Les Likes Long Breaks
? With final exams following last Tuesday's 88-49 win against Wright State, Bradley (6-3) will have had 11 days to prepare for Saturday's game versus Iowa State in the Mediacom Cyclone Capital Classic in Des Moines.
? Fifth-year Bradley head coach Jim Les is 6-2 in his career when given a full week to prepare for a game, including a 2-0 mark with at least 10 days to prep.
? In addition, Les is 5-0 in season-openers.
Date Opponent Result Prep Days
11-22-02 Pepperdine W, 95-81 Opener
12-07-02 Ark.-Monticello W, 107-70 7
11-21-03 La.-Monroe W, 73-65 Opener
12-17-03 Loyola-Chicago W, 79-63 7
12-28-03 at UNLV* L, 55-73 8
11-19-04 SE Missouri St. W, 77-73 Opener
12-18-04 Pepperdine W, 76-58 11
12-28-04 at Creighton L, 62-71 7
11-19-05 at DePaul W, 75-60 Opener
12-14-05 Western Ky. W, 78-76 8
12-28-05 Northern Iowa W, 68-60 7
03-17-06 vs. #12 Kansas W, 77-73 12
11-11-06 DePaul W, 78-58 Opener
*First game without Valley preseason player of the year Phillip Gilbert (broken foot)
Another BCS Matchup
? Bradley will get its fifth crack at a school from a major college football power conference Saturday when the Braves take on Big 12 Conference member Iowa State in the Mediacom Cyclone Capital Classic at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines.
? Bradley is 2-2 in those games so far this season, sweeping Big East members DePaul (78-58) and Rutgers (101-72) before falling to Big 10 programs Illinois (71-75) and Michigan State (53-82).
? The Braves have not faced as many as five teams from the current BCS leagues in the regular-season since the record-setting 1985-86 team went 5-1 versus Northwestern (76-72), Marquette (66-64), Colorado (79-69), Clemson (76-81), Villanova (58-56) and Wake Forest (86-72).
Bradley-Iowa State Series
? Bradley owns a 6-4 lead in the all-time series versus Iowa State, but the teams have not met since ISU pulled out a 99-97 victory in the only previous neutral-site meeting, Dec. 18, 1988 in the championship game of the Phenix NCAA Ball in Tokyo, Japan.
? Saturday's game begins a three-year series between the two teams, which will continue next season when the Braves host Iowa State at Carver Arena and will conclude in 2008-09 when Bradley visits Hilton Coliseum in Ames.
Familiar Coaching Rivalry
? Although Bradley has not faced Iowa State since 1988, Saturday's two head coaches are certainly familiar with one another as first-year Iowa State head coach Greg McDermott coached Bradley's Missouri Valley Conference rival Northern Iowa the previous five seasons.
? McDermott owned a 5-5 record versus Bradley during his time at UNI, but fifth-year Bradley head coach Jim Les put up a 5-3 head-to-head record versus McDermott's Panthers.
Bradley vs. the Big 12
? Including its 6-4 record versus Iowa State, Bradley owns a 37-25 (.597) all-time record versus the Big 12 Conference membership.
? Saturday's game versus Iowa State, however, will be just the third against a Big 12 team since the league formed for the 1996-97 season -- Bradley lost to Kansas State during that inaugural Big 12 season and dropped #12 Kansas during the first round of last year's NCAA Tournament.
? Missouri (2-0) is the only Big 12 member with a winning record versus Bradley and the Braves have never played Texas or Texas Tech.
? All 17 games played versus Oklahoma State were played during OSU's membership in the Missouri Valley Conference, although five games in the middle of the series were played as non-conference games due to Bradley's temporary withdrawal from the league in response to a football incident between Oklahoma State and Drake.
Schedule Stiffens
? Bradley rolled to its 5-0 start to the season by routing five teams that now have combined for a 12-20 (.375) record versus Division I opponents to date.
? The schedule took a tremendous turn to the difficult Nov. 25 versus Illinois as 15 of the 16 scheduled opponents starting with the Illini sport at least .500 overall records versus Division I teams and all 16 are at least .500 overall.
? Highlighted by a 51-16 (.737) Division I record by Bradley's nine Valley rivals, the 16 scheduled opponents since Nov. 25 now have combined for an 89-33 (.730) record this season and the 12 remaining opponents are 65-22 (.747) against Division I teams.
Opponent (RPI) D1 W-L Pct.
Illinois (48) 9-2 .818
Tennessee Tech (243) 3-4 .429
Michigan State (42) 9-2 .818
Wright State (242) 3-3 .500
Iowa State (199) 5-3 .625
Loyola-Chicago (71) 5-3 .625
Southern Miss (77) 4-0 1.000
MVC Members (63.3) 51-16 .761
Totals 89-33 .730
3-Point Shots
? Through Dec. 9, Bradley junior guard Jeremy Crouch was tied for seventh nationally with 36 3-pointers, but thanks to his blistering .632 3-point field goal percentage, he was only tied for 75th nationally in 3-point field goal attempts.
? Through Dec. 9, Bradley led the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (.491) and ranked second with 108 treys.
? Eight Braves have combined for Bradley's 108 3-pointers and all eight of those players are shooting better than 40 percent from behind the arc -- junior point guard Daniel Ruffin has the “low” mark at 40.6 percent.
Spreading the Wealth
? Through nine games, six different Bradley players have led the team in scoring: Jeremy Crouch (three times), J.J. Tauai (twice), Danny Adams (Florida A&M), Zach Andrews (at Tennessee Tech), Will Franklin (vs. Illinois), and Daniel Ruffin (at Michigan State).
? The Braves also have featured four 20-point scorers in the first nine games: Crouch (twice), Adams, Andrews and Tauai.
