Getty Bradley guard Nate Kennell.
The Bradley Braves basketball team will host the Southern Illinois Salukis in Missouri Valley Conference play on Saturday.
The game (8 p.m. ET start time) won’t be on TV anywhere, but you can watch it live on ESPN+:
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Once signed up for ESPN+, you can then watch SIU vs Bradley live on your computer via ESPN.com, or on your phone (Android and iPhone compatible), tablet, Roku, Amazon Fire TV, Apple TV, Chromecast, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, or other streaming device via the ESPN app.
SIU vs Bradley Preview
The Braves pounded the Evansville Purples Aces 72-52 on the road on Wednesday, improving to 11-5 on the season and 2-1 in conference play. They jumped out to a 9-0 lead in the game’s first four minutes and held a 34-19 advantage at the midway break.
Braves wing Nate Kennell scored 17 points and pulled down 10 rebounds, both game highs, adding a pair of steals and a block.
“Winning on the road gives us a ton of confidence,” Kennell said, according to the Journal Star. “I’m already looking forward to Saturday. We’re gelling and Saturday’s going to be fun.”
Kennell’s stepped up in the wake of Elijah Childs’ hand injury.
Childs — Bradley’s leader in points per game (14.2), rebounds per game (9.1), and blocks per game (1.2) — went down with a middle finger injury in a Dec. 15 win over the Georgia Southern Eagles.
The big man missed three games before returning for the Braves’ Jan. 4 loss to the Northern Iowa Panthers, when he re-injured his finger. On Monday, Childs elected to undergo surgery, heeding doctors’ recommendations.
“I was feeling good still today, but the X-rays said otherwise,” Childs said Monday, per the Journal Star. “It looked pretty bad. My finger was off line from what it should be. I talked with my family and my coaches to see if surgery was the right thing to do. The long-term effect says so. So that’s what I’m going to do.”
Kennell’s averaged 16.5 points and 9 rebounds per game across Bradley’s last four, leading his squad to a 3-1 record. Before the four-game stretch, he was putting up 11.7 points and 3.3 boards per contest.
“It’s part of sports,” Bradley head coach Brian Wardle said, per the Journal Star. “We’ve been hit with the injury bug this year with Rienk (Mast), Ari (Boya) and now Elijah. There are no excuses. You don’t want to see anybody go down with an injury from either team. But we’re confident guys can step up.”
The Salukis, after opening the season 4-7, have won four of their last five. On Tuesday, they bested the Valparaiso Crusaders 63-50 at home to improve to 2-1 in MVC play. They held Valpo to 19-of-59 (32.2%) shooting from the field and 6-of-25 (24%) from 3-point range.
Southern Illinois forward Marcus Domask led all participants with 23 points, going 5-of-6 from downtown.
“I think that we’re scouting a lot more now that it’s conference play, we know all of the sets are coming and we’re just more locked in,” Domask said, according to the Daily Egyptian. “We know that defense is going to be what wins us [games].”