PEORIA, Ill. -- Families wishing to attend the Bradley-Northern Iowa men's basketball game Dec. 28 at Carver Arena may benefit from a holiday ticket pricing promotion announced by the Bradley Department of Athletics today. For the game versus the Panthers, all children (K-12) may receive a half-price discount off the regular $8 price for selected seats in the upper bowl of Carver Arena.
The Dec. 28 contest will be the Missouri Valley Conference opener for both teams. The Braves will take a 5-2 record into Wednesday night's game at Southern Miss, which will serve as the final non-conference tuneup before hosting UNI a week later. The Panthers, who were selected as the Valley favorite in a preseason vote of the league's coaches, media and sports information directors, improved to 8-1 by pulling out a 54-50 victory Monday night at Louisiana State. UNI will play neutral-site games versus Hawaii-Pacific and Dayton this week in the Las Vegas Christmas Classic before visiting Peoria next week.
In addition to serving as Bradley's conference opener, the Dec. 28 game versus the Panthers also will mark the return of sophomore center Patrick O'Bryant (Blaine, Minn./Blaine H.S.), who was ruled ineligible by the NCAA for the first eight games. The 7-foot O'Bryant was a member of the Missouri Valley Conference All-Newcomer and All-Freshmen Teams last season after leading the league in blocked shots (2.8 bpg) and ranking fourth in rebounding (7.4 rpg), while also averaging 10.0 points per game.
Fans also are reminded that the Early Bird pricing structure for all-session passes to the 2006 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament will remain in place through Jan. 1. All-session passes for the championship, which will be played March 2-5 at the Savvis Center in St. Louis, are regularly $80, but may be purchased at the Bradley University Ticket Office in Robertson Fieldhouse for $65 through Jan. 1.
For more information on either ticket promotion, contact the Bradley University Ticket Office at 309/677-2625, or visit the ticket office within the Robertson Fieldhouse foyer.
