Braves Play at Southern Illinois on Sunday

Men's Basketball 2/9/2018 5:58:00 PM

Bradley (17-9 , 7-6 MVC) at Southern Illinois (16-10, 8-5 MVC)
Game Details	Sunday, Feb. 11 • 3 p.m. • Carbondale, Ill. • SIU Arena
Television	ESPN3
Radio	1470 WMBD
Game Notes	Bradley \| Southern Illinois
Game Coverage	Live Stats \| Twitter: @bradleyumbb \| Instagram: @bradleyumbb

With just five regular-season games left, the Bradley basketball team faces a key contest as the fourth-place Braves play second-place Southern Illinois on the road. Game time on Sunday is set for 3 p.m.

ABOUT THE BRAVES
• Bradley is tied for fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference standings with a 7-6 league record – just one game behind Southern Illinois in second.
• The Braves have lost two-straight contests after a four-game winning streak.
• Sophomore Darrell Brown leads Bradley with 13.4 points and 4.5 assists per game.
• Senior Donte Thomas is second on the team with 10.9 points per game, while also leading the Braves with 6.9 boards. Nate Kennell ranks third with 9.2 points per game.
• BU is averaging 68.0 points, shooting 43.3 percent from the floor and 36.0 percent from 3-point range.
• The strength of the team is on defense where BU features the nation's 16th-ranked unit, allowing only 63.8 points per game, 39.6 percent of field goals and 32.3 percent from 3-point range.

SERIES HISTORY
• In a series that dates back to the 1927 season, Bradley holds a slight advantage against Southern Illinois, 48-45.
• The home team has won nine of the last 10 meetings in the series with the Braves falling in their last four trips to Carbondale.
• Senior Donte Thomas led the Braves to a win over Southern Illinois earlier in the year, matching his career high with 22 points (on 8-of-10 shooting).

ABOUT THE SALUKIS
• Southern Illinois is tied for second in the MVC standings with an 8-5 record and is 16-10 overall.
• The Salukis lost in overtime at Illinois State on Thursday, snapping a five-game winning streak.
• Armon Fletcher leads SIU with 14.3 points per game with four Salukis overall averaging double figures.
• Kavion Pippen is second on the Salukis with 12.3 points to go with a team-leading 6.0 rebounds.
• Marcus Bartley leads Southern Illinois with 3.6 assists per game.
• Southern Illinois averages 70.8 points per game, while allowing 68.5.

SEASON GAINS
• The Braves are making moves to return to the top of the Missouri Valley Conference.
• With five games remaining, Bradley's 17 wins already match its highest regular-season total since it went 20-11 during the 2006-07 season (finished 22-13 after postseason).
• In fact, Bradley's 17 victories are just one shy of the last two seasons combined (5 wins in 2015-16 and 13 wins in 2016-17).
• Bradley is on pace to match its highest MVC finish in the last 17 years as the Braves have not placed higher than fourth since 2000-01 (t-2nd).

TOP-RANKED DEFENSE
• The key to the team's success this season has been owning one of the nation's top defenses.
• Bradley is allowing only 63.8 points per game, ranking 16th in the country.
• The Braves also place in the top 60 in field goal percentage defense (13th at 39.6%), 2-point defense (24th at 45.0%) and 3-point defense (55th at 32.3%).

WHAT CAN BROWN DO FOR YOU?
• Sophomore Darrell Brown has continued to shine as the Braves' top offensive threat, whether he is the team's go-to scorer or setting up others.
• Brown leads BU with 13.4 points and 4.5 assists per game during the 2017-18 season.
• In 26 games this year, Brown has led the team in points on 12 occasions and in assists 21 times – including eight contests of leading BU in both.

DLO DOUBLING UP
• The team's top defensive player, junior Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye has added more offense to his game as of late.
• In his last seven games, Lautier-Ogunleye is averaging 10.9 points per game – double the 5.4 he posted in the season's first 19 contests. He has scored at least nine points in six of the seven games (had three games of 9+ in first 19).
• Against UNI on Wednesday, the junior scored a season-best 19 points on 6-of-7 shooting.
• Lautier-Ogunleye also ranks second on BU with 2.4 assists and third with 4.8 boards, while drawing the assignment of the foe's top perimeter scorer.

3-POINT KEY
• One of the biggest keys for BU success in MVC games is the three-point shot.
• In their seven conference wins, the Braves are making 40.0 percent of their shots from beyond the arc. However, in its six MVC losses, BU is shooting just 24.0 percent from 3-point range.
• Bradley has made less than 30 percent from long range in six of its seven MVC losses and in their last three conference defeats, the Braves have not hit 20 percent – shooting 17.9 percent (12-67).
• Overall, Bradley is 12-3 this season when hitting more or the same amount of 3-pointers in a game but just 5-6 with less.

3-POINT CHALLENGE
• Making 3-point shots carry more weight for BU in February as the Braves are competing in the Coaches vs. Cancer 3-Point Challenge.
• Fans can pledge money for each 3-pointer Bradley makes during the month as BU currently ranks seventh nationally with an estimated $1,368 raised.
• For more information, visit 3pointchallenge.org.

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