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GAME 11: MARYVILLE, MO (4-6) at BRADLEY (1-9)
Thursday, Dec. 17, 2015 | 7:00 p.m. CST | Peoria, IL | Carver Arena (11,442) | ESPN3 |
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SAINTS
Head Coach: Kevin Carroll
at MU: 72-79 (6th year)
Career: Same
vs. Bradley: 1st Meeting |
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BRAVES
Head Coach: Brian Wardle
at Bradley: 1-9 (1st year)
Career: 96-74 (6th year)
vs. Maryville: 1st Meeting |
OPENING TIPS
• Following an extended break for final exams, Bradley's young squad will close out the non-conference season with three games in seven days, beginning with Thursday night's home contest against Maryville (MO).
• The Saints are members of the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Valley Conference.
• Thursday's game will be the first-ever meeting between the two programs.
• Following Indiana State's home game versus Illinois-Springfield Wednesday night, Bradley becomes the ninth Missouri Valley Conference team to play a non-Division I opponent this regular season.
• Since the NCAA reorganization in 1973 created the current 3-division setup, Bradley is 32-1 (.970) all-time against lower division competition and the Braves have won three straight against non NCAA Division I teams since an 89-81 loss to Lubbock Christian in the third round of the 2003 Las Vegas Tournament.
• For the first time this season, and what is believed to be the first time in the modern era of freshman eligibility, Bradley started five freshmen in its last game Dec. 8 at UT Arlington.
GAME DAY PROMOTIONS
Kaboom!'s Korner
• Set up in the Peoria Civic Center's Great Hall lobby, Kaboom!'s Korner will open 90 minutes prior to each home game and will provide family friendly entertainment through halftime.
• Each game will include the Basketball Jam Bounce House for the youngsters and a Kaboom! photo station, as well as a rotation of entertainment stations:
Dec. 17 vs. Maryville
• A face-painting artist from Wild Style Design Company
Red Zone
• ENERGY 102.3 talent Lucky the DJ will entertain from the Red Zone student section starting and 6 p.m. and throughout the game.
TICKET OPTIONS
Single-Game
$8 White, $14 Red, $20 Bronze, $55 Silver
Groups (15+)
$4 White, $8 Red, $15 Bronze
Holiday Offer
Purchase any two (2) tickets for one of the next four Bradley Basketball home games and receive a $10 merchandise voucher, redeemable at the Bradley Merchandise Stand at Carver Arena. One voucher per customer, no minimum purchase, one-time use, no cash value.
Dec. 17 vs. Maryville, Dec. 23 vs. TCU, Jan. 6 vs. Southern Illinois, Jan. 16 vs. Missouri State.
Marquee 3 Package
Includes Jan. 3 (Wichita State), Jan. 20 (Illinois State) and one game of the buyer's choice for the price of the two games versus the Shockers and Redbirds.
$16 White, $30 Red, $44 Bronze
Pick 5 Plan
Choose any 5 home games for the price of four (price increases slightly if Wichita State or Illinois State are included).
$32-34 White, $56-60 Red, $80-90 Bronze
BRADLEY TICKET OFFICE
1600 W. Main Street
Peoria, IL 61625
Phone: (309) 677-2625
Email: BradleyTicketOffice@bradley.edu
Buy Online: TicketMaster.com
SERIES HISTORY
• Thursday's game will be the first-ever men's basketball meeting between Bradley and Maryville.
• The Saints are members of the NCAA Division II Great Lakes Valley Conference.
• Southern Illinois faced Maryville in a preseason game Nov. 9, downing the Saints, 106-73.
• Since the NCAA reorganized into three divisions in 1973, Bradley is 32-1 all-time against non-Division I competition.
• The Braves are 30-0 all-time at home against non-Division I competition, including 9-0 at Carver Arena.
• Twelve of the 33 all-time games against lower-division teams have been decided by 10 points or fewer.
MVC VS. NON-DIVISION 1
• Of the 10 teams in the Missouri Valley Conference, nine have a non-Division I team on the regular-season schedule this season.
• Southern Illinois is the only Valley team that will not play a non-Division I team during the regular season, but the Salukis also own the league's weakest non-conference schedule strength (310th of 351) through Tuesday's action.
• The Valley went 11-0 against lower-division competition in 2014-15: UNI was the only team not to play a non-D1 team, while Loyola and Missouri State both won two non-D1 games.
2015-16 MVC vs. Non-Division I
Date Matchup Winner Score
11/13 Simpson at Drake DU 97-52
11/14 Eureka at Loyola Chicago LUC 84-51
11/17 Marian at Evansville UE 84-59
11/21 Emporia St. at Wichita St. WSU 76-54
11/25 Dubuque at UNI UNI 83-63
11/27 Quincy at Illinois State ILS 73-63
11/27 William Woods at MO State MSU 77-56
12/16 IL-Springfield at Indiana St.
12/17 Maryville at Bradley
ONE TOUGH START
• Bradley's young team has been put to the test during the opening month of the schedule.
• Bradley's first 10 opponents have combined for a 67-27 (.713) record through Dec. 15 for easily the best opponent winning percentage in The Valley.
• Bradley's non-conference strength of schedule ranks 39th nationally, third-best in The Valley.
MVC Teams (non-D1) Non-Con W% NCSS
BRADLEY (0) .713 39
Wichita State (1) .675 10
Illinois State (1) .667 31
Missouri State (1) .611 110
Indiana State (0) .568 164
Drake (1) .554 242
Northern Iowa (1) .554 148
Loyola Chicago (1) .529 137
Evansville (1) .495 248
Southern Illinois (0) .443 310
FRESHMAN PRODUCTION
• Of Bradley's first 562 points scored this season, 427 (76.0 percent) have come from its freshman class.
• Five of Bradley's top six scorers are freshmen, as well as eight of the team's top nine rebounders.
• Of the team's 47 3-pointers, 39 have been made by seven different freshmen.
• Averaging 9.4 ppg, Bradley freshman guard Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye is the top-scoring freshman in The Valley to start the week and the 6-foot-2 guard is the second-leading freshman rebounder in the league at 4.9 rpg.
• Of The Valley's top 10 scoring freshen, five play for Bradley, while the Braves also boast four of the league's top six freshman rebounders.
MVC Freshman Scoring Leaders
Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye BRAD 9.4 ppg
Markis McDuffie WSU 7.9
Callum Barker BRAD 7.7
Obediah Church MSU 6.89
Antoine Pittman BRAD 6.86
Armon Fletcher SIU 6.4
Ronnie Suggs BRAD 6.3
Roland Griffin ILS 6.3
Luuk van Bree BRAD 6.0
Ryan Kreklow MSU 6.0
MVC Freshman Rebounding Leaders
Obediah Church MSU 6.1 rpg
Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye BRAD 4.9
Callum Barker BRAD 4.4
Dominik Olejniczak DU 4.3
Luuk van Bree BRAD 3.8
Ronnie Suggs BRAD 3.6
VALLEY'S MOST IMPROVED
• Bradley's Donte Thomas is proving to be one of the most improved players in the Missouri Valley Conference this season.
• As a freshman in 2014-15, Thomas appeared in 31 of the team's 33 games, averaging 2.5 points on 33.0 percent field goal shooting and 2.5 rebounds.
• The 6-foot-7 sophomore forward is Bradley's leading scorer and rebounder through the first month of this season, averaging 10.2 points on 49.3 percent shooting and 5.9 rebounds per game.
• Thomas' +7.7 points-per-game scoring jump is the best in The Valley through the first month of the season and his +3.4 rebounds-per-game improvement is second-best.
• Thomas boasts three double-doubles in his last six games.
MVC Most Improved School PPG RPG
Donte Thomas, So., F BRAD +7.7 +3.4
Wes Washpun, Sr., G UNI +7.6 +1.5
Reed Timmer, So., G DU +7.5 +0.5
Matt Bohannon, Sr., G UNI +7.5 +2.3
Sean O'Brien, Jr., F SIU +6.9 +1.8
Chris Kendrix, So., G/F MSU +6.7 +2.3
Bennett Koch, So., F UNI +6.0 +2.6
Jeremy Morgan, Jr., G UNI +5.7 +2.6
Egidijus Mockevicius, Sr., C UE +5.3 +3.9
Anthony Beane, Sr., G SIU +4.4 +1.6
MVC Double-Doubles
Player, Year, Pos. School #
Egidijus Mockevicius, Sr., C UE 8
Donte Thomas, So., F BRAD 3
Sean O'Brien, Jr., F SIU 3
7 others 1
