to go up 11 with 2:12 to go. 

Missouri State wasn't able to put much of a dent into the Braves' lead as Bradley came away with the victory.

The Braves were 17-for-30 from 3-point range, which was the second-most in school history. 

Quotes

"We knew we were going to sub fast. We knew we were going to be in the game so it didn't really change anything. We just wanted to give them a different look and push the ball a lot tonight and there'd be a bunch of subs and we knew that." — Keandre Cook on coming off the bench

"There's a lot of frustration. We know we have to work hard and bring a little energy and come together more as a team." — Cook on frustration with losing two-straight home games

"There was some improvement. These guys continue to try to work hard but it wasn't enough improvement to get a win in a game we should win. I thought there was some improvements — a couple of guys played with fire for stretches." — Dana Ford on some of the improvement 

"The last group started a game in a 20-point hole. That in itself is why I did that." — Ford on the new starting lineup following a loss to Northern Iowa

"I should have adjusted. I should have went out of that zone. The zone got us back in the game and gave us the lead and I did not adjust. I should have adjusted it and they started hitting them. It's just that simple." — Ford on Bradley's performance from long range

Tyrik Dixon didn't play on Wednesday night. Ford said the point guard will "miss quite some time" with a shoulder injury. 

Wyatt D. Wheeler is a reporter and columnist with the Springfield News-Leader. You can contact him at 417-371-6987, by email at wwheeler@news-leader.com or join the conversation on Twitter where his handle is @WyattWheeler_NL. You can also sign up for his free "Bears Beat" newsletter by subscribing on News-Leader.com.