Saluki men’s basketball will go for its first 3-0 start in the Missouri Valley Conference since 2007 on Wednesday night.

SIU (13-2, 2-0) hits the road to take on the Bradley Braves (2-13, 0-2) at 7 p.m. in Peoria. The two teams may have had wildly different beginnings to the season, but the Braves seem to always play the Dawgs tough. 

Saluki coach Barry Hinson had difficulty filling this year’s roster after five transfers following last season, but new Braves head coach Brian Wardle had it even worse.

After their own rash of transfers, dismissals and graduates, the Braves had three returning players. One of them, senior forward Mike Shaw, ended his career before the season because of a chronic back injury. That left them with senior guard Ka’Darryl Bell and sophomore forward Donte Thomas.

Bradley filled its roster with nine freshman and one transfer, unlike SIU’s strategy of using junior college transfers.

Bradley has the conference’s worst record, but the team has played the toughest schedule so far with notable games against No. 4 Virginia, No. 7 Arizona, Seton Hall and Boise State. The team also began its conference play against MVC preseason favorites Northern Iowa and Wichita State.

Bradley’s offense struggles to hold on to the ball, ranking 343rd out of 351 Division I teams with 17.3 turnovers per game. SIU has forced an average of 15.5 turnovers per game, ranking 49th in the country. If the Dawgs can keep up the pressure on defense, the young Braves squad could be in for a long night.

The team also struggles shooting the ball overall; Bradley’s 37.1 field goal percentage is 341st in the country. They shoot 25.7 percent from behind the 3-point arc, which is 344th in the country.  

Because of this inefficiency, no Bradley player averages more than 10 points per game. For SIU, senior guard Anthony Beane (21.7), junior forward Sean O’Brien (13) and junior guard Mike Rodriguez (10.5) average more than 10 points per game.

In an attempt to twist his team’s inexperience to an advantage, Wardle uses most of his roster — 10 players have played in at least 12 of the Braves’ 15 games.

The Salukis should not have much trouble in Peoria if they focus on the task at hand. However, if the Dawgs are looking ahead to Saturday’s matchup with Wichita State, the scrappy Braves can pull off an upset.

The matchup on the frontcourt between Thomas, the Braves’ second-leading scorer and leading rebounder, and O’Brien is the one to watch. If the two stay out of foul trouble, it could turn into a physical battle inside.

On the perimeter, the matchup between Braves’ freshman guard Dwayne Lautier-Ogunleye and Rodriguez is intriguing as well. A savvy, experienced guard in Rodriguez, who averages 3.6 assists per game, competing with a talented, but inconsistent guard in Lautier-Ogunleye makes for some compelling basketball.

The freshman leads Bradley in scoring (9.3) and assists (2.3) per game, but also leads the Braves in turnovers per game at 3.3. With Rodriguez’s team-high 1.2 steals a game, he could have a field day if Lautier-Ogunleye starts getting reckless with the ball.

Sean Carley can be reached at [email protected] or at 536-3304.