2010-11 Bradley Basketball Game Notes
Game 12 -Bradley Braves (6-5, 0-0 MVC) at Indiana State (5-6, 0-0 MVC)
Wednesday, Dec. 29 - 7:05 p.m. EST - Terre Haute, Ind. - Hulman Center (10,200)
Series History - Bradley leads 47-26
Television: WTVP World - Frank Bussone (play-by-play) and Chad Kleine (analyst)
Radio: 1470 AM WMBD -- Dave Snell (play-by-play), Danny Adams (analyst) and Dan DiOrio (in studio pregame host)
Online: BradleyBraves.com - subscription video streams, free audio streams, live stats
Tickets: $8-25 Adults; $6-25 Youth (6-18) - available at Hulman Center Box Office (812-237-3737).
THE STORYLINE
Bradley will be in search of a third consecutive victory when the Braves open their 59th Missouri Valley Conference season Wednesday at Indiana State ... Thus far, Bradley's early season has been marked by streaks: four straight wins to open the campaign, followed by five consecutive losses and the current two-game winning streak ... Bradley is 35-23 all-time in Valley openers and will be looking for a third straight win in its MVC opener ... The Braves will be shooting for their 1,600th all-time victory Wednesday night.
COACHING MATCHUP
In his ninth year at Bradley, Jim Les in the dean of Missouri Valley Conference head coaches and will face rookie head coach Greg Lansing Wednesday night ... Les owns a 12-5 all-time record versus Indiana State, including an 8-3 mark versus Royce Waltman and a 4-2 ledger against Kevin McKenna ... As he begins his ninth Valley season Wednesday night, Les has faced 21 Valley coaches -- Creighton 1 (Dana Altman); Drake 4 (Kurt Kanaskie, Dr. Tom Davis, Keno Davis, Mark Phelps); Evansville 2 (Steve Merfeld, Marty Simmons); Illinois State 3 (Tom Richardson, Porter Moser, Tim Jankovich); Indiana State 2 (Waltman, McKenna); Missouri State 2 (Barry Hinson, Cuonzo Martin); UNI 2 (Greg McDermott, Ben Jacobson); Southern Illinois 3 (Bruce Weber, Matt Painter, Chris Lowery); Wichita State 2 (Mark Turgeon, Gregg Marshall).
SHOOTING FOR 1,600
Bradley enter's Wednesday's game at Indiana State with a 1,599-1,026 record in its 107th season ... The 1,599 wins are the most in Valley history and rank 26th among all NCAA Division I teams.
SLOW VALLEY STARTS
In the 14 years since Bradley last won a Missouri Valley Conference regular-season title, the Braves have struggled out of the gates in the league race ... Since 1996, Bradley is 5-9 in its Valley openers ... The Braves have won two straight league openers, however, knocking off Southern Illinois, 79-63, in the 2008-09 opener at Carver Arena and Drake, 67-59, last season in Des Moines ... Bradley has not won three straight Valley openers since a four-year streak from 1992-93 through 1995-96.
WARREN TOPS THE MVC
Bradley senior guard Andrew Warren leads The Valley in scoring at 18.7 points per game ... Warren's 206 points through 11 games represent 29.9 percent of Bradley's overall offensive output, easily the largest individual scoring ratio in the league ... Warren's individual scoring ratio ranks as the largest by a Brave since Curtis Stuckey (25.1 ppg) scored 34.5 percent of Bradley's points during the 1990-91 season and currently ranks as the eighth-greatest ratio at Bradley since World War II.
MORE THAN A SCORER
Not only is Andrew Warren leading The Valley in scoring, but the 6-foot-6 senior guard also leads the league in steals (1.5 spg), free throws made (54) and free throw percentage (.900) ... Although obviously early, Warren has a chance to become the first player to lead The Valley in both scoring and steals since Drake's Curt Smith in 1992-93 ... Warren also leads the Braves in rebounding at 5.8 rpg and sports two double-doubles this year ... In the Nov. 30 game at Western Carolina, Warren led the Braves in points (22), rebounds (8), assists (4) and steals (2) ... In the Dec. 4 game versus Utah, Warren led the Braves across the board -- points (27), rebounds (10), assists (2), blocked shots (2) and steals (4).
WARREN'S STREAK
The Valley's leader in free throw percentage (.900) and free throws made (54), senior guard Andrew Warren will enter the MVC opener at Indiana State having made 25 consecutive free throws ... His streak is the 11th-longest in school history.
DUNSON STEPS UP
With the season's top two point guards, Sam Maniscalco and Dyricus Simms-Edwards, unavailable, senior Dodie Dunson had just one day to prepare to handle the point guard duties Dec. 8 at #1 Duke ... Dunson was up to the challenge, finishing with eight points, six rebounds, three assists, two steals and, perhaps most notably, zero turnovers in 38 minutes at Cameron Indoor Stadium ... In three games as the starting point guard, Dunson has averaged 10.0 ppg, 5.7 apg, 4.7 rpg and 1.7 spg ... Although he has played little at the point in his three years at Bradley, Dunson was a point guard in high school and handled the position at times during his freshman season at Iowa State (2006-07) and throughout his sophomore year at Vincennes (2007-08).
FOULS & TURNOVERS KEY
In Bradley's six wins this season, the Braves have averaged 13.0 turnovers, while forcing an average of 19.0 turnovers per game ... Additionally, the Braves have made 87 free throws in the six wins, while the opposition has attempted only 86 charity attempts ... In the five losses, however, Bradley has averaged 16.6 turnovers, forced only 13.2 turnovers and attempted just two more free throws (85) than the opposition has made (83).
LOOKING AHEAD
After opening the 18-game Missouri Valley Conference schedule Wednesday at Indiana State, Bradley will play its next two league games at home ... The Braves will host Valley preseason favorite Wichita State in a 6:30 p.m. contest Saturday at Carver Arena in a contest that will be televised nationally on ESPNU ... Bradley will wrap up the two-game home stand by hosting in-state rival Southern Illinois Jan. 4 at 7:05 p.m. in a game that will be jointly televised in central Illinois by WTVP World and in southern Illinois on WSIU.
