PEORIA, Ill. -- Friday's Bradley-Iowa men's basketball game in the third round of the South Padre Island Invitational will be televised nationally by CSTV, a premium channel dedicated to the coverage of college athletics. Carter Blackburn and former Virginia coach Pete Gillen will call the action from Friday's evening session at the South Padre Island Convention Center, which will begin with Bradley's 6:30 p.m. game versus the Hawkeyes and also will include the 9 o'clock contest between Vanderbilt and Utah State.
CSTV is available nationally on a premium basis through several cable and satellite television providers. In Central Illinois, CSTV can be found by Insight Digital Choice subscribers on channel 531 and by Mediacom Sports Pak subscribers at channel 171. CSTV also is available to DISH Network subscribers with the America's Top 120 package (channel 152) and to DIRECTV subcribers with the Total Choice Premier package (610).
Bradley's game Saturday evening against either Utah State or Vanderbilt will not be televised, but the tournament organizers are providing video streaming of the two Friday afternoon games not being televised and all four of Saturday's games. Subscriptions are available for $17.95 for all six streamed games during the tournament or for $7.95 per game. For more information on the video streaming of the games at the South Padre Island Invitational, visit http://www.southpadreinvitationaltv.com. With a win against Iowa, Bradley will play the Utah State/Vanderbilt winner Saturday at 7:30 p.m. (CST), while a loss will pit the Braves against the USU/Vanderbilt loser Saturday at 5 o'clock.
Bradley (3-1) swept through the first two rounds of the South Padre Island Invitational at home by dumping Maryland-Eastern Shore (98-71) Sunday afternoon and Florida Gulf Coast (82-74) Tuesday night at Carver Arena. Iowa (4-0) beat the same two teams by similar scores, 62-49 versus Florida Gulf Coast Sunday afternoon and 65-48 against Maryland-Eastern Shore Tuesday night.
Although the two programs have not faced each other since 1976 -- Iowa owns a 6-3 series lead -- Friday's game between the Braves and Hawkeyes will feature a familiar coaching matchup. Todd Lickliter is in his first year as the head coach at Iowa, following six seasons at Butler University. During his first four years as Bradley's head coach, Jim Les managed a 2-2 record versus Lickliter's Bulldogs as the teams each won a pair of home games in the series between 2002 and 2005.
The Braves could face another familiar coaching rival in Saturday's tournament finale as Bradley has a 50-50 chance of taking on Vanderbilt Saturday night. The two teams will meet if the both win or both lose their Friday games. A member of the Southeastern Conference, Vanderbilt (3-0) is coached by Kevin Stallings, who directed Bradley's Interstate 74 rival Illinois State for six seasons (1993-99) and managed a 6-6 record against the Braves.
2007 South Padre Island Invitational
South Padre Island (Texas) Convention Center
Friday, Nov. 23
Game 1 Austin Peay vs. Florida Gulf Coast 1 p.m.
Game 2 Valparaiso vs. Maryland-Eastern Shore 3:30 p.m.
Game 3 Bradley vs. Iowa (CSTV) 6:30 p.m.
Game 4 Utah State vs. Vanderbilt (CSTV) 9 p.m.
Saturday, Nov. 24
Game 5 Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser 12 p.m.
Game 6 Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner 2:30 p.m.
Game 7 Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 loser 5 p.m.
Game 8 Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner 7:30 p.m.
Tournament Standings
Bradley 2-0
Iowa 2-0
Utah State 2-0 (1st game played vs. Montana Western)
Vanderbilt 2-0
Austin Peay 0-2
Florida Gulf Coast 0-2
Maryland-Eastern Shore 0-2
Valparaiso 0-1 (Valpo did not play at Utah State)
CSTV: Carter Blackburn (p-b-p) and Pete Gillen (analyst). Insight Digital Choice (531), Mediacom Sports Pak (171), DISH Network America's Top 120 (152) and DIRECTV Total Choice (610).
Video Streams: http://www.southpadreinvitationaltv.com ($7.95/game)
