Season Opener on the Horizon

?   Bradley will open its 104th men's basketball season Saturday (7:05 p.m.) by visiting Illinois-Chicago in the first of its four road games against the top four teams in the 2006-07 Horizon League standings.

?   While UIC tied for fourth in last year's Horizon League race, the Braves also will visit third-place Loyola Chicago (Nov. 28), as well as the league's co- defending champions in back-to-back games -- Dec. 11 at Wright State and Dec. 19 at Butler.

Preseason Points Flow

?   Bradley put on a pair of offensive clinics en route to its two preseason routs last week, dropping NAIA Saint Ambrose, 110-84, Thursday at Robertson Fieldhouse and NCAA Division II Quincy, 105-82, Sunday afternoon at Carver Arena.

?   Utilizing a deep bench, the Braves were particularly explosive in the second half of both games, outscoring Saint Ambrose 64-44 in the final 20 mintues and Quincy 66-35 after the break.

?   In the 16 seasons Bradley has played at least two preseason games, the Braves had never before averaged triple digits in the multiple exhibitions.

The New Bomb Squad

?   The bulk of Bradley's 3-point attack last season came from six players who combined to make 344-of-809 (.425) attempts from behind the arc last season.

2006-07 Shooters   3FGM-A   3FG%

Will Franklin      88-203   .433

Jeremy Crouch      83-166   .500

Daniel Ruffin      66-173   .382

Danny Adams        61-147   .415

J.J. Tauai         25-74    .338

Andrew Warren      21-46    .457

?   Three of those six players graduated -- Danny Adams, Will Franklin and J.J. Tauai-- but if the preseason is an indication, the Braves have assembled a new bomb squad for the 2007-08 campaign.

?   Bradley's top five 3-point shooters in the preseason combined to make 27 of the team's 28 3-pointers in the two exhibition games and hit at a combined 50 percent (27-54) from behind the arc.

2007-08 Preseason   3FGM-A  3FG%

Tyrone Cole-Scott   8-15    .533

Jeremy Crouch       6-14    .429

Daniel Ruffin       5-10    .500

Andrew Warren       5-10    .500

Sam Maniscalco      3-5     .600

Bradley-UIC Series

?   Although separated by just 169 miles of the Illinois interstate system, Bradley and UIC have met just twice before and the Braves have won both games.

?   Bradley routed the Flames, 99-48, Nov. 29, 1980 at Robertson Memorial Fieldhouse, then secured an 81-72 victory last November at Carver Arena while playing without an injured Daniel Ruffin.

Les Likes Long Breaks

?   Heading into Saturday's season-opener sixth-year Bradley head coach Jim Les is 13-2 (.867)  in his career when given at least a full week to prepare for a game, incuding a 9-0 mark with at least 10 days to prep his team.

?   Those marks include a 5-0 record in season-openers.

?   Les has won seven straight when given at least a week of prep time.

Date      Opponent         Result Prep  Days

11-22-02  Pepperdine       W, 95-81    Opener

12-07-02  Ark.-Monticello  W, 107-70   7

11-21-03  La.-Monroe       W, 73-65    Opener

12-17-03  Loyola Chicago   W, 79-63    7

12-28-03  at UNLV*         L, 55-73    8

11-19-04  SE Missouri St.  W, 77-73    Opener

12-18-04  Pepperdine       W, 76-58    11

12-28-04  at Creighton     L, 62-71    7

11-19-05  at DePaul        W, 75-60    Opener

12-14-05  Western Ky.      W, 78-76    8

12-28-05  Northern Iowa    W, 68-60    7

03-17-06  vs. #12 Kansas   W, 77-73    12

11-11-06  DePaul           W, 78-58    Opener

12-16-06  vs. Iowa State   W, 76-66    10

03-14-07  Providence       W, 90-78    10

*First game without Valley preseason player of the year Phillip Gilbert (broken foot)