Braves Host Southern Illinois Saturday

Men's Basketball 1/10/2020 1:44:00 PM

Bradley (11-5, 2-1 MVC) vs. Southern Illinois (8-8, 2-1 MVC)
Game Details	Saturday, Jan. 11 • 7 p.m. • Peoria, Ill. • Carver Arena
Television	ESPN+
Radio	1470 WMBD
Game Notes	Bradley \| Southern Illinois
Game Coverage	Live Stats \| Twitter: @bradleyumbb \| Instagram: @bradleyumbb
Tickets	Ticketmaster \| (309) 677-2625

Bradley men's basketball returns to Peoria to face off with in-state foe Southern Illinois on Saturday night. Winners of 13-straight home games, the schools are set to battle at Carver Arena at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.

PROMOTIONS
• Members of Kaboom!'s Club can attend the game and sit in the student section for free with parent/guardian tickets available for $13.
• Also, in Kaboom!'s Korner is inflatables from Fun on the Run, including a Bounce House, and Pop-a-Shot.

ABOUT THE BRAVES
• Bradley is 11-5 this season and in a six-way tie for first in the Missouri Valley Conference standings with a 2-1 league record.
• BU earned a 72-52 victory at Evansville Wednesday night, marking the team's largest road MVC win since an 83-63 win versus the Purple Aces in 2010.
• Senior Nate Kennell led Bradley with his first career double-double on Wednesday, scoring 17 points to go with 10 rebounds.
• Overall, Kennell is averaging 12.9 points and ranks eighth nationally with a 3-point clip of 46.5.
• Senior Darrell Brown averages 13.6 points and a team-leading 4.9 assists per game.
• Koch Bar anchors the post with 8.1 rebounds.
• The team's leading scorer and rebounder – Elijah Childs – has missed four of the last five games with an injury.
• The Braves are averaging 72.4 points per game, while allowing 63.5 defensively.

SERIES HISTORY
• In a series that dates back to the 1927 season, Bradley holds a slight advantage against Southern Illinois, 49-47.
• Last year, the road team won both meetings with BU earning a 57-54 win at SIU before the Salukis returned the favor with a 72-68 victory in Peoria.
• Prior to last season, the home team had won 10 of the previous 11 meetings. Neither school has won two-straight games in the series on the road since Southern Illinois in 2011 and 2012.
• Overall, the teams have alternated wins in the last seven meetings, dating back to 2016.

ABOUT THE SALUKIS
• Southern Illinois owns an 8-8 record during the 2019-20 season and is among the six teams tied for first in the Valley at 2-1.
• The Salukis have won two-straight home games with wins over Illinois State and Valparaiso.
• Marcus Domask is the team's leader in scoring with 14.8 points.
• Barret Benson is second with 10.1 points, while also adding a team-leading 5.3 rebounds.
• Eric McGill and Lance Jones lead the Salukis with 3.0 assists per game.
• Former Brave Ronnie Suggs, is in his first year with the Salukis – averaging 5.9 points. In two years at BU, Suggs, scored 303 points in 48 games.
• SIU scores 63.9 points per game, while ranking 18th nationally with a scoring defense of 60.2.

HOME SWEET HOME
• Bradley looks to continue its home dominance when its hosts Southern Illinois on Wednesday.
• The Braves are a perfect 9-0 at home this season and dating back to last year, Bradley owns a 13-game winning streak at Carver Arena.
• The Braves' 13-game run is tied for the longest active streak in the Valley and the 13th-longest in the nation. It is the longest since the Braves had a 14-game streak from 2017 to 2018.
• Six of the 13 wins have come by at least 25 points as Bradley is outscoring opponents by an average of 76.5 to 57.9 during the winning streak.

NATION'S #8 3-POINT SHOOTER
• Senior sharpshooter Nate Kennell is enjoying a career year, largely thanks to his 3-point shooting.
• The senior currently ranks eighth nationally with a 46.5 clip from beyond the 3-point arc. He is also 42nd with 2.88 triples per game.
• Kennell is averaging a career-best 12.9 points this season, shooting 43.9 percent from the field and 46.5 percent from 3-point range.

KENNELL TIES SCHOOL RECORD
• Nate Kennell is enjoying his best run from beyond the arc as of late.
• Kennell has made at least three 3-pointers in the last eight games. His run matches the school record as Will Franklin is the only player to also accomplish the feat, doing so from Dec. 5, 2006 to Jan. 4, 2007.
• Overall, BU is 11-2 this season when Kennell makes at least two 3-pointers and 0-3 when he doesn't.

NOT JUST A SHOOTER
• Perhaps most impressive about Nate Kennell's senior season is how much he is contributing.
• On Wednesday, Kennell registered his first career double-double thanks to a personal-best 10 boards.
• In fact, Kennell ranks second in Valley games this year with 9.3 rebounds per game.
• Kennell has also improved on the defensive end during his career, leading Bradley and ranking fifth in the MVC with 1.44 steals per game.
• Finally, Kennell ranks second on the team with 34 assists, while leading BU and placing third in the Valley with a 2.6 assist-to-turnover ratio.

REBOUNDING EDGE
• The Braves have controlled the glass this season in almost each one of their contests.
• Bradley has won the rebounding battle in 13-of-16 games this season, drawing once and losing twice.
• In Wednesday's win, Bradley outrebounded the Aces, 48-30, and held the edge in the paint (40-18) and in second-chance points (21-4).
• The Braves are 11-3 when winning or drawing the battle on the glass, losing both games when their opponent collects more.

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