Central Michigan University Athletics
Saturday, November 8
Peoria, Ill./Carver Arena
8:00 PM ET/7:00 PM CT
Central Michigan University
1-1,0-0MAC
54
at
85
Bradley
1-1,0-0MVC
1
2
F
Central Mich.
25
29
54
Bradley
35
50
85
Team Stats
CMU
BRAD
FG%
.364
.518
3FG%
.154
.385
FT%
.800
.680
RB
29
39
TO
15
10
STL
5
10
Game Leaders
Pts
12
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
10
FGM
3
3FGM
0
FTM
4
Pts
10
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
0
Pts
8
FGM
3
3FGM
2
FTM
0
Players Mentioned
G
/ Men's BasketballG
/ Men's BasketballC
/ Men's BasketballF
/ Men's Basketball
Photo by: Lauren Verellen
Chippewas Drop First Road Game 85-54 at Bradley
11/8/2025 11:04:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Keenan Garner finishes with 12 points and a team-high eight rebounds, Nathan Claerbaut and Phat Phat Brooks both score 10 points.
PEORIA, Ill.—Led by a career-high 33-point night by Jaquan Johnson, Bradley established an early lead and never looked back in posting an 85-54 men's basketball win over Central Michigan Saturday evening at Carver Arena.
With the result, Central Michigan drops to 1-1 on the young season, while Bradley improves to 1-1.
Bradley has now won 12 consecutive home games against Mid-American Conference opponents. Johnson hit 11 of 16 field goals, 3-5 3-pointers and 8-12 free throws, grabbed six rebounds. He led three Bradley players in double figure scoring, along with AJ Smith, who finished with 18 points with six rebounds, and Alex Hulbregtse added 11.
The Braves led for 39 of the game's 40 minutes. Bradley converted 51.8 percent (29-56) of its field goals, hit 10 3-pointers and outrebounded Central Michigan 39-29. The Chippewas shot just 36.4 percent (20-55) from the floor and was 2-13 from 3-point range.
Keenan Garner finished with 12 points and a team high-eight rebounds, Nathan Claerbaut added 10 points, and Phat Phat Brooks finished with 10 points, all in the first half.
Central Michigan head coach Andy Bronkema said the game will be a learning experience for his team.
"Give Bradley a ton of credit tonight," Bronkema said. "They were really focused. Jaquan Johnson was the key and unstoppable tonight. He was the focus of our scouting report. He really just started us in a scramble. Momentum is a huge thing and when that ball is falling through the net for them, the next one has better chance of going in. We stopped them twice and climbed back in and had a really good chance to cut it to single digits before halftime. We came out in the second half and cut it down to six points, then the wheels fell off. That was as close as we could get tonight.
"Everything we experienced tonight is going to pay big dividends for us. All of the different feelings, the failures, some of the successes. The film is going to be rich. It's a great opportunity for our guys to respond. It's a long year. I don't want to say you need games like this, but the coaches can look at the game plan and can put together a better game plan for the players. The players can execute the game plan better when people are programmed to stop us."
"A lot of dribbling tonight, over-dribbling, not enough passes, some real almost plays. When you talk about the almost plays, the 50-50 plays always go to the more aggressive team. For the majority of tonight, that team was Bradley. So many great things to draw on. They'll be great if we take them to heart, own up, and start to fight again. One thing I know about the coaches and players, we will regroup and be fired up to improve and get better."
From the tipoff, Bradley got off to a quick start and used a 7-0 run to build a 9-2 lead in the opening minutes. Later, the Braves used a 9-0 rally to build a 16-point first half lead (28-12) at the 8:52 mark.
But the Chippewas got back into it late in the first half with an 11-1 run to cut Bradley's lead down to seven points. Phat Phat Brook's up-and-under-bucket cut the Braves' lead to 32-25 with 1:12 to go in the first half. Brooks scored 10 of CMU's 25 first half points.
After trailing 35-25 at halftime, Central Michigan quickly cut Bradley's lead down to six points early in the second half (37-31) on a Tamario Adley jumper with 18:27 to play. But that was as close as the Chippewas came as Johnson responded with seven consecutive points to push the lead back up to 13 points at 44-31. He hit a 3-pointer, drove to the basket for a layup, then followed with another layup.
Next up, Central Michigan will play two games next week in St. Petersburg, Fla. as part of the St. Pete Showdown being played at Eckerd College. The Chippewas take on South Alabama on Thursday at 11 a.m., then play Coppin State on Friday at 11 a.m. Both games can be accessed on youtube.com.
With the result, Central Michigan drops to 1-1 on the young season, while Bradley improves to 1-1.
Bradley has now won 12 consecutive home games against Mid-American Conference opponents. Johnson hit 11 of 16 field goals, 3-5 3-pointers and 8-12 free throws, grabbed six rebounds. He led three Bradley players in double figure scoring, along with AJ Smith, who finished with 18 points with six rebounds, and Alex Hulbregtse added 11.
The Braves led for 39 of the game's 40 minutes. Bradley converted 51.8 percent (29-56) of its field goals, hit 10 3-pointers and outrebounded Central Michigan 39-29. The Chippewas shot just 36.4 percent (20-55) from the floor and was 2-13 from 3-point range.
Keenan Garner finished with 12 points and a team high-eight rebounds, Nathan Claerbaut added 10 points, and Phat Phat Brooks finished with 10 points, all in the first half.
Central Michigan head coach Andy Bronkema said the game will be a learning experience for his team.
"Give Bradley a ton of credit tonight," Bronkema said. "They were really focused. Jaquan Johnson was the key and unstoppable tonight. He was the focus of our scouting report. He really just started us in a scramble. Momentum is a huge thing and when that ball is falling through the net for them, the next one has better chance of going in. We stopped them twice and climbed back in and had a really good chance to cut it to single digits before halftime. We came out in the second half and cut it down to six points, then the wheels fell off. That was as close as we could get tonight.
"Everything we experienced tonight is going to pay big dividends for us. All of the different feelings, the failures, some of the successes. The film is going to be rich. It's a great opportunity for our guys to respond. It's a long year. I don't want to say you need games like this, but the coaches can look at the game plan and can put together a better game plan for the players. The players can execute the game plan better when people are programmed to stop us."
"A lot of dribbling tonight, over-dribbling, not enough passes, some real almost plays. When you talk about the almost plays, the 50-50 plays always go to the more aggressive team. For the majority of tonight, that team was Bradley. So many great things to draw on. They'll be great if we take them to heart, own up, and start to fight again. One thing I know about the coaches and players, we will regroup and be fired up to improve and get better."
From the tipoff, Bradley got off to a quick start and used a 7-0 run to build a 9-2 lead in the opening minutes. Later, the Braves used a 9-0 rally to build a 16-point first half lead (28-12) at the 8:52 mark.
But the Chippewas got back into it late in the first half with an 11-1 run to cut Bradley's lead down to seven points. Phat Phat Brook's up-and-under-bucket cut the Braves' lead to 32-25 with 1:12 to go in the first half. Brooks scored 10 of CMU's 25 first half points.
After trailing 35-25 at halftime, Central Michigan quickly cut Bradley's lead down to six points early in the second half (37-31) on a Tamario Adley jumper with 18:27 to play. But that was as close as the Chippewas came as Johnson responded with seven consecutive points to push the lead back up to 13 points at 44-31. He hit a 3-pointer, drove to the basket for a layup, then followed with another layup.
Next up, Central Michigan will play two games next week in St. Petersburg, Fla. as part of the St. Pete Showdown being played at Eckerd College. The Chippewas take on South Alabama on Thursday at 11 a.m., then play Coppin State on Friday at 11 a.m. Both games can be accessed on youtube.com.
—CMU—
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