2024–25 Bradley Braves men's basketball team

The 2024–25 Bradley Braves men's basketball team represented Bradley University during the 2024–25 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Braves, led by 10th-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 28–9, 15–5 in MVC play to finish in second place. They defeated Murray State and Valparaiso in the MVC tournament before losing to Drake in the championship game. They received an at-large bid to the National Invitation Tournament as the No. 3 seed in the Dayton region. There they defeated North Alabama and George Mason before losing to Chattanooga in the quarterfinals.

2024–25 Bradley Braves men's basketball
Myrtle Beach Invitational champions
NIT, Quarterfinals
Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
Record	28–9 (15–5 MVC)
Head coach	Brian Wardle (10th season)
Associate head coach	Mike Bargen
Assistant coaches	Jimmie Foster Mike Black
Home arena	Carver Arena

2024–25 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings

	Conf.							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
Drake †	17	–	3		.850			31	–	4		.886
Bradley	15	–	5		.750			28	–	9		.757
Northern Iowa	14	–	6		.700			20	–	13		.606
Belmont	13	–	7		.650			22	–	11		.667
Illinois State	10	–	10		.500			22	–	14		.611
UIC	10	–	10		.500			17	–	14		.548
Murray State	9	–	11		.450			16	–	17		.485
Southern Illinois	8	–	12		.400			14	–	19		.424
Indiana State	8	–	12		.400			14	–	18		.438
Evansville	8	–	12		.400			11	–	21		.344
Valparaiso	6	–	14		.300			15	–	19		.441
Missouri State	2	–	18		.100			9	–	23		.281
† 2025 MVC tournament winner

Previous season

The Braves finished the 2023–24 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.

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	Rank#	Opponent#	Result	Record	Site (attendance) city, state
Exhibition
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	W 74–61	16–3 (7–1)	CFSB Center (5,594) Murray, KY
January 21, 2025 6:30 pm, ESPN+		at Belmont	W 89–77	17–3 (8–1)	Curb Event Center (1,788) Nashville, TN
January 25, 2025 1:00 pm, CBSSN		Illinois State I-74 Rivalry	W 61–57	18–3 (9–1)	Carver Arena (9,656) Peoria, IL
January 29, 2025 7:00 pm, ESPN+		UIC	L 70–93	18–4 (9–2)	Carver Arena (5,785) Peoria, IL
February 2, 2025 3:00 pm, ESPN2		at Northern Iowa	L 69–83	18–5 (9–3)	McLeod Center (4,121) Cedar Falls, IA
February 5, 2025 8:00 pm, Gray Media/ESPN+		Belmont	L 77–80	18–6 (9–4)	Carver Arena (4,869) Peoria, IL
February 8, 2025 7:00 pm, CBSSN		at Evansville	W 80–74	19–6 (10–4)	Ford Center (5,810) Evansville, IN
February 12, 2025 6:00 pm, Gray Media/ESPN+		Southern Illinois	W 78–64	20–6 (11–4)	Carver Arena (5,183) Peoria, IL
February 16, 2025 1:00 pm, ESPN2		at Drake	W 61–59	21–6 (12–4)	The Knapp Center (6,424) Des Moines, IA
February 19, 2025 7:00 pm, CBSSN		at Illinois State I-74 Rivalry	L 71–82	21–7 (12–5)	CEFCU Arena (5,719) Normal, IL
February 22, 2025 5:00 pm, ESPNU		Murray State	W 85–83 OT	22–7 (13–5)	Carver Arena (7,560) Peoria, IL
February 26, 2025 8:00 pm, Gray Media/ESPN+		at Valparaiso	W 76–65	23–7 (14–5)	Athletics–Recreation Center (1,583) Valparaiso, IN
March 2, 2025 1:00 pm, ESPN2		Northern Iowa	W 73–56	24–7 (15–5)	Carver Arena (7,537) Peoria, IL
MVC tournament
March 7, 2025 6:00 pm, Gray Media/ESPN+	(2)	vs. (7) Murray State Arch Madness Quarterfinal	W 70–62	25–7	Enterprise Center (6,090) St. Louis, MO
March 8, 2025 5:00 pm, CBSSN	(2)	vs. (11) Valparaiso Arch Madness Semifinal	W 70–65	26–7	Enterprise Center (7,779) St. Louis, MO
March 9, 2025 1:15 pm, CBS	(2)	vs. (1) Drake Arch Madness Final	L 48–63	26–8	Enterprise Center (7,952) St. Louis, MO
NIT
March 19, 2025* 7:00 pm, ESPN+	(3)	North Alabama First round – Dayton Region	W 71–64	27–8	Carver Arena (2,950) Peoria, IL
March 22, 2025* 2:00 pm, ESPN+	(3)	at (2) George Mason Second round – Dayton Region	W 75–67	28–8	EagleBank Arena (2,180) Fairfax, VA
March 25, 2025* 6:00 pm, ESPN2	(3)	Chattanooga Quarterfinals – Dayton Region	L 65–67	28–9	Carver Arena (4,954) Peoria, IL
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. All times are in Central.