Bradley Braves (7-2, 1-0 MVC)
at
Wichita State Shockers (10-2, 1-0 MVC)
Fri., Dec. 30, 2005 ? 6:07 p.m. ? Wichita, Kan. ? Charles Kock Arena (10,400)
Television: MVC-TV (Live on FSN Midwest and Fox College Sports; tape delay at 7 p.m. on Comcast SportsNet Chicago; tape delay at 7 p.m. Dec. 31 on MetroSports in Kansas City) -- Mitch Holthus, p-b-p & Charlie Spoonhour, analsyt.
Radio: WMBD AM 1470 (Dave Snell, play-by-play; Joe Stowell, analyst)
Internet: www.bubraves.com (audio stream only)
First Valley Road Trip
? Coming off Wednesday's 68-60 overtime victory versus Northern Iowa, Bradley will have just one day to prepare for its first Missouri Valley Conference road game of the season as the Braves will visit Wichita State Friday night.
? The Braves will be trying to snap a 10-game Valley road losing streak as the team's last Valley road win was a 60-59 triumph Feb. 25, 2004 at Indiana State.
? Bradley's current four-game winning streak matches the longest of the Jim Les coaching era (2002-present) and the Braves have not won five in a row since enjoying a 6-game ride from Dec. 20, 2000 through Jan. 16, 2001.
Series History
? Bradley owns a 66-50 lead in the all-time series versus Wichita State, dating back to a 72-63 Braves victory March 6, 1948 at the Peoria Armory.
? Friday's game will be the 117th meeting in the all-time series and 110 of the previous 116 games have been played as Missouri Valley Conference rivals.
? Bradley snapped a four-game losing streak in the series with a 74-68 victory Feb. 12, 2005 at Carver Arena in a contest that also was televised by Valley network cameras.
? Bradley is 13-34 all-time at Charles Koch Arena, including 0-2 since the facility was overhauled, and the Braves have lost four straight at the Round House.
? The Braves did earn an 86-77 victory Feb. 25, 2003 at the Kansas Coliseum.
About the Shockers
? Despite losing four starters from last year's squad that produced a 22-10 overall record and finished second in the Valley regular-season race, Wichita State has started fast in 2005-06, racing to a 10-2 overall record.
? Wichita State's two losses have come against the two favorites in the Big Ten Conference, a 55-54 loss on a neutral court versus Illinois and an 83-64 setback to Michigan State in Detroit.
? The Shockers have won three straight since the loss to the Spartans.
? Wichita State is 7-0 at home and the Shockers have won nine straight home games overall.
? Junior forward Kyle Wilson is the only Shocker who has started all 12 games this year and Wichita State uses a rotation that includes nine players who average between 13.4 and 26.7 minutes per game.
? The Shockers are outrebounding their opponents by 10.0 boards per game.
? Wichita State is 173-of-252 (.687) from the free throw line, while their opponents are just 87-of-153 (.569) from the stripe.
Face Your Fears
? There is a belief that the best way to conquer your fears is to face them head on.
? Bradley entered the 2005-06 season suffering from an 11-game losing streak outside of Carver Arena and a 10-game regular-season Valley road losing skid.
? The Braves snapped the first streak with a 75-60 victory at DePaul in the season-opener and carry a 2-2 road record into Friday's game at Wichita State.
? Bradley's 10-game Valley road slide dates back to a 60-59 victory at Indiana State Feb. 25, 2004.
Native Son
? Bradley senior forward Lawrence Wright is the son of a United States Air Force master sargeant and was born in Wichita, Kan., before moving to bases in Georgia, Alaska and California.
? Wright has averaged 16.0 points and 5.0 rebounds in two games versus Wichita State, highlighted by his breakout performance (26 points) last year in Peoria.
? Beginning with Bradley's 74-68 win Feb. 12, 2005 versus the Shockers at Carver Arena, Wright has averaged 14.5 points and 6.6 rebounds in his last 15 games, scoring in double figures 14 times.
Looking For Fifth Straight Win
? Bradley brings a four-game winning streak into Friday's game at Wichita State.
? The four-game ride equals the longest in the Jim Les coaching era (2002-present) at Bradley.
? The Braves also won four straight, all at home, from Dec. 4 through Dec. 21, 2004.
? Bradley has not won five in a row since a six-game streak from Dec. 30, 2000 through Jan. 16, 2001.
Valley at No. 2 in RPI
? According to the numbers published at www.realtimerpi.com, the Missouri Valley Conference was tied for second in the conference RPIs among all 31 NCAA Division I leagues through games of Dec. 28.
Conference RPI (Through Dec. 28)
DI Non-Con Record
Rk. Conference W L Pct. RPI
1. Big Ten 94 22 .8103 .6121
2. Missouri Valley 61 21 .7439 .5931
Atlantic Coast 93 23 .8017 .5931
4. Big East 125 39 .7622 .5844
5. Southeastern 91 30 .7521 .5733
6. Big XII 82 30 .7321 .5594
7. Pac-10 70 28 .7143 .5429
Rk. School W L Pct. RPI
10. Indiana State 7 1 .8750 .6697
13. Northern Iowa 8 2 .8000 .6650
19. Missouri State 7 2 .7778 .6563
21. Creighton 7 2 .7778 .6497
25. Bradley 7 2 .7778 .6413
44. Wichita State 9 2 .8182 .6166
58. Southern Illinois 7 2 .7778 .5988
123. Drake 6 4 .6000 .5285
206. Illinois State 4 4 .5000 .4552
215. Evansville 4 5 .4444 .4501
Tough Valley Start
? Bradley's MVC start does not get any easier after hosting the league's preseason favorite Wednesday night.
? Bradley's first six Valley games will be played against five teams that enter Friday's action with a 42-13 (.764) combined record:
Date Opponent Record Pct. RPI
Dec. 28 UNI 10-2 .833 13
Dec. 30 at Wichita State 10-2 .833 44
Jan. 2 Creighton 7-2 .778 21
Jan. 5 at Drake 8-4 .667 123
Jan. 8 at Southern Illinois 7-3 .700 58
Jan. 11 Wichita State 10-2 .833 44
Cumulative Totals 42-13 .764
? After downing MVC preseason favorite Northern Iowa in the league opener Wednesday, Bradley now will face three-time NIT participant Wichita State in games two and six (Jan. 11), eight-time postseason participant Creighton (Jan. 2), and consecutive road games at Drake (Jan. 5) and four-time MVC regular-season champion Southern Illinois (Jan. 8).
Playing With The Lead
? During Bradley's current four-game winning streak, the Braves have led for 109-minutes, 51-seconds of the possible 165 minutes.
? Conversely, the Braves have trailed for only 1-minute, 41-seconds.
Opponent Led Trailed
Western Kentucky (78-76) 37:02 0:44
Delaware State (68-46) 38:04 0:00
at Southerm Miss (56-43) 34:45 0:57
Northern Iowa (68-60, OT) 22:26 13:02
4-Game Totals (165:00) 132:17 14:43
? In the two road wins (in four tries), Bradley led DePaul and Southern Miss by a combined 68-minutes, 56-seconds and trailed for only 5-minutes.
Road Victims Led Trailed
at DePaul (75-60) 34:11 4:03
at Southern Miss (56-43) 34:45 0:57
2-Game Totals (80:00) 68:56 5:00
Wide Margins
? Through Bradley's first nine games, seven have been decided by double-digit margins.
? The only single-digit outcomes have been the 78-76 victory versus Western Kentucky Dec. 14 and the 68-60 overtime win Wednesday versus Northern Iowa, both at Carver Arena.
Getting Defensive
? Bradley has held its last three opponents to an average of 49.7 points per game, including just 47.0 points in the regulation 40 minutes.
? Bradley limited Delaware State to 48 points and Southern Miss to 43 before Northern Iowa managed 52 regulation points Wednesday night.
? The Braves came within three points of holding three consecutive opponents below 50 during regulation for the first time since the 1949-50 NCAA Tournament and NIT runners-up season -- Jan. 26 versus Tulsa (64-45), Jan. 28 at Saint Louis (54-45), Feb. 4 versus Pittsburgh (84-48) and Feb. 6 against Wichita State (61-49).
Hitting the Glass
? Despite playing without 7-foot center Patrick O'Bryant through the first eight games, Bradley was outrebounding the opposition by 3.7 boards per game.
? Bradley was outrebounded in each of the first three games, but after inserting 6-foot-8 junior college transfer Zach Andrews into the starting lineup, the Braves outrebounded each of their next five opponents.
? With O'Bryant replacing Andrews in the starting lineup Wednesday, Bradley outrebounded Northern Iowa, 40-35.
? In the last six games, Bradley has won the battle of the boards by an average of 8.8 boards per game.
? In the last six games, Northern Iowa boasts the best rebounding total with just 35 caroms and the six opponents have averaged only 29.8 boards.
Making An Impact
? During each game, Bradley charts the “impact” players have on the game by recording the points scored by each team while each Braves lineup is on the court.
? After the game, the “impact” numbers are broken down by each individual player and season totals are updated.
? Here are some highlights:
? Among the 10 players averaging at least 8.0 minutes per game, junior guard J.J. Tauai leads the team with the best “impact” number, .416, which is the scoring margin per minute he has been on the floor (Bradley has outscored the eight opponents by 32 points during Tauai's 77 minutes).
? Having played 77 scoreless minutes, Tauai's impact is most noticeable on the defensive end as the Braves have allowed only 97 points in his 77 minutes (1.26 points per minute), which translates to 50.4 points every 40 minutes.
? Junior center/forward Zach Andrews (.360) has the next best “impact” ratio, +77 in 214 minutes, while the team average is 0.205.
Defending The Three
? Bradley has allowed its first nine opponents just 5.1 3-point field goals per game while shooting only 29.7 percent from behind the arc, the best 3-point field goal percentage defense in the Valley.
? UNI did make nine 3-pointers Wednesday night, but the traditionally strong shooting Panthers required 28 3-point field goal attempts to get their nine makes (.321).
But About the 2-point Defense
? In contrast to Bradley's defense of the 3-point line in the early going, the Braves have struggled inside the arc without the presence of 7-foot sophomore center Patrick O'Bryant.
? Through the first eight games, the opposition has made 153-of-327 (.468) 2-point field goal attempts.
? The 171-point discrepency between 3-point field goal defense and 2-point field goal defense is the largest in the Valley.
? In O'Bryant's first game back in the lineup, however, Northern Iowa shot 32.1 percent (9-28) from 3-point land and only 35.5 percent (11-31) from inside the arc.
Assist Percentage
? By dishing out assists on 22 of 24 field goals Dec. 3 versus Bowling Green, Bradley has twice recorded assists on all but two field goals this season (also 17-of-19 versus Chicago State).
? Of the four unassisted baskets in the first two home games this season, two were scored by Zach Andrews on offensive rebounds.
? Bradley added 21 assists on 27 baskets Dec. 17 versus Delaware State, marking the third time the Braves have dished out at least 20 assists in a game this season.
? Bradley has recorded an assist on 65.0 percent of its field goals this year.
Turnover Margin
? Bradley has tried to force an uptempo pace this season, but the Braves have stayed under control in doing so.
? Bradley is averaging 15.3 turnovers per game and the Braves are fourth in the Valley by forcing 18.0 turnovers per game.
? The combination has resulted in a +2.7 turnover margin per game, compared to a -1.8 turnover margin last season.
Beating The Cold
? Bradley is 7-2 this season despite shooting only 42.8 percent from the field.
? In fact, the Braves are 2-0 when shooting less than 40 percent from the floor this year after posting a 6-23 (.207) record the previous three seasons when shooting less than 40 percent.
? The ability to overcome the cold shooting has come from Bradley's pressure defense as the Braves have forced 25 turnovers in both the games they shot shot less than 40 percent (Nov. 26 versus Chicago State and Dec. 14 against Western Kentucky).
? Bradley has forced more than 20 turnovers three times this season, each time resulting in a win.
Return of the 50-Point Rule
? Through Bradley's first eight games this season, the first team to reach 50 points wound up the winner.
? In fact, the 50-Point Rule had applied to 14 consecutive games until Bradley broke the string by overcoming a slim 50-49 deficit en route to the 68-60 overtime win Wednesday versus Northern Iowa.
? The last time the first team to 50 points did not win a game involving the Braves was Feb. 12, 2005 versus Wichita State, when the Braves overcame a 52-47 deficit for a 74-68 victory at Carver Arena.
? The 50-Point Rule has predicted the outcome of Bradley's last 13 games away from Carver Arena since the Braves lost at Drake (79-73) Jan. 8, 2005 after taking a 50-44 lead with 15:25 remaining.
