Peoria, IL. The Bradley Braves held serve at home to claim their 17th straight win in Carver Arena after beating Evansville 91-46 on Wednesday night.
Game Recap
The Bradley Braves defeated the Evansville Purple Aces for their 17th consecutive win in Carver Arena and their 11th straight MVC win in Peoria. The Braves found success early and often from the three point line as the Braves racked up nine made three pointers in the games first 20 minutes. However, the highlights didn't just come from long range, Bradley had a number of acrobatic dunks and lay ups coming from the high flying duo of
Ja'Shon Henry and
Darius Hannah. Bradley's offense continues to thrive at home as the Braves offense is averaging 81 PPG and shooting 52% from the floor and 42% from three on their home court.
On the defensive side of the ball Maley Leons continued his campaign for Defensive Player of the Year by adding another three blocks and two steals to his MVC leading block total and 2nd place mark in steals. Leons also got it done on the offensive side of the ball by giving BU 10 points off two made 3-pointers and five rebounds. In a game that featured six Braves scoring in double figures,
Connor Hickman found his stride with 15 points to lead all scorers. This is the ninth time that the sophomore guard has collected double digit scoring and his 15 points tied a career high. Defensively Bradley continues to rank among the best in the nation as they are giving up less than 55 PPG at home and limiting opponents to 35% shooting from the floor and 26% from behind the arc.
The BU bench yet again showed up in a big for Coach Wardle and the Bradley faithful as this game marked the fourth straight contest where the second unit has combined for 30 points or more. Bradley outscored Evansville 44-18 in the paint and held on to 24-4 edge in points off of turnovers. With this win Bradley improved to 12-6 (5-2) and sits tied for second place in the MVC with Belmont, Southern Illinois and UNI. Evansville dropped to 4-14 and (0-7) in league play.
Milestone Watch
- Bradley is currently on pace to own an average margin of victory at home of +28 points.
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Ja'Shon Henry sits 101 points away from 1,000 for his career (he is currently at 899, Henry needs to average 7.2 PPG for the remaining 14 games).
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James "Pop" Weathers recorded his first made 3-pointer at Bradley.
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Malevy Leons continues to lead the MVC in blocks (30) and sits tied for second in steals (31). Leons is currently on pace to crack Bradley's top-10 for single season blocks.
- This game marks (*Only taking into account Divison-1 opponents)
The largest win in Carver Arena in history.
The largest Missouri Valley Conference home win in school history (previously 41 points over Northern Iowa in 2000).
Ties the largest margin of a home victory against a Division-1 opponent in school history (45 points vs Louisville in 1938).
The 17th straight win in Carver Arena and is the 9th longest home win streak in school history (8th place is 19 games from 03/04/67 through 12/14/68).
This 17 game win streak currently ranks 10th in the nation for active home win streaks
Looking Ahead
Bradley will be in action next when they renew the MVC's oldest rivalry as they take on the Drake Bulldogs in Des Moines, IA. The game is slated for a 7 p.m. start time on ESPNU, you can also listen to Bradley at Drake on 1470 WMBD.