Braves Meet Panthers in MVC Title Game Rematch

Men's Basketball 1/3/2020 9:30:00 AM

Bradley (10-4, 1-0 MVC) at Northern Iowa (11-2, 0-1 MVC)
Game Details	Saturday, Jan. 4 • 7 p.m. • Cedar Falls, Iowa • McLeod Center
Television	ESPNU
Radio	1470 WMBD
Game Notes	Bradley \| Northern Iowa
Game Coverage	Live Stats \| Twitter: @bradleyumbb \| Instagram: @bradleyumbb

Meeting for the first time since the Bradley men's basketball team rallied for the 2019 Missouri Valley Conference Championship, the Braves travel to face Northern Iowa on Saturday at 7 p.m. on ESPNU.

ABOUT THE BRAVES
• Bradley is 10-4 this campaign – winning each of its last two games, including its MVC opener on Tuesday over Drake, 80-72.
• Senior Darrell Brown has led the Braves in scoring in the last two victories, scoring 19 points to go with eight assists in Tuesday's win.
• Overall, Brown is second on the team with 13.6 points and first with 5.2 assists per game.
• BU's top scorer and rebounder, Elijah Childs, has missed the last three contests with a hand injury suffered on Dec. 15. Childs leads the Braves with 14.5 points and 9.4 boards this year.
• Senior Nate Kennell is third on Bradley with 12.2 points, shooting 47.0 percent from 3-point range.
• Senior Koch Bar is second on the team with 8.2 rebounds per game.
• The Braves are averaging 73.1 points per game, while allowing 63.9 defensively.

SERIES HISTORY
• The schools have split 64 all-time meetings with both programs winning 32 times.
• The teams are meeting for the first time since BU earned a 57-54 win in the 2019 MVC title game.
• While the series has largely been dominated by the home team, each team won on the road last year during the regular season.
• Northern Iowa took the Valley opener, 65-47, before Bradley earned its first win in Cedar Falls since 2008 with a 79-71 victory.
• Bradley is aiming for its first three-game winning streak versus the Panthers since taking four-straight from 2000 to 2001.

A RALLY FOR THE 2019 TITLE
• The last time the schools met, BU had a historic rally for the 2019 MVC title.
• Bradley trailed the Panthers, 35-17, in the second half before earning a 57-54 win – completing the largest comeback in Valley title game history.
• BU's 18-point rally topped the previous MVC title game high of 14 (UNI over Illinois State in 2015).
• It also marked Bradley's largest comeback in any game since overcoming an 18-point deficit in an overtime win against Tulsa on Feb. 4, 1996.

ABOUT THE PANTHERS
• Northern Iowa is 11-2 during the 2019-20 season, falling in its Valley opener on Tuesday, 76-70, at Illinois State.
• AJ Green leads the Panthers with 17.1 points per game and 3.3 assists per game.
• Trae Berhow adds 14.8 points, leading the NCAA with a 3-point clip of 52.7 percent.
• Austin Phyfe leads the Panthers with 7.0 rebounds.
• Northern Iowa has averaged 77.2 points this season, while allowing 64.6.

VALLEY STARTS
• The Braves are looking to add to their winning start to the Valley season.
• With its 80-72 win against Drake on Tuesday, BU won its conference opener for the first time since the 2016-17 season.
• Additionally, Bradley's 80 points are its most in a Valley opener since an 84-63 victory against Northern Iowa in 1994-95.
• The Braves now aim for the school's first 2-0 start since the 2012-13 campaign.

KENNELL NEARS 1,000 POINTS
• Senior Nate Kennell is nearing a career milestone.
• Kennell enters Saturday's game with 981 career points and is just 19 shy of becoming the 49th player in BU history to reach 1,000 in his career.
• The senior is currently averaging 12.2 points this season, shooting 43.4 percent from the field and 47.0 percent from 3-point range.

A TRIPLE THREAT IN KENNELL
• The key for Nate Kennell as he approaches 1,000 career points is his 3-point shooting.
• The senior currently ranks 13th nationally with a 47.0 clip from beyond the 3-point arc. He is also 62nd with 2.79 triples per game.
• In fact, Kennell has made at least three 3-pointers in six-straight games – shooting 51.3 percent (20-of-39) – becoming the first Brave to do so since Jeremy Crouch in 2008 (Feb. 16 - March 7).
• Overall, Bradley is 10-1 this season when Kennell makes two 3-pointers and 0-3 when he doesn't.

FINDING HIS SCORING TOUCH
• Senior Darrell Brown has begun to showcase the scoring mentality that has led him to leading the team in points his first three seasons on campus.
• Since the holiday break, Brown is averaging 24.0 points – shooting 41.7 percent from 3-point range.
• Before the holidays, Brown scored 11.8 points with a 32.8 percent clip from beyond the arc.
• Brown is now second on the team with 13.6 points per game.

REBOUNDING EDGE
• The Braves have controlled the glass this season in almost each one of their contests.
• Only once this season has the Braves lost the rebounding battle, corralling more boards in 12-of-14 games and drawing once.
• Overall, Bradley has collected more rebounds in the last eight games – the team's longest run since the first eight games of the 2017-18 season.
• BU has not won the rebounding battle in nine-straight contests since 2000 (Nov. 22 - Dec. 30).

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