Bradley Hosts Southern Illinois Saturday Night

Men's Basketball 1/21/2022 12:55:00 PM

Bradley (9-10, 3-4 MVC) vs. Southern Illinois (10-8, 3-3 MVC)
Game Details	Saturday, Jan. 19 • 7 p.m. • Peoria, Ill. • Carver Arena
Television	ESPN+
Radio	1470 & 100.3 WMBD
Game Notes	Bradley \| Southern Illinois
Game Coverage	Live Stats \| Twitter: @bradleyumbb \| Instagram: @bradleyumbb
Tickets	Ticketmaster \| (309) 677-2625

The Bradley basketball team looks to continue its winning ways when it returns home to face Southern Illinois Saturday, presented by Morton Buildings. Game time at Carver Arena is set for 7 p.m. on ESPN+.

PROMOTIONS
• The Xpogo Stunt Team will perform at halftime of Saturday's game.

ABOUT THE BRAVES
• Bradley is 9-10 during the 2021-22 season with a 6-2 record in Carver Arena this season.
• The Braves are coming off an 83-71 road victory at Drake on Wednesday night to improve to 3-4 in Missouri Valley Conference action.
• Junior Terry Roberts leads BU with 15.9 points and 4.4 assists per game.
• Sophomore Rienk Mast is second on the team with 10.5 points per game, while leading the Valley with 8.2 rebounds.
• Junior Malevy Leons also scores in double figures with 10.2 points per game.
• Bradley averages 72.4 points per game, while allowing 67.3 defensively.

SERIES HISTORY
• In a series that dates back to the 1927 season, Bradley holds a slight advantage against Southern Illinois, 53-49.
• BU is 32-16 all-time versus SIU in Peoria, winning seven of the last 10 meetings at Carver Arena.
• The Salukis claimed 2-of-3 meetings last season as the schools split the regular-season series before SIU earned a 73-63 win in the MVC Tournament despite a career-best 24 points from Rienk Mast.

ABOUT THE SALUKIS
• Southern Illinois is 10-8 during the 2021-22 season with a 3-3 mark in Valley play.
• All six of SIU's Valley games have been decided by eight or fewer points with four games by just a single possession.
• Marcus Domask leads Southern Illinois with 15.9 points, 4.8 rebounds and 4.1 assists.
• Lance Jones (13.8) and Ben Coupet Jr. (11.2) also average in double figures.
• Southern Illinois averages 65.3 points offensively, while allowing 60.9 points on defense.

STATEMENT ROAD VICTORY
• The Braves are coming off a key road victory on Wednesday night at Drake.
• The Bulldogs entered with a perfect 10-0 record and a 13-game home-court winning streak before the Braves handed them an 83-71 setback.
• The 83 points are BU's most in any road game (in regulation) in two seasons.
• Efficiency was the key for Bradley as the team shot a season-best 59.6 percent in the winning effort – BU's highest in a road game since Feb. 6, 2010 at Evansville (62.5 percent).
• BU also made 72.7 percent of its 2-point attempts – its highest rate in any game since making 73.2 percent against Drake on Feb. 26, 2011.

MAST ON FIRE
• Sophomore Rienk Mast has become one of BU's top offensive weapons as of late.
• In the last five games, Mast is averaging 18.0 points – shooting 54.5 percent from the field and 42.9 percent from 3-point range.
• Mast is now second on the team with 10.5 points overall and 14.4 points in Valley play this season.

MAST DOUBLES UP WITH BOARDS
• Rienk Mast's recent offensive surge makes the sophomore a more complete player as he was already controlling the glass this season.
• Mast leads the Valley and ranks 71st nationally with 8.2 rebounds per game. He is also second in the MVC and 31st in the country with six double-doubles this season.
• In 70 seasons as a member of the Valley, only three Braves have previously led the league in rebounds – Chet Walker (1961-62), Luke Jackson (1988-89) and Marcellus Sommerville (2003-04).

TAHVANAINEN'S KEY TO SUCCESS
• Junior Ville Tahvanainen's shot from 3-point range is a key to success for Bradley this season.
• Tahvanainen is second on the team with 29 made 3-pointers this season – shooting 34.1 percent overall.
• The junior has been at his best in Bradley victories this season, shooting 20 percent better compared to defeats.

ROBERTS DOES IT ALL
• Junior Terry Roberts does a little bit of everything for Bradley.
• The junior guard leads Bradley in scoring (15.9), assists (4.4) and steals (1.74), while also adding 5.2 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.

THE MAGIC NUMBERS
• The two numbers the Braves need to aim for on offense is 71 and 44.
• BU is 9-1 this season when tallying more than 70 points with its lone regulation loss a 76-71 setback to Indiana State. BU is winless in nine games with 70 or fewer points, however.
• Bradley is also 8-1 this season when shooting 44 percent from the field but just 1-9 when held under the number.

Print Friendly Version