Bradley Basketball Hosts Maryville Tuesday

Men's Basketball 12/9/2019 2:47:00 PM

Bradley (6-3) vs. Maryville (3-4)
Game Details	Tuesday, Dec. 10 • 6 p.m. • Peoria, Ill. • Carver Arena
Television	ESPN3
Radio	1470 WMBD
Game Notes	Bradley \| Maryville
Game Coverage	Live Stats \| Twitter: @bradleyumbb \| Instagram: @bradleyumbb
Tickets	Ticketmaster \| (309) 677-2625

The Bradley basketball team continues its three-game homestand on Tuesday, hosting Maryville at Carver Arena. Winners of nine-straight at home, Bradley hosts the Saints for a 6 p.m. tipoff on ESPN3.

PROMOTIONS
• Tuesday is Peoria Heights Night. Any fan with a Peoria Heights address can present its driver's license at the box office on game day for two white level tickets for 50% off.
• Also, in Kaboom!'s Korner is inflatables from Fun on the Run, including a Bounce House.

ABOUT THE BRAVES
• Bradley is 6-3 during the 2019-20 season, earning an 83-52 victory against North Carolina A&T in its latest game on Saturday.
• Elijah Childs has tallied back-to-back 20-point games against No. 15 Memphis and the Aggies to lead the Braves.
• The junior forward now leads BU with 14.9 points and 9.6 rebounds per game.
• Senior Darrell Brown is second on the team with 12.4 points, while leading BU with 4.8 assists.
• Senior Nate Kennell also scores in double-figures with 11.1 points per game, leading BU from the 3-point line with a 44.0 percentage.
• The Braves are averaging 70.9 points per game, while allowing 64.1 defensively.

SERIES HISTORY
• The Braves and Saints have met once previously with BU earning a 61-53 win in Peoria in 2015.
• Former Brave and current Saints player, Antoine Pittman led BU with 11 points in the victory.

ABOUT THE SAINTS
• Maryville is 3-4 during the 2019-20 season, losing its last two games.
• Parker Long leads the Saints with 17.9 points per game, while Jalen Grant is second with 15 points in his only appearance of the year last Tuesday.
• Long also leads Maryville with 5.0 assists per game, while Kamto Eze has a team-best 7.2 rebounds per game.

FAMILIAR FACE IN PITTMAN
• The Braves will face a familiar foe in Antoine Pittman on Tuesday.
• Pittman spent four years at Bradley (2015-19) before becoming a graduate transfer at Maryville.
• In his four seasons at BU, Pittman appeared in 79 career games with 48 starts, averaging 5.9 points.
• With the Saints, Pittman has played in the last three games, averaging 9.7 points and 3.7 boards.

HOME SWEET HOME
• Bradley looks to continue its home dominance when its hosts Maryville on Tuesday.
• The Braves are a perfect 5-0 at home this season and dating back to last year, Bradley owns a nine-game winning streak at Carver Arena.
• The Braves' nine game run is the second-longest active streak in the Valley (Drake is at 10) and the second-longest in Coach Wardle's five seasons on campus (had 14-game run in 2017-18).
• The Braves have outscored opponents by an average score of 73.8 to 56.2 during the run.

CHILDS PLAY
• Junior Elijah Childs is leading the Braves during the 2019-20 season.
• Last week, Childs scored at least 20 points in consecutive games for the first time in his career, posting 21 points and 14 boards versus No. 15 Memphis and then 23 points and nine rebounds against North Carolina A&T.
• The junior now leads BU with 14.9 points and 9.6 rebounds per game.
• No Brave has led the team in both categories since Theron Wilson in 2008-09, while Childs is looking to become the first Brave to average 9.0 boards a game since Luke Jackson in 1988-89.

THE INSIDE EDGE
• Behind Elijah Childs, the Braves dominated inside in the win against North Carolina A&T.
• Bradley finished the game with a 34-6 advantage in points in the paint on Saturday.
• It marks the Braves' highest margin in the paint against a Division I school since outscoring Illinois State, 46-14, on Jan. 29, 2013.
• It is also the first time the Braves held an opponent to fewer than 10 paint points since allowing just eight against Northern Iowa on Feb. 15, 2011.

MAGIC NUMBER IS 70
• The number the Braves are looking to avoid is 70.
• Bradley is a perfect 6-0 this season when holding its opponent under 70 points. However, the Braves have lost all three games when allowing more than 70 points in a game.
• Overall, BU has allowed 57.0 points per game in its five wins, while surrendering 78.3 in its losses.

DEFENSIVE STRENGTH
• The good news is that BU is more than capable of keeping teams under 70 points as the team's defense is again one of the top in the Valley.
• The Braves are allowing only 64.1 points per game in nine contests this season.
• Bradley leads the Valley by allowing teams to shoot only 39.1 percent this season and 27.3 percent from 3-point range. The Braves' 3-point defense also ranks 25th nationally.

TOP DEFENSIVE GAME
• Bradley is coming off its best defensive game of the season against North Carolina A&T.
• The Braves held the Aggies to just 25.0 percent shooting in the 83-52 victory (14-of-56 field goals).
• It marks the team's best field goal defense since allowing Evansville to make just 23.5 percent of its shots on Jan. 4, 2017.

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