PEORIA/NORMAL (Heart of Illinois ABC) - It was a big day of college hoops in the heart of Illinois on Saturday. The Bradley men, Illinois State men, and ICC women were all playing in their regular season finals, all three at home, and all three dominated their opponents to end the season on a high note.
Bradley (17-13, 11-7) defeated ValparaÃso (13-17, 6-12) 79-55 inside Carver Arena. The Braves were led by Rienk Mast's 22 points and 11 rebounds, freshman guard Conor Hickman's 14 points and senior center Ari Boya's 13 points and 5 blocks. Seniors Ari Boya, Mickey Howell, Jason Henry and Riley Berger combined for 16 points on Senior Night.
The Braves now turn their attention to Arc Madness, which begins Thursday. Bradley will be seed #5 and will face Loyola Chicago on Friday, seed #4. The two teams split the regular season series, each winning at home. With the Ramblers set to leave the Missouri Valley Conference at the conclusion of the season, this is the last time these two teams will play as members of the MVC.
"We're excited, great opportunity, I love our matchups," Bradley's head coach Brian Wardle said. "It will be fun to see this young group at Ark Madness for the first time and get out there and compete."
The state of Illinois is also moving toward arc madness on a positive. The Redbirds (12-17, 5-13) defeated Indiana State (11-17, 4-14) 86-66 inside the Redbird Arena. Illinois State was led by junior guard Antonio Reeves' 28 points, sophomore guard Howard Fleming Jr.'s career-high 20 points, and junior guard Mark Freeman's 17 points and 6 assists.
The Redbirds will be seed #8 and will take on seed #9 Indiana State on Friday, a rematch of the regular season finale.
11 ICC Women's Basketball ended its season with an 84–50 win over John Wood. The ICC ends the season 21–9 and will begin post-season play with a regular season finale rematch against John Wood.