Peoria, IL. Bradley will put the nations 11th longest home win streak on the line when they host Evansville on Wednesday night in MVC action.

Scouting the Purple Aces
The Evansville Purple Aces are currently (4-13) overall and (0-6) in MVC play in their first season under head coach David Ragland. This is Ragland's first head coaching stop in his career with previous stops as at Butler, Utah State, Valparaiso, Bowling Green, Northern Kentucky, and Indiana State all as an assistant. Evansville will be looking to snag their first conference win of the season but to do so they will need to combat a very physical Bradley front court. Yacine Toumi and Antoine Smith Jr. will be the bigs that will have to step up for the Aces. Toumi is currently averaging 10.1 PPG, 5.6 RPG and is shooting 40% from the floor while his counter part in Smith Jr. is chipping in 7.4 PPG, 2.9 RPG and is shooting 40% from 3-point land. On the perimeter the Aces will look to Kenny Strawbridge to carry the majority of the scoring load. Strawbridge is giving Evansville 16.2 PPG, 3.9 RPG, and 2.3 APG in roughly 32 minutes of action. The Aces are coming off a close loss at home against Illinois State 61-69 and will play three of their next four games at home after their encounter with Bradley. The biggest key for the Aces to spring a road upset will be to take and make the open perimeter shot while battling on the board against a much bigger Bradley front court.

Scouting the Braves
The Bradley Braves are set and ready to defend Carver Arena for the final time in this home stand before hitting the road to take on Drake and Indiana State in consecutive games. In Bradley's last contest they handled Vaparaiso without much trouble to the tune of a 88-66 final score and are looking make it 17 straight wins in Peoria. Evansville is a team that BU has corralled in their last few meetings with a nine game win streak in the series. Bradley's defense has been the driving force at home as the Braves are holding opponents to just under 60 PPG in Peoria as a team and currently rank first in the MVC in rebounding margin, scoring defense, opponent FG%, and steals. Two of the biggest factors of BU's home success have been Rienk Mast and Malevy Leons, as both got in a rhythm against Valparaiso with the two Dutchmen combining for 36 points, 13 rebounds, six assists and zero turnovers. The big key for Bradley against Evansville will be to limit the Aces in transition and force them to find baskets in their half court offense against the nations 15th best scoring defense. The Braves are currently right in the thick of the early Missouri Valley Conference race as they are tied for 2nd place with five other teams at 4-2.

How to Watch/Listen
You can stream Bradley vs Evansville on ESPN+ or listen over the radio with 1470 WMBD. The game is slated for a 7 p.m. start time on Wednesday night from Carver Arena. 

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