Horizon Finale
? After knocking off one defending Horizon League co-champion on the road last week with a 72-65 overtime win at Wright State, Bradley will take on the other 2007 Horizon regular-season co-champ Wednesday when the Braves visit #18 Butler (9-1) at Hinkle Field House.
? Wednesday's game against the Bulldogs will be Bradley's fourth road game of the season, all against the neighboring Horizon League, and the Braves are 2-1 on the road so far this year.
Another Champ On Tap
? Following Wednesday's game at #18 Butler (9-1), Bradley will play a third consecutive game against a defending conference champion when the Braves host VCU (7-3) Saturday night at Carver Arena.
? The Rams swept the Colonial Athletic Association regular season and postseason tournament titles last season before knocking off Duke in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Four Straight NCAA Opponents
? With the two games this week at #18 Butler and at home against VCU, Bradley will complete a stretch of four straight games against teams that played in the 2007 NCAA Tournament.
? While Butler advanced to the Sweet 16, Michigan State and VCU both earned first-round wins in the 2007 NCAA Tournament.
Rare Ranked Road Wins
? Although Bradley earned a 71-49 road win against #25 Northern Iowa Feb. 22, 2006, the Braves have not knocked off a Top 20 team on the road since Feb. 21, 1985 when they downed #12 Tulsa, 69-64.
? And while Bradley did claim a pair of neutral-site wins against nationally-ranked Kansas (12) and Pittsburgh (16) during the 2006 NCAA Tournament, the Braves have not beaten a nationally-ranked non-conference opponent on the road since Dec. 13, 1958, a 71-66 win at #20 St. John's.
? Bradley is 9-44 all-time on the road against the Top 25.
Bradley-Butler Series
? Bradley owns an 11-9 all-time record against Butler in a series that has been dominated by the home team.
? Since the first meeting in the series in the 1959 National Invitation Tournament at Madison Square Garden, the home team has won 15 of the last 19 games in the series: Bradley 8-of-10 in Peoria and Butler 7-of-9 in Indianapolis.
? Bradley prevailed in its first two trips to Hinkle Field House in 1960 (71-65) and 1962 (87-81), but the Braves have lost seven in a row on Butler's home court.
Bradley-VCU Series
? Bradley owns a 3-1 all-time record against VCU, including last year's 73-64 road victory in the O'Reilly/ESPNU BracketBusters matchup in Richmond, Va.
? Bradley has won each of the two previous home matchups versus the Rams, 102-70 in 1970 at Robertson Fieldhouse and 75-70 in 1989 at Carver Arena.
BracketBuster Results
? Through the first five years of the event, Bradley owns a 5-2 record in games created through its participation in the BracketBusters series, including a 3-0 home record.
? The Braves are 2-1 in the return games, downing Western Kentucky at home in 2005, while splitting road games against Northern Illinois (W) in 2004 and Tennessee Tech (L) in 2006.
Shooting for 3 Straight Road W's
? Bradley will be trying for its third consecutive road victory Wednesday when the Braves visit #18 Butler.
? The Braves have not won three straight true road games since knocking off Wichita State (86-77) and Drake (77-67) in the final two games of the 2002-03 season, then winning at Central Michigan (71-65) in the first true road game of the 2003-04 campaign.
? Bradley has not won three straight on the road in the same season since a three-game streak to conclude the 1996-97 campaign at Southern Illinois (55-53), at Indiana State (70-50) and at Drake (67-60).
? The Braves have not won three straight non-conference road games since Hersey Hawkins led Bradley to three in a row during the 1987-88 season: at Dayton (97-80), at Loyola Chicago (99-82) and at Charlotte (98-82).
Non-Con Home Sellouts
? Following up on the record crowd of 11,597 for the last home game Dec. 4 versus Michigan State, Bradley is approaching sold-out status for Saturday's game versus VCU at Carver Arena.
? Bradley has never entertained better than 11,000 fans in consecutive non-conference home games.
? While the Bradley Athletic Department supported a “White Out” promotion for the Michigan State game by providing the fans with white t-shirts, Saturday's game will feature a holiday-themed “Red and White Out” with both red and white t-shirts provided to stripe the arena.
