Who’s Playing
Valparaiso Beacons @ Bradley Braves
Current Records: Valparaiso 7-5, Bradley 10-2
How To Watch
What to Know
We’ve got another exciting Missouri Valley matchup on schedule as the Valparaiso Beacons and the Bradley Braves are set to tip at 4:00 p.m. ET on Sunday at Carver Arena. Both are strolling into their matches after big wins in their previous games.
Valparaiso will head into Sunday’s game hoping to keep the good times rolling: they only won by three when they last took the court, which might have inspired the 50-point they dealt Calumet on Sunday. Valparaiso blew past Calumet, posting a 107-57 win. The Beacons’ season wasn’t pretty last year but it’s starting to look like struggles are in the rearview.
Valparaiso was working as a unit and finished the game with 24 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Calumet only posted 11.
Meanwhile, Bradley entered their contest on Saturday as the heavy favorite, and they fully lived up to expectations. They put a hurting on Canisius to the tune of 92-59. The Braves have made a habit of sweeping their opponents off the court, having now won four matchups by 23 points or more this season.
Bradley’s win was the result of several impressive offensive performances. One of the most notable came from Darius Hannah, who posted 16 points plus five rebounds. Hannah had some trouble finding his footing against San Fran. on Wednesday, so this was a step in the right direction. Duke Deen was another key player, earning 12 points along with five assists.
Valparaiso has been performing well recently as they’ve won three of their last four matches, which provided a nice bump to their 7-5 record this season. As for Bradley, they pushed their record up to 10-2 with the victory, which was their tenth straight at home dating back to last season.
Some high-performance offense is likely on the agenda as the two teams are some of the highest scoring teams in the league. Valparaiso hasn’t had any problem running up the score this season, having averaged 80.4 points per game. However, it’s not like Bradley struggles in that department as they’ve been averaging 82. With both teams so easily able to put up points, the only question left is who can run the score up higher.
Valparaiso might still be hurting after the devastating 86-61 loss they got from Bradley in their previous meeting back in January. Can Valparaiso avenge their defeat or is history doomed to repeat itself? We’ll find out soon enough.
Series History
Bradley has won 7 out of their last 10 games against Valparaiso.
Jan 03, 2024 – Bradley 86 vs. Valparaiso 61Feb 22, 2023 – Bradley 76 vs. Valparaiso 66Jan 07, 2023 – Bradley 88 vs. Valparaiso 66Feb 26, 2022 – Bradley 79 vs. Valparaiso 55Jan 26, 2022 – Bradley 71 vs. Valparaiso 56Feb 10, 2021 – Valparaiso 76 vs. Bradley 52Jan 28, 2021 – Valparaiso 91 vs. Bradley 85Mar 08, 2020 – Bradley 80 vs. Valparaiso 66Feb 22, 2020 – Valparaiso 90 vs. Bradley 78Jan 29, 2020 – Bradley 80 vs. Valparaiso 69
