PEORIA, Ill. - Bradley and Robert Morris will meet for the first-time ever on the hardwood when the two-time, defending Northeast Conference champion Colonials visit Peoria for a Nov. 19 men's basketball game. The game against Robert Morris is the eighth of 13 non-conference men's basketball games Bradley has announced this summer.
Andrew Toole has coached the Colonials to a 90-50 (.643) record in his first four seasons in Moon Township, Pa., with back-to-back Northeast Conference regular-season titles in 2013 and 2014 and three straight postseason tournament appearances. After knocking off Missouri Valley Conference member Indiana State in the first round of the 2012 CollegeInsider.com Postseason Touranment, the Colonials upset Kentucky in the opening round of the 2013 NIT. Robert Morris returns six lettermen, three starters, from its 2013-14 squad that went 22-14 overall, defended its NEC regular-season title with a 14-2 league record and went on the road to defeat St. John's in the first round of the NIT. Senior forward Lucky Jones, a second-team All-NEC selection last season, enters the 2014-15 campaign just 90 rebounds shy of the school's career record and as the 13th player in program history to eclipse 1,000 points (1,190) and 500 rebounds (662).
Robert Morris is one of four potential opponents on Bradley's 2014-15 schedule to win its regular-season conference championship last season. In addition to two games against Valley rival Wichita State and the Nov. 19 matchup against the Colonials, the Braves will play defending Big West Conference champion UC Irvine Dec. 21 in the first round of the South Point Holiday Hoops Classic in Las Vegas and Bradley could face defending Horizon League champ Green Bay in the event's second round Dec. 22. Bradley also will face a pair of 20-win, 2014 NCAA Tournament participants in back-to-back games when the Braves visit Memphis Dec. 6 and Kansas State Dec. 9.
Not only is the one-time matchup against Robert Morris the first-ever men's basketball meeting between the two schools, the Nov. 19 contest will be just the sixth all-time for the Braves against a current Northeast Conference member. Most-recently, Bradley swept a 2-year, home-and-home series against St. Francis (Pa.) by a pair of lopsided scores: 94-63 Dec. 7, 1981 in Pennsylvania and 94-62 in the return matchup Jan. 3, 1983 at Carver Arena. Long Island twice beat the Braves in the NIT at Madison Square Garden in 1939 (36-32) and 1968 (94-84) and Bradley earned a 58-47 win against St. Francis (N.Y.) Jan. 15, 1941 at Madison Square Garden.
2014-15 Bradley Basketball Schedule
updated June 25, 2014
Nov. 14 UT-ARLINGTON
Nov. 19 ROBERT MORRIS
Dec. 2 CENTRAL MICHIGAN
Dec. 6 at Memphis
Dec. 9 at Kansas State
Dec. 18 EUREKA
Dec. 21 vs. UC Irvine (South Point Holiday Hoops Classic)
Dec. 22 vs. Green Bay or UALR (South Point Holiday Hoops Classic)
Dec. 31-
Feb. 28 Missouri Valley Conference double round-robin (18 games)
2015 MVC Men's Basketball Championship (St. Louis, Mo.)
March 5 First Round (seeds 7-10)
March 6 Quarterfinals
March 7 Semifinals
March 8 Championship
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