Peoria, IL - The Bradley Braves will hit the road for the first time in the 2022-23 season with a trip out west to visit the Utah State Aggies in Logan, Utah.

Tale of the Tape
The Braves will be looking to collect the program's first ever win against the Mountain West Conference. They are currently 0-11 all-time against MWC teams, however they own a small winning record against Utah State at 2-1 (prior to 2013 when USU joined the MWC) with the last meeting coming in 1964. Dating back to the 2016-17 season, Bradley is just 2-4 on their first road games in a season. Utah State on the other hand was just 2-7 in games decided by 3 points or fewer, look for Bradley's defense to set the tone early for their offense.

For the Aggies
Utah State was picked 8th out of 11 teams in the 2022-23 MWC preseason poll. A player to watch for the Aggies will be their 4-man in Taylor Funk. Funk is a transfer from St. Joes. This will mark the third time in 4 years that Bradley and Funk will have met. Most recently Funk scored 20 points in a close loss for St. Joes in Peoria. Funk this season is coming off a 18 point game in a win against Utah Valley. The Aggies finished 3 players in double figures in their season opening win over Utah Valley 75-58. 

For the Braves
The Braves last time out against Wisconsin-Parkside started just a solo senior with Malevy Leons, opting to have Ja'Shon Henry and Ville Tahvanainen come off the bench to bolster the second unit. It's safe to say it worked, Henry and Tahvanainen combined for 30 points off the bench with Henry collecting 19 of the 30. This meant that Zek Montgomery and Darius Hannah would be thrusted into the starting lineup. Both had effective outings with Hannah collecting a career high in points with 16 and Montgomery continuing his hot shooting from last season gathering 9 points and shooting 50% from the field. Bradley was also able to collect 10 steals as a team and finish a game with only 7 turnovers. BU had 10 or fewer turnovers just twice all of last season. 

Underclassmen Alpha
It didn't take long for Bradley's sophomore shooting guard to make an impact on the program. Connor Hickman finished on a high note last season, collecting the majority of the starts at the shooting guard position as a freshman. His great end to last season set the tone for a great offseason and start to the 22-23 campaign as he collected 14 points finishing just one off his career high. Hickman was also one off his career high in both assists, steals and made 3pt baskets. 

The game is set to tipoff on Friday, Nov. 11th in Logan, Utah. The game can be streamed on the Mountain West Network online or on the radio with 1470 WMBD.