Even coach Jim O’Brien lost his luggage. He wore the same suit Saturday that he had worn while traveling Friday. The trip included bad weather, a delay and two approaches to the Peoria airport after the first overshot the runway.
“It was a trip we’ll never forget,” redshirt senior guard Norm Grevey said then.
Grevey set a school record that still stands by making nine 3-pointers. He scored a career-high 35 points to help the Flyers stop a three-game losing streak in a season that would end with a 14-15 record.
That game is relevant this week because Dayton (23-11) and Bradley (21-12) will meet again at 9 p.m. Wednesday — 8 p.m. in Peoria — at Carver Arena in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament.
It’s a matchup of two programs that led their leagues in attendance this season (13,407 for Dayton and 5,803 for Bradley) and two programs that rank among the all-time leaders in NIT appearances (29 for Dayton and 25 for Bradley).
Here are five things to know about the game:
1: Series history: Bradley leads the series 9-2. No other current Missouri Valley Conference school has a better record against Dayton. Evansville is 9-7 against Dayton, and Northern Iowa is 2-1.
The programs played four times in the 1940s. Bradley won them all.
In 1960, the series resumed with a 78-64 Bradley victory in the NIT at Madison Square Garden. Garry Roggenburk scored 21 points for Dayton. Bradley went on to win the NIT for the second time.
Bradley and Dayton didn’t play again until the 1985-86 season when they started a six-game series that ended in the 1990-91 season. Bradley won the first four games. Dayton won the last two.
Dayton hasn’t played an MVC opponent since the 2019-20 season when it beat Indiana State and Drake at UD Arena.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
2: State of the program: After finishing 5-27 and 13-20 in coach Brian Wardle’s first two seasons, Bradley has posted seven 20-win seasons in the last nine years. It posted a 28-9 record last season, the program’s most victories since the 1985-86 team went 32-3
Bradley has appeared in the NCAA tournament nine times but only twice in this century (2006 and 2019).
Bradley will make its fourth straight NIT appearance. It has won four NIT championships (1957, 1960, 1964 and 1982).
Credit: Joseph R. Craven
Credit: Joseph R. Craven
3: Scouting report: Jaquan Johnson, a 5-foot-9 sophomore guard, leads Bradley with 17.1 points per game. He ranks eighth in the country in steals per game (2.6).
• Alex Huibregtse, a 6-3, sixth-year guard, averages 12.6 points. He ranks 14th in the country in 3-point shooting percentage (42.8). He played the last five seasons at Wright State.
• Ahmet Jonovic, a 7-1 senior forward, leads the team with 5.4 rebounds per game and averages 8.2 points.
• Bradley ranked second in the MVC in 3-point shooting (35.5). It ranked ninth out of 11 teams in opponents’ 3-point shooting (36.1).
4: Season summary: Bradley opened the season with a 69-69 loss to St. Bonaventure, a team Dayton beat twice this season, on a neutral court in Rock Hill, S.C.
Bradley started 3-4 in non-conference play before winning its last five games. It beat Liberty 74-64 on Nov. 25 in the ESPN Events Invitational. That game took place one day before Dayton played Georgetown in the same arena in a different bracket at the tournament.
Dayton lost 64-61 at home to Liberty on Dec. 20.
In MVC play, Bradley finished 13-7, placing second, three games behind Belmont.
Bradley lost 73-69 on Saturday to eventual MVC tournament champion Northern Iowa in the MVC semifinals.
5: Odds & Ends: KenPom.com gives Dayton a 52% chance of winning and predicts a 72-70 score.
Dayton is No. 78 on KenPom.com. Bradley is No. 123.
• In the NCAA Evaluation Tool, Dayton is No. 69. Bradley is No. 113.
• The winner will play Yale or North Carolina Wilmington in the second round, likely on Saturday or Sunday. Dayton is the No. 2 seed in this corner of the NIT bracket but would still play on the road in the second round because UD Arena will host the Ohio High School Athletic Association boys basketball tournament this weekend.
NEXT GAME
Who: Dayton at Bradley
When: 9 p.m., Wednesday
Where: Carver Arena in Peoria, Ill.
What: First round of NIT
TV: ESPNU
Radio: 95.7-FM, 1290-AM
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