The Storyline
Bradley will be shooting for its second straight win when the Braves visit Missouri State Sunday afternoon at JQH Arena ... Coming off Wednesday's 68-60 win against Indiana State, the Braves also will be attempting to even their 2012 February record at 2-2 and improve to 7-5 in the last two Februaries ... Bradley has dropped nine straight road games, dating to its 67-66 win Dec. 15 at George Washington, and the Braves also have lost nine straight Valley road games, dating to a 69-66 victory Feb. 5, 2011 at Southern Illinois ... The 9-game Valley road slide is the longest since a 14-game league road drought from Feb. 28, 2004-Jan. 18, 2006 ... Missouri State escaped Carver Arena with a 51-48 victory Jan. 21, despite shooting just 34.7 percent from the field and being outrebounded by the host Braves, 38-32 ... Sunday's game will be televised on the MVC-TV Network: FS Midwest, Comcast SportsNet Chicago, FS Kansas City, FS Indiana, and Fox College Sports, and will be streamed online on ESPN3.
Series Notes
Missouri State leads 29-17 | At Missouri State: MSU leads 16-4
Sunday's game will be the 47th meeting in the all-time series between Bradley and Missouri State, which dates back to MSU's entry into The Valley for the 1990-91 season ... Missouri State and Creighton (44-41) are the only two league schools with a winning record against Bradley ... The Bears have won the last three meetings ... Each of Bradley's first three head coaches to face Missouri State -- Stan Albeck, Jim Molinari and Jim Les -- were swept in their first season against the Bears.
The Last Time Out
Feb. 8 - at Bradley 68, Indiana State 60
A shift in Bradley's starting lineup paid huge dividends as sophomore guard Walt Lemon, Jr. came off the bench to score a career-best 26 points, while freshman guard Jalen Crawford drained 3-of-4 3-point field goal attempts in his first career start Wednesday night at Carver Arena ... Lemon needed just seven field goal attempts in his 26-point outburst as he made 15-of-16 free throw attempts, including all 10 inside the final four minutes ... Indiana State made only 8-of-29 (.276) field goal attempts in the first half and finished the game by shooting just 33.3 percent from the field ... After the Sycamores cut a 26-17 halftime deficit to 29-24, Crawford buried consecutive treys to open a 17-6 Bradley surge.
Significant Sevens
First-year Bradley head coach Geno Ford picked up his seventh win of the season Wednesday night versus Indiana State ... A couple of comparisons to coaches who won seven games in their first seasons in The Valley:
Jim Molinari, Bradley, 7-23 in 1991-92: Progressed to 11-16 in 1992-93 then 3 straight seasons of at least 20 wins, culminating with a Valley regular-season title and NCAA Tournament appearance in year five (1995-96).
Dana Altman, Creighton, 7-19 in 1994-95: Progressed to 14-15 in 1995-96 then played in 13 consecutive postseason tournaments from 1998-2010.
TB in Select Company
With 27 more rebounds, Taylor Brown will join a select group of Bradley players who have scored at least 400 points and grabbed at least 200 rebounds in the same season ... In the last quarter-century, only five players have managed 400 points and 200 rebounds in the same season: Theron Wilson (2007-08, 2008-09); Marcellus Sommerville (2003-04, 2004-05, 2005-06), Adebayo Akinkunle (1997-98), Luke Jackson (1989-90) and Hersey Hawkins (1987-88).
DSE All-Around Stats
Junior guard Dyricus Simms-Edwards has a shot at joining an elite group of Braves who have produced all-around strong statistical seasons ... Bradley's second-leading scorer at 11.5 ppg, Simms-Edwards has recorded 300 points, 98 rebounds, 75 assists and 36 steals ... Since Bradley began recording steals totals in 1978-79, only six Braves have ever scored at least 300 points, grabbed 100 rebounds, passed out 100 assists and secured 50 steals in a single season: Jeremy Crouch (2007-08); Daniel Ruffin (2007-08); Billy Wright (1993-94); Hersey Hawkins (1985-86, 1986-87, 1987-88); Anthony Manuel (1987-88); and Jim Les (1985-86).
Looking Ahead
The Braves will return home to host three of its final four regular-season games, beginning Wednesday night versus Drake at Carver Arena ... Wednesday's game will tip off at 7 p.m. and will be televised by the MVC-TV Network (FS Midwest, Comcast SportsNet Chicago, FS Kansas City, FS Indiana, Fox College Sports) and streamed online by ESPN3.
For a complete preview of Sunday's game, click the above links for the PDF version of Bradley's pregame notes package.
