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STATE FARM MISSOURI VALLEY CONFERENCE MEN'S TOURNAMENT

March 7, 2020

St. Louis, Missouri - Arch Madness

Bradley - 76, Drake - 66

THE MODERATOR: The victorious Bradley Braves are here. They are set to defend their tournament title tomorrow against the winner of Valparaiso and Missouri State. That game is 1:00 CBS. We have Nate Kennell and Darrell Brown representing the Bradley student body. Head coach Brian Wardle is in the middle.

BRIAN WARDLE: Just a hard fought win. Drake's very well -- Darian's a really good coach. It's a good program. The best 8 seed, like I said yesterday, I've ever seen, and that's a lot of respect for our league and the coaches and the programs in our league. There's a lot of good teams, and they're one of them.

I'm proud of our guys. I liked how we built a little lead. We sustained it. We held the lead. We kind of never gave them, I don't think, the hope that they were looking for. I think they cut it to three, and we called time-out, and then we responded from there. So a lot of good composure from these guys and great balance offensively for us, obviously led by Darrell in the first half with the big plays, and then Nate came up big in the second half for us. And Koch Bar also played really well for us too.

So just it takes a team. Everybody's got to step up and make plays, and we had that today, and we were fortunate enough to come out with a win.

Q. Big pivotal moment in the game, 11:32 to go. You take that time-out after that Drake 10-0 run. What was the message in the huddle, and what was said?
BRIAN WARDLE: I think that's when we were the calmest probably of the game, right? We knew we had to come out and execute that next possession, buckle down defensively. We just made some mistakes during that swing. They made some tough shots, I thought, too, and we knew they were going to fight. I mean, Drake's hot. They played very well for two straight nights. They're going to have that push in them. We just had to buckle down defensively, get out offensively, get the ball moving a little bit more. I thought we took some bad shots in that run that led to their transition or to their baskets.

Just about keeping the ball moving, keep spacing, and defensively, we've got to buckle down on a few things, and we were able to do that.

Q. Darrell, for the third game against Drake this year, you played really well against them. Is there something about playing Drake stylistically that fits well with your game?
DARRELL BROWN: No. I'd say the first game, I played okay. The second game, you could throw that out. We lost by 20. So that really don't count. Today my teammates set some great screens, and the bigs played phenomenal. They set some great screens for me. And Nate and the other guys found me, and they also got open and made some big shots today. So it was a great team win.

Q. Coach, tell us a little bit more about how Koch played today. I heard that the TV broadcast was saying it was the best game he's had in his career at Bradley. I just want to know if you agree with that, and your thoughts on how he played tonight.
BRIAN WARDLE: He's had a lot of good games for us. Koch Bar, in his career, hasn't missed a practice or a game at 6'10", 6'11". One of the most durable, consistent guys I've ever been around. He's had some really good games for us, but tonight, and then this moment, hit some of the finishes he had at the rim, the and ones. The defense, too, on Robbins in the second half was tremendous. That's where you can catch a team in the third game in three days.

I thought Ari and Koch, and we could just keep throwing bodies at Robbins. Robbins is a very talented player, a great player, but his defense and his finishing for us was just tremendous. It was definitely up there, I would say, in one of his best games ever.

Q. Obviously, school history now with making back-to-back title games. For Darrell and Nate, has that sunk in? You guys have done something that nobody else has ever done before.
NATE KENNELL: Yeah, it's pretty awesome. It's just a credit to our hard work, all the preparation and the years, the off-seasons. It's what we've been working for. I'm just happy we're back. It's another great opportunity for us to showcase our team and Bradley.

DARRELL BROWN: I think it's no surprise to us. We prepared for this moment and a lot of long days in the summer, a lot of long fall days. I think we've been preparing to get back here. We want to make this run special this year, and we've got one more game to win.

Q. Darrell, your coach said that the time-out was the calmest you guys were. Can you describe just what the feeling was and maybe what it says about this team that there wasn't a moment of panic?
DARRELL BROWN: I think it's the same thing I said yesterday. All good teams make their runs, and they did. They made a 10-0 run. So I think we expected that at some point. I mean, credit to our guys in our locker room, we've got a great group of guys. I keep saying that over and over again. We stayed calm. Seniors like Nate and Koch showed leadership, stayed calm, and I think the younger guys followed, and it led to a big win today.

Q. Darrell, first half you were scoring almost at will, it seemed. I know it's harder than that. But second half, you were distributing more. Was that more by intent, or was that because of something that Drake did or just the way things unfolded?
DARRELL BROWN: I think it's just making the right plays at the right time. They kind of played more aggressive on their ball screen coverage the second half. I tried to make the right reads and get my teammates involved, as I would do at all times. They played kind of passive in the first half, so it opened up some shots for me.

Q. Coach, what did you say to Elijah after his technical in the first half?
BRIAN WARDLE: Just take him out, let him calm down, and talk to him a little bit later. You never really address it right then. But he's a passionate guy. He plays with his emotions on his sleeve, and you never want to change that from him because that's what makes him special. We knew he'd respond.

But definitely, you know, sitting the whole first half and coming back he was a little out of rhythm to start the second half for us. Then within the last ten minutes, he really let his defense get going on offense. This guy here and Nate in the time-outs were telling him, we don't care about anything offensively. Keep guarding, keep blocking shots, keep rebounding for us, and we'll win this game. He let that defense get him going on offense where he makes those big buckets.

Q. Darrell, Coach has the red shoes. It seems like the headband is becoming your thing. You guys have only lost once when you're wearing that white headband. Is that superstitious at all?
DARRELL BROWN: No, it's just something I do every game. You're going to keep seeing the headband on me as long as I keep playing basketball at Bradley. Coach's red shoes speak for themselves. I like that.

(Laughter).

Q. Nate, second half, when Drake was starting to make a run, before the 10-0 but they were making some spurts and so forth, you for a stretch pretty much were the only scoring for your team. What did you see? Was that a mindset that you just took on, hey, we've got to get this done? We need this now? Or what were they giving you that they weren't before?
NATE KENNELL: Yeah, I was just taking my spots, continue to move without the ball. I think Darrell found me once. Other guys were straining to get me open. So I was just trying to stay aggressive like I always do the whole game, and I was just able to knock down a few and get us going when our offense wasn't as good.

Q. I'm sure this has been asked, but for each of the players, first time Bradley's been in back-to-back championship games in this tournament. Can you describe what that means? I mean, a long proud history of this school, and you guys have done something big here.
DARRELL BROWN: Well, like Nate said, it's special being in back-to-back championship games. I think we're roommates on the road, so we talked about this last night when we couldn't really sleep and we were getting ready for the game. So we're just excited to be back. It's a blessing. We put in a bunch of work to get here. The coaching staff has been great. The younger guys have been great listeners and hard workers. It's all coming together at the right time. Hopefully, we can get this win tomorrow.

NATE KENNELL: Yeah, it's exciting. This is where we want to be. Now that we're back, it even makes it better. It's all the hard work and preparation we put in makes these moments special, and we're just going to make the most of it.

Q. Nate, just to follow up on that, you obviously grew up in the Peoria area and went to Bradley games as a kid, your cousin played there, had quite a career as well. Can you expand on -- with that background, what it might mean to you personally and what you know it means to the community to see this happen?
NATE KENNELL: Yeah, it means a ton. I mean, just the community is always supporting Bradley. Peoria supports Bradley like crazy. It's super fun. It's awesome just being from the area and just knowing how much people care. It's great. All the fans are here. It just makes playing basketball so much more fun, and just being able to celebrate with your friends and your family and everyone around you, it's really special. Just continue to do what we do, for them too.

BRIAN WARDLE: We need all those Bradley fans here tomorrow. We have such a great crowd out there that energizes this group. This will be our third game in three days. If our fans aren't here, I know a lot of them are going to be coming up tomorrow. So we're excited about that.

Q. Brian, to follow up with you, you came here, and the program was at one of, if not maybe the lowest point it had ever been. You saw how few people were down here that first year, and now to see what's happening, round to round, year to year, what does that say to you, and how does that make you feel?
BRIAN WARDLE: I'll reflect on it more, but it's what we worked so hard for. It's why you recruit these high character kids. I took the Bradley job because I know the passion of central Illinois and their love for basketball, and I wanted to be around a city that embraced the sport and loved the sport. Our fans do that. Our community does that.

We're really a community-based program. Our community supports us tremendously in all different ways. We try to give back as much as we can. These guys have got a very busy schedule usually, but giving back here, winning some games for our fans, keeping them around, letting them stay in the hotel another night, and hopefully we can give them something more to cheer at tomorrow.

But it's a special feeling, but it kind of was the plan. It's what we -- what I envisioned and what my staff and I and these players have worked so extremely hard for.

FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports

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