Game #24 ? Missouri State (11-12, 4-7 MVC) at Bradley (13-10, 6-5 MVC)
Date: Wednesday, Feb. 6, 2008
Tipoff: 7:05 p.m.
Location: Peoria, Ill. ? Carver Arena (11,164)
Radio: WMBD AM 1470 -- Dave Snell, Joe Stowell & Chuck Buescher
TV: Mediacom (Springfield, Mo.)
Web Audio & Video: www.BradleyBraves.com
Tickets: Available ($8-18): Robertson Fieldhouse, Carver Arena, www.BradleyBraves.com
Coaches: Bradley -- Jim Les (Bradley ?86), Sixth year at Bradley and overall (97-83)
Missouri State -- Barry Hinson (Oklahoma St. ?83), 9th year at MSU (163-113) and 11th year overall (199-136)
Shooting for Six Straight
? Bradley will shoot for its sixth consecutive victory Wednesday when the Braves host Missouri State Wednesday night at Carver Arena.
? Missouri State has won four straight in the series to remain the only Missouri Valley Conference team with a winning record against the Braves.
? Bradley's current five-game winning streak is the longest since the Braves opened the 2006-07 season 5-0 and it is the longest entirely in Valley play since a seven-game ride to end the 1996-97 regular season.
? Bradley has not won as many as six games in a row since a seven-game streak carried the team to the championship game of the 2006 State Farm Missouri Valley Conference Tournament.
The Ruffin Factor
? Including a 4-0 record since his return to action Jan. 23 versus Illinois State, Bradley now boasts a 10-3 record this season with a healthy Daniel Ruffin available for action.
? One of the nation's top point guards, Ruffin initially suffered a strained abdominal muscle in practice between the Dec. 4 game versus #9 Michigan State and Dec. 11 contest at Wright State, but tried to play through the injury.
? He re-aggravated the injury during the first half of the Dec. 22 game versus VCU and did not play in the second half in the home loss to the Rams, then underwent surgery Dec. 28 to repair a sports hernia.
? Bradley was just 3-7 in the 10 games Ruffin was either injured (1-2) or unavailable due to the surgery (2-5).
About Bradley Basketball
? Bradley ranks 26th in NCAA Division I history with 1,508 all-time victories.
? Bradley is one of 14 teams to win at least 22 games and earn a postseason victory in each of the last two seasons: 22-11 in 2005-06 with two NCAA Tournament wins and 22-13 last year with a trip to the second round of the NIT.
? Under the direction of sixth-year head coach Jim Les (Bradley ?86), Bradley has won at least 22 games in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1958-59 and 1959-60, as well as postseason games in consecutive seasons for the first time since 1994 (NIT 2-1) and 1995 (NIT 1-1).
? Following the graduation of four seniors -- Danny Adams, Zach Andrews, Will Franklin and J.J. Tauai -- who played prominent roles on Bradley's two postseason squads, the Braves brought in nine newcomers for the 2007-08 season, including six who have seen action through the first 19 games.
? Utilizing a three-guard attack, Bradley ranked among the national leaders in both 3-point field goals made (ninth, 215) and free throw percentage (20th, .753) through Sunday's action.
Series Information
Missouri State leads 25-13
Current Streak: Missouri State W4
at Bradley: Bradley leads 9-8, all at Carver Arena
Jim Les vs. Missouri State: 3-8
Barry Hinson vs. Bradley: 11-6
Last Meeting: MSU 91-80 (Jan. 2, 2008 at MSU)
Last BU win vs. MSU: 86-76 (Jan. 25, 2006 at BU)
Bradley-Missouri State Series
? Wednesday's game will be the 39th meeting in the all-time series between Bradley and Missouri State, all as Missouri Valley Conference rivals since the Bears joined the league for the 1990-91 season.
? Missouri State owns a 25-13 lead in the series and remains the only Valley squad with a winning record against Bradley.
? Missouri State has won four straight against the Braves and can match the longest winning streak either team has enjoyed in the series by winning again Wednesday night (Missouri State also won the first five meetings against Bradley).
Recapping The Last Meeting
Missouri State won 91-80 Jan. 2, 2008
SPRINGFIELD, Mo. -- Bradley sophomore guard Andrew Warren scored a team-high 20 points, but host Missouri State (8-6, 1-1) countered with a pair of 20-point scorers and rallied for a 91-80 Missouri Valley Conference home victory against the short-handed Braves (7-7, 0-2) Wednesday night at the Hammons Student Center.
Playing its second straight game without injured point guard Daniel Ruffin, Bradley dropped its fourth in a row, despite a hot start to the game. After scoring a Carver Arena record low nine points in the first half of Saturday's 59-46 loss to UNI, Bradley hit double-digits just 1-minute, 48-seconds into Wednesday's game en route to a 13-0 lead to start the contest. The Braves then built their advantage to a game-high 15 points, 21-6, when Jeremy Crouch hit a turnaround jumper in the lane with 12:21 left in the half.
Missouri State worked its way back into the game by pounding the offensive glass, however, outscoring Bradley 12-4 in second-chance points in the period to close the gap to 45-41 at the break.
Bradley started the second half in a scoring race against the Bears as the hosts used a 22-21 edge in the first 7-minutes, 53-seconds of the second half to trim its deficit to 66-63. The opening stretch of the second half was capped by a 3-point shootout between Spencer Laurie and Sam Maniscalco, who combined to make five consecutive 3-pointers in a span of just 1:40. Laurie's third trey of the exchange pulled MSU to within 66-63 with 12:07 left.
But the Braves went cold the rest of the way and Missouri State used a 22-5 run to take control of the game. Deven Mitchell scored 10 points during the game-changing run, the last two on free throws with 4:10 remaining to give Missouri State an 82-71 lead. Maniscalco answered with two free throws of his own, then countered Laurie's sixth trey of the night with his fourth 3-pointer to get the Braves within 85-76 with 3:10 left, but Mitchell all but sealed the Bears scored the next six points to put the game away.
After shooting 55.2 percent (16-29) from the floor in the first half, Bradley made just 8-of-29 (.276) attempts in the final 20 minutes. Bradley finished the game 13-for-31 (.419) from 3-point range, but the Braves managed to make just 2-of-10 (.200) shots from inside the arc in the second half and wound up at 41.4 percent (24-58) overall from the floor. Missouri State recovered from its slow start from the floor by shooting 46.4 percent (32-69) and grabbed the offensive rebound on 18 of its 37 misses on the way to a 23-7 advantage in second-chance points. The Bears finished with a 43-33 overall rebounding advantage.
Strong Returns
? By knocking off Evansville, 72-59, Saturday, Bradley improved to 3-0 in its Valley return games this season.
? 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, then completed a season sweep of Evansville Saturday night.
February Record
? Both Bradley and Missouri State boast 12-4 February records the last three seasons, the best February records in The Valley during that time.
Team Total ?07-08 ?06-07 ?05-06
Bradley 12-4 1-0 5-2 6-2
Missouri State 12-4 0-1 5-2 7-1
Southern Illinois 10-6 0-1 7-0 3-5
Creighton 9-6 1-0 4-3 4-3
Wichita State 8-8 0-1 2-5 6-2
Evansville 6-9 0-1 2-5 4-3
UNI 6-9 1-0 2-5 3-4
Drake 6-10 1-0 4-3 1-7
Illinois State 5-11 1-0 3-4 1-7
Indiana State 5-12 0-1 1-7 4-4
Bradley Joins the 1,500-Club
? Bradley overcame an 11-point first half deficit en route to a 64-47 win Nov. 28 at Loyola Chicago to earn the 1,500th win in program history.
? Bradley became the 26th program in NCAA Division I history to achieve 1,500 wins and now boasts a 1508-984 all-time record.
Ruffin Makes History, Too
? Having helped Bradley to 65 of its 1,508 all-time wins as the team's starting point guard the last four years, senior Daniel Ruffin made some history of his own in the 90-72 victory Dec. 1 against Southeast Missouri State.
? Finishing with 10 points, eight assists, seven rebounds and three steals against the Redhawks, Ruffin became the 41st member of Bradley's 1,000-Point Club.
? The nation's active leader with 564 career assists, Ruffin is the fourth player in Missouri Valley Conference history, and he was the first of the nation's seven active players, to score at least 1,000 career points and dish out at least 500 career assists.
? Ruffin needs just eight points and 36 assists to become the second player in school and MVC history to record 1,100 points and 600 assists.
The Ruffin Factor
? Including a 4-0 record since his return, the Braves are 10-3 in the 13 games they have played with a healthy Daniel Ruffin: their only three defeats at UIC (84-75), at a neutral-site to Vanderbilt (95-86) and a home to #9 Michigan State (66-61).
? Bradley led Michigan State with four minutes remaining and the Braves had five shots to either tie or take the lead against Vanderbilt in the game's final 2:40.
? In the 13 games with a healthy Ruffin, Bradley has averaged 74.0 ppg while shooting 46.9 percent from the field and the Braves have a positive assists-to-turnover (228-213) ratio and turnover (213-222) margin.
? In the 10 games Ruffin was either injured or unavailable, Bradley averaged 68.3 ppg on 39.7 percent shooting from the field while also suffering a negative assist-to-turnover (142-145) ratio and turnover margin (145-137).
? Perhaps the most-telling statistic regarding Ruffin's injury: 10-of-11 Braves boast a better field goal percentage in the 13 games with a healthy Ruffin compared to the 10 games he was injured or unavailable.
The Ruffin Comparison
Healthy Stat Injured/Out
10-3 Overall Record 3-7
4-0 MVC Conf. Record 2-5 MVC
74.0 Points/gm 68.3
65.6 Pts. Allowed/gm 75.2
46.9% FG% 39.7%
43.3% FG% Defense 47.5%
39.9% 3FG% 36.5%
32.4% 3FG% Defense 42.0%
9.5 3FG/gm 9.2
5.4 3FG Allowed/gm 7.1
72.9% FT% 78.1%
64.5% FT% Defense 74.4%
34.1 Rebounds/gm 31.6
+1.2 Rebound margin -3.3
17.5 Assists/gm 14.2
16.4 Turnovers/gm 14.5
17.1 Turnovers Forced/gm 13.7
2.8 Blocked Shots/gm 1.9
9.0 Steals/gm 6.3
The Last Time Out
Saturday: Bradley 72, at Evansville 59
? Senior guard Daniel Ruffin turned in his best all-around game since his return to action by contributing team-highs of 19 points, six rebounds and six assists.
? Bradley struggled early offensively, falling behind 14-10 with 8:12 left in the first half.
? Bradley hit Evansville with a 25-5 run to end the half and never allowed the Purple Aces back within single digits the rest of the way.
? The Braves limited Evansville to 5-for-25 (.200) shooting from the field in the first half.
Again Without Leading Scorer
? Ruffin's injury marked the third time in five years Bradley's leading scorer had gone down with an injury heading into the new calendar year.
? During the 2003-04 season, three-time All-MVC guard Phillip Gilbert was averaging 20.2 ppg when he suffered a stress fracture in his foot Dec. 20 at Pepperdine.
? The 2003-04 Braves, who were 7-3 at the time of the injury and went 14-7 on the year in the games Gilbert played, managed just a 1-9 record in the 10 games Gilbert missed.
? Last season, guard Jeremy Crouch was averaging 16.4 ppg when he suffered a sprained right knee toward the end of Bradley's Dec. 30 victory versus Evansville.
? Bradley was 10-4 at the time of Crouch's injury and finished with a 15-7 record in the 22 games he started, but the Braves were a modest 7-6 in the games he was out of the starting lineup.
New Look Braves
? Following the graduation of four seniors -- Danny Adams, Zach Andrews, Will Franklin and J.J. Tauai -- who were major contributors to Bradley's back-to-back 22-win seasons, Bradley welcomed nine newcomers to the roster and head coach Jim Les is working six of the newbies into the playing rotation.
? Junior forward Theron Wilson, a 6-5 transfer from Seward County C.C., started Bradley's first 19 games.
? Wilson is the second-leading scorer (10.1 ppg) and rebounder (6.0 rpg) among Valley newcomers.
? Freshman point guard Sam Maniscalco stepped into the starting lineup to replace the injured Daniel Ruffin and averaged 11.6 ppg and 5.2 apg in his nine starts.
1,000-Point Teammates
? For just the fourth time in program history, Bradley's roster features two players who have reached the 1,000-Point milestone in the same season.
? Senior point guard Daniel Ruffin (1,092 points) has climbed to 33rd on the school's all-time scoring list and senior guard Jeremy Crouch (1,026) became the program's 42nd 1,000-point scorer during the Jan. 26 win at Wichita State.
? Two Bradley teammates had not joined the 1,000-Point Club in the same season since Donald Reese (1,113) and David Thirdkill (1,261) both hit the mark during the 1981-82 NIT championship season.
? In addition, Billy Mann (1,128) and Charles Grover (1,054) joined the club together in 1950-51, while Eddie Jackson (1,178) and Ernie Thompson (1,032) joined the club together in 1965-66.
Crouch Joins 200 Club
? Bradley senior guard Jeremy Crouch drained six 3-pointers Jan. 12 at UNI to become the third player in school history to make at least 200 career 3-pointers: Aaron Zobrist (233), Phillip Gilbert (223), Crouch (212).
? Already with 68 3-pointers this season, Crouch is second in The Valley by averaging 3.0 treys per game and is on pace to set the single-season (90) and career school records for 3-point field goals made.
? Bradley single-season and career Top 10 lists for 3-point field percentage can be found on page 10.
Milestone Watch
90 Aaron Zobrist's school record for 3-pointers in a season ... Senior guard Jeremy Crouch has 68 treys so far this season and by averaging 3.0 per game, he is on pace to break Zobrist's mark during the March 1 game at Creighton.
233 Aaron Zobrist's school record for 3-pointers in a career ... Senior guard Jeremy Crouch has 212 career treys and also is on pace to break Zobrist's career mark during the March 1 game at Creighton.
1,500 Bradley Hall-of-Famer Joe Stowell has held an official capacity -- player (103 games), assistant coach (250), head coach (344), assistant A.D. (107) and radio analyst (687) -- for 1,491 Bradley men's basketball games ... Stowell is on schedule to work his 1,500th Bradley game when the Braves open play in the 2008 State Farm MVC Tournament.
2,500 Bradley has played 2,492 games in its 104-year men's basketball history ... The March 1 game at Creighton will be the 2,500th in program history.
Winning The Tight Ones
? For the first time in the program's 104-year history, Bradley played three consecutive games each decided by just one point, a streak that was snapped Jan. 26 with the 63-54 win at Wichita State.
? Including a two-point win Jan. 12 at UNI (75-73), Bradley's previous four games were decided by a total of just five points and the Braves went 3-1 in those games.
? Including a pair of overtime wins, Bradley is 9-3 (.750) the last two years in games when the teams have been separated by three points or less at the end of 40 minutes.
Offensive Backcourt
? A large portion of Bradley's offensive attack comes from its backcourt rotation.
? The five-man rotation of Jeremy Crouch (13.9 ppg), Daniel Ruffin (13.8 ppg), Andrew Warren (12.8), Sam Maniscalco (7.7) and Tyrone Cole-Scott (3.4) combine for 47.1 points per game.
? Each of the five backcourt players has at least shared team-high scoring honors at least once this season and at least one member of the quintet has led the team in scoring in 21 of 23 games this year.
Scoring Big
? Junior forward Theron Wilson scored a career-best 28 points Jan. 19 versus Evansville to become the first non-guard to lead the Braves in scoring this year.
? In a streak extended by Daniel Ruffin's 19-point effort Saturday at Evansville no Brave taller than 6-foot-5 has led the team in scoring since 6-foot-8 Zach Andrews (15 points) shared game-high honors with guard Will Franklin Feb. 3, 2007 at Illinois State.
? Including that game at ISU when Franklin shared game-high honors, seven different Braves standing no taller than 6-foot-5 have led the team in scoring in 37 consecutive games.
? With 21 points, Andrews was the outright team scoring leader Jan. 20, 2007 at Wichita State.
Rebounds Tell The story
? The stat that appears to be the best predictor for the Braves this season is rebounding.
? After posting a 6-1 record the entire 2006-07 season when winning the rebound fight, Bradley is 12-2 this year when it pulls down more rebounds than the opposition.
? Conversely, the Braves are 1-8 (.111) when the rebounds are equal (0-2) or they lose the rebound battle all together (1-6).
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.
? Heading into Wednesday's game versus Missouri State, Bradley has not held four consecutive opponents to less than 60 points since a five-game streak from Nov. 29-Dec. 28, 1998.
? Bradley also has 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.
On Pace for 300
? Bradley became the first Missouri Valley Conference team to make 300 3-pointers in a season by draining 349 in 35 games (10.0 per game) last year.
? Through Sunday's action Bradley ranked ninth nationally with 215 triples and the Braves are averaging 9.3 3-pointers per game this season.
? Bradley will need to average 9.4 treys during its next nine games to guarantee consecutive seasons with at least 300 3-pointers.
Carver Arena -- Home of the Braves
? The 2007-08 campaign is the 25th anniversary season of the Peoria Civic Center's Carver Arena, which has served as the home court for the Braves since the start of the 1982-83 season.
? Bradley played its first game at Carver Arena Nov. 27, 1982, downing in-state rival Loyola Chicago, 90-82.
? Including an 8-5 start at home this year, Bradley now owns a 279-90 (.756) all-time mark at Carver Arena.
? In his sixth season as Bradley head coach, Jim Les owns a 64-23 (.736) home record, including a 33-18
(.647) record in Valley games at Carver Arena.
Media Streaks
534 Consecutive games covered by beat writer Dave Reynolds for the Peoria Journal Star, dating back to the start of the 1990-91 season.
871 Consecutive Bradley Basketball broadcasts Voice of the Braves Dave Snell has participated in on WMBD.
1,491 Although he has not attended the games in one singlular streak, Bradley Hall-of-Famer Joe Stowell has held some sort of official capacity -- player (1947-50), assistant coach (1956-65), head coach (1965-78), assistant athletic director (1978-85) and radio analyst (1985-present) -- for 1,491 Bradley men's basketball games since beginning his varsity playing career in 1947.
Looking Ahead
? Bradley will play three of its next four games on the road, beginning with Saturday night's visit to Interstate 74 rival Illinois State.
? The Braves also will visit Indiana State Feb. 12 before hosting Creighton Feb. 16 in the first meeting of the season against the Bluejays.
? The Feb. 16 game against Creighton will be a Redout, the third t-shirt giveaway of the year at Carver Arena.
