Braves Open 2020-21 Campaign Wednesday Against Toledo

Men's Basketball 11/23/2020 1:55:00 PM

Bradley (0-0, 0-0 MVC) vs. Toledo (0-0, 0-0 MAC)
Game Details	Wednesday, Nov. 25 • 2 p.m. CT • Cincinnati, Ohio • Cintas Arena
Television	FloSports
Radio	1470 WMBD
Game Notes	Bradley \| Toledo
Game Coverage	Live Stats \| Twitter: @bradleyumbb \| Instagram: @bradleyumbb

The Braves are back on the court for the first time in more than eight months, opening the 2020-21 season on Wednesday against Toledo at the Xavier Invitational. Tipoff in Cincinnati is set for 2 p.m. CT.

ABOUT THE BRAVES
• Bradley finished the 2019-20 season with a 23-11 record, while tying for third in the Missouri Valley Conference standings with an 11-7 mark.
• The Braves won their second-straight Missouri Valley Tournament crown before the pandemic canceled the NCAA Tournament.
• Senior Elijah Childs is the team's top returner. He ranked second on the team last year with 14.8 points per game, while leading BU with 8.7 rebounds in 22 games.
• Senior Danya Kingsby is also a returning starter for the Braves. He averaged 7.2 points and 2.1 assists last season.
• Junior Ja'Shon Henry also returns after averaging 9.5 points and 6.0 rebounds a year ago.
• Bradley ranked third in the Valley last season with a scoring offense of 71.7 points, while placing fourth with a scoring defense of 65.9.

XAVIER INVITATIONAL
• The Braves are opening the 2020-21 season by competing at the Xavier Invitational in Cincinnati.
• Bradley is set to face all three teams at the multi-team event – opening with Toledo on Wednesday before playing the host Musketeers on Thursday and Oakland on Friday.

SERIES HISTORY
• Bradley and Toledo have played eight prior times with the BU holding a 6-2 advantage in the series.
• The Braves have won the last six meetings versus Toledo's victories coming in 1941 and 1946.
• The schools met for the first time in 34 years one season ago with a shorthanded Bradley team missing two starters (Childs and Kingsby) earning a 78-66 victory at Carver Arena.
• Darrell Brown led BU with 29 points, while Antonio Thomas scored 14 in his first career start and Ja'Shon Henry adding 12 points.

BRAVES VERSUS MAC
• Bradley is 28-8 all-time against schools in the Mid-American Conference.
• The Braves split a pair of games against the MAC one year ago, defeating Toledo at home and losing on the road to Miami (Ohio).

ABOUT THE ROCKETS
• Toledo finished the 2019-20 season with a 17-15 record, placing third in the MAC West with an 8-10 mark.
• The Rockets return two starters, led by Marreon Jackson, who led the team in scoring (19.8), assists (5.4) and steals (1.5) last season.
• Spencer Littleson is the team's other returning starter, averaging 10.5 points per game a year ago.
• Toledo averaged 74.6 points per game in 2019-20, while allowing 70.1.

COACHING CONNECTIONS
• Bradley's Brian Wardle will see a familiar face on the opposing sidleline.
• Wardle was an assistant on current Toledo head coach Tod Kowalczyk's staff at Green Bay from 2005 to 2010.
• The duo posted a 92-70 record together on the Green Bay sideline before Kowalczyk left for Toledo in 2010.
• Wardle would be promoted to head coach after Kowalczyk's departure, posting a 95-65 record in five years before joining the Bradley program.

BRAVES IN SEASON OPENERS
• Bradley is set to begin its 117th season of play.
• Nov. 25 is the latest season opener for the Braves since the 1996-97 campaign (Nov. 30).
• Bradley is 83-33 all-time in season openers with a 4-1 mark under Brian Wardle.
• BU is also opening with a neutral-site contest for the first time since the 1989-90 season – falling to Stetson at the San Juan Shootout.
• Overall, the Braves have not won an opener away from Carver Arena since 2005 against DePaul.

REGULAR-SEASON TOURNAMENTS
• Bradley is looking to continue its strong play in regular-season tournament as of late.
• During the last three seasons, Bradley is 10-2 during its regular-season tournament – including a title at the 2018 Cancun Challenge.
• The 2018 crown in Cancun marked BU's first in-season title since the 1983 River City Shootout.
• Last year, Bradley placed third at the Fort Myers Tip-Off – earning victories against Kansas State, Radford and Norfolk State, while falling to Northwestern in the semifinals.
• Overall, BU is 78-73 all-time in regular-season tournaments, having finished first or tied for first six previous times.

BRAVES SLATED THIRD
• Bradley was selected third in the annual preseason poll by coaches, SIDs and media.
• Northern Iowa led the rankings with 426 points and was followed by Loyola (405). Bradley received 341 points and one first-place vote with Indiana State (282) and Southern Illinois (235) rounding out the top five.

CHILDS EARNS PRESEASON ALL-MVC
• Elijah Childs earned preseason All-Missouri Valley Conference honors this year.
• Childs ranked second on BU last year with 14.8 points per game and first with 8.7 rebounds.
• A two-time all-conference honoree, Childs was named to the All-MVC Second Team after his junior season despite missing 12 games with an injury.

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