Braves Meet Valpo for Arch Madness Title

Men's Basketball 3/8/2020 12:00:00 AM

Bradley (22-11, 11-7 MVC) vs. Valparaiso (19-15, 9-9 MVC)
Game Details	Sunday, March 8 • 1 p.m. • St. Louis, Mo. • Enterprise Center
Television	CBS
Radio	1470 WMBD
Game Notes	Bradley \| Valparaiso
Game Coverage	Live Stats \| Twitter: @bradleyumbb \| Instagram: @bradleyumbb
Tickets	Ticketmaster

A Missouri Valley Conference title and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament is on the line on Sunday when Bradley plays Valparaiso in Arch Madness at 1 p.m. on CBS.

ABOUT THE BRAVES
• Bradley owns a 22-11 record during the 2019-20 campaign, winning seven of their last nine games.
• The Braves finished tied for third in the final MVC standings with an 11-7 record.
• The defending MVC Tournament Champions, BU advanced to its second-straight title game with wins against Southern Illinois and Drake.
• Three Braves earned all-conference honors this season – Darrell Brown and Elijah Childs (second team) and Nate Kennell (third team).
• Brown leads Bradley with 15.3 points and 4.6 assists per game.
• Childs averages 14.7 points per game, while leading BU with 8.7 rebounds.
• Kennell adds 12.5 points, shooting 44.6 percent from 3-point range. He entered the week ranked seventh in the nation.
• The Braves are averaging 71.5 points per game this season, while allowing 65.9 defensively.

ABOUT THE CRUSADERS
• Valparaiso is 19-15 during the 2019-20 campaign, finishing tied for sixth in the Valley standings with a 9-9 record.
• The Crusaders advanced to their first MVC title game after wins against No. 10 Evansville, 58-55, No. 2 Loyola, 74-73, in overtime and No. 6 Missouri State, 89-82.
• Javon Freeman-Liberty leads Valparaiso with 18.9 points, 5.9 rebounds and 2.3 steals per game.
• Ryan Fazekas is second on the team with 10.8 points per game – shooting 50.6 percent from 3-point range in 17 contests.
• Daniel Sackey leads Valpo with 3.6 assists.
• The Crusaders average 72.5 points per game with a scoring defense of 71.0.

SERIES HISTORY
• The newest member of the Valley, Valparaiso is playing the Braves for just the 10th time.
• Bradley leads the all-time series, 5-4, with the home team claiming all nine matchups. The schools have split the season series all three years as Valley members.
• The programs are meeting for the first time at Arch Madness.

SEASON SERIES VS. CRUSADERS
• The schools split a pair of meetings during the regular season with both teams winning at home.
• Sophomore Ja'Shon Henry scored a career-best 21 points in a 80-69 victory in Peoria on Jan. 29.
• Valpo responded by making 18-of-28 from 3-point range in the return game, including 11-of-15 in the second half of a 90-78 victory on Feb. 22.
• Four Braves averaged 14 points in the two games against Valparaiso this season – Elijah Childs (19.0), Darrell Brown (15.5), Nate Kennell (15.5) and Henry (14.5).
MVC TOURNAMENT HISTORY
• Bradley is making its 41st appearance in the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
• The Braves own a 37-37 (.500) all-time record in the MVC Tournament with three titles (1980, 1988 and 2019).

MVC TITLE GAME
• Bradley is appearing in the Valley title game for the eighth time in its history and has reached the championship in consecutive years for the first time.
• The Braves are 3-4 all-time in the title game.

REVISITING 2019 TITLE GAME
• Last season, the Braves claimed their third Valley Tournament title, winning the league's automatic bid for the first time in 31 years.
• Bradley earned a 57-54 victory against Northern Iowa, rallying from an 18-point deficit for the title.
• Elijah Childs was named the tournament's Most Outstanding Player, while Nate Kennell joined him on the All-Tournament Team.

LOOKING TO DEFEND ITS TITLE
• Bradley now looks to join an exclusive list of teams to win consecutive postseason crowns.
• Eight teams have successfully defended their title with Northern Iowa in 2015-16 the last to do so.

BROWN LEADS REPEAT CHARGE
• Darrell Brown is not ready for his career to end as he has saved his best for the MVC Tournament.
• Brown has averaged 22.0 points and 6.0 assists per game during the first two postseason contests.
• The senior has also made 50.0 percent of his field goals (14-of-28) at Arch Madness, while converting 15-of-17 free throws (88.2 percent).
• Elijah Childs is second on BU with 13.5 points in postseason play to go with 8.5 boards and 4.0 blocks.

DEFENSE WINS CHAMPIONSHIPS
• Bradley's run in the postseason during the last two seasons has started with defense.
• In their five MVC Tournament victories in 2019 and 2020, the Braves have not allowed a single opponent to score 70 points in a game.
• In fact, Bradley is allowing just 57.6 points per game during the last two MVC Tournaments.

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