PEORIA — Some teams would have hit the panic button when an 18-point lead dwindled down to six in the second half.

Not these Bradley Braves. They don't have one.

The Braves had something else in a 64-54 victory over Missouri State on Wednesday in a Missouri Valley Conference game before 4,791 at Carver Arena.

"A reset," BU starting point guard and core leader Duke Deen said. "That's what we did. Gathered together and I told everyone, 'Hit the reset right now.' "

And with that, the Braves finished their seventh straight win -- tied with the 1995-96 and 1996-97 teams for the sixth-longest MVC win streak in program history.

It's the longest Valley win streak under Braves head coach Brian Wardle.

And it's also the team's 20th win, the fourth time in six seasons BU has reached 20.

Bradley now has 13 wins in the Valley -- the most in a season in 27 years, since the 1995-96 team went 15-3 to win the regular-season title.

All of these number are helping build a case for what Bradley hopes to be.

"Really, it's in our hands, and we know that," Bradley head coach Brian Wardle said. "I told the team tonight this was not a championship level performance. If we want to get that championship, we got to be playing consistently at a high level.

"We control our own destiny. We can't rely on anybody else helping us out. In all my years at Bradley I don't think we've had a lot of teams help us out much when it comes to the (tournament) seeding. We've always had to do it ourselves and force our way in and get a top seed."

Live stats:Missouri State at Bradley | Preview: Missouri State at BU | Standings:MVC

More:'Part of history': Catching up with Bradley's last Missouri Valley basketball champion

It was a physical battle in the paint, especially in the second half when Missouri State -- out-scored by BU 24-6 inside in the first half -- tried to push back with Donovan Clay and NJ Benson.

With 3:28 left and Bradley up 59-50, the Braves forced a turnover, and Darius Hannah went down the lane like a runaway train, looking for a poster dunk. Benson was waiting under the basket, two trains, one track.

"I should have finished that one," Hannah said of the huge collision that followed. "But I got free shots for it. I just knew he was standing in there and I was like … 'Well, you tried it.'

"We were attacking them in the paint in the first half, they were giving up a lot of paint. They tried to switch it up in the second half, tried to get more physical with us."

The Braves worked inside to center Rienk Mast and he produced six points in the first 4:34.

Malevy Leons bounced outside for a 3 from the right wing and in a blink it was 13-4.

Deen nailed a 3, Hannah drove for a layup and Leons puts down a jumper in a span of two minutes to send BU to the under-12 media break with a 20-7 lead.

With 11 minutes to go in the first half, all five Bradley starters had points on the books and a 22-10 lead.

Then the Braves got a hook shot from Hannah at 8:40 left, then a 3 from the right corner by Zek Montgomery -- off a rebound and feed from Mast -- for 27-14 to force a Bears timeout with 7:56 left.

Hannah came off that break with a turnaround jumper in the paint for 29-16 lead with 6:47 left in the first half.

Bradley's lead hovered at 13 points for most of the half, and felt like at any moment the game could be shoved out of reach for Missouri State.

"We knew it would be a physical game," Wardle said. "First half I thought offensively the ball was flowing moving, scoring around the rim, playing aggressive.

"But our shot selection hurt us. Every time we had a run we started … doing things outside what we work on and who we are. I had to address that after the game. We were average tonight. Our defense kept us in.

"Shot selection, poor decision making and passing, that concerned me a little that we were trying to do too much. Trying to make the big play individually, that's just not how we got to where we are."

Bradley's Ja'Shon Henry, meanwhile, twice missed a layup, twice got his own rebound, and put it home on the third try for an and-1 and 40-26 lead.

Then he backed down Dalen Ridgnal on the next possession for a turnaround finish at the rim and 42-26 lead.

Mast worked for two in the paint for 44-26 with 18:18 left and Missouri State took a timeout, again on the brink.

The Bears scratched the BU lead down to 12, then Bradley went 1 of 10 from the field over the next six minutes while Missouri State got within 6 with 9:02 left.

"We play smart basketball … execution … I did not think we did that tonight, especially when we had momentum and leads," Wardle said. "We let them back in the game."

From there, they had to figure out how to push the Bears back out of it. Deen and the team reset was the answer.

"Moore was going off 50 ball screens, I'm not kidding," Deen said. "They ran the same action for eight minutes. Once you get that ball in your hands and find a rhythm, and shots are falling it's hard to stop. It has to be a team effort.

"When you are tired, you are competing against the details. So you reset. Get back to neutral ground and compete. That's what we do."

BU's Ville Tahvanainen hit a floating jumper and Connor Hickman drained a 3 from the left wing to stop the Bears and restore Bradley's lead to 55-44 at 8:02.

The Braves defense flipped an off-switch on Missouri State star Donovan Clay. He scored a game-high 12 points in the first half on 5 of 10 shooting. The rest of the Bears combined to shoot 5 of 21.

Clay never had another bucket, netting four free throws in the second half and going 0 of 5 from the field.

"We had to lock in on him," Hannah said. "He was their best player."

Said Deen: "I told the guys, when they (Missouri State) are loose and confident shots are going to go in. We just have to weather the storm, lock in on the defensive end.

"You buy into the details, every possession, do the job every time you're on the floor. We have 9-10 guys who can get the job done."

The Braves are at Southern Illinois on Sunday in their biggest game of the season.

Then they are at Valparaiso in their biggest game of the season.

Then they finish at home against Drake in a nationally televised duel that is their biggest game of the season.

If they win all three, they will be Missouri Valley Conference champions and the No. 1 seed heading into Arch Madness.

A loss would drop them back into the chaos for a top four seed, with Belmont, Southern Illinois, Indiana State, Bradley and Drake all separated by one game.

One of those teams is going to end up seeded fifth and have to play four games in four nights at St. Louis.

Hypothetically, the Braves might need to win six more games in a row to take the Valley tournament. If they do that, they'd go into the NCAA Tournament on a 13-game win streak.

Will it take winning every game?

"We have to (win) every possession," Hannah said. "Everyone is after us. We're at the top but that doesn't mean we're guaranteed to win anything.

"Being able to feed off each other and still having each other's back, that's what we do."

● Bradley head coach Brian Wardle:

"We lost our confidence shooting the ball, some guys were hanging their heads a little bit. When I see confidence gone, you gotta come out because I have to have confident guys on that floor."

● Bradley 5-foot-8 guard Duke Deen, smiling at the stat sheet on a night when the big men were knocking it around in the paint:

"I got a block and a rebound. So that was cool."

"We're a tough team. We've gotten mentally tougher. It's a competitive group, know how to guard and rebound when it matters. Just have to play smarter next game."

Bradley improved to 20-8 overall, 13-4 in the Valley. Missouri State is 14-13 (10-7). … Missouri State had just 10 players dressed, missing three to injuries. … Bradley guard Connor Hickman left the game with 5:19 left in the first half after a collision with Missouri State guard Alston Mason. Hickman returned with 92 seconds left in the half. BU head coach Brian Wardle said Hickman rolled an ankle and the player will be evaluated on Thursday. … Bradley swept the two-game series from Northern Iowa and Missouri State this season, the first time they have swept both those teams in the same season in Bradley's program history. … The Braves ended up winning the paint, 36-18. … Missouri State's Donovan Clay had a game-high 16 points, added five rebounds and one block. Alston Mason added 14 points. … Missouri State shot 21.9% on 35 attempted 3s. The Bears were 20 of 60 from the field. … Bradley shot 44.3% from the field. … The Braves got 11 points, 3 rebounds, a block and a steal from Malevy Leons. … Rienk Mast had 11 points and 5 rebounds. … Darius Hannah had 10 points, 5 rebounds and 2 blocks. … The Braves never trailed. … Bradley fifth-year forward Ja'Shon Henry had nine points and six rebounds. He now has 978 career points as he pushes to become the 51st player in Bradley history to reach 1,000 career points. … Bradley plays at Southern Illinois at 1 p.m. Sunday on ESPN2.

Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @icetimecleve.

8:28 p.m.: The Braves held Donovan Clay -- who led all scorers with 12 points in the first half -- to no points on two shots in the first 13 minutes of the second half.

8:25 p.m.: Bradley wing Zek Montgomery hit a pull-up 3 at 15:04, but Bradley went 1 of 10 from the field over the next six minutes while Missouri State whittled Bradley's lead down to 6 with 9:02 left.

Ville Tahvanainen hit a floating jumper with 8:50 to go and Connor Hickman drained a 3 from the left wing to stop the Bears, though, and restore Bradley's lead to 55-44 at 8:02.

The Braves then took a 55-47 lead to the break with 7:13 left.

8:15 p.m.: Missouri State closes to 12 with an and-1 and a 3 over the last 3:06 and Bradley takes a timeout with 15:12 left.

Coming off that break, Montgomery puts away a short jumper.

Missouri State was surging on an 8-3 run over 2:10, then Henry flew through the paint and ripped down a rebound, passed out to the arc to Mast, and he hit a 3 to give Bradley a 49-38 lead.

BU went to the break with a 49-40 lead at 11:25.

8:04 p.m.: Missouri State's first two possessions of the second half ended in a missed shot and an offensive foul.

Bradley's Ja'Shon Henry, meanwhile, twice missed a layup, twice got his own rebound, and put it home on the third try for an and-1 and 40-26 lead.

Then he backed down Dalen Ridgnal on the next possession for a turnaround finish at the rim and 42-26 lead.Mast worked for two in the paint for 44-26 with 18:18 left and Missouri State took a timeout.

Missouri State's Donovan Clay 5 of 10 shooting in the first half. Rest of the team is 5 of 21.

Bradley has 8 points from Darius Hannah, with 4 rebounds. Zek Montgomery has 7 points. All five starters scored in the game's first 10:30.

Bradley with 24-6 lead on points in the paint.

7:41 p.m.: Missouri State's Donovan Clay has game-high 12 points, and produced 8 of those in final 10:36 of the first half. He's guarding Rienk Mast at the other end, and single-handedly holding Missouri State in the game.

7:37 p.m.: Ja'Shon Henry came in and delivered a jumper, then muscled up a layup for consecutive scores inside five minutes remaining in the half. Then Hannah followed with a driving layup at 3:59 for a 35-21 lead.

7:31 p.m.: Bradley guard Connor Hickman hurting, leaves the game with 5:19 left in the first half after this contact with Alston Mason. Hickman returned with 92 seconds left in the half.

7:27 p.m.: The Braves got a hook shot from Darius Hannah at 8:40 left, then a 3 from the right corner by Zek Montgomery -- off a rebound and feed from Rienk Mast -- for 27-14 to force a Bears timeout with 7:56 left.

7:23 p.m.: Missouri State, by the way, has just four players on its bench, playing shorthanded tonight.

7:20 p.m.: With 11 minutes to go in the first half, all five Bradley starters have points on the books and a 22-10 lead.

7:18 p.m.: Duke Deen nails a 3, Darius Hannah drives for a layup and Malevy Leons puts down a jumper in a span of two minutes to send BU to the under-12 media break with a 20-7 lead.

7:09 p.m.: The Braves work inside to center Rienk Mast and he produces six points in the first 4:34.

Malevy Leons bounces outside for a 3 from the right wing and BU goes to the first break holding 13-4 lead.

6:48 p.m.: Bradley set up with guards Duke Deen and Connor Hickman, wing Zek Montgomery, forwards Rienk Mast and Malevy Leons.

Missouri State goes with Alston Mason, Jon Mogbo, Kendle Moore, Donovan Clay and Damien Mayo Jr.