Braves Host Indiana State on Senior Day

Men's Basketball 2/23/2018 1:20:00 PM

Bradley (19-11 , 9-8 MVC) vs. Indiana State (12-17, 7-10 MVC)
Game Details	Saturday, Feb. 24 • 3 p.m. • Peoria, Ill. • Carver Arena
Television	CBS Sports Network
Radio	1470 WMBD
Game Notes	Bradley \| Indiana State
Game Coverage	Live Stats \| Twitter: @bradleyumbb \| Instagram: @bradleyumbb
Tickets	Ticketmaster \| (309) 677-2625

The Bradley basketball team wraps up the regular season on Saturday with a home contest against Indiana State. The Braves will recognize Donte Thomas on Senior Day before the game with tipoff set for 3 p.m.

PROMOTIONS
• Donte Thomas is playing in his final home game and will be honored before the contest (at 2:45 p.m.) during a Senior Day ceremony
• The Braves Club Raffle, sponsored by South Side Bank, will be held at halftime of Saturday's game. The grand prize is $25,000, while 10 winners overall will be selected with prizes starting at $500. Tickets cost $100 and will be sold until the start of halftime.
• Also, in Kaboom!'s Korner is a Bounce House and inflatables from Fun on the Run.

ABOUT THE BRAVES
• Bradley is 9-8 in the Missouri Valley Conference and can finish from third to fifth in the final standings. Overall, the Braves are 19-11 this year.
• With a win on Saturday, Bradley will secure its first winning Valley record since 2008-09 (also 10-8).
• Sophomore Darrell Brown leads Bradley with 13.5 points and 4.5 assists per game.
• Senior Donte Thomas is second on the team with 11.2 points per game, while also leading the Braves with 7.1 boards. Nate Kennell ranks third with 9.4 points per game.
• BU is averaging 68.1 points, shooting 43.0 percent from the floor and 35.7 percent from 3-point range.
• The strength of the team is on defense where BU features the nation's 23rd-ranked unit, allowing only 64.9 points per game, 40.5 percent of field goals and 32.9 percent from 3-point range.

SERIES HISTORY
• Bradley holds a 52-36 advantage against Indiana State in 88 all-time meetings.
• The Braves have dominated the series in Peoria with a 33-10 home record versus the Sycamores.
• Earlier this season, Bradley ended an eight-game road losing streak to Indiana State with an 81-73 victory. Nate Kennell sunk seven 3-pointers with a career-best 25 points in the win.
• The Braves are going for their first sweep of Indiana State since the 2008-09 season.

ABOUT THE SYCAMORES
• Indiana State is currently tied for sixth in the MVC standings and is battling for the final bye in the conference tournament.
• Overall, the Sycamores are 7-10 in conference action with a 12-17 overall record.
• Indiana State is coming off a 58-53 home win versus Evansville on Wednesday, ending a four-game losing streak.
• Jordan Barnes leads the Sycamores with 17.3 points and 3.6 assists per game. Brenton Scott is second with 15.0 points to go with a team-leading 5.7 rebounds per game.
• Indiana State owns a scoring offense and scoring defense at 72.8 points per game.

MVC TOURNAMENT SEEDING
• The Missouri Valley Conference regular season wraps up on Saturday and seeding for Arch Madness is starting to clear up.
• Bradley will play in the second quarterfinal game (2:30 p.m.) as either the four or five seed with its opponent set to be Drake or Illinois State.
• If Illinois State wins on Saturday, Bradley will face Drake for the second-straight MVC Tournament.
• If Drake wins and Illinois State loses, BU will play its I-74 rival in the Redbirds.
• If both teams lose and Bradley wins on Saturday, the Braves will play Illinois State.
• If all three schools lose, Bradley will take on the Bulldogs on Friday.

#THE MOVEMENT
• The theme for the Braves during the 2017-18 season is The Movement and BU is making its move to return to the top.
• Bradley's 19 victories are one more than its total from the last two seasons combined (5 wins in 2015-16 and 13 wins in 2016-17).
• Additionally, Bradley is one of just two schools in the country to improve their win total by at least five games each of the last two years, joining No. 12 Auburn (11 wins to 18 to 24 this year).

SEASON GAINS
• Not only has BU shown improvement this year, but it is enjoying one of its bests seasons in a while.
• Bradley's 19 wins are the most in the regular season since 2006-07 and the Braves can post their first 20-win regular season since a 20-11 mark 11 years ago.
• The Braves have also already secured their first top-five seed for the MVC Tournament since 2010.

DEFENDING CARVER
• Carver Arena has become one of the toughest tests for Valley teams.
• Bradley ranks first in the country with the best home-court field goal percentage defense, while placing fifth in scoring defense at home.
• Bradley is 13-1 at Carver Arena this season (tied with Loyola for the best record in the MVC), outscoring opponents 70.6 to 57.6.

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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 Indiana State on Senior Day

Players Mentioned

#5 Darrell Brown

#25 Nate Kennell

#1 Donte Thomas

Players Mentioned

#5 Darrell Brown

#25 Nate Kennell

#1 Donte Thomas