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Bradley surprises No. 20 Illinois

Nov 29, 2009 - 4:28 AM LAS VEGAS(AP) -- Andrew Warren listened to his coach and helped the Braves pull the upset.

Warren scored 16 points, including a go-ahead 3-pointer with 30 seconds left, to lift Bradley to a 72-68 win over Illinois on Saturday night.

Warren's basket from the left arc put the Braves up 68-66. Bradley, which had five players in double figures, ended on an 11-2 run and went 3-1 in the Invitational.

"I came off a screen down the baseline and my defender (D.J. Richardson) was trailing me," Warren said. "I saw I had space. I just rose up and was aggressive. I had confidence in myself. Coach (Jim Les) said to stay aggressive."

Chris Roberts had 13 points for the Braves (4-2). Will Egolf, Taylor Brown, and Sam Maniscalco all had 12 points apiece. Egolf had nine rebounds, while Brown had seven.

Maniscalco, who made two free throws with 2 seconds left to seal it, had five assists and two steals.

Mike Davis led the Illini (4-2) with 17 points and eight rebounds. Illinois finished the tournament a disappointing 2-2, and lost the last two games in Las Vegas on consecutive days. Utah upset the Illini 70-68 on Friday night.

Mike Tisdale had 12 points and eight rebounds for Illinois while Demetri McCamey added 10 points and four assists.

"We didn't execute down the stretch," Illinois coach Bruce Weber said. "We had some shots. To (Bradley's) credit, they made some shots. We have a long way to go. We have to learn from it. We're a young team."

After trailing 29-28 at halftime, the Braves opened a 47-38 lead with 12:59 left. But the Illini went on an 18-8 run and eventually took the lead on Davis' 3-point play with 4:44 left 62-61.

After Illinois built a 66-61 lead, Bradley scored the next nine points, capped by Warren's 3-pointer.

After Warren's 3-pointer, McCamey had a chance to tie with 24 seconds left, but missed the front end of a 1-and-1 free throw.

"When we walked out of that meeting, I knew we were going to play our butts off," Les said. "Our guys made big plays on both ends of the floor. We pride ourselves on coming out of timeouts and doing something different."

Bradley shot 8 of 27 in the first half. But the Braves jumped out to a 14-6 lead.

Illinois went on a 9-0 run and led 23-17 before four more lead changes in the half. The Illini led 29-28 at the half on Davis' layup just before the buzzer.

"When we're solid on the defensive end, we're a tough team to score against," Les said. "We're a work in progress like any team in November."

The schools are separated by roughly 90 miles, but played 1,700 miles away at the Orleans Arena.

"They're kind of our big brother," Warren said. "We're the younger brother. It's big win for us."