# 1985–86 Bradley Braves men's basketball team

The 1985–86 Bradley Braves men's basketball team represented Bradley University during the 1985–86 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Braves were members of the Missouri Valley Conference and played their home games at Carver Arena. The team rode a 22–game winning streak on their way to a new school record for wins by finishing the season at 32–3. After sweeping through MVC regular season play with a 16–0 league mark – finishing ahead of the pack by a 6-game margin – Bradley lost in the championship game of the MVC tournament. The Braves earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament as No. 7 seed in the West region. The Braves defeated UTEP to open the tournament, but fell to Louisville, the eventual national champions, in the second round.

## Schedule

| Date time, TV | Rank$^#$ | Opponent$^#$ | Result | Record | Site (attendance) city, state |
| Regular season ||||||
| Nov 22, 1985* | | at Loyola Chicago | W 94–84 | 1–0 | Alumni Gym (5,308) Chicago, IL |
| Nov 25, 1985* | | Chicago State | W 80–53 | 2–0 | Carver Arena (7,643) Peoria, IL |
| Nov 27, 1985* | | Toledo | W 69–57 | 3–0 | Carver Arena (6,984) Peoria, IL |
| Nov 30, 1985* | | Northwestern | W 76–72 | 4–0 | Carver Arena (7,347) Peoria, IL |
| Dec 2, 1985* | | at Western Illinois | W 76–62 | 5–0 | Western Hall (3,241) Macomb, IL |
| Dec 7, 1985* | | at Marquette | W 66–64 | 6–0 | MECCA Arena (10,461) Milwaukee, WI |
| Dec 13, 1985* | | Loyola Chicago | W 76–75 | 7–0 | Carver Arena (8,358) Peoria, IL |
| Dec 21, 1985* | | at Colorado | W 79–69 | 8–0 | CU Events Center (3,827) Boulder, CO |
| Dec 23, 1985* | | Saint Louis | W 81–67 | 9–0 | Carver Arena (8,791) Peoria, IL |
| Dec 27, 1985* | | vs. Clemson Rainbow Classic | L 76–81 | 9–1 | Neal S. Blaisdell Center (3,153) Honolulu, HI |
| Dec 28, 1985* | | vs. Villanova Rainbow Classic | W 58–56 $^{OT}$ | 10–1 | Neal S. Blaisdell Center (2,080) Honolulu, HI |
| Dec 30, 1985* | | vs. Wake Forest Rainbow Classic | W 86–72 | 11–1 | Neal S. Blaisdell Center (1,556) Honolulu, HI |
| Jan 4, 1986 | | Southern Illinois | W 65–62 | 12–1 (1–0) | Carver Arena (9,255) Peoria, IL |
| Jan 6, 1986 | | Illinois Wesleyan | W 74–64 | 13–1 | Carver Arena (6,573) Peoria, IL |
| Jan 9, 1986 | | at Wichita State | W 57–55 | 14–1 (2–0) | Levitt Arena (10,386) Wichita, KS |
| Jan 11, 1986 | | at Drake | W 69–67 | 15–1 (3–0) | Veterans Memorial Auditorium (5,750) Des Moines, IA |
| Jan 13, 1986* | | at Dayton | W 79–77 $^{OT}$ | 16–1 | University of Dayton Arena (11,371) Dayton, OH |
| Jan 16, 1986 | No. 20 | West Texas State | W 78–53 | 17–1 (4–0) | Carver Arena (8,245) Peoria, IL |
| Jan 18, 1986 | No. 20 | Tulsa | W 71–58 | 18–1 (5–0) | Carver Arena (9,266) Peoria, IL |
| Jan 23, 1986 | No. 17 | Illinois State I-74 Rivalry | W 67–63 $^{OT}$ | 19–1 (6–0) | Carver Arena (10,450) Peoria, IL |
| Jan 25, 1986 | No. 17 | at Creighton | W 74–56 | 20–1 (7–0) | Omaha Civic Auditorium (7,541) Omaha, NE |
| Jan 30, 1986 | No. 13 | at West Texas State | W 63–54 | 21–1 (8–0) | WT Fieldhouse (3,038) Canyon, TX |
| Feb 1, 1986 | No. 13 | at Tulsa | W 54–51 | 22–1 (9–0) | Tulsa Convention Center (8,523) Tulsa, OK |
| Feb 8, 1986 | No. 13 | Creighton | W 79–59 | 23–1 (10–0) | Carver Arena (10,450) Peoria, IL |
| Feb 10, 1986 | No. 13 | at Illinois State | W 74–67 | 24–1 (11–0) | Horton Field House (7,745) Normal, IL |
| Feb 13, 1986 | No. 13 | at Indiana State | W 54–52 | 25–1 (12–0) | Hulman Center (5,648) Terre Haute, IN |
| Feb 15, 1986 | No. 13 | at Southern Illinois | W 61–60 | 26–1 (13–0) | SIU Arena (6,550) Carbondale, IL |
| Feb 20, 1986 | No. 12 | Drake | W 88–79 | 27–1 (14–0) | Carver Arena (10,450) Peoria, IL |
| Feb 22, 1986 | No. 12 | Wichita State | W 74–64 | 28–1 (15–0) | Carver Arena (10,450) Peoria, IL |
| Feb 27, 1986 | No. 11 | Indiana State | W 71–51 | 29–1 (16–0) | Carver Arena (10,450) Peoria, IL |
| MVC Tournament ||||||
| Mar 4, 1986* | No. 9 | vs. West Texas State MVC Tournament Quarterfinal | W 61–55 | 30–1 | Tulsa Convention Center (1,556) Tulsa, OK |
| Mar 5, 1986* | No. 9 | vs. Illinois State MVC Tournament Semifinal | W 65–64 | 31–1 | Tulsa Convention Center (5,469) Tulsa, OK |
| Mar 6, 1986* | No. 9 | at Tulsa MVC tournament championship | L 58–74 | 31–2 | Tulsa Convention Center (6,313) Tulsa, OK |
| NCAA Tournament ||||||
| Mar 13, 1986* | (7 W) No. 14 | vs. (10 W) No. 20 UTEP NCAA tournament first round | W 83–65 | 32–2 | Dee Events Center (9,978) Ogden, UT |
| Mar 15, 1986* | (7 W) No. 14 | vs. (2 W) No. 7 Louisville NCAA tournament second round | L 68–82 | 32–3 | Dee Events Center (10,061) Ogden, UT |
| *Non-conference game. $^#$Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. W=West. All times are in Central Time. ||||||
Source:

## Rankings

Ranking movements Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking :
| | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week | Week |
| Poll | Pre | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | Final |
| AP | | | | | | | | | 20 | 17 | 13 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 9 | 14 |
| Coaches | | | | | | | | | 19 | 17 | 13 | 13 | 12 | 12 | 9 | 9 | 13 |

## Awards and honors

* Jim Les – Frances Pomeroy Naismith Award, MVC Player of the Year
* Dick Versace – Henry Iba Award, MVC Coach of the Year

## Team players in the 1986 NBA draft

| Round | Pick | Player | NBA Club |
| 3 | 51 | Mike Williams | Golden State Warriors |
| 3 | 70 | Jim Les | Atlanta Hawks |