Bradley Braves (13-7, 7-5 MVC)
at
Missouri State Bears (14-6, 7-5 MVC)
Sat., Feb. 4, 2006 ? 7:05 p.m. ? Springfield, Mo. ? Hammons Center (8,846)
Television: WEEK-TV, Peoria NBC 25 (Lee Hall, play-by-play; Joe Dalfonso, analyst)
Satellite Coordinates: SBS6-K13 Slot C (9 Mhz digital); D/L=12020 H; Symbol rate=6.1113; FEC=3/4
Radio: WMBD AM 1470 (Dave Snell, play-by-play; Joe Stowell, analyst)
Internet: www.bubraves.com (audio and video streams)
Revenge Tour Begins Saturday
? Bradley begins a three-game road trip Saturday against three teams that will be seeking revenge against the Braves for defeats in the last two weeks.
? Bradley defeated Indiana State (85-63), Missouri State (86-76) and Illinois State (73-44) by an average of 19.0 points at Carver Arena, but now must venture onto their home courts for the next three games, beginning Saturday at Missouri State.
? A winner in five of its last six games, Bradley will be shooting for its first five-game winning streak since the 2000-01 season.
? Saturday's game features the top two scoring teams in the Valley: Missouri State leads overall at 79.6 points per game, but Bradley leads in conference play only at 76.2 points per game.
Series Notes
? Wednesday's game will be the 35th meeting in the all-time series between Bradley and Missouri State, which dates back to 62-60 Bears victory Jan. 28, 1991 at Carver Arena.
? All 34 games have been played as Missouri Valley Conference rivals and Missouri State owns a 21-13 lead.
? Bradley has won three of the last four meetings, but all three wins have come at Carver Arena.
? Missouri State owns an 11-3 home record versus Bradley and the Bears have won three straight in the series at the Hammons Student Center.
? Missouri State is the only current Valley member with a winning record versus Bradley.
? Fourth-year Bradley head coach Jim Les is 3-4 versus Missouri State, 0-3 in Springfield.
About the Bears
? Missouri State has rebounded from its first two-game losing streak of the season with two straight blowout wins: 80-58 last Sunday at Indiana State (with David Moss back in action) and 84-59 Wednesday night at home versus Drake.
? The Bears are 9-2 at home this season, losing only to Valley co-leaders Northern Iowa and Wichita State.
? Junior guard Blake Ahearn leads the Valley in scoring at 17.8 points per game, including a 23-point effort Jan. 25 at Bradley.
? Ahearn also leads the Valley in free throw percentage (.929) and 3-point field goals per game (2.85), while sophomore guard Dale Lamberth leads the league in 3-point field goal percentage (.489).
? It is easy to see how Missouri State leads the Valley in scoring: the Bears top the 10-team league in field goal percentage (.476), 3-point field goal percentage (.397) free throw percentage (.737).
Offense Versus Defense
? Bradley are challenging Missouri State as the top offensive team in the league, but the Braves may have to turn to their defense to stop the Bears Saturday night.
? Bradley is limiting the opposition to 40.6 percent shooting from the field and the Braves lead the Valley in 3-point field goal percentage defense (.309).
? Missouri State leads the league in field goal percentage (.476) and 3-point percentage (.397).
Scoring Binge
? Bradley leads the Valley in scoring during the conference season by averaging 76.2 points through the first 12 league games.
? Bradley had scored at least 76 points in each of its last six games, averaging 82.0 points during the 6-game stretch, before netting “only” 73 points Wednesday versus Illinois State.
? Bradley had not scored at least 76 points in six consecutive games since a 7-game run that included the final six games of the 1987-88 season and the first game of the 1988-89 campaign.
? Bradley had not scored at least 76 in six consecutive regular-season Valley games since the first six February games of the 1987-88 season.
? The run of seven straight games with at least 70 points is the longest since the first eight games of Jim Les' career at Bradley, Nov. 22-Dec. 21, 2002.
Two Streaks of Four
? Bradley won its fourth consecutive game Wednesday night with a 73-44 rout of Interstate 74 rival Illinois State, giving the Braves their second four-game winning streak of the season.
? Bradley had not achieved two winning streaks of at least four games in the same season since putting together runs of five, seven and six games during the 1995-96 MVC championship season.
? Bradley also won four in a row Dec. 14-28 this year.
Strive For Five
? Bradley will be trying to extend its winning streak to five games Saturday night at Missouri State.
? The Braves have not won as many as five games in a row since a six-game streak from Dec. 30, 2000 through Jan. 16, 2001.
? Following a win versus IUPUI to start the streak, the final five games came against Valley rivals, Bradley's longest MVC winning streak since a seven-game run Feb. 8-24, 1997.
Saturday Night's Alright
? Bradley snapped its 14-game Valley road losing streak this past Saturday night with a 79-76 overtime victory at Evansville.
? Bradley improved to 7-0 on Saturdays this season with the win at Evansville.
? Although the Evansville win was the first by less than 10 points on a Saturday this season, the Braves did outscore the Purple Aces by 20 points over the game's final 33 minutes.
Winning Valley Record
? Bradley's current four-game winning streak has improved its Missouri Valley Conference record to 7-5.
? The Braves have not been better than .500 in league play this late in the season since tying for second in the 2000-01 Valley race with a 12-6 league record.
Tough on League Leaders
? Bradley has played seven games versus teams that enter the weekend sitting atop their respective conference standings.
? The Braves are 4-3 in those seven games with victories versus Valley co-leaders Northern Iowa (68-60) and Creighton (86-69), as well as Sun Belt East Division leader Western Kentucky (78-76) and Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference leader Delaware State (68-46).
? Bradley's losses were a 67-55 setback at Valley co-leader Southern Illinois and a sweep by the fourth Valley co-leader Wichita State.
? The Braves still have single games remaining at UNI and at home against Southern Illinois.
Strength of Schedule
? Of the 100 teams that participated in the pool for selection in the 2006 eBay BracketBusters series, Bradley owns the ninth-best Strength of Schedule rating as published at collegepri.com.
? Bradley owns a 13-7 record versus a schedule that was rated 65th in the nation through Feb. 1.
? At least four of Bradley's remaining seven regular-season games will be played against teams with winning records:
Date Opponent Record
Feb. 4 at Missouri State 14-6
Feb. 14 Southern Illinois 16-6
Feb. 18 Tennessee Tech 15-8
Feb. 22 at Northern Iowa 19-4
Valley Drops to No. 6 in RPI
? According to the numbers published at www.collegerpi.com, the Missouri Valley Conference dropped one spot during the weekend to No. 6 among the 31 NCAA Division I leagues.
Conference RPI (Through Feb. 1)
DI Non-Con Record
Rk. Conference W L Pct. RPI
1 Big Ten 104 25 .8062 .5929
2 Big East 146 43 .7725 .5867
3 Atlantic Coast 113 30 .7902 .5818
4 Southeastern 113 36 .7584 .5786
5 Big XII 102 32 .7612 .5635
6 Missouri Valley 61 22 .7349 .5602
7 Pac-10 71 30 .7030 .5514
Rk. School W L Pct. RPI
14 Northern Iowa 17 4 .8095 .6267
18 Creighton 15 5 .7500 .6218
28 Wichita State 17 5 .7727 .6058
37 Missouri State 14 6 .7000 .5936
38 Southern Illinois 16 5 .7619 .5915
54 Bradley 13 7 .6500 .5772
112 Drake 9 12 .4286 .5343
164 Illinois State 7 12 .3684 .4946
165 Indiana State 8 11 .4211 .4945
223 Evansville 5 15 .2500 .4623
Fouls Tell The Story
? Foul trouble in Bradley's first eight Valley games prevented the Braves from taking full advantage of its defensive effort.
? In the first eight league games, the Braves were whistled for 181 personal fouls, an average of 22.6 per game and 49 more than their eight league opponents.
? During the current four-game winning streak, the Braves have been whistled for a total of just 58 fouls, an average of just 14.5 per game.
More Free Throws=More Wins
? The result of Bradley's foul difficulty in the first eight Valley games was a 3-5 start to the league season.
? The Braves suffered a -73 scoring margin at the free throw line in those eight games: Bradley was 96-for-136 (.706) from the free throw line, while its opponents were 169-for-225 (.751).
? Bradley has outscored each of its last four opponents at the free throw line -- Indiana State (10-7), Missouri Sate (21-15), Evansville (19-13) and Illinois State (10-0).
? For the season, Bradley is 10-0 when it scores more at the line than the opposition.
? The Braves have won 11 straight overall when they score more points at the line than their opponents.
Let Me Assist You
? Bradley leads the Missouri Valley Conference by averaging 17.5 assists per game.
? Bradley has averaged 21.8 assists during the four-game winning streak and has recorded at least 20 assists in four of the last five wins.
? Bradley reached 20 assists in a game only one time last season, while averaging just 13.5 assists per game.
? In Bradley's 13 wins this season, the Braves have averaged 19.8 assists, setting up 70.6 percent of their field goals.
Two point Guard Look
? In the last five games, junior reserve point guard Will Franklin has joined sophomore starting point guard Daniel Ruffin on the court for extended periods of time.
? In the five games, the Braves have outscored their opponents by 47 points during the time the two point guards have been on the floor together.
Four Ball-Handlers
? The increased minutes for junior guards J.J. Tauai and Will Franklin of late has given the Braves an impressive collection of ball-handling combinations.
? The quartet of Tony Bennett, Franklin, Daniel Ruffin and Tauai has combined for a 2.05 assists-to-turnover ratio:
Player A TO A/TO Ratio
Tony Bennett 58 39 1.49
Will Franklin 42 16 2.63
Daniel Ruffin 109 51 2.14
J.J. Tauai 33 12 2.75
4-Player Totals 242 118 2.05
? Franklin and Ruffin rank first and third in the league in assists-to-turnover ratio, respectively, but they trail Tauai (2.75), who does not meet the league minimum of 2.5 assists per game to qualify for the leaders.
Accurate Bennett Equals Wins
? Including each of Bradley's last three home wins, the Braves are 17-4 (.810) the last two seasons when senior guard Tony Bennett shoots at least 50 percent from the field.
? Bennett has made 17-of-33 (.515) shots during the last three home games, giving the Braves a 15-0 record in his two seasons when he shoots at least 50 percent at Carver Arena.
O'Bryant's Block Party
? Since Bradley sophomore center Patrick O'Bryant made his season debut in the Valley opener Dec. 28, the Braves are averaging 5.4 blocked shots per game.
? In the eight games without O'Bryant, Bradley's opponents were shooting 48.0 percent (142-296) from inside the 3-point line.
? In the 12 games since O'Bryant's return, the opposition is shooting only percent 43.5 percent (199-457) from inside the arc.
