Bradley Basketball Pregame Notes
Game 23 -Bradley Braves (11-11, 6-6 MVC) at Evansville Purple Aces (6-16, 0-12 MVC)
Saturday, Feb. 6 - 4:00 p.m. CST - Evansville, Ind. - Roberts Stadium (11,600)
Series History - Bradley leads 21-14
Television: MVC-TV - Fox Sports Midwest, Comcast SportsNet Chicago, Fox Sports Indiana, Fox Sports Kansas City and Metro Sports. Dan McLaughlin (play-by-play) and Bob Harstad (analyst).
Satellite Coordinates: HOR 2K, Transponder 12, Digital Slot A9, Digital KU Band (9 Megahertz), FEC 3/4, Symbol Rate 6.1113, Downlink Frequency 12146.500 Horizontal.
Radio: 1470 AM WMBD -- Dave Snell (play-by-play), Chuck Buescher (analyst) and Dan DiOrio (studio pregame host)
Online: www.BradleyBraves.com for free audio streams; wwwGoPurpleAces.com for live stats.
Running In The Pack
Bradley continues to find itself locked in the Missouri Valley Conference logjam in the middle of the league race and the Braves enter Saturday's game at Evansville tied with three other teams for fourth place in the MVC standings...A win Saturday could put the Braves back in a multiple-team tie for third in The Valley standings and as close as one game behind second place Wichita State...Coming off Tuesday's last-second win versus Drake, Bradley will be shooting for its second regular-season series sweep in as many outings...The Braves have built a 21-14 lead in the all-time series versus Evansville by winning 10 of the last 12 meetings, including three of the last four at Roberts Stadium.
History On The Road
Bradley enters Saturday's game with a 3-6 road record and three road games remaining...Bradley has won at least five road games in each of the last four years...The Braves have won as many as four road games in five consecutive seasons only twice in the program's 106-year history: 1993-94 through 1997-98 and 1956-57 through 1961-62...How tough is the road? While Bradley is 3-6 on the road, Connecticut (0-5), Duke (1-4), Louisville (1-5) and North Carolina (1-3) are a combined 3-17 in true road games this year.
Against The Aces
Saturday's game will be the 36th in the all-time series between Bradley and Evansville, which dates back to a 77-68 Purple Aces victory in non-conference action Dec. 22, 1986...Although Evansville owns an 11-5 record in home games against Bradley, the Braves have won in three of their last four visits to Roberts Stadium...Eighth-year Bradley head coach Jim Les is 10-5 all-time against Evansville and can even his road record against the Aces with a win Saturday.
With A Win...
Bradley will move back over .500 overall and in The Valley with its second straight victory...The Braves will earn a fourth road win on the season for a fifth consecutive year...Bradley will at least remain in fourth place in The Valley standings and could climb into a multiple-team tie for third by the end of the day...Jim Les will improve to 4-4 all-time at Evansville.
With A Loss...
Bradley will fall for the third time in four games since its three-game Valley win streak in mid-January...The Braves could drop as low as seventh place in The Valley standings...Bradley will suffer its second consecutive loss at Evansville.
Home Stretch
Following Saturday's game at Evansville, the Braves will play four of their last six games at Carver Arena...Already with a Feb. 2 home win versus Drake, The 2009-10 season marks the first time the Braves have played as many as five February home games since 1993-94...In his eighth year as Bradley's head coach, Jim Les owns a 22-6 (.786) February home record, including perfect 4-0 marks in 2003-04 and 2005-06...The Braves have not finished below .500 at home in the month of February since 2001-02, when the Braves dropped 2-of-3 at Carver Arena.
Percentages Tell Story
The team that has shot at a more efficient clip from the field has won 21 of Bradley's first 22 games...Bradley is 11-1 (.917) when it shoots a better field goal percentage than its opponent and 0-10 when the opponent has a better field goal percentage.
Maniscalco's Accuracy
Bradley junior guard Sam Maniscalco is shooting 52.5 percent from the field in the first 12 Valley games...The 6-foot Maniscalco currently is sixth in the league in field goal percentage in conference play...Maniscalco is the only player standing less than 6-foot-6 inches to rank among the league's top eight most accurate shooters in league play.
How Hot Is Maniscalco?
So just how hot has Sam Maniscalco been from inside the 3-point line this season? The 6-foot guard is shooting 60.7 percent (51-84) from inside the arc on the season, including a scorching 70.7 percent (41-58) in MVC play...Maniscalco's season 2-point field goal percentage currently ranks as the seventh-best in the history of Bradley Basketball for any player with at least 50 2-pointers made...He has a chance to become just the sixth, and easily the shortest, individual in program history with at least 50 2FGM to shoot at least 60 percent from 2-point range for an entire season.
Bradley Season 2-Point FG Pct. (50 FGM)
Luke Jackson, 1987-88 .675 127-188
Roosevelt Davison, 1983-84 .661 111-168
*Joe Allen, 1967-68 .655 258-394
Zach Andrews, 2006-07 .640 155-242
Roosevelt Davison, 1982-83 .638 104-163
Joe Allen, 1966-67 .622 232-373
Sam Maniscalco, 2009-10 .607 51-84
Jerome Robinson, 1998-99 .600 51-85
* NCAA statistical national champion
Maniscalco also easily paces The Valley in 2-point field goal percentage through 12 rounds of conference play.
2009-10 MVC 2-FG Pct. (MVC only)
Minimum 2.5 2FGM/Game
1. Sam Manisclaco, BU .707 41-58
2. Gene Teague, SIU .625 30-48
3. Dinma Odiakosa, ILS .596 56-94
4. Jermaine Mallett, MSU .593 35-59
5. Jordan Eglseder, UNI .585 62-106
6. Will Creekmore, MSU .582 39-67
7. Harry Marshall, INS .565 52-92
8. Jackie Carmichael, ILS .554 36-65
9. Justin Carter, CU .548 34-62
10. Adam Koch, UNI .532 33-62
Strength of Schedule
According to the RPI information provided by CBSSportsline.com Thursday, Bradley owns the nation's No. 58 Strength of Schedule rating...The next toughest SOS in The Valley is Indiana State at No. 78 and the other nine teams in the MVC have a 127.4 average SOS ranking...Bradley's non-conference strength of schedule easily paces The Valley at No. 76, 51 spots better than second place Indiana State (127), while the average non-conference SOS for the other nine teams in the league is 261.8.
Power of the Post
Bradley is 10-3 this season when the quartet of sophomore forward Taylor Brown, sophomore center Will Egolf and reserve centers Sam Singh and Anthony Thompson combine for at least 20 points and 10 rebounds...The Braves are 1-8 when the post quartet falls below the 20-10 standard...The Braves did not reach the scoring part of the equation Tuesday night versus Drake until Egolf converted a pair of putbacks inside the game's final 33 seconds, including the game-winning rebound basket with 1.8 seconds remaining.
Newest 1,000-Point Scorer
Bradley junior guard Sam Maniscalco became Bradley's 43rd member of the 1,000-Point Club Tuesday when his 21-point effort against Drake pushed his career total to 1,014 points...Junior guard Andrew Warren also has a shot at joining the 1,000-Point Club this year...Warren enters Saturday's game with 887 career points and at his current average of 14.2 ppg, he is on schedule to join the club during Bradley's first game of the 2010 State Farm MVC Tournament.
One-Two Punch
Bradley junior guards Andrew Warren and Sam Maniscalco are the highest-scoring teammate tandem in Valley action through the first 12 rounds of league play...Maniscalco is third by averaging 15.1 ppg in conference play, while Warren is fifth at 14.7 ppg, giving the duo a combined average of 29.8 ppg...Evansville's combo of Colt Ryan (15.6) and Denver Holmes (13.7) are second at a combined 29.3 ppg...Warren leads the league by making 93.5 percent of his Valley free throw attempts and is tied for fourth in 3FG percentage (.424).
Brown's Improvement
Bradley sophomore forward Taylor Brown ranks among the nation's leaders in improved scoring from 2008-09 to this season...After averaging 3.4 ppg as a freshman last year, Brown currently is The Valley's eighth-leading scorer at 13.4 ppg...His increase of 10.0 ppg is the best in The Valley and ranks 10th nationally among the players that played last season.
Big Media Numbers
Now in his 31st year as the radio Voice of the Braves, Dave Snell has participated in 943 Bradley Basketball game broadcasts, all in succession, on WMBD AM 1470 since taking over play-by-play duties for the 1979-80 season...Snell was inducted into the Bradley Athletics Hall of Fame Jan. 23...Snell's longtime radio sidekick, Joe Stowell, has been witness to 1,539 Bradley Basketball games in his various roles as player (103, 1947-50); assistant coach (250, 1956-65); head coach (344, 1965-78); assistant athletic director (107, 1978-85); and radio analyst (735, 1985-present)...Peoria Journal Star beat writer Dave Reynolds has covered 606 consecutive Bradley Basketball games since taking over the beat for the start of the 1990-91 season.
