1953–54 Bradley Braves men's basketball team


The 1953–54 Bradley Braves men's basketball team represented Bradley University in college basketball during the 1953–54 season. The team finished the season with a 19–13 record[1] and were national runners-up to La Salle University in the 1954 NCAA tournament. It was the second time in five seasons that Bradley was the national runner-up; in 1949–50, they lost to CCNY in both the NCAA and NIT championships.

1953–54 Bradley Braves men's basketball
NCAA Tournament, Runner-up
ConferenceIndependent
Ranking
APNo. 7
Record19–13
Head coach
Captains
Home arenaRobertson Memorial Field House
Seasons
1953–54 NCAA men's basketball independents standings
Conf Overall
Team W   L   PCT W   L   PCT
No. 3 Holy Cross   26 2   .929
No. 17 Seattle   26 2   .929
No. 5 Duquesne   26 3   .897
No. 6 Notre Dame   22 3   .880
No. 2 La Salle   26 4   .867
Dayton   25 7   .781
Louisville   22 7   .759
No. 9 Penn State   18 6   .750
Oklahoma City   18 7   .720
Navy   18 8   .692
Army   15 7   .682
Villanova   20 11   .645
Lafayette   17 10   .630
Saint Joseph's   14 9   .609
Xavier   18 12   .600
No. 7 Bradley   19 13   .594
John Carroll   15 11   .577
Seton Hall   13 10   .565
Temple   15 12   .556
Muhlenberg   12 10   .545
Washington University   12 10   .545
Syracuse   10 9   .526
Cincinnati   11 10   .524
DePaul   11 10   .524
Iona   11 10   .524
Butler   13 12   .520
Boston College   11 11   .500
Loyola (Calif.)   14 16   .467
Rutgers   11 13   .458
Creighton   14 17   .452
Gonzaga   12 15   .444
Valparaiso   10 13   .435
Marquette   11 15   .423
Lehigh   8 12   .400
Pittsburgh   9 14   .391
Georgetown   11 18   .379
Siena   7 14   .333
Portland   9 19   .321
Loyola (IL)   7 15   .318
Drake   7 16   .304
Colgate   5 12   .294
Bucknell   4 16   .200
Rankings from AP Poll

Schedule and results

edit
Date
time, TV
Rank# Opponent# Result Record Site
city, state
Regular season
12/1/1953*
Illinois State W 91–75  1–0
Robertson Memorial Field House 
Peoria, IL
12/8/1953*
Purdue L 73–77  1–1
Robertson Memorial Field House 
Peoria, IL
12/11/1953*
at Pittsburgh
Steel Bowl Tournament
L 64–66  1–2
Fitzgerald Field House 
Pittsburgh, PA
12/12/1953*
vs. Wake Forest
Steel Bowl Tournament
W 78–74  2–2
Fitzgerald Field House 
Pittsburgh, PA
12/14/1953*
Alabama L 61–63  2–3
Robertson Memorial Field House 
Peoria, IL
12/21/1953*
USC W 79–64  3–3
Robertson Memorial Field House 
Peoria, IL
12/23/1953*
No. 19 Notre Dame W 74–72  4–3
Robertson Memorial Field House 
Peoria, IL
12/28/1953*
Arizona W 79–53  5–3
Robertson Memorial Field House 
Peoria, IL
12/30/1953*
Rutgers W 89–70  6–3
Robertson Memorial Field House 
Peoria, IL
1/2/1954*
No. 19 BYU W 77–50  7–3
Robertson Memorial Field House 
Peoria, IL
1/9/1954*
Iowa State W 92–76  8–3
Robertson Memorial Field House 
Peoria, IL
1/11/1954*
Drake W 93–53  9–3
Robertson Memorial Field House 
Peoria, IL
1/13/1954*
Saint Louis W 76–59  10–3
Robertson Memorial Field House 
Peoria, IL
1/16/1954*
at Louisville L 86–95  10–4
Jefferson County Armory 
Louisville, KY
1/18/1954*
Houston W 86–71  11–4
Robertson Memorial Field House 
Peoria, IL
2/1/1954*
at Arizona L 74–87  11–5
Bear Down Gym 
Tucson, AZ
2/3/1954*
No. 18 Tulsa L 63–66  11–6
Expo Square Pavilion 
Tulsa, OK
2/6/1954*
No. 18 at No. 14 Wichita State L 83–91  11–7
 
Wichita, KS
2/9/1954*
DePaul W 80–69  12–7
Robertson Memorial Field House 
Peoria, IL
2/12/1954*
at Marquette W 97–90  13–7
Old Gym 
Milwaukee, WI
2/15/1954*
Louisville L 90–96  13–8
Robertson Memorial Field House 
Peoria, IL
2/20/1954*
at Drake L 74–81  13–9
Drake Fieldhouse 
Des Moines, IA
2/22/1954*
Illinois Wesleyan W 87–72  14–9
Robertson Memorial Field House 
Peoria, IL
2/27/1954*
at DePaul L 76–80 OT 14–10
 
Chicago, IL
3/3/1954*
at Saint Louis L 79–89  14–11
Kiel Auditorium 
St. Louis, MO
3/6/1954*
Tulsa W 90–69  15–11
Robertson Memorial Field House 
Peoria, IL
3/8/1954*
Marquette L 68–76  15–12
Robertson Memorial Field House 
Peoria, IL
1954 NCAA Tournament
3/9/1954*
Oklahoma City
NCAA First Round
W 61–55  16–12
Robertson Memorial Field House 
Peoria, IL
3/12/1954*
vs. Colorado
NCAA Quarterfinals
W 76–64  17–12
Gallagher-Iba Arena 
Stillwater, OK
3/13/1954*
at No. 5 Oklahoma State
NCAA Quarterfinals
W 71–57  18–12
Gallagher-Iba Arena 
Stillwater, OK
3/19/1954*
vs. USC
NCAA Final Four
W 74–72  19–12
Municipal Auditorium 
Kansas City, MO
3/20/1954*
vs. No. 12 La Salle
NCAA National Championship
L 76–92  19–13
Municipal Auditorium 
Kansas City, MO
*Non-conference game. #Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses.

Source[2]

References

edit
  1. ^ "Bradley season-by-season results". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2014. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
  2. ^ "2005–06 Bradley Braves Men's Basketball Media Guide" (PDF). Yearly records (page 161). Bradley University. 2005. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 12, 2014. Retrieved May 9, 2014.