The Bradley Braves and the UTEP Miners meet Wednesday in college basketball action from JSerra Pavilion. Bradley is currently 4-0 on the young season. The Braves took out Tulane in their last outing. As for UTEP, they’re sitting at 5-0 following a close win over California on Tuesday. Here you can get our Bradley vs UTEP Prediction.
Bradley Braves
The Braves kicked off their season with a couple of tight overtime wins over UAB 73-71 and Utah State 72-66. Bradley managed a blowout win over Tarleton State in game three, taking the victory 86-63. The Braves shot a blistering 61.6 percent from the field and 60.7 percent (17-of-28) from 3-point range in that one.
Bradley posted another close escape on Monday versus Tulane. The Braves scored 40 points in each half and held off the Wave for an 80-77 victory. All five scorers finished in double-figures, including Malevy Leons with 18 points, four steals and three rebounds.
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UTEP Miners
Over on the UTEP side, they didn’t have too many issues over their first four games this year. The Miners would beat McMurry 120-71, Science & Arts 123-72, UC Santa Barbara 89-76 and Austin Peay 71-63 in that first quartet. In the win over the Governors, UTEP shot 55.3 percent overall with 35 rebounds and 21 assists.
UTEP’s closest game of the year so far came versus California in their last outing. The Miners were up 40-35 going into the second half and managed to hang on for the 75-72 victory. Tae Hardy topped the team with 16 points, five steals and three rebounds in the winning effort.
ANDREW’S FREE UTEP VS BRADLEY PREDICTION
I’ll lean toward UTEP, but you could make a case either way. We should have a pretty fun matchup on our hands regardless. The Miners didn’t shoot very well versus California, notching just 37.7 percent from the field and a sketchy 5-of-17 (29.4 percent) from outside. UTEP posted 11 steals on 21 Bears turnovers however, which helped the Miners take the win.
As for Bradley, they had a pretty good overall effort versus Tulane with 45.8 percent shooting and 36 rebounds. The Braves will likely be able to hit the boards pretty well here also, so UTEP is going to have to focus on some high-percentage shots early to set the pace. If all goes well, I think the Miners will come away with a tight cover. Should be a fun one to watch.