Thanksgiving In Texas
? Bradley opened the 2007 South Padre Island Invitational Sunday afternoon by routing Maryland-Eastern Shore, 98-71, at Carver Arena and will continue action in the exempt tournament Tuesday by hosting Florida Gulf Coast.
? Following Tuesday's second round, the tournament will conclude with the final two rounds at the South Padre Island Convention Center, where the Braves will take on Iowa Friday evening and either Utah State or Vanderbilt Saturday night.
Tourney Success
? Bradley has not won a regular-season tournament since claiming back-to-back titles in its own River City Shootout in 1983 and 1984, but the Braves have enjoyed a reasonable amount of success in the modern-day exempt tournaments under head coach Jim Les.
? Now involved in his fourth in-season tournament, Les boasts a 9-3 tournament record, including a 5-0 home mark in three multi-site exempt events.
? Bradley has finished with a winning record in each of its three previous in-season tournament appearances and actually tied for first in the 2003 Las Vegas Tournament with a 3-1 mark, but was deemed the runner-up to Rhode Island due to a tiebreaker based on defensive points.
Moving Up
? Extended by Sunday's 98-71 victory against Maryland-Eastern Shore, Bradley's non-conference home winning streak now stands at 27 games.
? After Virginia ended Arizona's 30-game non-conference home win streak over the weekend, Bradley's streak is now tied for seventh nationally to start this week.
? The Braves have not lost to a team outside the Missouri Valley Conference at Carver Arena since a 74-71 setback to Chris Kaman's Central Michigan squad Dec. 18, 2002.
Rk. School Stk. Next
1. Duke 53 Nov. 19 vs. Princeton
2. Sam Houston St. 37 Nov. 20 vs. St. Gregory's
Air Force 37 Nov. 19 vs. Radford
4. Washington 30 Nov. 26 vs. Long Beach St.
5. Ohio State 29 Nov. 25 vs. VMI
Michigan State 29 Nov. 24 vs. Oakland
7. Bradley 27 Nov. 20 vs. FGCU
Florida 27 Nov. 20 vs. North Florida
9. Colorado State 22 Nov. 28 vs. Ark.-Pine Bluff
Three for 1,500
? Bradley begins its three-game week in need of just three more victories to become the 26th in NCAA Division I history with 1,500 all-time wins.
Hot At The Line
? Bradley has been remarkably accurate from the free throw line through the season's first three games.
? Bradley ranks near the top of the early national leaderboard by shooting 85.5 percent (47-55) from the free throw line.
? The Braves have shot better than 82 percent from the stripe in each of the first three games.
? The senior guard duo of Daniel Ruffin (11-11) and Jeremy Crouch (6-6) are a combined 17-for-17 from the line, while 7-footer David Collins is an impressive 10-for-11 (.909) on the year after his 6-for-6 showing Sunday against Maryland-Eastern Shore.
Heating Up From Three-Land
? Bradley set the Missouri Valley Conference record by making 349 3-pointers last season and ranked third nationally by shooting 42.0 percent from behind the arc.
? After a cool start from behind the arc in the first two games, Bradley got on track Sunday by sinking 12-of-26 (.462) long-range attempts.
? The Braves now are averaging 8.3 3-pointers per game on 34.7 percent shooting from behind the arc.
Ruffin Joins 500 Club
? Senior point guard Daniel Ruffin entered the season as the nation's active career assists leader.
? With 25 assists through the first three games, Ruffin has run his total to 500 career assists.
? Ruffin is the 10th player in Missouri Valley Conference history to dish out at least 500 career assists.
Warren's Career Day
? Sophomore guard Andrew Warren enjoyed a near perfect shooting day Sunday versus Maryland-Eastern Shore while scoring a career-best 25 points.
? Warren was 7-for-7 from the field, including three 3-pointers, and he made 8-of-9 free throw attempts.
? Warren's nine free throw attempts came in just three trips to the line: he was fouled on three 3-point tries and one of his trips was interupted by a technical foul on the UMES bench, giving him a five-shot trip to the stripe.
50-50 For Old Rival
? Bradley has a 50-50 c hance of facing an old nemesis, former Illinois State head coach Kevin Stallings, in the final game of the South Padre Island Invitational.
? While Bradley plays Iowa Friday, Stallings' Vanderbilt team will follow against Utah State.
? The winners will square off in the tournament finale Saturday, preceded by the Friday losers.
? Stallings was the head coach at Illinois State from 1993-99, leading the rival Redbirds to a 123-63 record, which included a 6-6 record against Bradley.
