UNI falls to Bradley in Arch Madness quarterfinal

Friday, March 3

St. Louis, Mo.

12 p.m.

University of Northern Iowa

14-18,9-11MVC

Bradley

24-8,16-4MVC

UNI

Bradley

Photo by: Doug DeVoe

UNI falls to Bradley in Arch Madness quarterfinal

3/3/2023 4:33:00 PM | Men's Basketball

Box Score FINAL STATS Photo Gallery

Born scores career-high 34 points in loss. Panthers end the season 14-18 after first round victory on Thursday.

ST. LOUIS --- The Panthers exchanged blows back-and-forth in the second half and gave the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) regular season champions a run as UNI came up short of an upset bid against the Bradley Braves on Friday afternoon in the quarterfinal round of Arch Madness at Enterprise Center, 72-66.

Facing a smothering Braves defense, the Panthers got on the board early and hung around with Bradley's size by attacking the paint and from beyond the arc through Bowen Born. With the Braves running their offense almost entirely through First Team All-MVC forward Rienk Mast, the 6'9" junior ran off 20 first half points, with three baskets from beyond the arc to present a large challenge to the UNI defense. Despite falling behind by 9 points and struggling to rebound missed Bradley shots, the Panthers shot 44% from the field to gradually chip away at the Braves' lead ahead of the under four-minute media timeout. Michael Duax notched 8 first half points with 7 points scored by Born as the Panthers went into the halftime break trailing by 6, thanks to a three-point basket by Trey Campbell in the final seconds of the period.

Born sparked the Panther offense in the second half with three triples in the first three and a half minutes to cut Bradley's lead down to single digits. With the defense slowing Mast to 10 points in the period, Born shot 9-of-21 from the floor with 4 made three-pointers as Anderson gave UNI its first lead of the game at 48-47 on a pair of made free throws. Committing 14 fouls in the second stanza, the Braves shot 20 free throw attempts in the final 20 minutes as both teams exchanged baskets down the stretch. Despite the majority of the second period being within two possessions, the Panthers were unable to slow Bradley down in the final 90 seconds as the Braves pulled ahead to secure the 6-point win over UNI.

Born ended the day with a career-high 34-point effort, along with 3 assists and 3 steals. his third career game of 30+ points. Duax recorded 9 points in the loss, with Tytan Anderson finishing with 7 points and 6 rebounds. James Betz tallied 5 points, while Campbell notched 4 points and 6 boards in the loss.

PANTHER NOTES

UNI falls to 36-37 against Bradley in the all-time series, and 3-4 against the Braves at Arch Madness. The Panthers are 11-12 in MVC Tournament quarterfinal games all-time.
Bowen Born and Bradley Rienk Mast became the first players in MVC Tournament history to record 30+ points in the same game on Friday. Mast finished the day with 30 points for the Braves.
Born's 34-point effort marks his third career game of 30+ points. Born finishes his third season with UNI with 1,075 career points, 34th most in school history.
Born's 5 made three-point field goals against the Braves tied his career high.