Hickman has 20, Bradley defeats UIC 74-47 in MVC quarterfinal

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From downtown, Duke Deen hits the long 3-pointer

From downtown, Duke Deen hits the long 3-pointer

Updated: Mar 9, 2024, 12:57 am

ST. LOUIS -- — Connor Hickman scored 20 points to lead third-seeded Bradley to a 74-47 win over 11th-seeded UIC in the Missouri Valley Conference quarterfinals on Friday night.

The Braves will face second-seed Drake in the second of two semifinals Saturday.

Hickman had five rebounds for the Braves (22-10). Darius Hannah added 11 points while shooting 5 of 9 from the field while he also had seven rebounds and four blocks. Demarion Burch had 10 points and shot 4 of 5 from the field and 2 of 4 from the free-throw line.

The Flames (12-21) were led by Nathan Ojukwu, who posted 10 points. Toby Okani added nine points and three steals for UIC. Isaiah Rivera also had nine points.

Bradley took the lead with 13:31 left in the first half and did not give it up. Malevy Leons led their team in scoring with nine points in the first half to help put them up 27-25 at the break. Bradley pulled away with a 16-1 run in the second half to extend a two-point lead to 17 points. They outscored UIC by 25 points in the final half, as Hickman led the way with a team-high 14 second-half points.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.