Peoria, IL – The Bradley Men's Basketball team will head to Valparaiso, IN, to take on the Beacons.
Game Information
Bradley Braves 18-9 (11-5 MVC) at Valparaiso Beacons 14-13 (8-8 MVC)
Date & Time: Wednesday, February 18th | 6:00 PM CST
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Location: Athletics-Recreation Center (ARC) in Valparaiso, IN
All Time Series: Bradley Leads 15-5
The Valley
Belmont still sits atop the conference with 14 wins, yet following the Bruins' victory over Murray State, Bradley now sits in second place in the Valley. Behind Murray State in third, UIC and Illinois State round out the top five teams who would receive a bye in St. Louis. Northern Iowa sits in sixth place, yet has an identical record with Illinois State. Valparaiso sits in seventh. Bradley is on top of the conference in several statistical categories. The Braves have the third-best scoring offense in the Missouri Valley Conference, averaging 77.1 points per game. This young Bradley team leads the Valley in turnover margin with 4.67 and steals with 8.1. The Braves have the second-best three-point percentage in the Valley, draining 35.9 percent from beyond the arc.
The Bradley Braves
The Braves are coming off two strong wins, beating first-place Belmont in overtime and a hot Saluki squad on the road. Bradley has won five of their last seven games. In Bradley's 70-60 victory over Southern Illinois, Sophomore
Jaquan Johnson led the Braves with 24 points, seven rebounds, three assists and three steals. Graduate Student
Alex Huibregtse scored 14 while draining four from beyond the arc. Combined, Huibregtse and Johnson scored 54 percent of the team's points, 66 percent of the team's three pointers, shooting 52 percent from the field in the 10 point road win. This season, Johnson and Huibregtse average 17 and 12 points, respectively. Against Southern Illinois, Bradley blocked eight shots, tied for the team high on the season.
Johnson earned the Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week award on Monday, February 16th. The bully averaged 27.5 points, collecting 5.5 rebounds, 5 assists and three rebounds at home against Belmont and on the road at Southern Illinois. Johnson's 31-point performance against the Bruins marked the first time that a Bradley player recorded three 30-point games in a single season since the 1990-91 season.
The Valparaiso Beacons
The opponent comes into the contest winning three of the past four. In the Beacons' last six, they have collected a pair of overtime victories. Their last game was a home victory against Indiana State, winning a narrow 76-75 contest. Valparaiso has two players averaging north of 11 points a night (Owen Dease and JT Pettigrew), with Rakim Chaney averaging 9.9 a night, dishing out 73 assists this season. Roger Powell's Beacons prove they can battle against the best, going to overtime against Marquette, only falling by 16 to Northwestern and falling to Belmont by four and a single point in their two meetings.
History Says!
The Bradley Braves are 15-5 all-time against the Beacons, yet the series is tied 5-5 in Valparaiso. The Braves have found success across multiple seasons, winning the past nine contests versus the Beacons. In the team's first meeting this season, Bradley earned a 72-65 win inside Carver Arena. Freshman
Montana Wheeler came off the bench and led the Braves with 18 points and three assists. Redshirt Sophomore
Kai Yu led the team in rebounds with seven. With Bradley's win against Southern Illinois on Sunday, head coach
Brian Wardle earned his 111th Missouri Valley Conference victory, the most by a Bradley head coach. Wardle enters the contest against Valparaiso just one win shy of 300 in his prestigious career.
The game will be available for streaming on ESPN+, with a 6:00 p.m. tipoff at the Athletics-Recreation Center. Fans can also tune in to 1470 WMBD to listen to the Bradley Basketball radio broadcast featuring Dave Snell and Chad Kleine.
