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.

1985–86 Bradley Braves men's basketball
MVC Regular Season Champions
NCAA tournament, Second Round
Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
Ranking
Coaches	No. 13
AP	No. 14
Record	32–3 (16–0 MVC)
Head coach	Dick Versace (8th season)
Assistant coaches	Rudy Keeling Willie Cox Tony Massimino
Home arena	Carver Arena
Seasons ← 1984–85 1986–87 →

1985–86 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
No. 14 Bradley	16	–	0		1.000			32	–	3		.914
Tulsa †	10	–	6		.625			23	–	9		.719
Drake	10	–	6		.625			19	–	11		.633
Illinois State	9	–	7		.563			15	–	14		.517
Wichita State	7	–	9		.438			14	–	14		.500
Creighton	7	–	9		.438			12	–	16		.429
Indiana State	7	–	9		.438			11	–	17		.393
West Texas State	4	–	12		.250			11	–	17		.393
Southern Illinois	4	–	12		.250			8	–	20		.286
† 1986 MVC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll^[1]

Roster

1985–86 Bradley Braves men's basketball team
Players	Coaches
Pos. # Name Height Weight Year Previous school Hometown C 3 Mike Williams 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 250 lb (113 kg) Sr De La Salle Chicago, IL G 12 Anthony Manuel 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Fr Crane Chicago, IL G 14 Jeff Anthony 6 ft 0 in (1.83 m) — So East St. Louis East St. Louis, IL G 15 Jim Les 5 ft 11 in (1.8 m) 185 lb (84 kg) Sr Notre Dame Niles, IL F 21 Jerry Thomas 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) 210 lb (95 kg) So Collins Chicago, IL F 23 Paul Wilson 6 ft 6 in (1.98 m) — Fr Lorain Catholic Lorain, OH F/C 24 Donald Powell 6 ft 8 in (2.03 m) 215 lb (98 kg) So Nowata Nowata, OK C 25 Keith Berry 6 ft 9 in (2.06 m) — Jr Dunbar Chicago, IL F 32 Greg Jones 6 ft 5 in (1.96 m) — So Robeson Chicago, IL G 33 Hersey Hawkins 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) 185 lb (84 kg) So Westinghouse Chicago, IL G 40 Trevor Trimpe 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) — So Havana Havana, IL G 44 Len Bertolini 6 ft 3 in (1.91 m) — So St. Patrick's Chicago, IL F 52 Bruce Mordini 6 ft 7 in (2.01 m) — Jr Highland Park Highland Park, IL	Head coach Dick Versace Assistant coach(es) Willie Cox Rudy Keeling Tom Massimino Legend (C) Team captain (S) Suspended (I) Ineligible (W) Walk-on   Injured   Current redshirt Roster

^[2]

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^[3]	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^[4]	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:^[5]

Rankings

Main article: 1985–86 NCAA Division I men's basketball rankings

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.

	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

Main article: 1986 NBA draft

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

^[6]

References

1. sports-reference.com 1985-86 Missouri Valley Conference Season Summary
2. "1985–86 Bradley Braves Roster and Stats". Sports Reference.
3. "TULSA STOPS BRADLEY'S 22-GAME STREAK". The New York Times. March 7, 1986. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
4. "LOUISVILLE WEARS BRADLEY DOWN, OUT". Chicago Tribune. March 16, 1986. Retrieved May 18, 2019.
5. "Final 1986 Division I Men's Basketball Statistics Report - Bradley University" (PDF). NCAA.
6. "1986 NBA Draft". Basketball-reference.com. Retrieved May 17, 2019.