Bradley Basketball Weekly Notebook ? Feb. 3, 2008
Overall Record: 13-10
MVC Record: 6-5
Last Week's Results
Jan. 30 vs. Indiana State, W, 63-44
Feb. 2 at Evansville, W, 72-59
This Week's Schedule
Wednesday vs. Missouri State, 7:05 p.m. (TV: Mediacom in Springfield, Mo.)
Saturday at Illinois State, 7:05 p.m. (TV: WMBD, Peoria CBS, 31)
Bradley Continues Surge
? Bradley rattled off two more wins last week and will take a season-best five-game winning streak into Wednesday night's home contest versus Missouri State at Carver Arena.
? The five-game winning streak is Bradley's longest in Missouri Valley Conference play since the Braves also won five straight league games from Jan. 2 through Jan. 16, 2001.
? As Bradley prepares for Wednesday's game versus Missouri State, the Braves have not won six in a row since a seven-game winning streak carried them into the championship game of the 2006 State Farm MVC Tournament.
? Bradley has not won six consecutive Valley games since a seven-game ride to end the 1996-97 regular season.
Two More Return Games
? By knocking off Evansville, 72-59, Saturday night, Bradley improved to 3-0 in its Valley return games this season.
? Bradley will play two more return games this week by hosting Missouri State Wednesday night and visiting Interstate 74 rival Illinois State Saturday night.
? Bradley has won the second matchup of the season four straight times going back to last year's regular-season finale versus Indiana State, a 74-58 win.
? Starting with Bradley's 71-59 win at Illinois State Feb. 11, 2006, the Braves boast a 12-4 record in the season's second matchup against their Valley rivals.
? In its first three return games of the 2007-08 season, Bradley avenged home losses to UNI and Wichita State by returning the favor with road wins versus the Panthers and Shockers and completed a season sweep of Evansville.
Ruffin's Strong Return
? By knocking off Indiana State (63-44) and Evansville (72-59) in its two games last week, Bradley improved to 10-3 with a healthy Daniel Ruffin in the lineup.
? After returning to action Jan. 23 following his Dec. 28 surgery to repair a sports hernia, Ruffin made his return to the starting lineup last Wednesday versus Indiana State.
? In his two starts last week, Ruffin averaged 15.5 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 4.5 apg and 2.0 spg in his 36.5 mpg.
? Ruffin made 11-of-20 (.550) field goal attempts last week and he is shooting 51.6 percent (16-31) from the floor in the four games since his return.
Road Improvement
? Bradley has won three consecutive Valley road games for the first time since winning the final three road games of the 1996-97 season.
? When the Braves visit Illinois State Saturday, they will be shooting for their first four-game Valley road winning streak since winning their final four Valley road games during the 1987-88 MVC championship season.
? Saturday's win at Evansville also gives the Braves a 5-4 overall road record on the season to match the road win totals from each of the last two seasons, both 5-8.
? Bradley has not enjoyed a winning record on the road since since the 1995-96 MVC champions went 7-4 on their opponents' home courts.
? Despite the program's lack of a winning road record in more than a decade, the Braves have picked up steam on the road of late, posting a 10-8 road record in their last 18 road games dating back to an 89-86 win Jan. 6, 2007 at Drake.
Interstate 74 Rivalry
? Bradley and Interstate 74 rival Illinois State will meet for the 106th time Saturday when the Braves visit Redbird Arena.
? Bradley owns a 60-45 lead in the all-time series, which dates back to a 39-13 ISU victory during the 1904-05 season.
? Including a 76-75 win Jan. 23 at Carver Arena, Bradley has won six straight and nine of the last 11 against the rival Redbirds.
? A Bradley victory Saturday would equal the longest winning streak either team has enjoyed in the rivalry: Bradley won seven straight from Jan. 9, 1926 through Jan. 9, 1975 and Illinois State won seven in a row from March 4, 1982 through Jan. 26, 1985.
Getting Defensive
? Bradley has turned up the defensive pressure in the last three games, holding Wichita State (54), Indiana State (44) and Evansville (59) all below 60 points and to an average of 52.3 ppg.
? Bradley had not limited three consecutive opponents to less than 60 points since Feb. 24-March 3, 2007 and the Braves had not held three straight regular-season opponents to less than 60 points since a three-game run versus Drake (57), UNI (56) and Indiana State (45) Jan. 15-22, 2003.
? Bradley held each of its last three opponents to less than 40 percent shooting from the field, including a season-low 33.3 percent by Indiana State last Wednesday.
