Braves Take on Northern Iowa in Cedar Falls

Men's Basketball 2/5/2019 9:46:00 AM

Bradley (11-12, 3-7 MVC) at Northern Iowa (10-13, 5-5 MVC)
Game Details	Wednesday, Feb. 6 • 7 p.m. • Cedar Falls, Iowa • McLeod Center
Television	ESPN+
Radio	1470 WMBD
Game Notes	Bradley \| Northern Iowa
Game Coverage	Live Stats \| Twitter: @bradleyumbb \| Instagram: @bradleyumbb

The Bradley men's basketball team is back on the road, playing at Northern Iowa on Wednesday night. First tip at McLeod Center is scheduled for 7 p.m. and can be seen live on ESPN+.

ABOUT THE BRAVES
• Bradley dropped a 72-68 decision to Southern Illinois on Saturday and is now 11-12 on the year and 3-7 in Missouri Valley play.
• Junior Darrell Brown leads the Braves with 14.0 points per game in 2018-19 to go with a team-best 3.0 assists per game.
• Sophomore Elijah Childs is second on the team with 12.1 points in addition a Bradley-high 7.8 rebounds per game.
• Junior Nate Kennell (8.9) and senior Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye (8.6) rank third and fourth on the team in scoring.
• The Braves are averaging 66.3 points per game, while ranking second in the Valley with a scoring defense of 66.7.

SERIES HISTORY
• Northern Iowa holds a slight edge in the all-time series with a 32-30 record against the Braves.
• The series has largely been dominated by the home team with the schools winning a combined 40-of-57 matchups as host.
• Northern Iowa won the Valley opener for both schools on Jan. 2, 65-47. The score was tied at 20 with under five minutes remaining in the first half before a 14-4 run gave the Panthers a double-digit lead that BU couldn't recover from.

ABOUT THE PANTHERS
• Northern Iowa is 10-13 on the year and is tied for fourth in the MVC standings at 5-5.
• UNI is 7-3 at home this season, having won its last four Valley games at the McLeod Center.
• AJ Green leads the Panthers with 14.6 points and 2.1 assists per game, while Wyatt Lohaus is second with 9.2 points.
• Trae Berhow averages a UNI-best 5.9 rebounds.
• The Panthers average 65.5 points per game and allow 67.4.

CLEANING THE GLASS
• One of the Braves' key focuses on Wednesday should be the battle on the boards.
• BU has not won a conference game this season when losing the rebounding battle, going 0-5.
• On the reverse end, the Braves are 3-2 when collecting more boards than their opponent and 7-3 in all games this year with the rebounding edge.

3-POINT SURGE
• Bradley has found its range and has started to knock down the 3-point shot.
• BU has made more than half of their 3-pointers in three of the last seven games, connecting on 40.8 percent during the stretch.
• In the season's first 16 games, Bradley shot over 40 percent only once (40.9 vs. Chicago State) and made just 32.0 percent of its triples.

PLAYERS BEHIND THE SURGE
• A number of Braves have stepped up their game as of late to contribute to the team's 3-point surge.
• The top four Bradley guards are shooting at least nine percent better during the seven-game stretch compared to the start of the season.

A 3-POINT LEADER IN BROWN
• Junior Darrell Brown, specifically, has led the Braves' 3-point power this season.
• Brown is making 43.1 percent of his attempts from beyond the arc this season.
• His 43.1 percent clip is the fifth best in school history with at least 50 makes and the highest in the last 12 seasons.
• Brown has made 48.6 percent during the seven-game surge for BU (17-of-35).

REGAINING OFFENSIVE POWER
• The increased 3-point shooting, overall, has helped the Braves regain their offensive power shown in the non-conference season.
• After showcasing its potential with its highest-scoring non-conference season in 11 years (71.2 points), Bradley saw its offensive dip to 55.0 points in its first six Valley games.
• BU, however, has responded with 67.8 points in the last four contests, shooting 47.7 percent.
• Bradley has eclipsed 65 points in three of the last four games (did not have more 64 in first six Valley contests).

DOMINATING THE PAINT
• Bradley has also started to control the paint during their recent surge.
• The Braves have outscored their foe in the paint in each of the last four games, winning the battle inside by an average of 34.0 to 22.5.
• In BU's first six conference games, the Braves only outscored its opponent once in the paint, losing the battle by an average of 29.0 to 23.0.
• In Bradley's win over rival Illinois State, the Braves plus-22 differential in the paint (40-18) was the team's largest since 2014.

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