Peoria Standard

Game Preview: Bradley at Indiana State

Scouting the Sycamores
The Indiana State Sycamores were a team on a mission to start Missouri Valley Conference play, as they began 6-0 before dropping their last two contests. As a result the MVC race is wide open with eight teams within a game of claiming first place. The Sycamores are led by second year head coach Josh Schertz, who owns a career record of 24-26 and has his team tied on top of the MVC standings with Southern Illinois and Belmont. Indiana State has a number of options to lead them on the floor with the big focus being on the dyanmic scoring threats of Courvoisier McCauley and Cooper Neese. The Sycamore two-guard tandem is currently averaging 26 PPG and 9 RPG and both are shooting better than 43% from the field. Last season the Braves and Sycamores split the season series with each team winning on their home floor. A big key for Indiana State to avoid their third straight Valley loss and 2nd straight home Valley loss will be to push the pace and rack up points early. Indiana State currently ranks first in the MVC in pace of play with an average use of 16 seconds off the shot clock.

Scouting the Braves
The Braves will be looking for a big bounce back game after dropping their last contest to Drake in Des Moines, but they still carry plenty of reasons to feel confident come Wednesday night. BU has not lost back to back games since late November and has shown a trend of answering the call after a loss. The Braves are 5-1 following a loss this season and are out scoring their opponents on average of 77-53 in those games. Bradley will look once again to their three headed monster of Rienk Mast, Duke Deen and Malevy Leons to help them claim conference win number six as they try and climb the eight team pack at the top of the MVC standings. Deen had a stellar game last time out against Drake with 21 points, 4 assists, and a solo steal, including five made 3-pointers. Leons is coming off a 10 point and 10 rebound double-double with three more blocks and a solo steal to add to his MVC leading totals in those categories. Mast, meanwhile will be looking ot continue his impressive outputs vs Indiana State. In his career against the Sycamores, Mast is averaging 13.5 PPG, and 8 RPG with his last three games recording scoring totals of 20pts, 12pts, and 17pts. A key to watch for BU will be their bench production. The Braves had their streak of four games of 30+ bench points snapped against Drake and will look to get back on track in that department on Wednesday. 

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