2007-08 BRADLEY BRAVES BASKETBALL
GAME NOTES ADDENDUM
2007 SOUTH PADRE ISLAND INVITATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIP GAME
Game 6 ? Vanderbilt Commodores (4-0) vs. Bradley Braves (4-1)
Saturday, Nov. 24 ? South Padre Island Convention Center ? 7:30 p.m.
Radio: WMBD AM 1470 -- Dave Snell (play-by-play) and Joe Stowell (analyst)
Television: None
Web Audio: www.BradleyBraves.com
Web Video: www.southpadreinvitationaltv.com
Bradley Braves Vanderbilt Commodores
4-1, 0-0 Missouri Valley Conference 4-0, 0-0 Southeastern Conference
Head Coach: Jim Les (Bradley '86) Head Coach: Kevin Stallings (Purdue '82)
at Bradley: 88-74, 6th year at Vanderbilt: 148-108, 9th year
Overall: Same Overall: 271-171, 15th year
Vs. Vanderbilt: First Meeting Vs. Bradley: 6-6
History on the Line in South Padre Island Invitational
Bradley will be shooting for several pieces of history Saturday night when the Braves take on Vanderbilt in the championship game of the 2007 South Padre Island Invitational ... Most notably, the Braves will be shooting to become the 26th team in NCAA history to win 1,500 games: Bradley enters Saturday's game with a 1,499-975 all-time record in its 104th season ... Bradley also is attempting to win its first tournament of any kind since the 1988 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament ... The Braves have not won an in-season tournament since the 1984 River City Shootout at Carver Arena and Bradley has not won an in-season tournament outside of Peoria since the 1966 Sugar Bowl Tournament in New Orleans.
About The Braves
Bradley returned seven lettermen, but just two starters, from last year's squad that went 22-13, advanced to the second round of the MasterCard NIT and ranked among the nation's leaders in 3-point shooting ... While working six scholarship newcomers into the mix, Bradley relies heavily upon its senior tri-captains -- sharp-shooting guard Jeremy Crouch, lightning quick point guard Daniel Ruffin and steady front-court player Matt Salley ... The Braves often operate an up-tempo, three-guard attack with the backcourt trio of Ruffin (17.6 ppg), Crouch (12.6) sophomore guard Andrew Warren (11.8) combining for 42.0 points per game ... After ranking among the national leaders in 3-point shooting last season, the Braves have started to heat up from long range again this year by draining 32 treys in their last three games, including 11 Friday night against Iowa ... Despite going with the three-guard look, Bradley has won the rebound battle in each of the first five games and the quick Braves lineup is forcing the opposition into 18.0 turnovers per game.
Bradley's Last-Game Lineup
Starters Pos. Yr. Ht. Wt. Hometown 2007-08 Stats
12 Theron Wilson F Jr. 6-5 197 Topeka, Kan. 7.0 ppg, 6.6 rpg, .500 FG%
22 Matt Salley F/C Sr. 6-7 230 Charlotte, N.C. 3.8 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 1.6 bpg
14 Jeremy Crouch G Sr. 6-5 216 Pekin, Ill. 12.6 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 3.0 apg, led the nation in 3FG% (.500) in 2006-07
20 Daniel Ruffin G Sr. 5-10 162 Peoria, Ill. 17.6 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 7.6 apg, 2.6 spg, nation's active assists leader (513)
24 Andrew Warren G So. 6-5 200 Indianapolis, Ind. 11.8 ppg, 3.8 rpg, .778 (14-18) 2-point FG%
Reserves
0 Tyrone Cole-Scott G Jr. 5-10 186 Waterloo, Iowa 3.2 ppg, 1.4 rpg
4 David Collins C Jr. 7-0 240 Toronto, Ontario 7.0 ppg, 5.4 rpg, .667 FG%
5 Sam Maniscalco G Fr. 6-0 174 Chicago, Ill. 4.2 ppg, 1.0 rpg, 2.4 apg, 3-1 A/TO ratio
21 Will Egolf F Fr. 6-9 220 Juneau, Alaska 3.2 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 1.0 spg
32 Rashad Austin F Jr. 6-7 245 Rancho Cucamonga, Calif. 4.0 ppg, 1.0 rpg
54 Sam Singh C Jr. 6-9 256 Ozark, Mo. 5.8 ppg, 2.6 rpg, .706 FG%
Bradley vs. Vanderbilt
Vanderbilt Leads 2-0
Home 0-1; Away 0-1; Neutral 0-0
12-01-51 Robertson Fieldhouse L 51-55
12-10-71 at Vanderbilt L 80-82
Bradley-Vanderbilt Series
Vanderbilt has won each of the previous two meetings against Bradley, downing the Braves 55-51 in Peoria in 1951 and 82-80 twenty years later in Nashville ... Saturday's game will be the first-ever neutral-site meeting between the two teams.
Facing an Old Rival
Although Bradley has not faced Vanderbilt since 1971, the Braves have a much more recent history against the Commodores' coaching staff ... Vanderbilt head coach Kevin Stallings was the head coach at Bradley's arch-rival, Illinois State, from 1993-99, leading the Redbirds to a 123-63 record, which included a 6-6 record against Bradley ... The Vanderbilt staff includes Tom Richardson, who succeeded Stallings as the head coach at Illinois State and finished with a 5-6 record against the Braves from 1999 through 2003, as well as former Redbird player Dan Muller.
Bradley vs. the SEC (all-time vs. current membership)
School All Neutral
Alabama 0-4 0-2
Arkansas 0-0 0-0
Auburn 0-2 0-2
Florida 1-0 0-0
Georgia 0-0 0-0
Kentucky 0-3 0-3
LSU 0-0 0-0
Mississippi State 0-1 0-0
Ole Miss 3-0 1-0
South Carolina 2-0 0-0
Tennessee 1-0 1-0
Vanderbilt 0-2 0-0
9 of 12 Teams 7-12 2-7
Bradley is 7-12 all-time versus the current Southeastern Conference membership, including a 2-7 record versus the SEC on neutral courts ... The two neutral wins are relevant to Saturday's game versus Vanderbilt ... Bradley beat Ole Miss in Vanderbilt's home city, Nashville, in 1971 ... The Braves downed Tennessee, 60-53, in the first round of the 1966 Sugar Bowl Tournament, which is the last in-season tournament Bradley has won outside of Peoria.
Another BCS Matchup
Already with victories versus the two BCS schools in Iowa this season, sixth-year Bradley head coach Jim Les owns an 11-4 all-time record versus teams for the six BCS football conferences (ACC, Big East, Big Ten, Big 12, Pac 10 and SEC) ... Les is 5-1 against the BCS leagues in neutral settings with wins against Kansas and Pittsburgh in the 2006 NCAA Tournament, Rutgers in the 2006 Chicago Invitational Challenge, Iowa State at the Wells Fargo Arena in Des Moines last year and Friday's victory against Iowa.
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 an 11-3 in-season tournament record, including a 6-0 home mark in three multi-site exempt events ... Off to a 3-0 start in the South Padre Island invitational, Bradley has finished with a winning record in each of its last four in-season tournament appearances ... Bradley 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.
2007 South Padre Island Invitational 2003 Las Vegas Tournament
South Padre Island, Texas. ? Nov. 18-24 Las Vegas, Nev. ? Nov. 21-26 ? T1st*
11/18 Maryland-Eastern Shore W 98-71 11/21 Louisiana-Monroe (OT) W 73-65
11/20 Florida Gulf Coast W 82-74 11/23 Northeastern W 92-86
11/23 vs. Iowa W 67-56 11/25 vs. Lubbock Christian L 81-89
11/24 vs. Vanderbilt 11/26 vs. Miami-Florida W 83-82
First two rounds played at campus sites First two rounds played at campus sites
* The sixth tournament participant, Rhode Island, also posted a 3-1 record and was declared
the tournament champion based on defensive points.
2006 Chicago Invitational Challenge 2002 Outrigger Hotels Rainbow Classic
Hoffman Estates, Ill. ? Nov. 19-25 ? 2nd Honolulu, Hawai'i ? Dec. 27-30 ? 5th
11/19 Illinois-Chicago W 81-72 12/27 at Hawai'i L 69-90
11/21 Florida A&M W 107-75 12/29 vs. Alcorn State W 95-68
11/24 vs. Rutgers W 101-72 12/30 vs. Chicago State W 88-76
11/25 vs. Illinois L 71-75
First two rounds played at campus sites
Second two rounds played at the Sears Centre
Will Geographic Coincidence Work for Braves?
The last time Bradley won an in-season tournament away from home was the 1966 Sugar Bowl Tournament in New Orleans ... Immediately following a road win versus Missouri Valley Conference rival Drake, which is located in Des Moines, Iowa, Bradley defeated Tennessee (60-53) and Utah (64-62) to win the 1966 Sugar Bowl Tournament ... Bradley defeated Iowa to reach the championship game of the 2007 South Padre Island Invitational, creating a matchup against the winner of Friday night's Utah State/Vanderbilt game.
Ruffin Shining In Tournament
A preseason candidate for the Bob Cousy Point Guard-of-the-Year Award, Bradley senior guard Daniel Ruffin has been on fire through the first three rounds of the South Padre Island Invitational ... In the tournament's first three games, the 5-foot-10 Ruffin is averaging 18.0 ppg, 6.7 apg, 2.7 spg and 1.7 rpg, while shooting 54.8 percent (17-31) from the field, 65.0 percent (13-20) from 3-point range and 87.5 percent (7-8) from the free throw line.
