ISU vs Bradley--The History

[Baltimore Bird]

A few days ago, prior to our game against Bradley, the Peoria Journal Star had an article on 11 memories or the ISU/Bradley series since 1982 when ISU joined the MVC. This season concludes our 40th year in the conference. I fully remember being excited that ISU was joining the league. The PJ Start articles memories were more about BU than ISU which is to be expected from a Peoria paper. A few facts....ISU now leads 46-40 in those 40 years. Both teams have won 3 postseason games. It is remarkable we have only met 6 times in 40 years on the tournament. 4 of those games were in the 80's and NONE since 2004.

There is a lot of ISU history on this board. I started thinking of my #1 memory of the series. I had several but chose this one. It came in Game 3 in Peoria in the MVC tournament in 1982. BU swept ISU in the regular season and won the conference outright. We were serious underdogs that night in Round Two of the MVC Tourney in Peoria in what was supposed to be the last game in Robertson Memorial Fieldhouse. ISU beat Bradley 55-50 in double OT in a tremendous game. I was sitting pretty high up in the old fieldhouse, but it was just a great college bball game. Bradley did not get a NCAA bid (Versace was livid) and was sent to the NIT which they then won in convincing fashion. ISU lost at Tulsa in the finals, but that game was the predecessor of 3 straight NCAA trips for the Birds. That was a great night to be a REDBIRD fan.

What are your memories?

 

[Metamoron]

Balt Bird, one of my favorites also. We may have sat very close to one another that night.

 

[WoodlandWarrior]

Lamb and Cornley were not intimidated byReese,Thirdkill, and the rest of the Bradley team. Great win and the forerunner of three years of glory.

 

[SgtHulka]

Lamb and Cornley were not intimidated byReese,Thirdkill, and the rest of the Bradley team. Great win and the forerunner of three years of glory.

 

[Denali2x]

Jeff Wilkens getting a ball at midcourt and going for the breakaway thunder dunk, then turning to go back up court and pointing at/taunting the Bradley bench all the way as he ran back right in front of them .... remember thinking 'oh, no, don't' as there were several NBA scouts there that night ... Those were crazy days at Horton for those games vs Bradley.

 

[RedbirdSoxFan]

Not that the game was of any significance, but the game that (if I remember correctly) it was approaching the 10:00 mark of the first half before they had the under 16:00 timeout. It may have also been in that game that Kenneth Pierson scored (I think) 7 points in like 30 seconds.

 

[MadBird]

Jeff Wilkens getting a ball at midcourt and going for the breakaway thunder dunk, then turning to go back up court and pointing at/taunting the Bradley bench all the way as he ran back right in front of them .... remember thinking 'oh, no, don't' as there were several NBA scouts there that night ... Those were crazy days at Horton for those games vs Bradley.

This was my #1 memory. I was thinking/remembering/imagining he was pointing with one particular finger! Maybe just makes for a good story.

 

[Baltimore Bird]

I remember the Big Jeff games vs Bradley. December of '75 in Peoria, won by ISU was a very good game. Big Jeff blocked the 1st 2 shots out of bounds into the stands. The fans at courtside were actually below grade and totally in the dark and the ball would just disappear. It was an interesting place to watch a game.

January of '77 in Normal when ISU pounded BU. Big Jeff was so dominating and had a great supporting cast.

Who else has a great memory?

 

[SgtHulka]

Versace shoving Johnson as Ricky put his hand on his shoulder to get his attention for a handshake

 

[Birdswin]

Ole games versus PU BU - back then the BU student section was called the Tomahawk Gang - besides Donald Reese and David Thirdkill - do not forget about Mitchell "JJ" Anderson, Barney Mines or Voise Winters.

That MVC tourney game at Robertson - Mark Zwart was unbelievable - best game of his career.

Then next year, the first ISU-BU game are Carver Arena - Birds up 3 with 2 seconds to go. BU ball out-of-bounds on the baseline. As soon as the ref handed the ball to the BU player - all of the Redbird players started backing up - The BU center (forget his name) started yelling for the ball - passed it to him, makes the layup, clock runs out, Game Over - Birds win 56-55. Back then the clock did not stop on a made shot. Then later that year - the semi-finals of the MVC Tourney at Horton - we smoked BU before a packed house by 20 points.

Mike VandeGarde "took" a very unforgettable charging foul versus BU at Redbird Arena - changed the game - Birds Win.

 

[CaliRdBrd]

Ole games versus PU BU - back then the BU student section was called the Tomahawk Gang - besides Donald Reese and David Thirdkill - do not forget about Mitchell "JJ" Anderson, Barney Mines or Voise Winters.

That MVC tourney game at Robertson - Mark Zwart was unbelievable - best game of his career.

Then next year, the first ISU-BU game are Carver Arena - Birds up 3 with 2 seconds to go. BU ball out-of-bounds on the baseline. As soon as the ref handed the ball to the BU player - all of the Redbird players started backing up - The BU center (forget his name) started yelling for the ball - passed it to him, makes the layup, clock runs out, Game Over - Birds win 56-55. Back then the clock did not stop on a made shot. Then later that year - the semi-finals of the MVC Tourney at Horton - we smoked BU before a packed house by 20 points.

Mike VandeGarde "took" a very unforgettable charging foul versus BU at Redbird Arena - changed the game - Birds Win.

Vandegarde...extremely underrated player that rarely gets mentioned on this site. Great all around player.
Used to play 16” softball against him in Chicago once in a while (I think he subbed, not a regular).

 

[bombay]

Jeff Wilkens getting a ball at midcourt and going for the breakaway thunder dunk, then turning to go back up court and pointing at/taunting the Bradley bench all the way as he ran back right in front of them .... remember thinking 'oh, no, don't' as there were several NBA scouts there that night ... Those were crazy days at Horton for those games vs Bradley.

I was at that game, too. It was during the time that the dunk was illegal so he dropped the ball in rather than throwing it down. He ran past the Bradley bench pointing at Stowell (with his index finger) and laughing. He gave Phegley a hard time, too.