PEORIA, Ill. -- Interstate 74 rivals Bradley and Illinois State will meet for the 105th time Wednesday when the Redbirds invade Carver Arena for the first installment in their 2007-08 season series. As part of the Behr Recycling Can Koozy Night promotion Wednesday night, everyone in attendance will receive a “Can the ?Birds” aluminum can koozy.
For those unable to attend, Wednesday's game will be televised throughout Central Illinois by Comcast (shared with Mediacom), beginning with a 6:45 p.m. pregame show. Frank Bussone and former Bradley assistant coach Chuck Buescher will call the action and Comcast's telecast will continue with postgame press conference coverage.
Bradley owns a 59-45 lead in the all-time series versus Illinois State and the Braves have had the upper hand of late. Bradley has won five straight in the series, as well as eight of the last 10 and 13 of the previous 20. While first-year ISU head coach Tim Jankovich will experience the I-74 Rivalry for the first time Wednesday night, sixth-year Bradley head coach Jim Les owns an 8-3 coaching record against the Redbirds and a 12-6 overall mark as a player (1983-86) and coach in the rivalry. Wednesday's game will fall on the 22nd anniversary of Bradley's 67-63 overtime victory against Illinois State Jan. 23, 1986 at Carver Arena, when Les, then a senior point guard, tossed in a buzzer-beating layup to force the extra period and highlight his double-double (13 points, 10 assists) performance.
The last time the two teams met at Carver Arena, Jan. 24, 2007, a then record crowd of 11,444 turned out for Bradley's 88-67 victory. As of Tuesday morning, less than 500 tickets remained for Wednesday's 7:05 p.m. tilt, putting Bradley in position for its third sellout crowd of the season and third straight at home in the series.
Although Bradley (9-10, 2-5 MVC) struggled early following the indefinite loss of senior point guard Daniel Ruffin to sports hernia surgery, the Braves have won two of their last three in a trio of games decided by a total of four points. Illinois State (14-4, 6-1 MVC) has been one of the surprise teams in The Valley in the early going. Picked fifth in the Missouri Valley Conference preseason poll, the Redbirds had won nine straight until falling at league-leading Drake Wednesday night in the first-ever battle of Valley teams with 6-0 league records.
Following Wednesday's game, the teams will conclude their regular-season series Feb. 9 in a 7:05 p.m. contest at Redbird Arena, which will be televised locally by CBS affiliate WMBD (Channel 31 in Peoria).
