# 2018–19 Bradley Braves men's basketball team

The 2018–19 Bradley Braves men's basketball team represented Bradley University during the 2018–19 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Braves, led by fourth-year head coach Brian Wardle, played their home games at Carver Arena in Peoria, Illinois as members of the Missouri Valley Conference. They finished the season 20–15, 9–9 in MVC play to finish in a three-way tie for fifth place. As the No. 5 seed in the MVC tournament, they defeated Missouri State, Loyola, and Northern Iowa to win the tournament championship. As a result, they received the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as the No. 15 seed in the East region. There they lost to No. 2-seeded Michigan State in the first round.

## Previous season

The Braves finished the 2017–18 season 20–13, 9–9 in MVC play to finish in fifth place. They defeated Drake in the first round of the MVC tournament before losing to Loyola–Chicago in the semifinals.

## Offseason
### Departures

| Name | Number | Pos. | Height | Weight | Year | Hometown | Reason for departure |
| Donte Thomas | 1 | F | 6'7" | 225 | Senior | Calumet City, IL | Graduated |
| Ryan Stipanovich | 21 | G/F | 6'7" | 210 | Freshman | St. Louis, MO | Left the team for personal reasons |
| JoJo McGlaston | 24 | G | 6'5" | 205 | RS Senior | Dublin, CA | Graduated |
| Chudier Bile | ** | G/F | 6'6" | 200 | Junior | Denver, Colorado | Stayed one Summer Session then transferred to Northwestern State |
| Callum Barker | 30 | F | 6'9" | 235 | Junior | Hobart, Australia | Graduate transferred to Missouri Baptist |

### 2018 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Armon Brummett SG | Decatur, IL | Douglas MacArthur High School | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 185 lb (84 kg) | Jan 23, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 0 ||||||
| Ja'Shon Henry SF | Saskatoon, SK | Athol Murray College of Notre Dame Prep, Wilcox, SK | 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) | 225 lb (102 kg) | Jun 1, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: 0 ||||||
| Aristide Boya C | Douala, Cameroon | Scotland Campus Prep, Scotland, PA | 6 ft 10 in (2.08 m) | 205 lb (93 kg) | Sep 5, 2017 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: ESPN grade: 0 ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: – Rivals: – ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Bradley Commit List for 2018". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 17, 2018. "Men's Basketball Recruiting". Scout.com. Retrieved October 17, 2018. "ESPN – Bradley Braves Basketball Recruiting 2018". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 17, 2018. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved October 17, 2018. "2018 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 17, 2018. ||||||

### 2019 recruiting class

US college sports recruiting information for high school athletes :
| Name | Hometown | High school / college | Height | Weight | Commit date |
| Stephan Gabriel SF | Maplewood, NJ | Columbia HS Hillcrest Prep (Phoenix, AZ) Veritas Prep (Santa Fe Springs, CA) NTSI Prep (Orlando, FL) | 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | Sep 14, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| JaMir Price SG | Rock Island, IL | Rock Island High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | 09/26/2018 (to spend a year at prep school and enter Bradley in fall of 2020) |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Ville Tahvanainen PG/SG | Helsinki, Finland | amateur team- Helsinki Basketball Academy (HBA-Marsky 1st Division) | 6 ft 4 in (1.93 m) | 210 lb (95 kg) | Sep 29, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Antonio Thomas PG | Memphis, TN | Memphis East High School | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 170 lb (77 kg) | Sep 17, 2018 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Rienk Mast PF | Groningen, the Netherlands | amateur team- Donar, Dutch Basketball League (DBL - Eredivisie) | 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) | 215 lb (98 kg) | Jan 20, 2019 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Danya Kingsby PG/SG | Milwaukee, WI | Milwaukee Hamilton HS Arlington Country Day (Jacksonville, FL) College of Southern Idaho LSU transfer | 6 ft 2 in (1.88 m) | 180 lb (82 kg) | Mar 29, 2019 |
| Recruiting star ratings: Scout: N/A Rivals: N/A 247Sports: N/A ESPN grade: NR ||||||
| Overall recruiting rankings: Scout: – Rivals: – ||||||
| Note: In many cases, Scout, Rivals, 247Sports, and ESPN may conflict in their listings of height and weight. In these cases, the average was taken. ESPN grades are on a 100-point scale. Sources: "Bradley Commit List for 2019". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 17, 2018. "Men's Basketball Recruiting". Scout.com. Retrieved October 17, 2018. "ESPN – Bradley Braves Basketball Recruiting 2019". ESPN.com. Retrieved October 17, 2018. "Scout.com Team Recruiting Rankings". Scout.com. Retrieved October 17, 2018. "2019 Team Ranking". Rivals.com. Retrieved October 17, 2018. ||||||

## Schedule and results

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Exhibition ||||||
| Nov 1, 2018* 7:00 pm CT | | Carroll (WI) | W 81–31 | | Carver Arena (4,386) Peoria, IL |
| Non-conference regular season ||||||
| Nov 1, 2018* 7:00 pm CT, ESPN+ | | UW–Parkside Cancún Challenge campus site game | W 74–58 | 1–0 | Carver Arena (4,610) Peoria, IL |
| Nov 10, 2018* 1:00 pm CT, ESPN3 | | Southeast Missouri State | W 68–57 | 2–0 | Carver Arena (5,181) Peoria, IL |
| Nov 14, 2018* 7:00 pm CT, ESPN+ | | Jacksonville State Cancún Challenge campus site game | W 74–65 | 3–0 | Carver Arena (4,706) Peoria, IL |
| Nov 17, 2018* 7:00 pm CT, ESPN3 | | at UIC | L 70–71 | 3–1 | Credit Union 1 Arena (1,423) Chicago, IL |
| Nov 20, 2018* 5:00 pm CT, CBSSN | | vs. SMU Cancún Challenge Riviera Bracket semifinal | W 75–62 | 4–1 | Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya Cancún, Mexico |
| Nov 21, 2018* 7:30 pm CT, CBSSN | | vs. Penn State Cancún Challenge Riviera Bracket final | W 59–56 | 5–1 | Hard Rock Hotel Riviera Maya (1,473) Cancún, Mexico |
| Nov 24, 2018* 1:00 pm CT, ESPN3 | | Chicago State | W 86–70 | 6–1 | Carver Arena (4,952) Peoria, IL |
| Nov 28, 2018* 6:00 pm CT, ESPN+ | | at IUPUI | L 73-85 | 6–2 | Indiana Farmers Coliseum (1,383) Indianapolis, IN |
| Dec 1, 2018* 7:00 pm CT, ESPN+ | | New Mexico MW–MVC Challenge | L 75-85 | 6–3 | Carver Arena (5,494) Peoria, IL |
| Dec 4, 2018* 6:30 pm CT | | at Little Rock | W 68-62 | 7–3 | Jack Stephens Center (1,388) Little Rock, AR |
| Dec 15, 2018* 7:00 pm CT, ESPN+ | | Eastern Illinois | L 66-73 | 7–4 | Carver Arena (5,186) Peoria, IL |
| Dec 18, 2018* 6:30 pm CT, ESPN+ | | at Georgia Southern | L 74–79 $^{OT}$ | 7–5 | Hanner Fieldhouse (1,507) Statesboro, GA |
| Dec 22, 2018* 1:00 pm CT, ESPN+ | | Southeastern Louisiana | W 63–60 | 8–5 | Carver Arena (5,004) Peoria, IL |
| Missouri Valley Conference regular season ||||||
| Jan 2, 2019 7:00 pm CT, ESPN+ | | Northern Iowa | L 47–65 | 8–6 (0–1) | Carver Arena (5,252) Peoria, IL |
| Jan 5, 2019 1:00 pm CT, ESPN3 | | at Indiana State | L 60–65 | 8–7 (0–2) | Hulman Center (4,117) Terre Haute, IN |
| Jan 8, 2019 7:00 pm CT, ESPN+ | | at Valparaiso | L 50–61 | 8–8 (0–3) | Athletics–Recreation Center (2,535) Valparaiso, IN |
| Jan 12, 2019 7:00 pm CT, ESPN+ | | Missouri State | L 64–69 | 8–9 (0–4) | Carver Arena (5,009) Peoria, IL |
| Jan 16, 2019 7:00 pm CT, FSMW/NBCSCH | | Drake | L 52–69 | 8–10 (0–5) | Carver Arena (4,654) Peoria, IL |
| Jan 20, 2019 3:00 pm CT, ESPNU | | at Southern Illinois | W 57–54 | 9–10 (1–5) | SIU Arena (4,327) Carbondale, IL |
| Jan 23, 2019 6:00 pm CT, FSMW/NBCSCH | | Illinois State | W 85–68 | 10–10 (2–5) | Carver Arena (7,122) Peoria, IL |
| Jan 26, 2019 3:00 pm CT, FSMW/NBCSCH | | at Missouri State | L 37–55 | 10–11 (2–6) | JQH Arena (5,215) Springfield, MO |
| Jan 30, 2019 6:00 pm CT, ESPN+ | | at Evansville | W 81–73 | 11–11 (3–6) | Ford Center (5,019) Evansville, IN |
| Feb 2, 2019 1:00 pm CT, CBSSN | | Southern Illinois | L 68–72 | 11–12 (3–7) | Carver Arena (5,968) Peoria, IL |
| Feb 6, 2019 7:00 pm CT, ESPN+ | | at Northern Iowa | W 79–71 | 12–12 (4–7) | McLeod Center (3,345) Cedar Falls, IA |
| Feb 9, 2019 7:00 pm CT, ESPN+ | | Indiana State | W 96–67 | 13–12 (5–7) | Carver Arena (5,805) Peoria, IL |
| Feb 13, 2019 7:00 pm CT, FSMW/NBCSCH | | Loyola–Chicago | W 61–54 | 14–12 (6–7) | Carver Arena (5,490) Peoria, IL |
| Feb 16, 2019 7:00 pm CT, ESPN2 | | at Illinois State | W 65–59 | 15–12 (7–7) | Redbird Arena (9,011) Normal, IL |
| Feb 19, 2019 7:00 pm CT, ESPN+ | | at Drake | L 68–77 | 15–13 (7–8) | Knapp Center (3,061) Des Moines, IA |
| Feb 23, 2019 1:00 pm CT, ESPN3 | | Evansville | W 63–61 | 16–13 (8–8) | Carver Arena (6,571) Peoria, IL |
| Feb 27, 2019 7:00 pm CT, ESPN+ | | Valparaiso | W 67–42 | 17–13 (9–8) | Carver Arena (5,867) Peoria, IL |
| Mar 2, 2019 5:00 pm CT, ESPN2 | | at Loyola–Chicago | L 68–81 | 17–14 (9–9) | Joseph J. Gentile Arena (4,963) Chicago, IL |
| Missouri Valley tournament ||||||
| Mar 8, 2019 2:35 pm CT, MVC-TV Network | (5) | vs. (4) Missouri State Quarterfinals | W 61–58 | 18–14 | Enterprise Center (6,774) St. Louis, MO |
| Mar 9, 2019 2:35 pm CT, CBSSN | (5) | vs. (1) Loyola–Chicago Semifinals | W 53–51 | 19–14 | Enterprise Center (7,884) St. Louis, MO |
| Mar 10, 2019 1:05 pm CT, CBS | (5) | vs. (6) Northern Iowa Championship | W 57–54 | 20–14 | Enterprise Center (8,108) St. Louis, MO |
| NCAA tournament ||||||
| Mar 21, 2019* 1:45 pm CT, CBS | (15 E) | vs. (2 E) No. 5 Michigan State First Round | L 65–76 | 20–15 | Wells Fargo Arena (16,512) Des Moines, IA |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. E=East. All times are in Central Time. ||||||
Source