Bradley Braves (11-7, 5-5 MVC)
at
Evansville Purple Aces (5-13, 1-9 MVC)
Sat., Jan. 28, 2006 ? 7:05 p.m. ? Evansville, Ind. ? Roberts Stadium (11,600)
Television: WEEK-TV, Peoria NBC 25 (Lee Hall, play-by-play; Joe Dalfonso, analyst)
Satellite Coordinates: SBS6-K13 Slot B (9 Mhz digital); D/L=12011 H; Symbol rate=6.1113; FEC=3/4
Radio: WMBD AM 1470 (Dave Snell, play-by-play; Joe Stowell, analyst)
Internet: www.bubraves.com (audio and video streams)
Trying to End the Skid
? A winner in three of its last four games, Bradley will try to carry its momentum onto the road Saturday night when the Braves visit Missouri Valley Conference rival Evansville.
? Bradley will be trying to end a program-worst 14-game Valley road losing streak, as well as a nine-game road slide versus the Purple Aces.
? Bradley's recent run of success has allowed the Braves to move up from seventh place in the league standings into a tie for fifth with Missouri State, two games behind fourth-place Creighton.
? Evansville will be trying to snap a six-game overall losing streak, which has included home losses to league co-leaders Northern Iowa and Wichita State, as well as a 90-62 loss Jan. 14 at Bradley.
Series Notes
? Saturday's game will be the 28th meeting in the all-time series between Bradley and Evansville, which dates back to a a non-conference clash Dec. 22, 1986 at Evansville.
? In a series dominated by the home team, Bradley owns a slim 14-13 advantage.
? Bradley is 11-2 at home versus the Purple Aces, while Evansville sports a 10-2 home advantage versus the Braves.
? Fourth-year Bradley head coach Jim Les owns a 3-4 record versus Evansville, while fourth-year Purple Aces head coach Steve Merfeld owns a 4-4 record versus the Braves (in addition to the league series, Merfeld was the head coach at Hampton in 2001 when the Braves captured an 87-84, double-overtime victory).
About the Purple Aces
? Evansville went 4-4 during the non-conference season, but the Aces have started league play by dropping nine of their first 10 games.
? The Purple Aces will be trying to snap a six-game losing streak.
? Junior forward Matt Webster is the team's leading scorer (15.0 ppg) and rebounder (6.3 rpg)
? Webster is averaging 7.8 free throw attempts per game and is shooting 75.0 percent from the stripe.
? Webster injured his ankle toward the end of the game Jan. 14 at Bradley and was forced to miss the next game Jan. 16 at Illinois State.
? Freshman guard Jason Holsinger is one of the top newcomers in the Valley and is averaging 12.5 points and 4.4 assists per game.
historic Slide at Evansville
? Bradley will be trying to end its program-record 14-game Valley road losing streak Saturday at the site where the Braves have experienced the most futility -- Evansville's Roberts Stadium.
? Bradley is 2-10 all-time on the road versus Evansville and the Braves have lost nine straight at Roberts Stadium.
? The 9-game road slide versus the Purple Aces is the longest Bradley has endured against any of the other nine current Valley members and the second-longest in Bradley's 54 years of MVC membership.
? Bradley was 0-11 at Louisville while the Cardinals were Valley members from 1964-65 through 1974-75.
? In addition to the 2-10 road record versus Evansville, Bradley dropped a 61-46 decision versus Cincinnati at Roberts Stadium March 12, 1962 in a MVC championship playoff game.
Scoring Binge
? Bradley tops the Valley in scoring in league play by averaging 76.2 points through the first 10 conference games -- Missouri State is second at 71.6 ppg.
? Bradley has scored at least 76 points in each of the last five games, averaging 82.6 points during the stretch.
? The 413 points in the last five games is the most Bradley has scored during a 5-game run since racking up 426 points in the first five games of the 2002-03 season, including a 107-70 win versus NCAA Division II Arkansas-Monticello.
? Bradley has not scored as many points in five straight Valley games since scoring the same 413 points in the first five MVC games of the 1988-89 season.
? Conversely, Evansville ranks last in the 10-team league by allowing 72.9 points per game in conference play.
Second Half UnderWay
? After playing six games versus the four teams that began the week tied for first in the Valley standings during the first half of the Valley schedule, Bradley began the second half of the league slate with an 86-76 win Wednesday versus Missouri State.
? Northern Iowa (18-3), Wichita State (17-4), Creighton (13-5) and Southern Illinois (15-5) have combined for a 63-17 (.788) record and boast an average RPI rating of 22.0.
? The strong opposition in the first half of the league schedule has helped Bradley climb to 57 in the RPI ratings with the 37th-toughest schedule in the country.
Bracket Buster Pairings
? On Monday at 2 p.m. (CST) ESPNNews is scheduled to announce the pairings for the 13 games in the Ebay BracketBusters series that will be televised and the final TV schedule for those pairings is to be set Tuesday by two o'clock.
? As of Friday morning and with one game remaining before the pairings in the 100 team Ebay BracketBusters event are made, Bradley owns the 10th-best rating (57) among the 50 home teams, according to the data published at collegerpi.com.
? With several factors that will affect the pairings, including conference affiliations and previoius opponents, some potential matchups for the Braves include:
School, League Overall Div. I RPI Rk.
Akron, Mid-American 14-4 13-4 .5623 73
Tennessee Tech, OVC 14-6 12-6 .5577 79
Samford, OVC 13-5 11-5 .5538 83
Fresno State, WAC 10-7 10-7 .5510 88
Louisiana Tech, WAC 13-7 12-7 .5507 89
Buffalo, Mid-American 15-4 14-4 .5443 96
Marist, Metro Atlantic 11-6 11-6 .5420 103
Northern Illinois, MAC 10-7 9-7 .5374 108
Valley Defense
? Bradley enters Saturday's game tied for second in the Valley in field goal percentage defense in league play, holding its first 10 Valley opponents to a collective 39.0 percent from the field.
? In Bradley's first four Valley road games, the Braves have limited the four opponents to a collective 37.7 percent shooting from the field.
? Among those four road opponents, Creighton (.404) was the only team to shoot better than 38 percent.
Valley Foul Trouble
? Foul trouble in Bradley's first eight Valley games prevented the Braves from taking full advantage of its defensive effort.
? In the first eight league games, the Braves were whistled for 181 personal fouls, an average of 22.6 per game and 49 more than their eight league opponents.
? The Braves have been whistled for a total of just 25 fouls in the last two games.
More Free Throws=More Wins
? The result of Bradley's foul difficulty in the first eight Valley games was a 3-5 start to the league season.
? the Braves suffered a -73 scoring margin at the free throw line in those eight games: Bradley was 96-for-136 (.706) from the free throw line, while its opponents were 169-for-225 (.751).
? Bradley has outscored its last two opponents -- Indiana State (10-7) and Missouri State (21-15) -- at the free throw line, the first two times that had occured since the Valley opener Dec. 28 versus UNI (13-11).
? For the season, Bradley is 8-0 when it scores more at the line than the opposition.
? The Braves have won nine straight overall when they score more points at the line than their opponents.
The Andrews Factor
? Bradley is now 7-2 this season when junior post player Zach Andrews starts, but 4-5 in the other nine games.
? In the nine games Andrews has started, the Braves have won the rebound battle eight times and own an average reboound margin of 9.6 boards per game.
? In the nine games Andrews has come off the bench, Bradley has been outrebounded six times.
? Andrews has averaged 10.4 points and 7.9 rebounds per game in his nine starts, compared to 4.8 points and 5.1 rebounds in his nine games as a reserve.
Accurate Bennett Equals Wins
? Including each of Bradley's last two wins, the Braves are 16-4 (.800) the last two seasons when senior guard Tony Bennett shots at least 50 percent from the field.
? Bennett made 14-of-27 shots during the last two home games, giving the Braves a 14-0 record in his two seasons when he shoots at least 50 percent at Carver Arena.
Sommerville Breaks Out
? Bradley senior forward Marcellus Sommerville appears to have broken out of his recent funk by scoring 17 points during each of the last two games.
? Sommerville made 7-of-12 field goal attempts last Saturday versus Indiana State and 7-of-11 Wednesday against Missouri State.
? His .583 field goal percentage versus Indiana State was his most-accurate shooting night since a 6-for-10 performance Jan. 19, 2005 at Southern Illinois and the 7-for-11 (.636) performance against the Bears equalled the most-accurate game of his career.
O'Bryant's Block Party
? Since Bradley sophomore center Patrick O'Bryant made his season debut in the Valley opener Dec. 28, the Braves are averaging 5.5 blocked shots per game.
? In the eight games without O'Bryant, Bradley's opponents were shooting 48.0 percent (142-296) from inside the 3-point line.
? In the 10 games since O'Bryant's return, the opposition is shooting only percent 42.5 percent (165-388) from inside the arc.
Let Me Assist You
? Bradley recorded 29 assists on the 36 baskets Jan. 14 versus Evansville, the team's largest assist total since recording 31 Dec. 29, 2002 versus Alcorn State in the second round of the Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic.
? Bradley reached 20 assists in a game only one time last season, while averaging only 13.5 assists per game.
? Including 49 assists in the just-completed 2-game home stand, Bradley has dished out at least 20 assists seven times this season and the Braves are averaging a league-best 17.3 assists per game.
? In Bradley's 11 wins the season, the Braves have averaged 19.9 assists, setting up 71.1 percent of their field goals.
Two-point Guard Look
? In the last three games, junior reserve point guard Will Franklin has joined sophomore starting point guard Daniel Ruffin on the court for extended periods of time.
? In the last three games, the Braves have outscored their oponents by 21 points during the time the two point guards have been on the floor together.
