Arch Madness Final – Round Three

# 1 Bradley versus # 2 Drake

(St. Louis, MO) – This is the game we have waited for. The top two Missouri Valley Conference teams face off today at Enterprise Center for the Arch Madness title and a trip to the NCAA Tournament. These two teams have been the Valley’s top ranked teams all year long and have a long and rich history between them.

Regular season champion Bradley, won the title by defeating Drake on the final day of the season, after losing to the Bulldogs earlier in the campaign. This is Drake’s third straight appearance in the Arch Madness final and Bradley’s first since cutting down the St. Louis nets in 2019 and 2020.

These are the Valley’s heavyweights and today feels like a heavyweight championship bout. It’s round three of this year’s games and ‘to the victor, go the spoils’.

While Illinois State may be Bradley’s biggest rival and Northern Iowa is likely Drake’s, these two teams have played one another more than any other rival. Drake (111 years) and Bradley (71) are the Valley’s longest tenured members and they’ve met 162 times. Number 163 will be one for Valley history.

These programs are connected in one of the most significant moments in Valley history. Both programs left the league during the 1950-51 season over the ‘Johnny Bright Incident’ and later returned together during the 1955-56 season. (Click here to see more about this)

First Two Meetings

Drake’s offense was in high gear and Bradley’s typical shut down defense in evidence on January 14. The Bulldogs scored 86 points and defeated the Braves. Neither team had a great start to the conference season and after the Drake win, they both owned 5-3 Valley records.

Since that loss, Bradley has gone 13-and-1 (twelve straight) and Drake has gone 12-and-2. They are the cream of the Valley crop.

Player of the Year Tucker DeVries made five three-pointers on the way to a 28-point performance and Bradley was uncharacteristically outrebounded 36 to 28.

Round Two came before a sold out crowd at Carver Arena in Peoria and the Braves were victorious. 73-61 was the final as the Bradley defenders held DeVries to 11 points and the super sophomore made just one of eight long distance shots.

10,458 watched as Connor Hickman scored a team-leading 19 points and Rienk Mast collected a double-double (12 points and 13 rebounds). Bradley’s normally stout defense returned and so did their dominating rebounding and inside game. The Braves grabbed 39 rebounds and scored 38 ‘points in the paint’.

Arch Madness Final – Keys to Victory

Brian Wardle says rebounding is key.

“Rebounding wins championships,” said the Valley’s Coach of the Year. “I’m convinced of it.”

It may not be THAT simple, but owning the glass is huge and the big and physical Bradley front line excels in cleaning the glass.

 Much of the determination of this game revolves around DeVries. Will the Larry Bird Trophy winner be able to find space to shoot and score against the Valley’s ‘Defensive Player of the Year’ Malevy Leons? During the first meeting between the two teams, Bradley’s defense switched defenders on screens. DeVries scored 28 points.

In the second game they didn’t switch and he was held to 11. The chess match between Wardle and Drake head coach Darian DeVries around this and other strategic areas will be fascinating theater.

These are elite level coaches. DeVries has accumulated five straight 20-win seasons and Drake has won at least 25 games for three straight campaigns. He has claimed two MVC ‘Coach of the Year’ awards. This is Wardle’s fourth 20-win season (in 8 seasons) and he earned his first league-wide coaching honor this week.

Drake needs bench production. When the Bulldog back ups contribute ten or more points, Drake is undefeated. In Peoria, they scored two.

Bradley has won 93 of the first 162 games and four of the last five between these rivals. Could today be the day that Drake ends its two-game losing streak in an Arch Madness Final and wins that pivotal game against its longest running rival?

This will be one for the ages. Game time is 1:00 pm on CBS.

Do Good