Braves Host Evansville on Saturday

Men's Basketball 2/22/2019 3:39:00 PM

Bradley (15-13, 7-8 MVC) vs. Evansville (10-18, 4-11 MVC)
Game Details	Saturday, Feb. 23 • 1 p.m. • Peoria, Ill. • Carver Arena
Television	ESPN3
Radio	1470 WMBD
Game Notes	Bradley \| Evansville
Game Coverage	Live Stats \| Twitter: @bradleyumbb \| Instagram: @bradleyumbb
Tickets	Ticketmaster \| (309) 677-2625

With just three games remaining during the 2018-19 regular-season, the Bradley men's basketball team hosts Evansville in its second-to-last home game. Game time on Saturday at Carver Arena is set for 1 p.m.

PROMOTIONS
• In Kaboom!'s Korner is inflatables from Fun on the Run, including a Bounce House.

ABOUT THE BRAVES
• Bradley had its four-game winning streak snapped on Tuesday, falling at first-place Drake, 77-68.
• The Braves have now won seven of their last 10 games to improve to 15-13 overall and 7-8 in Valley action.
• Junior Darrell Brown leads the Braves with 15.0 points and 3.1 assists per game.
• Sophomore Elijah Childs scored a career-best 24 points on Tuesday and ranks second on BU with 12.2 points to go with a team-best 7.9 rebounds.
• Junior Nate Kennell (9.3) and senior Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye (8.7) rank third and fourth on the team in scoring.
• The Braves are averaging 67.7 points per game, while ranking second in the Valley with a scoring defense of 66.5.

ARCH MADNESS SEEDING
• Bradley is currently in a four-way tie for fifth in the Missouri Valley Conference standings at 7-8.
• If the season ended today, the Braves would finish sixth overall (second of four tied teams) due to a mini-conference tiebreaker and play third-seeded Missouri State.

SERIES HISTORY
• The Braves own a 30-23 all-time edge versus the Purple Aces.
• The series has largely been dominated by the home team with the host schools combining to win 37-of-51 games (72.5 percent).
• The Braves are 20-5 all-time against Evansville at Carver Arena, winning the last two in Peoria.
• Bradley earned an 81-73 victory earlier in the year at Evansville. Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye (18 points/12 rebounds) and Elijah Childs (17/11) each registered a double-double in the win.

ABOUT THE PURPLE ACES
• Evansville has lost its last five games and nine of its last 10 to drop to 10-18 overall and 4-11 in MVC action this season.
• K.J. Riley leads the Purple Aces with 13.4 points per game, while Marty Hill is second with 11.2.
• Riley also has a team-best 2.9 assists per game, while John Hall leads Evansville with 7.0 boards.
• The Purple Aces average 69.9 points per game, while allowing 72.4.

DLO NEARS 1,000
• Senior Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye is nearing the 1,000-point milestone in the Bradley Red & White.
• Lautier-Ogunleye has scored 992 points and needs just eight to become the 48th player in school history to reach the threshold.
• The senior currently ranks fourth on the team this season with 8.7 points per game to go with 5.6 rebounds and 2.2 assists.

1,000 / 500 / 300
• Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye isn't just looking to join the 1,000-point club but an even more exclusive group at Bradley.
• Lautier-Ogunleye has totaled 992 points, 531 rebounds and 292 assists during his career.
• The senior is just eight points and eight assists shy of becoming the fourth player in school history with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 300 assists – joining Hersey Hawkins, Anthony Parker and Charles White.

NEW LOOK BRAVES
• Bradley has turned around its season after a slow start in Missouri Valley play.
• After a winless run its first five games, Bradley has gone 7-3 in its last 10 games. Only Drake has a better record (8-2) during the 10-game stretch than the Braves.
• BU has now gone from two games behind ninth in the Valley standings to tied for fifth.
• Of the previous seven times in school history that Bradley started 0-4 or worse, only once has BU responded with more than four MVC wins or a higher finish than eighth (finished 9-9 and tied for fifth in 2007-08).

OFFENSIVE RESURGENCE
• The biggest difference in Bradley's run is on the offensive side.
• Bradley is averaging 71.1 points per game in its last nine contests.
• In their first six Valley games of the year, the Braves averaged only 55.0 points per game – increasing their output by 16.1 points.

CHILDS FINDING HIS RHYTHM
• Elijah Childs is showing that there is no sophomore slump this season.
• Childs is coming off one of his best games this season when he scored a career-best 24 points (on 11-of-16 shooting) with nine boards.
• In his last seven games, he is now averaging 14.0 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.3 blocks – shooting 53.0 percent from the field.
• It has been a nice rebound for Childs as he averaged just 9.8 points and 7.1 boards, while shooting 38.8 percent in the first eight games of Valley play.
• Overall, the sophomore ranks second on BU with 12.2 points to go with a team-best 7.9 boards.

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