Bradley Basketball Returns to Action, Hosts Eastern Illinois

Men's Basketball 12/13/2018 9:37:00 AM

Bradley (7-3) vs. Eastern Illinois (5-5)
Game Details	Saturday, Dec. 15 • 7 p.m. • Peoria, Ill. • Carver Arena
Television	NBC Sports Chicago \| ESPN3
Radio	1470 WMBD
Game Notes	Bradley \| Eastern Illinois
Game Coverage	Live Stats \| Twitter: @bradleyumbb \| Instagram: @bradleyumbb
Tickets	Ticketmaster \| (309) 677-2625

The Bradley basketball team is back in action for the first time in 11 days, hosting in-state foe Eastern Illinois on Saturday. The Braves and Panthers are set to battle at Carver Arena with tipoff at 7 p.m.

PROMOTIONS
• Saturday's game is Morton Night. Any fan with a Morton address can present their driver's license at the box office on game day for two white level tickets for 50% off.
• Additionally, any participant from the Coach Wardle camps this past summer and all educators can purchase discounted tickets.
• In Kaboom!'s Korner is inflatables from Fun on the Run, including a Bounce House.

ABOUT THE BRAVES
• Bradley will be in action for the first time in 11 days as the Braves last played on Dec. 4 with a 68-62 win at Little Rock.
• The Braves improved to 7-3 with the road victory.
• Junior Darrell Brown has led BU in points in the last two games and three of the last four to take over the scoring lead with 15.4 points per game. He also has a BU-best 3.9 assists per game.
• Sophomore Elijah Childs is second with 13.4 points to go with a BU-best 8.1 rebounds per game.
• Five Braves overall average at least nine points with Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye (9.8), Nate Kennell (9.7) and Koch Bar (9.1) rounding out the top five.
• Bradley is scoring 72.2 points per game, while allowing 67.1 points on the defensive end.

SERIES HISTORY
• The Braves and Panthers have met 13 previous times with Bradley holding an 8-5 advantage.
• Eight of the 13 meetings have occurred prior to the Great Depression with Bradley winning 4-of-5 games in the NCAA Tournament era.
• BU has defeated Eastern Illinois in each of the last two seasons. The Braves won a road game in 2016 thanks to 17 points and 14 rebounds from Koch Bar. Last year, Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye registered his first collegiate double-double with 13 points and 10 boards in a 67-56 win.

BRAVES VERSUS OVC
• The Braves are 36-17 all-time against current members of the Ohio Valley Conference.
• Bradley is already 2-0 versus the conference this season with wins over Southeast Missouri State and Jacksonville State in November.
• The Braves have won their last 11 games against OVC members, including a perfect 6-0 mark under Brian Wardle.

ABOUT THE PANTHERS
• Eastern Illinois enters the weekend with a 5-5 record, winning its last game over Western Illinois.
• Four Panthers are scoring in double figures with Josiah Wallace leading the way at 14.9 points per game.
• Rade Kukobat is second on the team with 10.5 points to go with a team-leading 5.8 rebounds.
• Shareef Smith leads the Panthers with 3.1 assists.
• EIU is averaging 72.2 points on offense, while allowing 74.2 points on defense.

BROWN JOINS 1,000-POINT CLUB
• Darrell Brown reached a career milestone in the Braves' most recent game.
• Brown eclipsed 1,000 points for his career with 18 points in the game, becoming the 47th player in school history to reach four figures.
• Additionally, Brown became just the 18th player in BU history to reach the number before the end of his junior campaign.
• Brown has now totaled 1,002 career points, averaging 13.4 in 75 contests.

CONSISTENT BROWN
• The key for Darrell Brown during his career as he approaches 1,000 points is his consistency.
• Brown is first on the team with 15.4 points and 3.9 assists in 2018-19.
• The junior is the first Brave with at least 10 points in the season's first 10 games since Jeremy Crouch in 2006-07 (who did so in the first 14 games).
• Brown and Indiana State's Tyreke Key are the only two players in the Valley to score at least 10 points in each of their team's games this season.
• In fact, Brown has scored at least 10 points in 60-of-75 career games and in 37-of-43 games since the beginning of the 2017-18 campaign.

DEFENSE KEYS BU VICTORIES
• Through 10 games, the Braves have learned they will only go as far as their defense takes them.
• In its seven wins, Bradley is allowing only 61.4 points per game and has surrendered more than 65 points only once.
• However, in its three losses, BU is allowing 80.3 points per game.
• Offensively, the Braves are actually averaging slightly less in wins (72.0) than losses (72.7).

TURNING SIGNAL
• Bradley once again owns a nationally-ranked defense in 2018-19 and the key this season is forcing turnovers.
• The Braves rank 74th nationally and third in the Valley by allowing 67.1 points per game.
• The secret behind the strong defense this season is forcing 15.3 turnovers per game. The Braves rank first in the Valley in turnovers forced, turnover margin (+2.2) and steals (7.2).
• BU's 15.3 turnovers forced are its most since 2006-07 (15.8), while its plus-2.2 differential is its highest since 2012-13 (+2.6).

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