Braves Play at Illinois State Sunday for I-74 Rivalry Opener

Men's Basketball 1/14/2022 4:00:00 PM

Bradley (8-9, 2-3 MVC) at Illinois State (8-8, 1-2 MVC)
Game Details	Sunday, Jan. 16 • 7 p.m. • Normal, Ill. • Redbird Arena
Television	Marquee Sports Network / ESPN+
Radio	1470 & 100.3 WMBD
Game Notes	Bradley \| Illinois State
Game Coverage	Live Stats \| Twitter: @bradleyumbb \| Instagram: @bradleyumbb

The first round of the I-74 rivalry is set for Sunday night as the Bradley basketball team travels to face Illinois State. Game time is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN+ and Marquee Sports Network.

ABOUT THE BRAVES
• Bradley is 8-9 during the 2021-22 season with a 2-3 record in Valley play.
• BU matched its largest victory of the season last time out with a 79-47 win over Evansville.
• Junior Terry Roberts leads BU with 15.5 points and 4.4 assists per game.
• Senior Ja'Shon Henry and junior Malevy Leons also score in double figures with 11.2 and 10.9 points, respectively.
• Sophomore Rienk Mast – who has scored 20-plus points in the last two games – leads Bradley with 8.1 rebounds per game.
• Bradley averages 72.2 points per game, while allowing 66.7 defensively.

SERIES HISTORY
• In a series that dates back to 1904-05, the nearby rivals are meeting for the 133rd time Sunday.
• Bradley is 68-64 all-time against the Redbirds, while Illinois State has the edge since joining the Valley in 1981, 46-40.
• Illinois State ended a five-game losing streak in the series with a season sweep last season, starting with a 71-56 win in Normal.

ABOUT THE REDBIRDS
• Illinois State enters the rivalry contest with an 8-8 overall record and 1-2 mark in Valley play.
• The Redbirds played for the first time in 10 days Wednesday, dropping an 86-75 contest at Drake.
• Antonio Reeves leads the team and the conference with 20.8 points per game.
• Sy Chatman (15.3) and Josiah Strong (13.1) also average in double figures, while Chatman adds a team-best 6.3 rebounds per game.
• Mark Freeman leads the Redbirds with 3.9 assists.
• Illinois State averages 80.1 points, while allowing 78.4 defensively.

BREAKOUT VICTORY
• After starting the 2021-22 Valley campaign with four close contests, Bradley had a breakout victory Wednesday night.
• The Braves defeated Evansville by 32 points in their last contest, marking just the second Valley win in the last 22 seasons by at least 30 points.
• Prior to the game, Bradley's first four MVC games were decided by a total of 16 points – the smallest margin in the first four games of any Valley season.

CLEANING THE GLASS
• A big reason for BU earning the 32-point victory on Wednesday was its dominance on the glass.
• Bradley outrebounded the Purple Aces, 47-26. It marked the first time that the Braves outrebounded a Valley school by 20 since 2017 (48-24 vs. Drake).
• Overall, Bradley has outrebounded or collected the same amount in 12-of-17 games this season.

MAST CATCHING FIRE
• Sophomore Rienk Mast has become one of BU's top offensive weapons as of late.
• In the last three games, Mast is averaging 18.7 points – shooting 48.9 percent from the field and 40.0 percent from 3-point range.
• The forward has scored at least 20 points in the last two games – he had one 20-point contest in his first 43 career games.

NEW YEAR, NEW RIENK MAST
• Rienk Mast's recent offensive surge shouldn't be a big surprise as he followed a similar path as a rookie last season.
• A slow start to both seasons on campus, Mast has raised his game by a large margin in the new year – averaging 15.3 points this campaign after posting 8.0 points in November and December.
• Overall, Mast is averaging 9.7 points this season to go with a team-best 8.1 rebounds.

ROBERTS DOES IT ALL
• Junior Terry Roberts does a little bit of everything for BU and is coming off perhaps his most all-around game of the season.
• Roberts tallied 19 points Wednesday to go with 10 rebounds and a career-best seven assists, registering his second double-double of the year.
• The junior guard leads Bradley in scoring (15.5), assists (4.4) and steals (1.64), while also adding 5.0 rebounds.
• Roberts is currently on target to become the first player in school history to average 15 points, five rebounds and four assists in a season.

VERSATILE MALEVY LEONS
• Junior Malevy Leons has also proven to be a weapon for Bradley in a number of ways.
• Leons is third on BU in points (10.9), second in rebounds (5.8), first in blocks (22) and third in assists (23).
• The junior leads BU with a field goal mark of 53.3 and a 3-point clip of 45.0 – no player in BU history has shot at least 50 percent from the field and 40 percent from beyond the arc in the same season.
• Leons is also on pace to become just the second player in BU history to lead the team in 3-point percentage and blocks in the same season (Will Egolf in 2012-13).

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