Bradley Braves: 20-14, 9-9 in the Missouri Valley Conference
Head coach: Brian Wardle (4th season)
Players to watch: Darrell Brown (14.7 PPG, 3.1 APG, 43.9 3PT%); Elijah Childs (12.2 PPG, 7.8 RPG, 1.4 BPG); Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye (8.6 PPG, 5.4 RPG, 2.2 APG)
Season recap: With an 0-5 conference record at the start of league play, Bradley's tournament hopes looked bleak at best. Despite a deep roster with plenty of size, the Braves' inability to consistently score gave smaller and quicker teams windows to create early leads and leave Bradley playing catch-up.
However, after struggling to find an offensive identity through January, the Braves finally found a spark of life in Darrell Brown. Behind a 29-point performance from Brown, Bradley upset MVC top dog Northern Iowa 79-71 on the road. The Braves followed it up with a 96-67 drubbing of Indiana State, a 61-54 win over Loyola-Chicago and a 65-59 victory against Illinois State. In each of those wins, Brown led the way with double-digit points, using contributions from Elijah Childs and Nate Kennell to keep the offense rolling.
Since their February hot streak, the Braves have improved significantly on both sides of the ball. Thanks to the size and athleticism of its guards, Bradley has given opponents' shooters headaches all season. And with an absurdly deep 12-man rotation, the Braves have been able to keep fresh legs and spread out their scoring.
After clawing its way to a No. 5 seed in the MVC tournament, Bradley managed to take down the Ramblers and the Panthers by a combined margin of five points to punch a ticket to the big dance.
How they make a run: The Braves' defensive prowess catches streakier teams by surprise, and they are able to hold opponents' sharpshooters in check. Behind stellar play from Brown and a versatile attack from multiple options off the bench, Bradley secures an early upset.
How they falter: The scoring just doesn't come for the Braves, and they find themselves in an early hole. Without much experience playing against dominant big men found on elite-level teams, Bradley's interior presence crumbles and the Braves are sent home early.
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