Braves Open 2019-20 Season at Saint Joseph's Tuesday

Men's Basketball 11/4/2019 8:12:00 AM

Bradley at Saint Joseph's
Game Details	Tuesday, Nov. 5 • 6 p.m. CT • Philadelphia, Pa. • Hagan Arena
Television	ESPN+
Radio	1470 WMBD
Game Notes	Bradley \| Saint Joseph's
Game Coverage	Live Stats \| Twitter: @bradleyumbb \| Instagram: @bradleyumbb

The defending Missouri Valley Champions, Bradley officially opens the 2019-20 season on Tuesday at Atlantic 10-foe Saint Joseph's. The schools tip off the campaign at 6 p.m. CT with the contest shown live on ESPN+.

ABOUT THE BRAVES
• Bradley is coming off a 20-15 season one year ago – winning the program's third Missouri Valley Tournament title and advancing to the NCAA Tournament.
• The Braves return their top three scorers and five of their top seven overall.
• Darrell Brown is back after leading BU in scoring for the third-straight season in 2018-19, averaging 14.8 points per game.
• Elijah Childs was second on the team with 12.4 points and first in rebounding with 7.8 per game, while Nate Kennell was third last season with 9.3 points per game.

EXHIBITION RECAP
• Bradley defeated Millikin in its exhibition game, 91-52, last Tuesday.
• The 91 points scored by the Braves are their most in a preseason exhibition game since a 105-82 win against Quincy prior to the 2007-08 season.
• Freshman Ville Tahvanainen led BU with 18 points – making 7-of-9 field goals and 4-of-5 3-pointers.
• Three other Braves scored in double figures – Elijah Childs posted a double-double with 16 points and 12 rebounds, while freshman Stephan Gabriel and sophomore Ja'Shon Henry had 14 and 12 points, respectively.

SERIES HISTORY
• The Braves and Hawks are meeting for the first time in 33 seasons with Bradley holding a 4-1 advantage in the all-time series.
• BU won the first four games of the series before Saint Joseph's took the most recent matchup in the 1986 in the Jostens Tournament in Philadelphia.
• The teams have met once during the postseason with Bradley claiming an NIT quarterfinal win in 1964 en route to the title.

BRAVES VERSUS ATLANTIC 10
• Bradley is 10-5 all-time against teams in the A-10.
• The Braves have lost their last two matchups versus the league, dropping decisions to George Mason in 2016 and Saint Louis in 2014.
• BU's last win versus the conference was in 2012 with a 76-68 victory against George Washington.

ABOUT THE HAWKS
• Saint Joseph's finished the 2018-19 season with a 14-19 record and a 6-12 Atlantic 10 mark.
• The Hawks were picked 13th in the preseason Atlantic 10 poll.
• Saint Joseph's lost its top four scorers from last season. Taylor Funk at 8.4 points is the team's top returning scorer.
• Ryan Daly transferred to Saint Joseph's after averaging 16.7 points in two years at Delaware. In two games versus BU, Daly averaged 3.5 points on 3-of-16 shooting (0-6 from 3-point range).
Braves in season openers

BRAVES IN SEASON OPENERS
• Bradley is set to begin its 116th season of play.
• Nov. 5 is the earliest opener in team history as the previous earliest start was last season against UW-Parkside on Nov. 7.
• The Braves are 83-32 all-time in season openers with a 4-0 mark under Brian Wardle.
• Bradley is opening on the road for the first time since 2009 when it lost at BYU, 70-60.
• Overall, Bradley is 10-20 in true road games to begin a season with its last win coming in 2005 at DePaul, 75-60.
• The Braves have won their last four openers and eight of their last nine. Last season, Koch Bar led BU with 19 points in a 74-58 win over UW-Parkside.

NOT AFRAID OF THE ROAD
• The good news is that Bradley is not afraid to leave Peoria in search of a win.
• BU posted 10 wins in 2018-19 away from home, including a 5-1 neutral court record with titles at the MVC Tournament and Cancun Challenge.
• It was the most road and neutral-court wins for the Braves since also recording 10 in 1995-96.

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.

Print Friendly Version