Men's Basketball Hosts Millikin in Exhibition Contest

Men's Basketball 10/28/2019 2:11:00 PM

Bradley vs. Millikin
Game Details	Tuesday, Oct. 29 • 6 p.m. • Peoria, Ill. • Carver Arena
Radio	1470 WMBD
Game Notes	Bradley
Game Coverage	Live Stats \| Twitter: @bradleyumbb \| Instagram: @bradleyumbb
Tickets	Ticketmaster \| (309) 677-2625

Bradley opens the 2019-20 season with its exhibition game against Millikin on Tuesday. The team's lone preseason contest is slated to begin at 6 p.m. at Carver Arena before officially starting the year one week later.

EXHIBITION HISTORY
• Tuesday's game versus Millikin marks Bradley's 86th preseason exhibition contest all time.
• The Braves own a 69-16 (.811) all-time record in exhibition games, including a 31-3 (.912) record against other college programs (listed below).
• Bradley head coach Brian Wardle is 12-0 in exhibition games with a 6-0 mark at Green Bay and six wins in his first four seasons at Bradley.

SERIES HISTORY
• The Braves and Big Blue have met 53 times prior on the basketball court but not since 1940.
• Bradley owns a 30-23 advantage in the series, winning the last eight meetings.

ABOUT THE BIG BLUE
• Millikin posted an 11-13 record last season.
• Zach and Calvin Fisher are the team's top returning scorers from 2018-19, averaging 12.6 and 11.7 points, respectively.
• Calvin Fisher also led the team with 57 assists, while Jordan Cunningham is the team's top returning rebounder with 7.1 per game last year.

DUO NAMED PRESEASON ALL-MVC
• Bradley landed two players on the Preseason All-Missouri Valley Conference Team for the first time since 2013.
• Darrell Brown was named to the first team after leading BU in scoring (14.8 ppg), assists (111), steals (33) and 3-point shooting (79 made on 44.4% shooting).
• Elijah Childs earned second-team accolades after ranking second on the team with 12.4 points and leading BU with 7.8 boards and 50 total blocks.

BRAVES SLATED SECOND
• In addition to Bradley's two individual preseason accolades, the Braves' were selected second in the annual preseason poll by coaches, SIDs and media.
• It marks the Braves highest selection in the poll in 12 years since also being picked second prior to the 2007-08 campaign.

2018-19 RECAP
• Bradley finished the 2018-19 season with a 20-15 record, winning the school's third Missouri Valley Conference Tournament and first in 31 years.
• After earning the five seed for Arch Madness, the Braves defeated No. 4 Missouri State, No. 1 Loyola and No. 6 Northern Iowa en route to the title.
• Darrell Brown led the Braves with 14.8 points and 3.2 assists per game. He also made a team-leading 44.4 percent of his 3-pointers (79-178).
• Elijah Childs was second on BU with 12.4 points per game, while leading the Braves in rebounding at 7.8 per game.

BACK-TO-BACK 20 WIN SEASONS
• With its run in the MVC Tournament, Bradley earned 20 wins for the second-straight season.
• It is just the fifth time in school history that Bradley has had a run of consecutive 20-win campaigns, joining the 1946-51, 1956-62, 1993-96 and 2005-09 BU teams.
• Brian Wardle is also just the fifth head coach of the Braves to post two 20-win campaigns in his first four seasons on campus.

RETURNING BRAVES
• The Braves return six letterwinners from their championship team, including their top three scorers and five of its top seven from last season.
• It is the first time since the 2005-06 team that advanced to the Sweet 16 that three Braves will suit up one year after averaging at least nine points the previous season (Darrell Brown, Elijah Childs and Nate Kennell).
• Also returning for BU is three frontcourt players – Koch Bar, Ari Boya and Ja'Shon Henry.

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