Braves Wrap Up Non-Conference Schedule at Ole Miss

Justin Fine

Men's Basketball 12/21/2017 4:41:00 PM

Bradley (10-2) at Mississippi (6-5)
Game Details	Friday, Dec. 22 • 6 p.m. • Oxford, Miss. • Pavilion at Ole Miss
Television	SEC Network+
Radio	1470 WMBD
Game Notes	Bradley \| MIssissippi
Game Coverage	Live Stats \| Twitter: @bradleyumbb \| Instagram: @bradleyumbb

Bradley wraps up non-conference play on Friday at Mississippi. The Braves are aiming for the most wins against non-league foes since 1987-88 with the schools set to tipoff on Friday at 6 p.m.

ABOUT THE BRAVES
• Bradley has matched its best start in the last 32 years with a 10-2 record, winning each of its last three contests – including the last two on the road.
• Sophomore Darrell Brown leads the Braves with 12.9 points and 3.8 assists per game.
• A balanced scoring team, Nate Kennell and Donte Thomas are second and third on BU in scoring with 9.4 and 8.8 points, respectively.
• Freshman Elijah Childs leads Bradley with 6.4 rebounds, while Thomas is second at 6.0.
• BU is averaging 69.9 points, shooting 44.9 percent from the floor and 40.6 percent from 3-point range.
• The strength of the team so far is on defense where BU features the nation's fifth-ranked unit, allowing only 59.2 points per game, 36.8 percent of field goals and 27.5 percent from 3-point range.

SERIES HISTORY
• In a series that dates back to 1971, Bradley owns a slight 3-2 edge in five all-time meetings.
• The Braves won the first three meetings of the series – the last victory was in 1994 – while the Rebels have won in each of the last two seasons.
• Last year, Mississippi used a 20-5 run to finish the first half en route to a 66-49 victory. Darrell Brown led the Braves with 14 points.

BRAVES VERSUS SEC
• Bradley is 9-19 all-time against current members of the SEC.
• The Braves have lost their last six matchups since their win at Mississippi in 1994.

ABOUT THE REBELS
• Mississippi is 6-5 during the 2017-18 campaign with an 85-63 victory against Texas A&M-Corpus Christi on Tuesday.
• Three Rebels are averaging in double figures with Terence Davis scoring a team-best 15.3 points per game.
• Deandre Burnett and Markel Crawford are second and third with 14.8 and 10.0 points.
• Burnett also leads the Rebels with 5.1 assists per game, while Marcanvis Hymon has a team-best 6.7 rebounds.
• As a team, Ole Miss is averaging 82.5 points per game – shooting 46.5 percent from the floor and 34.1 percent from 3-point range – but allowing 78.2 points.

STRONG START
• The Braves are 10-2 through 12 games during the 2017-18 campaign – the first for BU since also starting the 1987-88 season with a 10-2 record.
• The Braves last started better when they began the 1985-86 season with a 31-1 record.

NON-CONFERENCE SUCCESS
• With 10 wins, Bradley has already posted its most non-conference victories since 2006-07.
• If BU wins on Friday, the 11 non-conference wins will be its most since the 1987-88 season.
• Bradley has seen a steady rise in its performance under the three years with Coach Wardle. With the nation's youngest team in 2015-16, BU was 2-11 before a 5-8 non-conference mark last year with the NCAA's fourth-youngest squad.

TOP-RANKED DEFENSE
• The key to the team's success during the 2017-18 non-conference season has been owning one of the nation's top defenses.
• Bradley is allowing only 59.2 points per game, ranking fifth in the country.
• The Braves also place in the top 10 in both field goal percentage defense (eighth at 36.8%) and 3-point defense (seventh at 27.5%).

OFFENSIVE RHYTHM
• While the defense has dominated throughout the 2017-18 campaign, the offense has begun to show it's equal to the highly-ranked unit.
• During its current three-game winning streak, Bradley is averaging 81.7 points per game – an increase of 15.7 points from the first nine games.
• BU is now averaging 69.9 points per game on 44.9 percent shooting and 40.6 percent in 3-pointers.

3 POINTS OF DIFFERENCE
• Perhaps the biggest difference in Bradley's 10-2 record is its dominance beyond the arc.
• Bradley owns the nation's 26th-ranked 3-point shooting team (40.6%) and the seventh-ranked defense (27.5%). The 13.1 percent swing in favor of the Braves is the fifth-largest nationally.
• Bradley is also one of only four teams in the country with a 3-point offense over 40 percent and a 3-point defense under 30 percent.

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