Braves Host I-74 Rival Illinois State Thursday

Men's Basketball 2/17/2021 3:00:00 PM

Bradley (11-13, 5-10 MVC) vs. Illinois State (6-15, 3-12 MVC)
Game Details	Thursday, Feb. 18 • 6 p.m. • Peoria, Ill. • Carver Arena
Television	ESPN3
Radio	1470 & 100.3 WMBD
Game Notes	Bradley \| Illinois State
Game Coverage	Live Stats \| Twitter: @bradleyumbb \| Instagram: @bradleyumbb

The Bradley men's basketball team begins a three-game homestand to finish the 2020-21 regular season with a rivalry game against Illinois State. The schools are set to meet Thursday for a 6 p.m. tipoff.

ABOUT THE BRAVES
• Bradley is 11-13 during the 2020-21 campaign with a 5-10 Missouri Valley Conference record.
• The Braves lost a pair of games last weekend at Missouri State.
• Senior Elijah Childs leads the Braves with 14.2 points, 8.3 rebounds and 1.27 blocks per game.
• Two additional Braves average in double figures with Terry Nolan Jr. posting 11.2 points per game and Ja'Shon Henry adding 10.7.
• Sean East II leads BU with 3.7 assists per game.
• The Braves are averaging 69.8 points per game in 2020-21, while allowing 65.1.

ARCH MADNESS SEEDING
• Bradley is currently tied for seventh in the MVC standings with just three games remaining.
• The top six teams in the regular-season standings will earn a first-round bye to the quarterfinals.
• Head-to-head results are the first tiebreaker this year, followed by record versus the highest team(s) in the standings and then NET.
• In the race for six, Bradley wins the tiebreaker with Evansville (6-7), while Valparaiso (5-8) and UNI (5-10) currently own the tiebreaker with BU.

SERIES HISTORY
• In a series that dates back to 1904-05, the nearby rivals are meeting for the 132nd time Thursday.
• Bradley is 68-63 all-time against the Redbirds, while Illinois State has the edge since joining the Valley in 1981, 45-40.
• BU is 45-21 all-time versus Illinois State in Peoria and has won its last three games over the Redbirds at Carver Arena – all by at least 12 points.
• Bradley had its five-game winning streak in the series snapped earlier this season with Illinois State earning a 71-56 home victory.

ABOUT THE REDBIRDS
• Illinois State enters Thursday's game with a 6-15 overall record and a 3-12 mark in Valley play.
• The Redbirds split a pair of games last weekend, winning the opener at Southern Illinois, 80-55, before the Salukis took the rematch, 59-49.
• DJ Horne leads three Redbirds in double figures with 14.8 points per game.
• Antonio Reeves and Josiah Strong chip in 12.7 and 11.6 points per game, respectively.
• Strong also leads ISU with 2.9 assists, while Dusan Mahorcic has a team-best 7.2 rebounds.
• Illinois State is averaging 71.8 points per game, while allowing 74.8 on defense.

DEPTH IN NUMBERS
• The Braves feature a deep team in 2020-21 with a number of options in their lineup.
• During last week's three contests, BU featured eight different players scoring at least 10 points in a game.
• In Wednesday's 76-52 win at Valparaiso alone, Bradley had six Braves score in double figures – a first for BU since Dec. 30, 2006 against Evansville.
• Overall, Bradley has had 10 different players score in double figures in a game this season.

EURO TWO-STEP
• Sophomore Ville Tahvanainen and redshirt freshman Rienk Mast have taken the Bradley lead as of late.
• One of the two underclassmen has led Bradley in scoring in five of the last seven games – totaling a combined 22.9 points per game.
• In the season's first 17 games, the duo led BU in scoring only twice – combining for 13.4 points.
• Mast leads all Bradley players with 11.7 points during the seven-game stretch, while Ville Tahvanainen is second with 11.1 points.

MAST TOP RANKED ROOKIE
• Overall, Rienk Mast has really turned a corner and improved significantly as of late.
• The rookie is averaging 11.7 points in the last seven games after posting 5.5 in his first 17.
• Mast is now averaging 7.3 points and 5.7 rebounds per game, ranking among the Valley leaders for freshmen in both all and conference games only.

KEVIN McADOO BACK IN LINEUP
• Kevin McAdoo has been a welcomed return to the Bradley lineup since Feb. 6.
• McAdoo took a leave of absence due to family reasons and returned to action after not playing the previous 10 games.
• In five games back, McAdoo has averaged 8.0 points and 2.0 assists in 29.6 minute of action.
• Overall, McAdoo is averaging 5.4 points and 1.3 assists per game in 14 games this season.

STRIVE FOR 65
• The goal for Bradley is to just score 65 points.
• BU is 10-3 this season when scoring 65 or more points in regulation. However, the Braves are 1-10 in 11 games when held under the number.
• In its 11 wins, BU is shooting 49.1 percent from the field and 37.1 percent from 3-point range.
• In its 11 losses, BU is making just 41.5 percent of its field goals and 27.2 percent from 3-point range.

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