Braves Host Northern Iowa in Valley Opener Wednesday

Men's Basketball 11/30/2021 10:53:00 AM

Bradley (2-5, 0-0 MVC) vs. Northern Iowa (2-3, 0-0 MVC)
Game Details	Wednesday, Dec. 1 • 7 p.m. • Peoria, Ill. • Carver Arena
Television	ESPN+
Radio	1470 & 100.3 WMBD
Game Notes	Bradley \| Northern Iowa
Game Coverage	Live Stats \| Twitter: @bradleyumbb \| Instagram: @bradleyumbb
Tickets	Ticketmaster \| (309) 677-2625

Fresh off a 32-point victory, the Bradley basketball team is set to open Missouri Valley Conference action on Wednesday, hosting Northern Iowa. The Braves and the Panthers tip off at 7 p.m. on ESPN+.

ABOUT THE BRAVES
• Bradley is 2-5 through seven early non-conference games of the 2021-22 season.
• The Braves are coming off their most impressive game of the short season – a 32-point victory over Maine on Saturday, 71-39.
• Junior Terry Roberts leads the Braves with 13.7 points and 4.0 assists per game.
• Senior Ja'Shon Henry and junior Malevy Leons also average in double figures. Henry scores 11.3 points per game, while Leons adds 11.1 after his career-best 21 points on Saturday.
• Sophomore Rienk Mast leads BU with 8.6 boards per game, totaling four double-doubles in just seven games this season.
• Bradley is averaging 69.1 points through seven contests, while allowing 67.3.

SERIES HISTORY
• In 68 all-time meetings between the two schools, Northern Iowa holds a slight edge, 35-33.
• The series has been controlled by the home team with the hosts going a combined 42-20.
• Last season, the schools split a pair of close games in Cedar Falls with Northern Iowa claiming the opener, 78-72, before Bradley responded with a 75-73 win the following day.
• Overall, the teams have split the regular-season series in five of the last six seasons.

ABOUT THE PANTHERS
• Northern Iowa is 2-3 through five games of the 2021-22 season.
• The Panthers are coming off a 90-80 victory at No. 16 St. Bonaventure on Saturday.
• AJ Green leads Northern Iowa with 15.8 points per game – fresh off a 35-point game versus the Bonnies on Saturday.
• Trae Berhow and Austin Phyfe are second on the team with 9.6 points. Berhow also leads the Panthers with 4.8 rebounds, while Phyfe has a UNI-best 3.0 assists.
• The Panthers average 76.0 points per game, while allowing 72.8 on defense.

BRAVES IN VALLEY OPENERS
• Beginning its 70th season in the Missouri Valley Conference, Bradley is 37-32 all-time in openers with a 2-4 mark under Brian Wardle.
• Bradley has enjoyed even more success when opening conference play in Peoria, posting a 27-9 record when at home in its first Valley game.
• The Braves are beginning MVC play versus the Panthers for the third time in the last six seasons and are 2-7 overall versus UNI in their opener.
• The Dec. 1 contest marks the earliest conference game for BU in school history by one day. The earliest the Braves played previously was Dec. 2, 1950 – a 94-73 victory versus Houston.

ENTERING VALLEY PLAY ON A HIGH
• Bradley is entering Missouri Valley Conference play after its most complete performance of the season on Saturday – a 71-39 victory over Maine.
• The Braves' 32-point win was their largest against a Division I school since a 90-56 win over IUPUI on Nov. 9, 2019.
• Offensively, BU shot a season-best 56.8 percent from the field with a season-best 11 made 3-pointers and 55.0 clip from beyond the arc.
• Defensively, the 39 points allowed by BU are its lowest against a DI school since a 52-38 win over Texas A&M Corpus Christi on Nov. 25, 2014.

LEONS DOES IT ALL
• Junior Malevy Leons is starting to show why he was so highly-regarded joining the Braves.
• Leons is coming off the most productive game of his career, scoring 21 points – making 7-of-10 shots and 5-of-7 from 3-point range – and adding six rebounds, three blocks and three steals.
• The forward now leads BU with a field goal percentage of 55.1, 3-point percentage of 48.0 and 1.4 blocks per game, while ranking third with 11.1 points and 5.3 rebounds.

LENDING A HELPING HAND
• Graduate Mikey Howell has also settled into his role pacing the Bradley attack.
• Howell is second on the team with 3.9 assists per game and is averaging 6.3 assists per game during the last three contests.
• Last season, Howell averaged 6.0 assists per game at UC San Diego – ranking 12th nationally.

CLEANING THE GLASS
• Bradley has controlled the glass during the 2021-22 campaign.
• The Braves lead the Valley and rank among the nation's best in rebounding – collecting 42.43 per game to rank 25th in the country.
• Bradley has outrebounded a team by at least 20 rebounds twice this season – including Saturday's game versus Maine. Despite playing just seven games so far, it marks the first time since 2016-17 that BU has accomplished the feat twice.

3-POINT TURNAROUND
• After a slow start to the season, Bradley is starting to hit its 3-pointers.
• BU has made 48.7 percent of its shots from beyond the arc during the last two games (19-39).
• During the season's first five contests, the Braves made just 25.2 percent of their outside shots (33-131).

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