Two struggling teams going at it in Peoria this weekend.
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Meeting the Braves as a team:
Bradley was 3-1 in the MVC going into a home game against lowly Illinois State and hasn't won since. The Braves do have one of the best Valley wins in the year in non-conference play beating KenPom's 52nd ranked team, the Toledo Rockets on a neutral court in Cincinnati.
One thing the Braves do well is they block shots. The Braves are 12th in the country in block % and they've been doing that without 7'1 Junior Ari Bola who is expected to be out again this weekend. And with their shot-blocking, the Braves are 7th in the country in 2 point FG % against. It's hard to get to the rim and score against the Braves. Bradley is 90th in the country in adjusted efficiency on the defensive end and hold teams to the longest average possession length in the country (18.9). The Braves like to slow teams down and grind out possessions on defense.
What the Braves don't do well is defend the 3 pointer. Bradley is 280th of 347 D1 teams at defending the 3 and they themselves are 302nd in the country in 3 point %. Bradley is 4th in the country in percentage of team points given up from 3 pointers (41.2% of points given up come from behind the arc). The Braves are very good defensively other than this though.
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Meeting the Braves players:
Bradley's top scorer and rebounder is 6'8 Senior Elijah Childs averaging 14.7 PPG and 8.2 RPG as well as leading the Braves in blocks per game with 1.2. Childs gets the most possessions and shots on the Braves. Since Valley play began, Childs is 3rd in the conference in percentage of shots taken. Childs is also 4th in the conference in defensive rebounding % since league play began and 181st in the country in block %.
With Ari Bola out, 6'9 Freshman Rienk Mast has stepped up for the Braves. Mast has his best game of his young career last game against Indiana State scoring 17 points and could be a problem for the Salukis bigs to guard. Mast is 2nd in the conference in 2 point % since league play began and 9th in effective field goal %.
The Braves have 2 new transfer players from last year that are key contributors. 6'3 guard Sean East is a Sophomore transfer from Massachusetts and has been Bradley's best passer averaging 4 assists per game and 138th in the country in assist rate. East has struggled of late though and was benched last game as a coach's decision. 6'4 Junior Terry Nolan is a transfer from George Washington and is the Braves 2nd leading scorer. Nolan has scored in double-digits in 10 of his 16 games this year but only scored 1 combined point in the Braves last series against Indiana State.
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Last season:
On January 11, 2020 the Braves beat the Salukis in Peoria 67-48. The Salukis took a 29-26 lead into halftime against the Braves but the Braves dominated the 2nd half 41-19. Ja'Shon Henry had 16 points and 6 rebounds and Marcus Domask was the leading scorer for the Salukis with 11. Sekou Dembele got hurt in this game and ended up missing the rest of the season.
On February 15, 2020 the Braves beat the Salukis in Carbondale 69-67. The Braves took a 43-25 lead into halftime and led by 21 points at one point but the Salukis stormed back in the 2nd half to take the lead only for the Braves to take the lead right back and hang on to end the Salukis 10 game home winning streak. Lance Jones led all scorers with 19 points in this game and Marcus Domask added 15 points and 8 rebounds. Elijah Childs led all Braves scorers with 14.
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Past Bradley/SIU Meetings on YouTube:
1988:
2/29 Bradley 113 SIU 102 (Final 4 minutes) (Home)
2002:
2/25 SIU 84 Bradley 73 (Home) (Salukis win MVC)
3/2 SIU 66 Bradley 44 (MVC Tournament Quarterfinals)
2004:
2005:
2006:
3/5 SIU 59 Bradley 46 (MVC Tournament Finals)
2007:
3/3 SIU 53 Bradley 51 (MVC Tournament Semifinals)
2018:
2020:
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TV Info:
MVC TV Network* = Fox Sports Midwest, NBC Sports Chicago, Fox Sports Kansas City, Fox Sports Indiana, Fox Sports Go, and ESPN3 (subject to blackout in MVC's four-state footprint of MO, IL, IA, and IN)
* Due to St. Louis Blues hockey, Saturday's game will clear FOX Sports Midwest Plus and FOX Sports Kansas City Plus in the Blues footprint. That footprint includes Missouri (St. Louis, Columbia-Jefferson City and Springfield), Illinois (Peoria, Bloomington-Normal and Carbondale), Iowa (Des Moines-Waterloo-Cedar Falls) and the Kansas City market. The production can also be seen on AT&T U-verse 1747, DirecTV 671-1, AT&T TV, AT&T TV Now and various cable outlets in Illinois (Cass 197, New Wave 2 or 208 and Xfinity 520). The game will also be available through the FOX Sports app and FOXSportsGo.com.
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Links:
Bryan Mullins Press Conference 2/2
Bryan Mullins MVC media teleconference 2/2
Mike Reis Interview with Salukis Director of Operations and Player Development Connor Wheeler
Rodney Watson interview with Bradley Head Coach Brian Wardle
Great job on the thread. Is that one bile-spewing Bradley fan Tribal Boy still around? I’d love to run into him at a game. He sure is talented at running his mouth behind a computer screen.
Great job on the thread. Is that one bile-spewing Bradley fan Tribal Boy still around? I’d love to run into him at a game. He sure is talented at running his mouth behind a computer screen.
Actually that would be most of their fans
Mullins said pregame with Reis still no Domask. Not practicing yet.
Going to make it even tougher to deal with Childs for 80 minutes.
Looks like MVC channel is blocked again on Dish in IL because of Blues game. Does anyone know if it will be on Mediacom locally?
Not sure if I missed this but does anyone know what Domask's injury was? I was guessing stress fracture. Thanks in advance.
WOOF!
Not sure if I missed this but does anyone know what Domask's injury was? I was guessing stress fracture. Thanks in advance.
They said it was a foot injury that’s all that has been said
Not sure if I missed this but does anyone know what Domask's injury was? I was guessing stress fracture. Thanks in advance.
I'm guessing a stress fracture as well.
Looks like MVC channel is blocked again on Dish in IL because of Blues game. Does anyone know if it will be on Mediacom locally?
Are you sure there isn't a "back-up" channel? For instance on DirecTV it's on channel 665, but sometimes because of a schedule conflict the game might be put on 665-1. I'm not familiar with Dish or its channel guide, but if you're allowed to create your own custom guide you'll have to go in to enable the back-up channel.
If you're gonna reply to me in the forums, please quote what I wrote that you're replying to so I have a clue...thanks! 😀
can't find it on mediacom or fox sports go yet
Salukis are 1-10 from the field. It seems like they’re getting decent shots.
No idea what happened to Harvey. He lost all confidence and SIU desperately needs someone like him to step up.
20-16 Bradley. SIU 4 of 216 from the field shooting the ball
Kyler Filewich is the best player on the floor today
