Bradley Basketball: 3 Keys to Upsetting Michigan State in Round of 64

By Joey Loose | Mar 20, 2019

ST. LOUIS, MO - MARCH 10: Ja'Shon Henry #22 of the Bradley Braves runs on to the court with his teammates after beating the Northern Iowa Panthers during the final game of the MVC Basketball Tournament at the Enterprise Center on March 10, 2019 in St. Louis, Missouri. The Bradley Braves beat the Northern Iowa Panthers 57-54 to win the MVC Championship. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /

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ST. LOUIS, MO – MARCH 9: Darrell Brown #5 of the Bradley Braves shoots the ball over Bruno Skokna #4 of the Loyola Ramblers during the semifinals of the Missouri Valley Conference Men’s Basketball Tournament at the Enterprise Center on March 9, 2019 in St. Louis, Missouri. (Photo by Dilip Vishwanat/Getty Images) /

Make Three Pointers

Bradley didn’t score more than 61 points in the MVC Tournament, but their defense is not going to hold the Spartans under 60 in this one. They leaned heavily on defensive intensity, but the offense is going to need to make shots to give them a chance at this upset.

This Braves team ranks 57th in the nation in 3-point efficiency on offense, and they’re going to need to make those shots to keep up with this Spartans offense. In early February, this Bradley team was shooting lights out from the 3, hitting 11 of 20 in a win at Northern Iowa before hitting 14 of 25 against Indiana State three days later. This is the kind of shooting they’re going to need in a game where they are over-matched.

Darrell Brown is the best outside shooter for the Braves, hitting 44% of his 3-pointers during the season. Brown was 11-15 from 3 in those two aforementioned wins and hit three apiece in early season wins over SMU and Penn State. If Brown can hit a few shots early, it can give a huge boost of confidence to the entire team and give them the early offense they need.

Michigan State ranks 43rd in the nation at defending 3-pointers and will likely shadow Brown on the outside. The Braves are going to need long-range offense from a multitude of players, particularly from guard Nate Kennell. In their semifinals win over Loyola, Kennell was 5-8 from the 3 and the Braves will need his hot touch from the outside.

Seniors Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye and Luuk van Bree have also shown that they can step back and hit from outside, but Bradley will need consistency from somebody in this contest. This team has played nine straight games without scoring 70 points and that trend cannot continue if they want to score this upset. Cassius Winston and the Spartans are going to put up points and the Braves need to match them early to stay in this game.