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Bradley (10-5, 2-1) at Indiana State (9-5, 2-1)
Jan. 9, 2013 – 7:05 p.m. (EST)
Terre Haute, Ind. – Hulman Center (10,200)
TV:  WTWO/WAOE – Jason Pensky (pbp) and Jim Waugh (analyst)
Radio:  1470 WMBD - Dave Snell (pbp), Chad Kleine (analyst) and Dan DiOrio (pregame)
Twitter:  @BPtheBrave - #BRADvINS
Tickets:  $8, $15 and $25 based on location | Hulman Center Box Office (812-237-3737) or by calling TicketMaster (877-745-3000)

Tip-Off
•   Two of the four teams currently tied for third in the Missouri Valley Conference standings will meet Wednesday night when Bradley visits Indiana State.
•   Senior guard Dyricus Simms-Edwards enters Wednesday's game with 992 career points and needs just eight more to become the 45th member of Bradley's 1,000-Point Club.
•   Wednesday's game also is the first in a 6-game stretch that will see the Braves play four road games.
•   After going just 3-22 on the road during the 2010-11 (2-10) and 2011-12 (1-12) seasons, Bradley is 3-1 on the road so far this season.
•   Bradley earned a 66-60 win at Southern Illinois in its first Valley road game of the season last Wednesday and the Braves will be shooting for their second MVC road win for the first time since going 3-6 on The Valley road in 2009-10.
•   The Braves have not won consecutive Valley road games since a 3-game win streak from Dec. 31, 2008-Jan. 13, 2009 at Wichita State, Missouri State and Indiana State.

Series History
78th Meeting | Bradley leads 48-29
•   Though Bradley owns a 48-29 lead in the all-time series against Indiana State, the Sycamores have won four of the last five meetings.
•   Indiana State has taken a 19-17 lead against the Braves in Terre Haute by winning the last three meetings at the Hulman Center.
•   Second-year Braves head coach Geno Ford is 1-1 in his career against Indiana State, while Sycamores head coach Greg Lansing is 3-1 in his career against Bradley.

Last Time Out
Wichita State 69, at Bradley 63 | Jan. 6, 2013 | Carver Arena
•   Cleanthony Early scored a game-high 24 points, including a second-chance 3-pointer with 3:23 remaining that put Wichita State ahead for good in a back-and-forth affair Sunday evening.
•   Walt Lemon, Jr. and Dyricus Simms-Edwards both scored 15 points and dished out five assists for the Braves.
•   Lemon added a career-best eight rebounds, while Simms-Edwards recorded four steals.
•   Wichita State closed the game on a 10-2 run over the final 3:23 to improve to earn its sixth straight win against Bradley and third straight road win against the Braves.

Second Year Strides
•   In his second year as Bradley's head coach, Geno Ford already has improved upon the team's 7-25 (.219) record in 2011-12.
•   Ford is the fifth consecutive Bradley head coach to improve the team's record by at least three wins from Year 1 to Year 2.
•   The last four coaches prior to Ford each have improved the team's record from Year 1 to Year 2 and by an average of 7.5 wins.

Head Coach (at BU)       1st Year  2nd Year
Geno Ford (2011-SA)         7-25     10-5
Jim Les (2002-11)          12-18     15-16
Jim Molinari (1991-02)      7-23     11-16
Stan Albeck (1986-91)      17-12     26-5
Dick Versace (1978-86)      9-17     23-10
Joe Stowell (1965-78)      20-6      17-9
Chuck Orsborn (1956-65)    22-7      20-7
Bob Vanatta (1954-56)       9-20     13-13
Forddy Anderson (1949-54)  32-5      32-6
A.J. Robertson (1920-49)    7-9      12-6
Harold Olsen (1918-19)      6-9       3-6 (5-10)
Fred Brown (1909-18)        6-7      10-3
* Olsen left after the 1st 9 games of the 1919-20 season

Upward Trend
•   After enduring a 6-year downward spiral, Bradley is guaranteed of finishing this year with an improved record for the first time since 2006.

Quick to 10
•   Bradley earned its 10th win of the season Jan. 2 at Southern Illinois.
•   The Braves earned their 10th victory by the first game of January for just the third time in the last 45 years.

Season   10th W   W-L   Final
1967-68  Jan. 4   10-3  19-9
1985-86  Dec. 29  10-1  32-3
2006-07  Dec. 30  10-4  22-13
2012-13  Jan. 2   10-4  TBD

Getting Defensive
•   Bradley leads The Valley and ranks fourth nationally by averaging 11.13 steals per game.
•   The Braves force a league-high 17.2 turnovers per game and boast a league-best +5.0 turnover margin.
•   The Braves rank second in The Valley by allowing only 61.7 ppg. and third in the league by limiting the opposition to 40.1 percent shooting from the field.

Scoring Pace Slows
•   Though still averaging 70.1 points per game, Bradley's offensive production has slowed in the last five games.
•   The Braves have not scored as many as 70 points since their 77-42 win Dec. 19 versus Mississippi Valley State.
•   Bradley is averaging just 63.2 ppg in the last five games while shooting just 40.9 percent from the field.

Record Steals Pace
•   Through the weekend action, Bradley ranked fourth nationally by averaging 11.13 steals per game.
•   The Braves are on pace to finish the year with 356 steals, 53 more than the school record (303 in 1986 and 1982) and 15 more than the MVC record (345 by Tulsa in 1984).

MVC Steals in a Season
1.  345  Tulsa              1983-84
2.  337  Drake              1993-94
3.  322  Southern Illinois  2004-05
4.  321  Drake              2003-04
5.  303  Bradley            1985-86
    303  Bradley            1981-82

Ball Control
•   While Bradley's defense has been turning over the opposition with success, the Braves are tied for 55th  nationally by averaging just 12.20 turnovers per game.
•   Through games of Jan. 6, Bradley ranked third nationally with a 0.91 steals/turnover ratio (VCU was first at 1.07).
•   Bradley ranked 289th last season with a 0.79 assists-to-turnover ratio, but the Braves have improved that ratio to 1.13 this year, which was tied for 76th nationally through games of Jan. 6.
•   Bradley has committed fewer than 10 turnovers five times this season, including just eight in the Dec. 29 Valley opener versus Drake.

National Steals-To-Turnover Ratio
Rk.  School     Ratio  Steals  TO's
1.   VCU         1.07    202   189
2.   Louisville  0.94    160   171
3.   Bradley     0.91    167   183
4.   Arkansas    0.86    124   145
5.   Wisconsin   0.83    108   130

That 70's Show
•   Bradley has scored at least 72 points in seven of its first 10 wins and is averaging 70.1 ppg through the first 15 games of the season.
•   The Braves, which are 10-1 the last two years when scoring at least 70 points, reached that plateau just four times during all of 2011-12.

Bench Drop Off
•   Though Bradley's bench has outscored its counterparts by 29 points to date this season, the production among the reserves has dropped off considerably of late.
•   In the last four games, Bradley's bench has been outscored 78-26.
•   In the last four games, the reserves are averaging 6.5 ppg on 30.5 percent (11-36) shooting from the field and 14.3 percent (1-7) from 3-point range, as well as 6.0 rpg.

Battle of the Paint
•   Through the season's first 15 games, Bradley has outscored the opposition by 12.2 points per game in the paint.
•   Overall, the Braves own a 537-354 season scoring margin in the paint.
•   Bradley is 10-0 when it outscores the opposition in the paint and 0-5 when the opponents own the paint scoring advantage.
•   Bradley is shooting 50.6 percent (321-635) from inside the arc.

1,000-Point Pace
•   Senior guard Dyricus Simms-Edwards is Bradley's active career scoring leader with 992 career points.
•   Averaging 11.2 points per game this year, Simms-Edwards is on pace to become the 45th member of Bradley's 1,000-Point Club Wednesday night at Indiana State.
•   Junior guard Walt Lemon, Jr. enters Wednesday's game with 808 career points.
•   Currently averaging a team-best 13.8 ppg, Lemon is on pace to join the 1,000-Point Club in the Feb. 23 BracketBusters game.

EL HOMBRE
•   Senior guard Dyricus Simms-Edwards ranks third nationally by averaging 3.27 steals per game.
•   Many of Simms-Edwards' 49 steals to date have happened by simply ripping the ball away from the player he has been guarding, a play described as an “hombre play” by head coach Geno Ford.
•   Simms-Edwards currently is on pace for 104 steals this season, which would shatter the school record (83) and make him the first-ever Valley player to eclipse the century mark.

MVC Single-Season Steals Top 10
   104*   Dyricus Simms-Edwards, BU  2012-13
1.  96   Paul Pressey, Tulsa        1980-81
2.  94   Bryan Mullins, SIU         2005-06
3.  92   Nate Green, INS            1999-00
    92   Darren Brooks, SIU         2004-05
5.  85   Larry Bird, INS            1978-79
6.  83   Willie Scott, BU           1982-83
7.  82   Hersey Hawkins, BU         1987-88
    82   Arnold Bernard, MoSt       1990-91
9.  80   Kevin Ault, MoSt           1998-99
    80   Ryan Sears, CU             1999-00
    80   Andy Woodley, UNI          2000-01
* based on 3.21 steals per game for 32 games

Clean steals
•   Not only does Dyricus Simms-Edwards rank third nationally by averaging 3.27 steals per game, but he has hounded his opponents without fouling.
•   At 2.33 steals per personal foul, Simms-Edwards is the only player among the nation's top 100 steals leaders who averages more than 1.78 steals per foul.
•   Simms-Edwards has been whistled for just 21 fouls in 15 games, 1.4 per game, helping him remain on the floor for 33.6 minutes per game.

Steals-To-Turnover
•   Not only does Dyricus Simms-Edwards rank third nationally with 49 steals, but he also ranks third nationally by averaging 2.13 steals per turnover.
•   Simms-Edwards boasts 49 steals against just 23 turnovers while playing 33.6 minutes per game, easily the best ratio among Bradley players since steal and turnover records were routinely kept starting in 1980-81.
•   Senior forward Jake Eastman also makes the list of best steals-to-turnover ratio at 1.35 through this season's first 15 games.
•   The last Brave to play at least 10 minutes per game with more steals than turnovers was Chris Roberts in 2009-10 (47 steals, 44 turnovers).

Bradley Single-Season Steals-to-Turnover
1.  2.13  D. Simms-Edwards  49-23  2012-13
2.  1.67  Danny Adams       25-15  2006-07
3.  1.38  Greg Jones        11-8   1987-88
4.  1.38  Jake Eastman      23-18  2012-13
5.  1.21  Bobby Ford        29-24  1980-81
6.  1.07  Chris Roberts     47-44  2009-10
7.  1.01  Eric Roberson     70-69  1999-00

Big Media Numbers
•   Dave Snell is in his 34th season as the radio Voice of the Braves and has participated in 1,030 Bradley Basketball game broadcasts, all in succession, on 1470 WMBD since taking over play-by-play duties for the 1979-80 season.
•   Peoria Journal Star beat writer Dave Reynolds has covered 693 consecutive Bradley games since taking over the beat for the start of the 1990-91 season.
•   In addition, public address announcer Paul Herzog has announced 534 Bradley Basketball home games.

Looking Ahead
•   Bradley will continue a 2-game road swing by visiting Northern Iowa for a 1 p.m. game Saturday that will be televised on the MVC-TV Network.
•   Saturday's game will be carried live on FOX Sports Midwest, FOX Sports Indiana, FOX Sports Kansas City, FOX College Sports Atlantic and Comcast SportsNet Chicago Plus in downstate Illinois, Indiana and Iowa, as well as ESPN3 outside the MVC footprint and DirecTV (671), Dish Network (418) and AT&T U-Verse (748).
•   The Braves will return home for a 2-game home stand beginning Jan. 15 versus Southern Illinois.
•    The game against the Salukis will be proceeded by the third Braves Club Game Day Luncheon, presented by Herget Bank, featuring head coaches Geno Ford and Barry Hinson.