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Bradley Basketball: 2019-20 season preview for Braves

By Jason Burgess

ST. LOUIS, MO - MARCH 10: Members of the Bradley Braves celebrate after beating the Northern Iowa Panthers in the final game of 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)
ST. LOUIS, MO - MARCH 10: Members of the Bradley Braves celebrate after beating the Northern Iowa Panthers in the final game of 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 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)
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) /

Bradley Basketball used defense to win the Missouri Valley Tournament and nearly pull an upset in the NCAA Tournament last season. What do the Braves do for an encore?

Bradley Basketball had quite the season in 2018-19, where they began the year with wins over Penn State and SMU on successive nights in the Cancun Challenge, but began conference play 0-5 before rallying to go 9-4 in their remaining conference games to finish .500 and earn the 5th seed in the Missouri Valley Conference tournament. Brian Wardle’s Braves went on to win three games in three days by a total of eight points to win their first tournament title since 1988 and earn a trip to the Big Dance for the first time since 2006.

The Braves’ key to success has been their defense, and last season was no different. They ranked 35th in the country in points per game with 65.3, 46th in field-goal percentage defense at 41.2% and the 32.7% they allowed their opponents to shoot from distance placed them 79th in the country. During their three-game run to the MVC title, Bradley held their opponents to just 54 points per contest.

For Bradley, the old sports cliché, “defense never slumps” certainly holds true and that is a good thing because offensively they struggle, to say the least, their 66.5 points per game were the just 310th highest in the sport and they ranked 234th in offensive efficiency at KenPom.

They will have plenty of contenders for their title, from Loyola-Chicago to Missouri State, can the Braves supplement their defense with enough of an offense to hold off the contenders and keep the trophy in Peoria for another season?