Braves Host Georgia Southern Saturday at Carver Arena

Men's Basketball 11/24/2017 1:40:00 PM

Bradley (5-1) vs. Georgia Southern (5-1)
Game Details	Saturday, Nov. 25 • 7 p.m. • Peoria, Ill. • Carver Arena
Television	ESPN3
Radio	1470 WMBD
Game Notes	Bradley \| Georgia Southern
Game Coverage	Live Stats \| Twitter: @bradleyumbb \| Instagram: @bradleyumbb
Tickets	Ticketmaster \| (309) 677-2625

A pair of 5-1 teams are set to meet in Peoria this weekend as the Bradley basketball team hosts Georgia Southern on Saturday. First tip is scheduled for 1 p.m. at Carver Arena and can be seen live on ESPN3.

PROMOTIONS
• In Kaboom!'s Korner is a Bounce House and additional inflatables from Fun on the Run.
• The annual baby race is slated for Saturday at halftime. To sign up and for more info, visit bradleybraves.com/babyrace.
• As we enter the holiday season, there will also be a special sale on all merchandise during Saturday's game.

ABOUT THE BRAVES
• Bradley is 5-1 on the season, finishing a 3-1 Islands of the Bahamas Showcase on Wednesday with a 79-47 victory against Missouri S&T.
• Sophomore Darrell Brown leads three Braves who are averaging double figures, posting 12.2 points per game to go with a team-leading 3.5 assists.
• Sophomore Nate Kennell is second with 10.5 points, while senior Donte Thomas is right behind with 10.3 points in addition to a team-best 7.2 rebounds per game.
• Bradley is averaging 68.8 points per game, shooting 43.4 percent from the floor and 39.6 percent from 3-point range.
• The strength of the team so far is on defense where BU is allowing only 58.5 points, a 37.3 field goal percentage and 28.1 percent 3-pointers.

STRONG START
• The Braves are 5-1 through six games during the 2017-18 campaign, matching the program's best start in any of the last 32 seasons.
• The Braves last started better than 5-1 during the 1985-86 campaign.
• With a win on Saturday, Bradley would move to 6-1 for the first time since 2004-05 and just the third time overall since the 1985-86 campaign (also in 1987-88).

SERIES HISTORY
• The Braves and Eagles have met on four previous occasions with the home team winning each matchup.
• The schools last played in 2012 with Bradley posting a 62-43 win at Carver Arena.

BRAVES VERSUS SUN BELT
• Bradley is 12-8 all-time against current members of the Sun Belt Conference.
• Last season, the Braves hosted Sun Belt regular-season champion, UT Arlington, falling in a close game, 56-51.

ABOUT THE EAGLES
• Georgia Southern is 5-1 this season, coming off its first loss of the year in the championship of the Gulf Coast Showcase to Towson, 70-67.
• The Eagles have played four one possession games this season, including each of its games in Florida this past week.
• Four players are averaging double figures for Georgia Southern, led by 17.0 from Tookie Brown, who also has a team-best 5.0 assists.
• Montae Glenn leads the Eagles with 8.8 rebounds.
• Georgia Southern is outscoring opponents by a 83.5 to 67.7 margin this season.

TOP-RANKED DEFENSE
• The Braves have hung their hat on a strong defense during the 2017-18 campaign.
• Bradley is allowing only 58.5 points per game, ranking 19th in the country.
• The Braves also place in the top 60 in both field goal percentage defense (44th at 37.3%) and 3-point defense (52nd at 28.1%).

DOMINANT DEFENSIVE START
• The Braves are off to one of their best starts in school history on defense end.
• BU's 58.5 points allowed is the sixth-best mark in the last 68 years of BU basketball (since 1950).

NO 70 DEFENSE
• The defensive strength has been evident by the Braves not allowing teams to hit the 70-point mark this season.
• It marks the first time since the 1958-59 campaign that Bradley has gone the first six games of the year without allowing a team to hit the threshold.
• The Braves has not started a season with seven-straight sub-70 defensive games since a 1947-48 team that allowed 70 only once en route to a 28-3 record.

FIRST-HALF ADVANTAGE
• The Braves have really excelled in the first half of games this season.
• Bradley has not allowed a team to score more than 27 in any opening 20 minutes of action. On the reverse end, Bradley has failed to score 30 points only once this year when it went into the locker room with a 28-19 lead against IUPUI.
• Overall, Bradley has outscored opponents by an average of 32.8 to 23.5 en route to its 5-1 record.

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Players Mentioned

#5 Darrell Brown: G; 5' 10"; Sophomore

#25 Nate Kennell: G; 6' 6"; Sophomore

#1 Donte Thomas: F; 6' 7"; Senior

Players Mentioned

#5 Darrell Brown
: 5' 10"; Sophomore
: G

#25 Nate Kennell
: 6' 6"; Sophomore
: G

#1 Donte Thomas
: 6' 7"; Senior
: F

Braves Host Georgia Southern Saturday at Carver Arena

Players Mentioned

#5 Darrell Brown

#25 Nate Kennell

#1 Donte Thomas

Players Mentioned

#5 Darrell Brown

#25 Nate Kennell

#1 Donte Thomas