ST. LOUIS -- In recognition of his 22-point outburst Saturday night versus DePaul, Bradley junior guard Jeremy Crouch (Pekin, Ill./Pekin H.S.) is the first Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Week of the 2006-07 season, according to an announcement from the league office this afternoon.
Crouch sparked Bradley's 78-58 season-opening win versus DePaul in front of a sold-out Carver Arena crowd by pouring in a career-best 22 points. He nailed a career-best six 3-pointers in nine attempts, leading the Braves to 13 triples overall, the most the team has ever made in a home game and tied for the second-best total in program history. Crouch did more than just score, however, as the 6-foot-5 guard also grabbed four rebounds, dished out three assists and recorded a steal in his 27 minutes of action.
Crouch set the tone for Saturday's game by draining a corner trey on Bradley's first possession then later assisting J.J. Tauai's 3-pointer that gave the Braves the lead for good with 6:15 left in the first half. Crouch also drilled his fourth 3-pointer of the game for the first points of the second half, giving the Braves their first double-digit lead, then assisted a Daniel Ruffin trey and sank one of his own to start the 15-3 spurt early in the second half that broke the game open.
Crouch turned in one of the top 3-point shooting seasons by a Bradley freshman history during the 2004-05 season by leading the team with 46 treys and sharing the team lead in 3-point field goal percentage (.368). After averaging 8.3 points per game as a freshman, however, Crouch endured a season-long shooting slump during his sophomore season and saw his playing time gradually dwindle during Bradley's march to the NCAA Tournament Sweet 16. His six 3-pointers Saturday night represented 40 percent of his 2005-06 total (15) and his 22 points against the Blue Demons already represent 21.6 percent of his entire offensive output (102 points) from last year.
Crouch's effort Saturday night was not a surprise, though, as he showed during the two preseason games that his game was back in top form. He averaged 11.5 points in the two preseason exhibitions and Crouch now has made 11-of-19 (.579) 3-point shots against outside competition this month.
Crouch and the Braves (1-0) will return to action Wednesday night by hosting NCAA Division II SIU-Edwardsville in a 7:05 p.m. clash at Carver Arena. Saturday's game will be the regular-season opener for the Cougars, who split a pair of exhibition games versus Division I competition. After dropping a 76-57 decision in its exhibition opener at Illinois, SIU-E bounced back with a 54-50 win Saturday night at Nebraska.
Single-game tickets for Bradley Basketball home games at Carver Arena range from $8 to $18 for the general public and are $1 for Bradley students. Bradley faculty and staff may purchase single-game tickets at half-price. Fans are encouraged to continue to wear red for Bradley's games at Carver Arena and to bring the Sweet 16 rally towels distributed Saturday night.
