Braves Host Evansville on Saturday

Men's Basketball 2/17/2017 1:28:00 PM

Bradley (9-19, 4-11 MVC) vs. Evansville (14-14, 5-10 MVC)
Game Details	Saturday, Feb. 18 • 1 p.m. • Peoria, Ill. • Carver Arena
Television	ESPN3
Radio	1470 WMBD
Game Notes	Bradley \| Evansville
Game Coverage	Live Stats \| Twitter: @bradleyumbb \| Instagram: @bradleyumbb
Tickets	Ticketmaster \| (309) 677-2625

The Braves return home for their final weekend game of the season at Carver Arena on Saturday afternoon as Bradley hosts Evansville. First tip is set for 1 p.m. with the game shown live on ESPN3.

PROMOTIONS
• Every home game includes Kaboom!'s Korner in the Great Hall lobby. Saturday's contest features the Basketball Jam Bounce House and a balloon artist from The Unique Twist (from 11:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.).
• The Little Bravettes will perform for the crowd during halftime.
• Also, time is running out to buy a ticket for the Braves Club Raffle. The top prize is $25,000 in cash, while there are additional prizes ranging from $500 to $5,000. Fans can purchase tickets until tip off of next Wednesday's game with each ticket costing $100.

ABOUT THE BRAVES
• Bradley has dropped three-straight games to fall into a tie for ninth place in the MVC standings with a 4-11 mark.
• Overall, the Braves are 9-19 this season.
• Freshman Darrell Brown leads Bradley with 12.0 points per game and 76 assists, while junior JoJo McGlaston is second on the team with 8.6 points per game.
• Junior Donte Thomas leads the Braves with 6.3 rebounds per game, including a mark of 7.3 in conference play.
• As a team, Bradley is making 41.6 percent of its field goals with a 35.8 percent 3-point mark.

SERIES HISTORY
• The Braves own a 27-22 all-time advantage versus the Purple Aces.
• The schools first met during the 1986-87 season for the first of two non-conference games before the Purple Aces joined The Valley for the 1994-95 campaign.
• Bradley earned a 74-63 victory at Evansville earlier in the season behind the strength of a career-best 24 points by JoJo McGlaston and a defense that held the Aces to just 23.5 percent shooting.
• The Braves are 18-5 all-time against Evansville at Carver Arena but the Purple Aces have won their last two trips and three of their last five.

ABOUT THE PURPLE ACES
• Evansville sits in a tie for seventh place in the MVC standings with a 5-10 conference record. Overall, the team is 14-14 this season.
• The Purple Aces have won their last four games after a nine-game losing streak, capped by an 87-70 win over Drake on Tuesday.
• Jaylon Brown is the top scorer in the MVC with 20.3 points per game. Ryan Taylor ranks second on the Aces with 14.9 points per game.
• Duane Gibson leads UE with 93 assists, while David Howard has a team-best 5.0 rebounds per game.

ON THIS DATE
Record on Feb. 18: 25-9
Feb. 18 Highlight: Patrick O'Bryant set a school record with nine blocks in a 77-62 victory against Tennessee Tech on Feb. 18, 2006. The win in the BracketBuster helped the Braves earn an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament en route to a Sweet 16 appearance.

McGLASTON BACK TO FORM
• After enduring a little midseason slump, junior JoJo McGlaston has regained his double-digit scoring form.
• In his last five games, McGlaston is averaging 11.4 points per game and has scored in double figures in four of the five contests.
• In the prior seven contests, the junior did not reach 10 points once, averaging only 3.9 points on 25.7 percent shooting and 31.3 percent from 3-point range.
• McGlaston, who scored a career-best 24 points the first time the Braves played Evansville, ranks second on BU with 8.6 points per game.

ROOKIES FROM LONG RANGE
• The freshman class has been the key contributors to the team's 3-point success this season.
• Bradley features two of the four shooters in the MVC with a 3-point percentage 50.0 percent or above in conference games as freshmen Jayden Hodgson and Nate Kennell are two of the most dangerous shooters in the league right now.
• In MVC games only, Hodgson leads all players in the conference with a shooting percentage of 55.6 from beyond the arc, while Kennell places fourth at 50.0 percent.
• Additionally, Kennell is third in the MVC in all games with a 3-point percentage of 45.0.
• Both players are hot as well as Kennell made a career-best four 3-pointers (on five attempts) on Wednesday at UNI, while Hodgson is shooting 64.0 percent in his last eight games.
• Classmate Darrell Brown also leads the Braves with 39 3-point field goals made this season.

Print Friendly Version