BU-77 KU-74

[Big Mike]

Hey the board is back and so are the Braves!

[Big Mike]

http://www.bubraves.com/ViewArticle.dbml?DB_OEM_ID=3400&ATCLID=249176

http://www.pjstar.com/stories/031806/BRA_B99E1JGF.080.shtml

http://www.pjstar.com/stories/031806/BRA_B99GHDD0.W02.shtml

[Big Mike]

Well I guess the Bradley starting 5 must be better than ku's...................they won and that's all that matters in my book!

[Big Mike]

Cellus looked like the player we all thought he would look like yesterday.......if he can keep up that run we can play with a lot of teams.......everyone that played had a role in helping the Braves to the Biggest win in years and no-one IMO looked nervous or like we didn't belong yesterday! A lot of teams would have come undown at the end when ku made their run but the Braves did what they needed to do and keep their composure under extreme pressure.........VERY PROUD TO BE A BRAVE

[corilon]

Being in the Dallas area I didn't get to see most of the game as Texas/Penn <another really good game to watch> was on our local CBS affiliate. However I lived and died with the live scoreboard across the top of the screen. It was great to see the gritty defense continuing all the way to the final buzzer. It is a proud day to be a Brave and I say congrats and good luck in the second round.

[Saluki]

Way to go guys, I knew you could do some damage if you got in the Dance.

God I wish POB would have picked SIU!

[tornado]

Re: BU-77 KU-74

Hey the board is back and so are the Braves!

Hey Mike and all the guys on the board...


We have no idea why the board was down for so long, but it's back, and we are having a great time in Auburn Hills.

I am here with Mrcoachdude, user1, Orange & Black, Da Coach, and several others.
We sat in outstanding seats right across from the BU bench and close enough to hear Bill Self's rants.

I sat next to Will Franklin's mom, and cousin, who drove all the way up from Texas!!!!
Also in our section were the families of JJ, Cellus, and several other BU players.

[BuBraves55]

I know this is a huge win, but just how big? Is the the biggest win for BU for half a century? Fill me in

[tornado]

Bradley seemed to play at or above the claiber of KU (and BCS schools for that matter) right from the tip off.

By the way, the ref who tossed the ball for the tip did such a terrible job that it almost seemed intentional.
The ball was tossed so far on Sasha Kaun's side that Patrick O'Bryant couldn't even reach it.

JJ Tauai had a great game and shot when it was needed, DRuff was the best PG on the floor, and Will played both point and shooting guard. Will shot the lights out!!!!

And Cellus...hit from downtown.

We do need to hit FTs better!!!!

Someone back in Peoria tell us what the atmosphere is like there!!

[mike radigan]

Being in the Dallas area I didn't get to see most of the game as Texas/Penn <another really good game to watch> was on our local CBS affiliate. However I lived and died with the live scoreboard across the top of the screen. It was great to see the gritty defense continuing all the way to the final buzzer. It is a proud day to be a Brave and I say congrats and good luck in the second round.

Watch it here: http://www.ncaasports.com/mmod/

[Big Mike]

This is KW's front page article on the Braves in the PJS but for some reason is not on the web?

BRAVEHEARTS
Bradley pulls upset win over kansas!

Rock! Chalk! What? Digger Who? Billy Huh?
The Bradley Braves made their contribution to the magic of the NCAA tournment's opening weekend Friday night, sending the 12th ranked kansas jayhawks home from the Land of OZ.
It's the Braves who now continue dancing down the yellow brick road.
And you know what was most remarkable about this 77-73 victory? It was this:
When the final buzzer sounded, point gaurd Daniel Ruffin hurled the ball into the air and then calmly joined his teammates in treating this win as if it was no bigger than the one over evansville on January night in Peoria.
"What's the date of the NCAA championship game?" senoir gaurd Tony Bennett asked. "April 2?" That's when you celebrate. Until then, our fans and our parents can do the celebrating. We're not happy just to beat kansas. We still have work to do."
Now talk like that can get you fitted for a straitjacket and carted off by the little men in white coats.
Nobody looks at Bradley as a Final Four threat.
In fact, digger phelps of ESPN and billy packer of CBS were emphatic that the Braves shouldn't have been invited to the tournament. Too many teams from the MVC, they said. phelps sharply criticized the low-scoring, Bradley-SIU game in the finals of the MVC tournament as proof the Valley couldn't measure up with the big boys. Maybe he should ask kansas if the Braves can play up.
Bill Self, the kansas coach, was worried about this matchup, and he should have been. Self was keenly aware of Bradley, especially its pair of former Peoria High School stars, from his days as head coach at Illinois.
Back in 2000, he tried to recruit Marcellus Sommerville, Bradley's 6'7, senoir co-captain.
"We always knew he'd be good," Self said. "He has a chance to make a lot of money at theis game for a long time."
On Friday night, Sommerville lit up the jayhawks for 21 points, making 5 of 9 shots from 3-point range, then dunking on the kansans for good measure.
And two years after Sommerville graduated from Peoria Central, there was Ruffin. Self was impressed with him while trying to recruit Shaun Livingston, who would skip straight to the NBA from Peoria High.
"Daniel was a guy that could have played in the Big Ten," Self said. "His size was something that made people nervous."
Indeed, Ruffin is listed on the Bradley roster as being 5 feet, 10 inches tall. People who stand next to him know that's only if he's wearing lifts in his shoes or rising up on balls of his feet.
"But you can't measure heart and want-to and effort, and he's a very good gaurd." Self said.
Ruffin opened the game for Bradley with a 3-point shot, ran the offense with aplomb and was automatic at the free-throw line, save for the shorty at the end. He added another big 3, finished with 11 points and threw in 7 assist passes.
There were so many big moments:
---Will Franklin banking in a 3 pointer as the first-half buzzer souned to give BU a 10-point lead and momentum at halftime.
---Patick O'Braynt's 10 rebounds.
---JJ Tauai playing the best game of his career.
But all of it added up to one thing: The bigges Bradley victory in so long it's hard to remember.
As a historical note, it was the first BU win in the NCAA since 1986, but that was over UTEP and Bradley was a top-20 team and the favorite.
Probably, you have to go to the NIT championship game in 1982, the year of the Great Snub, when the Braves were overlooked by the NCAA selection committee. But still- and taking nothing away from that crown- it was just the NIT.
There was a victory over NO. 2 Louisville at Robertson Field House in 1975.
But this one....
This win is in the Big dance. And it came over kansas, one of college basketball's bluebloods. The elite.
It means Bradley advances to the second round Sunday against Pittsburgh of the Big East conference.
Hmmmm.
Savor this one, BU fans.
And desire another.

[tornado]

I know this is a huge win, but just how big? Is the the biggest win for BU for half a century? Fill me in

The mood here is actually pretty amazing.

I see more determination, and not so much hooting about one win.

Everyone I have seen and talked to is already done celebrating last night and getting ready for Sunday.

100% of the players and coaches and 99% of the fans fully believe BU can and will win on Sunday.

We think BU matches up well with Pitt.

Pitt has big guards, but so did KU, and our defense did a pretty good job.
Kansas' ball handling guards Russell & Chalmers each had FIVE TURNOVERS!! to go with their 18 and 15 pts. respectively.

Julian Wright (who we were all affectionately calling "Julie-Ann"), and Sasha Kaun (who we called....Sasha since it's kinda a girls' name anyway)
both had off games and only scored when there was some slop around the basket.

Pitt is similar in ways, with a 7-footer who doesn't score unless he is within 5 feet, and big guards.
The shooting charts are almost identical for Pitt & KU.

http://www.sportsline.com/collegebasketball/gamecenter/shotchart/NCAAB_20060317_KENT@PITT

I believe BU can stop their stuff inside, and control the guards.
All that's left is to score!!

[Big Mike]

As far as the atmoshere is Peoria........lets see.........St Patricks day with a parade and activities going on all day and night..........Peoria Richwoods beats TJ Marions team Aurora West to advance to the Final Four in Class AA..........and oh ya.....Bradley just beat the #12 team in the nation on CBS in the largest D1 stage the NCAA tourney.........over than that it's pretty quiet!

PS..........I always knew St Patrick played for the Braves!
The Braves are now 2-0 against ku all-time!

[tornado]

So Bill Self says this about Daniel Ruffin:
"Daniel was a guy that could have played in the Big Ten,"

I am glad to hear that, and guess what, MVC, the kid may have two more years left!!

And I am glad to see the great supportive articles in the Journal Star!

I talked with almost all of the players' parents and families, and they are 100% unanimous in their belief that Bradley gets no respect from the national talking heads (Digger & Billy)..

One of the BU players families actually thanked me for BradleyFans.com since she was aware how much stuff is on this board from fine fans who say welcome things about the players and team!!

[tornado]

Well, I am using a computer terminal in the hotel lobby (Da Coach, it is not the hotel where you are staying, I am over at the H-I since they have a "communications/business center")

One thing that surprised me was how few fans were actually there in blue.

I would say there were probably no more fans from Kansas than there were from BU, and maybe even BU red got the nod over KU blue, as I just didn't see that many vocal Kansas fans.