Braves Host Lewis Monday Night

Ron Johnson

Men's Basketball 12/6/2020 3:54:00 PM

Bradley (3-2, 0-0 MVC) vs. Lewis (1-1, 0-0 GLVC)
Game Details	Monday, Dec. 7 • 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 men's basketball team continues play at Carver Arena, hosting Lewis on Monday night. The Braves and Flyers are set to meet for a 7 p.m. tipoff on ESPN3.

ABOUT THE BRAVES
• Bradley is 3-2 through five games of the 2020-21 campaign, coming off an 88-84 setback to South Dakota State on Friday.
• The Braves' two losses this season have been by a combined five points.
• Senior Elijah Childs leads Bradley with 15.4 points, 7.6 rebounds, 2.2 blocks and 1.6 steals through five games this season.
• Juniors Terry Nolan Jr. and Ja'Shon Henry also average in double figures, tallying 10.6 and 10.5 points per game, respectively.
• Sophomore Sean East II leads Bradley with 4.8 assists per game to go with 9.4 points.
• The Braves are averaging 74.8 points per game, while allowing 58.0 on the defensive end.

SCHEDULE UPDATE
• Bradley's game versus Lewis was scheduled after an opening was created from BU's contest with Saint Joseph's being postponed.
• The Hawks paused all team activities after a positive COVID test.
• Bradley then moved up its game against South Dakota State from Tuesday to Friday, while adding Lewis to the schedule for Monday night.

SERIES HISTORY
• Bradley and Lewis have played once previously in the regular season with the Braves earning a 109-77 victory during the 1977-78 campaign.

ABOUT THE FLYERS
• Lewis owns a 1-1 record this season and is a member of the Division II GLVC.
• Trevian Bell leads the Flyers with 14.5 points per game, while Beau Frericks is second with 12.5.
• Artese Stapleton has a team-leading 3.5 assists, while Atakan Sahinkaya leads the Flyers with 8.5 rebounds.
• Lewis played Bradley's Valley rival, Loyola, on Saturday with the Ramblers earning a 76-48 victory. Bruno Williams led Lewis with 19 points, while Stapleton chipped in 18.

NEW VALLEY SCHEDULE FORMAT
• The Missouri Valley Conference adapted a new schedule format for the 2020-21 season to reduce travel and place an emphasis on the health and safety of MVC programs.
• The Valley will continue with an 18-game format in which each team will play four home series and four road series along with a single-game, home-and-home series with a travel partner.
• Bradley hosts Loyola, Evansville, Southern Illinois and Drake, while playing at Valparaiso, Northern Iowa, Indiana State and Missouri State.
• The Braves will also play I-74 rival twice – once in Peoria and once in Normal.

A LEADER IN CHILDS
• The first player on opposing teams' scouting reports is senior Elijah Childs.
• Childs has led the Braves in scoring in all five games this season. He is the first Brave to accomplish the feat since Rob Dye led BU the first five games of the 1999-00 campaign.
• Overall, Childs leads Bradley in points (15.4), rebounds (7.6), blocks (2.2) and steals (1.6).

DOMINATING THE PAINT
• Thanks to Elijah Childs anchoring the inside game, Bradley has controlled the paint this year.
• The Braves have outscored their opponent in the paint by at least 10 points in 4-of-5 contests this season, winning the battle inside by an average of 33.6 to 18.0 this season.
• The dominant inside game has also led to Bradley having the edge in rebounds (46.0-37.8) and blocks (6.2-2.2).

TOP-RANKED DEFENSE
• Bradley is already showcasing an elite defense to start the 2020-21 season.
• The Braves currently rank 32nd nationally by holding teams to just 58.0 points per game, while placing 10th with a field goal percentage defense of 32.8.

TWO-POINT DEFENSE
• The key to BU's successful start on the defensive end is its two-point defense.
• While teams are shooting 35.3 percent from 3-point range against Bradley, the Braves have allowed opponents to convert only 30.9 percent of their two-point attempts (54-175).
• Last season, BU allowed 36.3 percent of two-point attempts en route to leading the MVC in field goal percentage defense for the third-straight year.

PASSING GRADE
• The Braves have excelled sharing the ball this season, averaging 16.8 assists per game.
• Last season, BU averaged 13.4 assists per game.
• Bradley has eclipsed 20 assists in each of the last three contests. The Braves have not had 20 or more assists in more than three games in an entire season since doing so five times in 2017-18.

LENDING A HELPING HAND
• After graduating a player that ranked fifth all-time at Bradley in assists (Darrell Brown), Sean East II quickly proved he has the ability to fill his void.
• The sophomore transfer led Bradley with eight assists in the season opener against Toledo. His eight assists are the most by a Bradley player in his debut since Daniel Ruffin in 2004.
• East now leads Bradley with 4.8 assists per game during the 2020-21 campaign.

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