Bradley Basketball Game Notes: at Creighton

BradleyBraves.com Men's Basketball 2/1/2013 6:13:00 PM

Bradley (13-9, 5-5) at #17 Creighton (19-3, 8-2)

Feb. 2, 2013 – 2:05 p.m.

Omaha, Neb. – CenturyLink Center (17,390)

TV: KMTV/WAOE/ESPN Full Court | Chase Williams (pbp) and Nick Bahe (analyst)

Radio: 1470 WMBD | Dave Snell (pbp), Chad Kleine (analyst) and Dan DiOrio (pregame)

Twitter: @BPtheBrave | #BRADvCU
Tickets: $18 | Creighton Box Office (402-280-5297), CenturyLink Center Box Office, or online at GoCreighton.com

TIP-OFF
•   For the second time in three games, Bradley will face a nationally-ranked Missouri Valley Conference rival on the road when the Braves visit #17 Creighton Saturday afternoon.
•   The Bluejays are hosting a “Creighton vs. Cancer Pink Out” Saturday and, for the second year in a row, will wear pink-trimmed jerseys against the Braves.  The first 14,000 fans entering CenturyLink Center will receive a complimentary pink t-shirt courtesy of Alegent Creighton Health and Methodist Estabrook Cancer Center.
•   Bradley will participate in the event by wearing pink shoelaces, while the coaching and support staffs will wear pink ties, provided by Bradley University President Joanne Glasser, herself a breast cancer survivor.
•   Creighton owns a 44-41 lead in the all-time series against Bradley and the Bluejays have won 14 straight home games in the series since a 61-58 Braves victory Jan. 17, 1998 at Omaha Civic Auditorium.

LAST TIME OUT
at Bradley 83, Illinois State 77 | Jan. 29, 2013 | Peoria, Ill.
•   Bradley guard Walt Lemon Jr. scored a career-high 27 points and the Braves rallied from a 16-point, first-half deficit for an 83-77 win against Interstate 74 rival Illinois State Tuesday night at Carver Arena.
•   Overcoming a 25-9 deficit with 9:09 left in the first half, Bradley rallied to snap a series-worst 7-game losing streak to the rival Redbirds.
•   Illinois State tied a season-high with 13 3-point field goals, while the Braves made just 2-of-16 long-range tries, but Bradley countered by outscoring ISU, 46-14, in the paint and turning 23 Illinois State turnovers into 27 points.
•   Lemon (5 steals, 5 rebounds), senior guard Dyricus Simms-Edwards (4, 6) and senior swingman Jake Eastman (3, 6) combined for 12 steals and 17 rebounds.

SERIES HISTORY
86th Meeting | Creighton leads 44-41
•   The Bradley-Creighton series dates back to a 52-46 Braves victory in a non-conference game Feb. 13, 1941 at the Peoria Armory.
•   Since the Bluejays joined The Valley for the 1977-78 season, Creighton owns a 41-36 series advantage.
•   Creighton owns a 26-13 home record against Bradley, including a perfect 9-0 record at CenturyLink Center and the Bluejays are working on a 14-game overall home winning streak in the series.
•   The Braves have not won in Omaha since a 61-58 victory Feb. 23, 1998, and the 14-game road slide against Creighton is the longest Bradley has ever endured against any opponent.
•   Since the start of the 2001-02 season, Creighton has won 20 of the last 25 meetings.
•   Second-year Bradley head coach Geno Ford is 0-2 all-time against Creighton, while Bluejays head coach Greg McDermott is 9-8 against Bradley (5-5 at UNI, 1-2 at Iowa State and 3-1 at Creighton).

AGAINST THE TOP 25
•   Bradley is 50-102 all-time against teams ranked in the Top 25 of the AP and/or Coaches Polls.
•   The Braves have lost seven straight against Top 25 teams since their 68-59 home win against #18 UNI Feb. 13, 2010 at Carver Arena.
•   Bradley has lost seven consecutive road games against Top 25 teams since its 72-71 win at #16 Drake Feb. 19, 2008.
•   Bradley, which also downed #25 UNI Feb. 22, 2006 at the UNI-Dome, has not won a road game against a Top 25 team outside of the state of Iowa since a 69-64 win at #12 Tulsa Feb. 21, 1985.
•   Bradley is 6-30 (.167) all-time in road games against nationally-ranked Valley teams.

ROUGH VALLEY WEEKENDS
•   Bradley is 1-11 in Saturday and Sunday games played away from home the last two seasons.
•   The lone win was a 79-72 victory Nov. 17, 2012 at IUPUI.
•   Since a 69-66 win Feb. 5, 2011 at Southern Illinois, Bradley is 0-6 in weekend Valley road games.
•   The Braves have lost all six of those games by double-digit margins and by an average of 21.8 points.

BIG STAR SHINES BRIGHT
•   Thus far in his career against Bradley, Creighton national player-of-the-year candidate Doug McDermott has lived up to his billing.
•   In his four games against the Braves, McDermott is averaging 26.0 points and 10.3 rebounds while shooting 61.5 percent from the field.
•   His highlights include a 44-point effort Jan. 7, 2012 in Peoria and a 17-rebound effort Feb. 1, 2011 at Carver Arena.

BRADLEY'S BLOSSOMING STAR
•   Bradley junior guard Walt Lemon, Jr. is emerging as a 1st-Team All-Missouri Valley Conference caliber player.
•   For the season, the 6-foot-3 point guard is averaging 14.8 ppg, 3.5 apg and 2.4 spg and is shooting 50.5 percent (102-202) from inside the 3-point arc.
•   In the last four games, Lemon is averaging 20.8 ppg and 2.8 spg and is shooting .491 from the fied, .471 from 3-point range and .905 from the free throw line.

30-POINT BOUNCE BACKS
•   Bradley has lost five games by at least 30 points in the last two seasons, but the Braves have done a good job of bouncing back from those lop-sided losses.
•   Including Tuesday's 83-77 win against Illinois State on the heels of a 73-39 loss at #20 Wichita State last Saturday, Bradley has won its next game each of the last four times it has suffered a 30-point loss.
•   The Braves also trailed South Florida by 34 points Nov. 20 before reducing the deficit to a final 19-point margin, then bounced back to win its next game versus Tennessee-Martin (80-57).

The Bounce Backs
Feb. 4, 2012 at Illinois State L 78-48 -30
Feb. 8, 2012 vs. Indiana State W 68-60 +8

Jan. 13, 2012 at Wichita State L 78-41 -37
Jan. 15, 2012 vs. UNI W 78-67 +11

Jan. 12, 2013 at UNI L 84-53 -31
Jan. 15 vs. Southern Illinois W 69-66 +3

Jan. 26 vs. #20 Wichita State L 39-73 -34
Jan. 29, 2013 vs. Illinois State W 83-77 +6

TURNAROUND AMONG NATION'S BEST
•   After going six years without improving its win total from one year to the next, Bradley's current 6-win improvement over last year equals the sixth-best in the nation through games of Jan. 31:
Team            2011-12 2012-13 +W's
Bryant            2-28    14-6    +12
Towson            1-31    11-12   +10
Canisius          5-25    14-8    +9
Santa Clara       8-22    17-6    +9
Arizona State    10-21    17-4    +7
Bradley           7-25    13-9    +6
Illinois-Chicago  8-22    14-8    +6
Loyola (IL)       7-23    13-8    +6

BIG MEDIA NUMBERS
•   Dave Snell is in his 34th season as the radio Voice of the Braves and has participated in 1,037 Bradley Basketball game broadcasts, all in succession, on 1470 WMBD since taking over play-by-play duties for the 1979-80 season.
•   Peoria Journal Star beat writer Dave Reynolds has covered 700 consecutive Bradley games since taking over the beat for the start of the 1990-91 season.
•   In addition, public address announcer Paul Herzog has announced 537 Bradley Basketball home games.

LOOKING AHEAD
•   Bradley is 10-2 at home this season and will return to Carver Arena for three of its next four games, beginning Tuesday night against Evansville.
•   Following the game against the Purple Aces, the Braves will have a rare four-day gap between games before hosting Northern Iowa in a 2 p.m. game Feb. 10 at Carver Arena.
•   Unfortunately for the Braves, Bradley will play four of its final six regular-season games on the road.

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