Valparaiso Beacons (18-14, 12-9 MVC) vs. Bradley Braves (20-11, 13-7 MVC)
St. Louis; Friday, 7 p.m. EST
BETMGM SPORTSBOOK LINE: Braves -2.5; over/under is 140.5
BOTTOM LINE: Bradley and Valparaiso play in the MVC Tournament.
The Braves have gone 13-7 against MVC teams, with a 7-4 record in non-conference play. Bradley is third in the MVC scoring 77.5 points while shooting 43.9% from the field.
The Beacons are 12-9 against MVC teams. Valparaiso ranks third in the MVC with 10.0 offensive rebounds per game led by JT Pettigrew averaging 2.4.
Bradley is shooting 43.9% from the field this season, 0.6 percentage points lower than the 44.5% Valparaiso allows to opponents. Valparaiso’s 42.0% shooting percentage from the field this season is 2.7 percentage points lower than Bradley has given up to its opponents (44.7%).
The teams meet for the third time this season. The Beacons won 79-72 in the last matchup on Feb. 19. Pettigrew led the Beacons with 22 points, and Alex Huibregtse led the Braves with 22 points.
TOP PERFORMERS: Jaquan Johnson is shooting 44.3% and averaging 17.4 points for the Braves. Huibregtse is averaging 16.1 points over the last 10 games.
Owen Dease is shooting 45.9% and averaging 12.9 points for the Beacons. Rakim Chaney is averaging 2.3 made 3-pointers over the last 10 games.
LAST 10 GAMES: Braves: 6-4, averaging 76.2 points, 30.9 rebounds, 14.2 assists, 5.7 steals and 3.2 blocks per game while shooting 45.5% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 73.8 points per game.
Beacons: 7-3, averaging 72.2 points, 30.3 rebounds, 12.8 assists, 5.3 steals and 2.7 blocks per game while shooting 43.9% from the field. Their opponents have averaged 72.4 points.
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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.
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