Braves Remain on the Road to Face Drake

Men's Basketball 2/4/2020 11:41:00 AM

Bradley (15-8, 6-4 MVC) at Drake (15-8, 5-5 MVC)
Game Details	Wednesday, Feb. 5 • 8 p.m. • Des Moines, Iowa • Knapp Center
Television	FOX Sports Midwest / Indiana Plus / Kansas City \| NBC Sports Chicago
Webcast	FOX Sports Go \| ESPN+
Radio	1470 WMBD
Game Notes	Bradley \| Drake
Game Coverage	Live Stats \| Twitter: @bradleyumbb \| Instagram: @bradleyumbb

The Bradley men's basketball continues action on the road in Missouri Valley Conference action with a trip to Drake. The two long-time rivals are set to meet in Des Moines with an 8 p.m. tipoff.

ABOUT THE BRAVES
• Bradley is tied for fourth in the Missouri Valley Conference standings with a 6-4 record – just one game behind second place.
• Overall, the Braves are 15-8 during the season.
• Bradley lost its most recent game, falling at Loyola, 62-51, on Saturday.
• BU's top scorer and rebounder, Elijah Childs, has missed 11 of the last 12 games with a hand injury.
• Darrell Brown is right behind Childs with 14.0 points per game, while leading BU with 4.7 assists.
• Nate Kennell adds 12.6 points per game, ranking 11th nationally with a 3-point clip of 44.8.
• Ja'Shon Henry also scores in double figures with 10.0 points per game.
• The Braves are averaging 71.6 points per game, while allowing 64.5 defensively.

SERIES HISTORY
• In a series that dates back to 1942 and as the two oldest members of the Valley, Bradley has played Drake more than any other school in the its history as the teams have met 154 times.
• The Braves own an 88-66 edge against the Bulldogs in series history, while the Bulldogs are 41-29 against BU in Des Moines.
• Bradley earned an 80-72 victory against Drake in the conference opener in Peoria. Four Braves scored in double figures, led by 19 points and eight assists from Darrell Brown.
• Drake swept the season series last year and the Bulldogs have won the last two meetings and eight of the last nine at home against BU.

ABOUT THE BULLDOGS
• Drake is 15-8 during the 2019-20 campaign with a 5-5 MVC record – one game behind Bradley in fourth place.
• The Bulldogs are 11-1 at home this season with its only loss Saturday to Southern Illinois.
• Overall, Drake has lost its last two games.
• Liam Robbins leads the Bulldogs with 13.2 points, 6.5 rebounds and 2.8 blocks.
• Roman Penn is second on the team with 11.7 points to go with an MVC-leading 6.0 assists.
• Drake is averaging 70.2 points per game, while allowing 66.0 on defense.

DEPTH IN NUMBERS
• Bradley has proven that is has a number of options during the 2019-20 season.
• Of 10 players that are active this season, nine have led the team in scoring at least once and all nine scholarship players have scored in double figures.
• Additionally, five different Braves have scored at least 20 points in a game this season.
• Overall, four Braves are averaging in double figures, while five are scoring at least nine in Valley play.
• Bradley has not had at least four players score 10 points per game since 2012-13.

NEXT MAN UP
• With Bradley facing a number of injuries as of late, different players have continued to step up for BU.
• In each of the last six contests, a different Brave has either scored or matched their career high in points for a game.
• The "next man up" mentality has been key as BU has had as few as six scholarship players available during the stretch.

DEFENSIVE STRENGTH
• Bradley once again features one of the nation's top defensive units this season.
• BU ranks 62nd nationally with a scoring defense of 64.5 points per game, while placing 26th by allowing opponents to shoot only 38.6 percent.
• Bradley last held opponents to under 40 percent shooting for the season in 2000-01, while its 38.5 percent mark is BU's lowest since 1997-98 (38.2).
• In fact, the Braves own the fourth-best field-goal percentage defense in the Valley's record book, which dates back to 1980.

LUCKY DAY OF THE WEEK
• Wednesdays have proven to be Bradley's most productive day of the week.
• The Braves have won their last 10 games on the weekday, dating back to last season. Nine of the 10 contests have been against Valley teams in addition to one win over Kansas State.
• Bradley's last loss on a Wednesday was Jan. 16, 2019 at home to Drake.

REBOUNDING EDGE
• Winning the rebounding battle is key for BU during the 2019-20 campaign and the Braves have done a good job of controlling the glass in most contests.
• The team that has collected more rebounds in all 10 of Bradley's MVC games has also won the contest (six for BU and four for its opponent).
• Overall, the Braves have won the rebounding battle in 17-of-23 games this season, drawing once and losing five times.
• The Braves are 15-3 when winning or drawing the battle on the glass. However, the team has lost all five games when its opponent collects more.

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