2024–25 Bradley Braves men's basketball team

2024–25 Bradley Braves men's basketball
2024–25 Bradley Braves men's basketball
Myrtle Beach Invitational
Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
Record	15–3 (6–1 MVC)
Head coach	Brian Wardle (10th season);
Associate head coach	Mike Bargen
Assistant coaches	Jimmie Foster; Mike Black;
Home arena	Carver Arena
	Seasons ← 2023–24 2025–26 →

2024–25 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
v t e	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Bradley	6	–	1	.857	15	–	3	.833
Drake	5	–	2	.714	15	–	2	.882
Belmont	5	–	2	.714	13	–	5	.722
Northern Iowa	5	–	2	.714	11	–	7	.611
UIC	4	–	3	.571	11	–	6	.647
Murray State	4	–	3	.571	10	–	8	.556
Valparaiso	3	–	4	.429	10	–	8	.556
Indiana State	3	–	4	.429	9	–	9	.500
Evansville	3	–	4	.429	6	–	12	.333
Illinois State	2	–	5	.286	10	–	8	.556
Southern Illinois	2	–	5	.286	7	–	11	.389
Missouri State	0	–	7	.000	7	–	11	.389

† 2025 MVC tournament winner As of January 15, 2025

The 2024–25 Bradley Braves men's basketball team represents Bradley University during the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Braves, led by 10th-year head coach Brian Wardle, play their home games at Carver Arena located in Peoria, Illinois, as members of the Missouri Valley Conference.

Previous season

The Braves finished the 2023–24 season 23–12, 13–7 in MVC play to finish in third place.^[1] They defeated UIC in the quarterfinals of the MVC tournament,^[2] before losing to Drake.^[3] They received a bid to the National Invitation Tournament as a No. 3 seed.^[4] They defeated Loyola Chicago,^[5] before losing to Cincinnati in the second round.^[6]

Roster

2024–25 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)	So	Milwaukee-Hamilton HS	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
F	1	Almar Atlason	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	230 lb (104 kg)	So	KR Reykjavík	Reykjavík, Iceland
G	2	Connor Dillon	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Sr	Winona State	Peoria, Illinois
G	3	Zek Montgomery	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Sr	Rhode Island	Louisville, Kentucky
F	4	Corey Thomas	6 ft 10 in (2.08 m)	210 lb (95 kg)	Jr	Cowley CC	Buford, Georgia
G/F	5	Christian Davis	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	RS Sr	Le Moyne	Denver, Colorado
G/F	10	Timoty van der Knaap	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Fr	Orange1 Bassano	Bassano del Grappa, Italy
G	12	Cade Hardtke (W)	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	Sr	Glenbard South HS	Lombard, Illinois
G	13	Sam Hennessy (W)	6 ft 2 in (1.88 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Sr	Benet Academy	Naperville, Illinois
C	14	Ahmet Jonovic	7 ft 1 in (2.16 m)	250 lb (113 kg)	Jr	OKK Beograd	Prijepolje, Serbia
G	21	Duke Deen (5Y)	5 ft 8 in (1.73 m)	170 lb (77 kg)	Sr	Troy	Shreveport, Louisiana
G	22	Jaquan Johnson	5 ft 10 in (1.78 m)	195 lb (88 kg)	Fr	Pius XI HS	Milwaukee, Wisconsin
G	23	Gus Rugaard	6 ft 1 in (1.85 m)	180 lb (82 kg)	Fr	Morton HS	Morton, Illinois
F	25	Goanar Biliew (5Y)	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	Sr	Des Moines Area CC	Denison, Iowa
F	34	Connor Linke (5Y)	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	240 lb (109 kg)	Sr	St. Charles North HS	St. Charles, Illinois
F	35	Darius Hannah (5Y)	6 ft 9 in (2.06 m)	205 lb (93 kg)	Sr	Milwaukee Academy of Science	Milwaukee, Wisconsin

Head coach

Brian Wardle (Marquette)

Assistant coach(es)

Mike Bargen (Marquette)
Jimmie Foster (South Dakota)
Mike Black (Albany)

Legend

(C) Team captain
(S) Suspended
(I) Ineligible
(W) Walk-on
(5Y) Fifth-year senior
Injured
Current redshirt

Roster
Last update: November 22, 2024

Schedule and results

Date time, TV	Opponent^#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition Season
October 30, 2024* 7:00 pm	Millikin	W 80–63		Carver Arena (4,448) Peoria, IL
Regular Season
November 4, 2024* 7:00 pm, ESPN+	Southeast Missouri State	W 88–60	1–0	Carver Arena (5,014) Peoria, IL
November 8, 2024* 10:00 pm, ESPN+	at Washington State	L 74–91	1–1	Beasley Coliseum (3,982) Pullman, WA
November 12, 2024* 7:00 pm, ESPN+	UTSA	W 85–72	2–1	Carver Arena (4,557) Peoria, IL
November 16, 2024* 7:00 pm, ESPN+	Northern Illinois	W 76–60	3–1	Carver Arena (6,094) Peoria, IL
November 21, 2024* 4:30 pm, ESPNU	vs. Texas State Myrtle Beach Invitational Quarterfinal	W 82–68	4–1	HTC Center (660) Conway, SC
November 22, 2024* 4:00 pm, ESPNU	vs. Wright State Myrtle Beach Invitational Semifinal	W 77–74	5–1	HTC Center (674) Conway, SC
November 24, 2024* 4:30 p.m., ESPN	vs. Middle Tennessee Myrtle Beach Invitational Final	W 80–69	6–1	HTC Center (712) Conway, SC
November 29, 2024* 1:00 pm, ESPN+	Judson	W 107–41	7–1	Carver Arena (5,064) Peoria, IL
December 3, 2024 7:00 pm, ESPN+	at Southern Illinois	W 83–60	8–1 (1–0)	Banterra Center (4,332) Carbondale, IL
December 13, 2024* 3:30 pm, BallerTV	vs. Santa Clara Jack Jones Classic	L 74–84	8–2	Lee's Family Forum Henderson, NV
December 18, 2024* 7:00 pm, ESPN+	San Francisco	W 66–64	9–2	Carver Arena (4,918) Peoria, IL
December 21, 2024* 1:00 pm, ESPN+	Canisius	W 92–59	10–2	Carver Arena (5,002) Peoria, IL
December 29, 2024 3:00 pm, ESPN+	Valparaiso	W 81–75 ^2OT	11–2 (2–0)	Carver Arena (6,201) Peoria, IL
January 1, 2025 6:00 pm, Gray Media/ESPN+	at Indiana State	W 90–89 ^OT	12–2 (3–0)	Hulman Center (5,083) Terre Haute, IN
January 4, 2025 7:00 pm, CBSSN	Missouri State	W 69–60	13–2 (4–0)	Carver Arena (5,816) Peoria, IL
January 8, 2025 6:00 pm, CBSSN	Drake	L 57–64	13–3 (4–1)	Carver Arena (6,188) Peoria, IL
January 11, 2025 2:00 pm, ESPN+	at UIC	W 61–60	14–3 (5–1)	Credit Union 1 Arena (1,896) Chicago, IL
January 15, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+	Indiana State	W 118–65	15–3 (6–1)	Carver Arena (5,330) Peoria, IL
January 18, 2025 3:00 pm, ESPN+	at Murray State			CFSB Center Murray, KY
January 21, 2025 6:30 pm, ESPN+	at Belmont			Curb Event Center Nashville, TN
January 25, 2025 1:00 pm, CBSSN	Illinois State I-74 Rivalry			Carver Arena Peoria, IL
January 29, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+	UIC			Carver Arena Peoria, IL
February 2, 2025 TBA	at Northern Iowa			McLeod Center Cedar Falls, IA
February 5, 2025 8:00 pm, Gray Media/ESPN+	Belmont			Carver Arena Peoria, IL
February 8, 2025 TBA	at Evansville			Ford Center Evansville, IN
February 12, 2025 6:00 pm, Gray Media/ESPN+	Southern Illinois			Carver Arena Peoria, IL
February 16, 2025 TBA	at Drake			The Knapp Center Des Moines, IA
February 19, 2025 7:00 pm, CBSSN	at Illinois State I-74 Rivalry			CEFCU Arena Normal, IL
February 22, 2025 TBA	Murray State			Carver Arena Peoria, IL
February 26, 2025 8:00 pm, Gray Media/ESPN+	at Valparaiso			Athletics–Recreation Center Valparaiso, IN
March 2, 2025 TBA	Northern Iowa			Carver Arena Peoria, IL
Conference Tournament
March 6, 2025 TBA, Gray Media/ESPN+	vs. TBD Arch Madness Opening Round			Enterprise Center St. Louis, MO
March 7, 2025 TBA, Gray Media/ESPN+	vs. TBD Arch Madness Quarterfinal			Enterprise Center St. Louis, MO
March 8, 2025 TBA, CBSSN	vs. TBD Arch Madness Semifinal			Enterprise Center St. Louis, MO
March 9, 2025 1:15 pm, CBS	vs. TBD Arch Madness Final			Enterprise Center St. Louis, MO
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central.

References

^ "2023-24 Men's Basketball Standings". Missouri Valley Conference. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
^ "Hickman has 20, Bradley defeats UIC 74-47 in MVC quarterfinal". CBS Sports. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
^ "Bradley falls short against Drake in Arch Madness semifinal". WCBU. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
^ "2024 NIT bracket: Schedule, TV channels for the men's tournament". NCAA.com. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
^ "'Thank you': Bradley Braves hold off Loyola Chicago for first-round NIT victory". Peoria Journal Star. Retrieved November 22, 2024.
^ "Jizzle James scores career high to vault Cincinnati past Bradley in NIT". Reuters. Retrieved November 22, 2024.

[1] "2023-24 Men's Basketball Standings". Missouri Valley Conference. Retrieved November 22, 2024.

[2] "Hickman has 20, Bradley defeats UIC 74-47 in MVC quarterfinal". CBS Sports. Retrieved November 22, 2024.

[3] "Bradley falls short against Drake in Arch Madness semifinal". WCBU. Retrieved November 22, 2024.

[4] "2024 NIT bracket: Schedule, TV channels for the men's tournament". NCAA.com. Retrieved November 22, 2024.

[5] "'Thank you': Bradley Braves hold off Loyola Chicago for first-round NIT victory". Peoria Journal Star. Retrieved November 22, 2024.

[6] "Jizzle James scores career high to vault Cincinnati past Bradley in NIT". Reuters. Retrieved November 22, 2024.

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[2]

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[4]

[5]

[6]

v t e Bradley Braves men's basketball
Venues	Peoria YMCA (1902–1909) Hewitt Gymnasium (1909–1925) Peoria Armory (1925–1941) Woodruff High School Gymnasium (1941–1943) Peoria Armory (1945–1949) Robertson Memorial Field House (1949–1982) Carver Arena (1982–present)
Rivalries	Illinois State
Culture & lore	Longest game in Division I history Point-shaving scandal Gambling scandal
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
Seasons	1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics