Akron Travels for Second Road Test against Bradley

Akron (7-4) at Bradley(8-4)
Thursday, Dec. 22 • Carver Arena
Peoria, Ill. • 5 PM (ET) 4 PM (CT) • ESPN+

What's Ahead
Akron is taking a four-game winning streak on the road as the Zips travel to Peoria, Ill. for a non-conference showdown against Bradley on Thursday, Dec. Tipoff at Carver Arena is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET/ 4 p.m. CT. Fans can follow the action on ESPN+ or listen to Akron Sports Radio Network on WHLO 640 AM with Dave Skoczen (PxP) and Joe Dunn (analyst). Live stats are also available on GoZips.com.

Game Coverage
TV: ESPN+: https:// bit.ly/3hJpunb
Live Stats: https:// bit.ly/3Vfyu12
Live Radio: WHLO 640AM - https://ihr.fm/3fFmzLo

Head Coaches
Bradley Head Coach
Brian Wardle (Marquette '01)
Overall Record: 213-185 (13th Season)
Record at Bradley: 118-120 (8th Season)
Record at Green Bay: 95-65 (5 Seasons)

Akron Head Coach
John Groce (Taylor '94)
Career Record: 283-195 (15th Season)
Record at Akron: 101-63 (6th Season)
Overall MAC Record: 88-68 (at Ohio and Akron)

All-Time Series
First Meeting - Groce vs Bradley: 1-0
Last Meeting: -
First Meeting: -

The Akron-Bradley Series
Thursday's game marks the first meeting in series history between the Zips and the Braves.

Scouting The Braves
Bradley enters the game with an 8-4 overall record. The Braves average 68.8 points per outing on 45.7 percent shooting from the floor and a 35.24 percent effort from beyond the 3-point arc, draining 8.0 triples a game.

The Braves enter the contest winning five of the last six games, defeating Merrimack (83-41), UNI (68-53), Missouri St. (58-40) and SIUE (56-45) before falling to Arkansas (76-57). Bradley bounced back with a 79-50 win over Stonehill.

Bradley has five players scoring in double figures led by Rienk Mast with 13.7 points per game on 62.7 percent shooting from the field. He grabs a team-best 7.8 rebounds per game and secured 47 total board in six games played. Malevy Leons follows with 11.5 points and paces the squad in steals (23)and blocked shots (20). Duke Deen is the third-leading scorer with 11.1 points per game and leads the team from beyond the 3-point arc with 26 made triples at a 36.6 percent rate. Ja'Shon Henry and Connor Hickman round out the double figure scoring with 11.0 and 10. 4 points per game.

Defensively, Bradley has allowed its opponents to score 59.8 points per game on 39.4 percent shooting from the floor and 30.7 percent from 3-point range, allowing only 6.4 long distance strikes per night. The Braves have caused 167 turnovers (13.9 to/g) with 97 steals (8.1 stl/g). The Braves outrebound the opponent by a +6.0 margin, allowing the opponent to grab 366 total boards (30.5 rebs/g) compared to the 438 total rebounds secured by the Braves (36.5 rebs/g).

On the Road
Akron is 0-1 in true road games this season, falling to Marshall enters its first true road game of the season against Marshall. The Zips are 1-3 in neutral site games this season. Akron finished 8-4 on the road in 2021-22, dropping the season opening game to Ohio State (67-66) as time expired and defeating Wright State by a decisive 18 points (66-48). The Zips second road setback came against Kent State (67-55) in the first installment of the 2021-22 Wagon Wheel series. Zips bounced back with 91-66 win over Bowling Green and a 60-56 win over Central Michigan. The Zips fell at Toledo (84-76). Zips defeated Miami (71-59) and NIU (70-64) in back-to-back road contests but fell to WMU (61-57). Akron defeated Eastern Michigan 67-48, Ohio (91-83) and Ball State (79-60) to end the season.

The University of Akron Athletics

Akron Travels for Second Road Test against Bradley

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