PEORIA, Ill. – BJ Ward scored a career-high 17 points and Southeast Missouri (0-1) dropped its season-opener to preseason Missouri Valley Conference favorite Bradley (1-0), 88-60, Monday night at Carver Arena.
 
Ward scored 14 of his points in the first half and surpassed his previous career-best of 13 vs. Tennessee Tech on Feb. 8, 2024. 
 
His effort, however, wasn't enough against a hot shooting BU team that hit 55.6 percent (30-of-54) of its field goals and buried 10 three-pointers.
 
The Braves were on fire from the get-go making six of their first seven shots to grab an early 15-2 lead 4:17 into the contest. BU made its first five field goals with Darius Hannah and Christian Davis scoring five points each to key the stretch.
 
SEMO, meanwhile, missed four of its first five from the floor and turned the ball over twice out of the gate. Brendan Terry scored the Redhawks first points of the season on a layup with 18:38 remaining in the first half.
 
After the first media timeout, Ward entered the game and quickly knocked down a pair of 3-pointers to get SEMO within seven (15-8). Rob Martin's layup and another bucket by Ward cut the Braves' lead to single digits twice more.
 
BU pulled ahead by 19 with less than a minute to go before heading into the locker room with a 46-29 halftime advantage.
 
The Braves shot over 60 percent (60.7) from the field and made seven 3-pointers with nine different players getting into the scoring column in the first half alone.
 
Ward became SEMO's first double-digit scorer of the season getting 14 points in his first 11 minutes of action.
 
BU took its largest lead of the night at 79-50 on a dunk by Hannah with a little over three minutes left before polishing off its 28-point victory.
 
Ward finished at 7-of-10 from the field and 3-of-5 from long range. He also dished out one assist and had a team-high three steals.
 
Damarion Walkup followed with 11 points in 26 minutes off the bench in his SEMO debut.
 
SEMO shot 42.1 percent (24-of-57) for the night.
 
Christian Davis and Jaquan Johnson led the Braves with 15 points apiece, and Almar Atlason added 13 points and eight rebounds.
 
Preseason MVC Player of the Year Duke Deen was limited to seven points thanks largely in part to Martin's strong defense.
 
SEMO opened a basketball season on the road for the seventh-straight year and 18th time in 19 seasons. The Redhawks are now 13-21 all-time in season-opening games during their NCAA Division I era.
 
The Redhawks travel Southeastern Conference foe Vanderbilt on Nov. 10.