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PEORIA, Illinois — In a back-and-forth contest that came down to the final minute, the Bradley Braves defeated the Utah State Aggies 72-66 in overtime.
With just seconds remaining and the game tied up 62-62, Bradley's Connor Hickman launched a 3-point shot that clanked off the front of the rim to send the game into overtime.
With a second chance to secure the win in the final seconds of overtime, however, the Braves' Christian Davis iced the game with a corner 3-pointer after some impressive passing.
"I thought the biggest key was we missed 17 shots at the rim," Aggies head coach Danny Sprinkle said. "I thought we missed some really big layups at the end of the game."
Great Osobor led the Aggies in scoring with 22 points on 7-of-11 shooting, while adding seven rebounds and three assists. He highlighted an otherwise inefficient shooting performance for the Aggies. Osobor and Isaac Johnson were the only two Aggies players to shoot better than 50% from the field, boosting their team's 33.8% shooting overall.
Utah State's struggles shooting the ball could be partially explained by Bradley's lockdown interior defense, which forced the Aggies to shoot 31 3-point attempts. The Aggies made just eight, about three of which came in the final few minutes of regulation.
Utah State additionally found themselves in foul trouble late in the game, with Johnson, Ian Martinez and Max Agbonkpolo all totaling four fouls before the end of regulation. Mason Falslev, who was held scoreless in the game, was limited after picking up two fouls early in the first half.
"You've got to guard without fouling at this level, and you're going to guard some great athletes," Sprinkle said. "You've got to be able to guard the drive."
Sprinkle said Falslev will learn new defensive techniques but shouldn't hold back on his level of competitiveness or physicality, saying that "that's what makes him special." He added that he could become an "elite defender."
Despite the loss, Sprinkle remained positive about the game, saying the experience the team got will pay dividends down the road. He added that it's the first Division-I game for some players on his team.
"It felt like a conference game today, it really did, with the atmosphere and just the physicality, and our guys, they'll learn from it," Sprinkle said.
The loss brings the Aggies to an even 1-1 on the season with their next contest coming at home Tuesday against Southern Utah.
