Back To A Traditional Schedule
? After playing its first five Missouri Valley Conference games in a span of just 11 days, Bradley's schedule will take on a more traditional feel with two games this week, Wednesday night at home versus Southern Illinois and Saturday evening at Indiana State.
? Bradley had not played five Valley games in an 11-day period since January 11-21, 1995.
Tough Schedule
? Through Saturday's action, Bradley ranked eighth nationally in strength of schedule, according to numbers posted at www.collegerpi.com.
? Bradley's strength of schedule is the best in The Valley, followed closely by Wednesday's opponent Southern Illinois (13).
? Bradley's strength of schedule should continue to climb as the Braves' next four games are at home against Southern Illinois (12-3), followed by road games at Indiana State (10-4) and Creighton (9-5) and a home game against Wichita State (10-4).
Did You Know?
? The Missouri Valley Conference currently ranks third among all leagues in the conference RPI rankings, trailing only the Pac-10 and the ACC.
? The Valley joins the SEC as the nation's only conferences whose members all have winning records and as the only two leagues whose members are all ranked among the top half of the nation's 336 Division I teams in the RPI rankings (source: collegerpi.com through games of Jan. 6).
First Win Without Crouch
? Bradley earned its first win in three tries without injured scoring leader Jeremy Crouch by outscoring Drake, 89-86, Saturday night in Des Moines.
? Bradley picked up its first true road win of the season by hitting for the most points on an opponent's home floor since a 107-92 loss Nov. 18, 2000 at #23 Southern California.
? Bradley had not scored as many as 89 points in a road win since a 113-102 victory Feb. 29, 1988 at Southern Illinois.
3-Point Assault Continues
? Even without Crouch in the lineup, Bradley has continued its assault on the Bradley and Valley records for 3-point field goals in a season.
? Still well ahead of the pace to break Creighton's 2005 Valley record for 3-pointers in a season (293), Bradley's current total of 189 3-pointers through just 17 games already is the fourth-most in school history.
? The Braves, who are fourth nationally by averaging 11.1 treys per game, need just seven more to move into second place on the school single-season list.
Bradley 3-Pointers in a Season
Rk. 3FGM Season
1. 224 1987-88
2. 195 2002-03
3. 192 2003-04
4. 189 2006-07
Bradley-SIU Series
? Wednesday's game will be the 69th meeting in the all-time series between Bradley and Southern Illinois, which began with an Illinois Intercollegiate Athletic Conference game Dec. 21, 1927, a game the Braves won 31-23 at the old Peoria Armory.
? The teams did not meet again until Southern Illinois joined the Missouri Valley Conference for the 1975-76 season.
? Bradley owns a 22-9 home record against the Salukis, including a 17-7 advantage at Carver Arena.
? Fifth-year Bradley head coach Jim Les owns a 2-7 record against Southern Illinois, including a 1-4 mark against third-year Salukis head coach Chris Lowery.
Bradley-Indiana State Series
? Saturday's game at Indiana State will be the 66th in the all-time series between the two Missouri Valley Conference rivals, which dates back to am 86-63 Bradley win Dec. 28, 1968 at Robertson Fieldhouse.
? Bradley has dropped two straight versus the Sycamores at the Hulman Center, but the Braves are 15-15 all-time on the road versus Indiana State.
? Fifth-year Bradley head coach Jim Les owns a 6-3 record against Indiana State and Sycamores head coach Royce Waltman.
Disadvantage on the Boards
? The most glaring disadvantage of Bradley's four-guard attack has been the team's inability to consistently keep the opposition off the boards.
? Bradley is being outrebounded by 6.5 boards per game and has been outrebounded in eight straight.
Managing the Deficit
? Bradley has shown this season that it does not have to win the battle of the boards to succeed, however, but the Braves must remain in the fight.
? Including Saturday's 89-86 win at Drake when the Braves were outrebounded by just two caroms, Bradley is 10-1 when the final rebound totals are within six, but 1-5 when the Braves are outrebounded by more than six boards.
