Peoria, IL — The Bradley Braves will open their 74th season of Missouri Valley Conference play at Indiana State
Game Informationย
Bradley Braves 7-4 (0-0 MVC) at Indiana State 7-4 (0-0 MVC)
Date & Time:ย Thursday,ย December 18th | 6:00 PM CST
Live Coverage:ย Live Statsย |ย Watchย |ย Listen
Location:ย The Hulman Center in Terre Haute, IN
All-Time Series:ย Bradley leads 59-44
The Valley
Bradley and Indiana State will be the only matchup on the Missouri Valley Conference’s opening slate to feature two teams that won at least seven non-conference games.ย Belmont, UIC, and Evansville are the only three teams to have played league games so far this season, with Belmont improving to 11-1 (2-0 MVC) after wins over both UIC and Evansville.
The Bradley Braves
Bradley enters its Missouri Valley Conference opener against the Indiana State Sycamores with a 7-4 record. The Braves have been fueled by a trio of double-digit scorers in Jaquan Johnson, Alex Huibregtse, and Demarion Burch, who are combining for 40.2 points per game. Johnson’s strong non-conference performance has placed him among the Valley’s best all-around players, as he is averaging 18.3 points per game, which ranks second in the MVC, and 3.5 steals per game, which ranks first in the conference and second nationally.ย As a team, Bradley ranks second in the MVC in scoring defense and first in both steals and turnover margin.
As a team, Bradley’s defense ranks among the best turnover-forcing units in the country, forcing turnovers on roughly 24% of opponent possessions, the fifth-best mark in the NCAA. During Bradley’s strong run, no opponent has scored more than 65 points, and each of the Braves’ last four games has featured a decrease in points allowed (Liberty 64, Washington State 60, Northern Illinois 55, North Central 53). Since 2021-22, Bradley is 3-1 in MVC opening games.
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โ Bradley Basketball (@BradleyUMBB) December 17, 2025
The Indiana State Sycamores
Indiana State is also 7-4 on the season, with Division I wins over SIUE, Louisiana Tech, and Ball State. The Sycamores are led by head coach Matthew Graves, who is in his second season at at the helm of the Sycamores’ program. Graves previously served as head coach at South Alabama from 2013 to 2018 before joining the Sycamores’ staff as an assistant. He owns an overall head coaching record of 86-188.
Camp Wagner, Ian Scott, and Sterling Young are Indiana State’s top three scorers, combining for 35.5 points, 13.9 rebounds, and 5.7 assists per game. As a team, the Sycamores have attempted the third-most three-pointers of any MVC team (300) and are also one of the league’s better free-throw shooting teams, converting 74.3 percent from the line. Indiana State shares the ball effectively, ranking second in the MVC in total assists this season with 192.
History Says!
This will be the 104thย all-time meeting between Bradley and Indiana State, with the Braves holding a 59-44ย advantage in the series. Indiana State is 21-12 against Bradley in Terre Haute. Each of the last two meetings between the programs in Terre Haute has gone to overtime, with Indiana State winning in 2024 and Bradley winning in 2025. Over the last ten meetings, the series is tied 5-5. Indiana State is Bradley’s fifth-most-played opponent, trailing only Southern Illinois, Illinois State, Wichita State, and Drake.
