Braves Host Jackson State Thursday Night

Men's Basketball 12/16/2020 12:14:00 PM

Bradley (4-2, 0-0 MVC) vs. Jackson State (0-3, 0-0 SWAC)
Game Details	Thursday, Dec. 17 • 7 p.m. • Peoria, Ill. • Carver Arena
Television	ESPN3
Radio	1470 WMBD
Game Notes	Bradley
Game Coverage	Live Stats \| Twitter: @bradleyumbb \| Instagram: @bradleyumbb

The Bradley basketball team is back in action for the first time in 10 days, hosting Jackson State on Thursday night. The Braves and Tigers meet at Carver Arena with a 7 p.m. tipoff on ESPN3.

ABOUT THE BRAVES
• Bradley is 4-2 through six games of the 2020-21 campaign, playing its first game in 10 days since a 95-62 win over Lewis on Dec. 7.
• Senior Elijah Childs leads the Braves with 15.7 points, 7.3 rebounds and 2.0 blocks per game.
• Two additional Braves average in double figures as Ja'Shon Henry is second on the team with 12.2 points and Terry Nolan Jr. adds 10.5 points.
• Sophomore Sean East II adds 9.0 points, while leading BU with 4.8 assists per game.
• The Braves are averaging 78.2 points per game, while allowing just 58.7 on the defensive end.

SERIES HISTORY
• Bradley has played Jackson State on one previous occasion, earning a 64-55 home victory in 2010.
• Andrew Warren led the Braves with 23 points in the victory.

ABOUT THE TIGERS
• Jackson State is 0-3 with all three of its contests on the road and two against SEC schools.
• The Tigers lost most recently at Louisiana Tech on Tuesday night, falling, 85-58.
• Tristan Jarrett leads the team with 14.0 points.
• Jayveous McKinnis is second on the Tigers with 13.0 points to go with a team-leading 12.0 boards.
• Jackson State is averaging 54.0 points per game, while allowing 82.3.

BRAVES VERSUS SWAC
• BU is unbeaten in four all-time meetings against SWAC schools, including a 3-0 record in Peoria.
• The Braves have not played a school from the conference since 2013, earning an 85-59 win against Alabama State.

TOP-RANKED DEFENSE
• Bradley is already showcasing an elite defense to start the 2020-21 season.
• The Braves currently rank 25th nationally (of 321 teams) by holding teams to just 58.7 points.
• The key to BU's success is forcing its foe into tough shots as the Braves rank seventh in the country with a field goal percentage defense of 33.9.
• An example of Bradley's tough defense was evident when it held Xavier to just 51 points on Nov. 26 – the Musketeers have scored at least 76 points in each of their other six games.

TWO-POINT DEFENSE
• The real key to BU's successful start on the defensive end is its two-point defense.
• While teams are shooting 35.7 percent from 3-point range against Bradley, the Braves have allowed opponents to convert only 32.6 percent of their two-point attempts (72-221).
• In fact, the Braves are second in the country in Division I games by allowing teams to shoot just 32.1 percent from inside the arc – more than 17 percent better than the national average (49.4%).

CLEANING THE GLASS
• With such a strong defense, it is important that Bradley is able to take advantage and win the battle on the boards.
• The Braves currently rank 10th nationally with 45.83 rebounds per game and 37th with a rebound margin of +9.8.
• Senior Elijah Childs leads the Valley and ranks 169th nationally with 7.3 boards per contest.

OFFENSIVE REBOUNDS
• The area BU might excel in the most when it comes to rebounding is on the offensive glass.
• Bradley currently has five of the top eight in the Valley in offensive rebounds per game.
• Ja'Shon Henry is first in the league with 2.4 offensive rebounds per game, while Ari Boya is second (2.2), Elijah Childs is fifth (1.83), Darius Hannah is sixth (1.80) and Terry Nolan Jr. is eighth (1.67).
• Overall, Bradley leads the Valley as a team and ranks 37th nationally with 13.5 offensive rebounds per game.

A LEADER IN CHILDS
• The first player on opposing teams' scouting reports is senior Elijah Childs.
• Childs leads the Braves in points (15.7), rebounds (7.3) and blocks (2.0). He currently ranks fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference in points, while leading all players in boards and blocks.
• The senior also ranks second on the team and ninth in the Valley with 1.33 steals per game.
• Childs is the only Brave to score in double figures in all six games this season and has led the team in points in 5-of-6 contests.

EFFICIENCY FOR HENRY
• Junior Ja'Shon Henry is taking advantage of his chances as of late.
• Since missing a game with an illness in Cincinnati, Henry has led the team in scoring in two of the last three contests, scoring 47 points in just 53 minutes (average of 15.7 points in 17.7 minutes).
• Overall, Henry is averaging 12.2 points in 19.8 minutes of action this season – shooting 70.0 percent from the field (21-30).

Print Friendly Version