Bradley Hosts Evansville Wednesday Night

Men's Basketball 1/11/2022 6:00:00 PM

Bradley (7-9, 1-3 MVC) vs. Evansville (4-10, 0-3 MVC)
Game Details	Wednesday, Jan. 12 • 7 p.m. • Peoria, Ill. • Carver Arena
Television	ESPN+
Radio	1470 & 100.3 WMBD
Game Notes	Bradley \| Evansville
Game Coverage	Live Stats \| Twitter: @bradleyumbb \| Instagram: @bradleyumbb
Tickets	Ticketmaster \| (309) 677-2625

The Bradley men's basketball team returns to Carver Arena for a home Missouri Valley Conference game against Evansville on Wednesday night. Tipoff is set for 7 p.m. and can be seen live on ESPN+.

ABOUT THE BRAVES
• Bradley is 7-9 during the 2021-22 season with a 1-3 record in Valley play.
• The Braves have dropped their last three contests in Valley play by a combined 14 points.
• Junior Terry Roberts leads BU with 15.3 points and 4.2 assists per game.
• Senior Ja'Shon Henry and junior Malevy Leons also score in double figures with 11.2 and 11.0 points, respectively.
• Sophomore Rienk Mast – who is coming off a season-best 20-point game Saturday – leads Bradley with 7.8 rebounds per game.
• Bradley averages 71.8 points per game, while allowing 67.9 defensively.

SERIES HISTORY
• The Braves own a 35-23 all-time edge versus the Purple Aces.
• Bradley has won its last seven games against and nine of the last 10 versus Evansville. It's seven-game winning streak is BU's longest versus a Valley team since a seven-game streak versus the Aces from 2006 to 2009.
• The Braves have also dominated the series in Peoria with a 24-5 record and six-straight victories at home against Evansville.
• Last season, Bradley swept a pair of game at Carver Arena, 69-60 and 86-55. The 31-point win in the finale was the Braves' largest in Valley action since 2000.

ABOUT THE PURPLE ACES
• Evansville is 4-10 during the 2021-22 campaign with a 0-3 record in Valley action.
• The Purple Aces have only played two games since Dec. 8 – both Valley losses to UNI and Drake.
• Shamar Givance and Jawaun Newton lead the Aces in scoring with 14.6 and 14.3 points.
• Givance also has a team-best 3.8 assists per game, while Newton leads UE with 5.9 rebounds.
• Evansville averages 61.5 points per game, while allowing 66.6 on defense.

CLOSE GAMES
• Fans have been in for a treat during BU contests this season.
• The Braves' four Valley games have been decided by a total of 16 points (average of 4.0 per game).
• In 70 seasons in the Valley, it marks just the fifth time that Bradley has started the conference season with four-straight games decided by single digits with the 16-point margin the fewest.
• Overall, 10 of Bradley's 16 games this season have been decided by single digits with BU posting a 3-7 record.

KENT FINDS HIS RHYTHM
• Sophomore Jayson Kent has become a key piece of the Braves attack as of late
• The sophomore is scoring 10.6 points per game over the last eight contests – nearly double his 5.4 points from the season's first eight games.
• Kent is now averaging 8.2 points this season – more than double his rookie-season total.
• Kent also leads Bradley with 13.0 points in Valley games this season, shooting 50.0 percent from the field and 41.7 percent from 3-point range.

A VALLEY PLAYER IN RIENK MAST
• Sophomore Rienk Mast plays at his best when it matters the most.
• The sophomore has increased his production each year against Valley schools after a slow start to the season – tallying 4.5 more points against conference foes.
• Overall, Mast is averaging 8.9 points this season to go with a team-best 7.8 rebounds. He scored a season-best 20 points Saturday versus Loyola.

THE CHARITY STRIPE
• One key for the Braves is to get to the free-throw line and then take advantage of their chances.
• Bradley is averaging 9.0 more attempts and 8.0 more makes per game from the charity stripe in victories, while shooting more than 12 percent better.
• Bradley is 7-2 when committing the same or fewer fouls this season.
• However, BU has lost its last 15 games when committing more fouls and is 0-7 this season.

INJURY REPORT
• Ja'Shon Henry is a key piece of the Braves' success and BU eagerly awaits his return to the lineup.
• Henry has missed the last five games for Bradley with a head injury suffered on Dec. 18.
• Since arriving on campus, Bradley is just 5-15 in 20 games that Henry has missed and winless in 13 games against Valley schools.
• Henry ranks second on the team with 11.2 points in 2021-22 and third with 5.1 rebounds.

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