1979–80 Bradley Braves men's basketball team

1979–80 Bradley Braves men's basketball
1979–80 Bradley Braves men's basketball
MVC Regular season and tournament champions
NCAA tournament, First round
Conference	Missouri Valley Conference
Record	23–10 (13–3 MVC)
Head coach	Dick Versace (2nd season);
Home arena	Robertson Memorial Field House

The 1979–80 Bradley Braves men's basketball team represented Bradley University during the 1979–80 NCAA Division I men's basketball season. The Braves were members of the Missouri Valley Conference (MVC) and played their home games at Robertson Memorial Field House in Peoria, Illinois. The team was led by head coach Dick Versace and finished the season at 23–10 (13–3 MVC). After finishing atop the Missouri Valley regular season standings by a 4-game margin, Bradley won the MVC tournament. The Braves earned an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament as No. 11 seed in the Midwest region – the school's first appearance in the NCAA tournament in 25 years. The Braves fell to No. 6 seed Texas A&M, 55–53, in the opening round.

1979–80 Missouri Valley Conference men's basketball standings
	Conf				Overall
Team	W		L	PCT	W		L	PCT
Bradley †	13	–	3	.813	23	–	10	.697
Creighton	9	–	7	.563	16	–	12	.571
West Texas State	9	–	7	.563	19	–	11	.633
Wichita State	9	–	7	.563	17	–	12	.586
Indiana State	8	–	8	.500	16	–	11	.593
New Mexico State	8	–	8	.500	17	–	10	.630
Drake	6	–	10	.375	15	–	12	.556
Tulsa	5	–	11	.313	8	–	19	.296
Southern Illinois	5	–	11	.313	9	–	17	.346

† 1980 MVC tournament winner Rankings from AP Poll[1]

Roster

Players

Coaches

Pos.	#	Name	Height	Weight	Year	Previous school	Hometown
F		J. J. Anderson	6 ft 8 in (2.03 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	So	Metro	Chicago, IL
F		David Thirdkill	6 ft 7 in (2.01 m)	190 lb (86 kg)	So	College of Southern Idaho	St. Louis, MO

Head coach

Dick Versace

Assistant coach(es)

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 30, 1979*		vs. No. 2 Kentucky Great Alaska Shootout	L 58–79	0–1	Buckner Fieldhouse Anchorage, Alaska
Dec 1, 1979*		vs. Pacific Great Alaska Shootout	W 80–68	1–1	Buckner Fieldhouse Anchorage, Alaska
Dec 2, 1979*		vs. Lamar Great Alaska Shootout	W 82–75	2–1	Buckner Fieldhouse Anchorage, Alaska
Dec 5, 1979*		at Loyola (IL)	L 80–83	2–2	Alumni Gym Chicago, Illinois
Dec 8, 1979*		at Butler	L 63–65	2–3	Hinkle Fieldhouse Indianapolis, Indiana
Dec 12, 1979*		Portland State	W 90–65	3–3	Robertson Memorial Field House Peoria, Illinois
Dec 15, 1979*		Rollins	W 78–60	4–3	Robertson Memorial Field House Peoria, Illinois
Dec 17, 1979*		Quincy	W 77–67	5–3	Robertson Memorial Field House Peoria, Illinois
Dec 21, 1979*		vs. Loyola (IL)	L 76–84	5–4	Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, Illinois
Dec 22, 1979*		at Northwestern	L 64–67	5–5	Welsh-Ryan Arena Evanston, Illinois
Dec 29, 1979*		at No. 4 DePaul	L 61–68	5–6	Alumni Hall Chicago, Illinois
Jan 3, 1980*		Illinois State	W 62–57	6–6	Robertson Memorial Field House Peoria, Illinois
Jan 5, 1980*		Texas–Arlington	W 79–68	7–6	Robertson Memorial Field House Peoria, Illinois
Jan 7, 1980		New Mexico State	W 71–60	8–6 (1–0)	Robertson Memorial Field House Peoria, Illinois
Jan 10, 1980		Wichita State	W 67–66	9–6 (2–0)	Robertson Memorial Field House Peoria, Illinois
Jan 12, 1980		at Drake	W 75–70	10–6 (3–0)	Veterans Memorial Auditorium Des Moines, Iowa
Jan 17, 1980		at West Texas A&M	L 78–79	10–7 (3–1)	WT Fieldhouse Canyon, Texas
Feb 18, 1980		at Creighton	W 76–75	20–8 (13–2)	Omaha Civic Auditorium Omaha, Nebraska
Feb 23, 1980		at New Mexico State	L 89–90	20–9 (13–3)	Pan American Center Las Cruces, New Mexico
MVC Tournament
Feb 28, 1980*		Tulsa Quarterfinals	W 97–76	21–9	Robertson Memorial Field House Peoria, Illinois
Feb 29, 1980*		Wichita State Semifinals	W 68–60	22–9	Robertson Memorial Field House Peoria, Illinois
Mar 1, 1980*		West Texas A&M Championship game	W 62–59	23–9	Robertson Memorial Field House Peoria, Illinois
NCAA Tournament
Mar 7, 1980*	(11 MW)	vs. (6 MW) Texas A&M First round	L 53–55	23–10	UNT Coliseum Denton, Texas
*Non-conference game. ^#Rankings from AP Poll. (#) Tournament seedings in parentheses. MW=Midwest. All times are in Central Time.

Source:[3]

Awards and honors

Dick Versace – MVC Coach of the Year

References

sports-reference.com 1979-80 Missouri Valley Conference Season Summary
"1979-80 Men's Basketball Roster". Bradley University Athletics. Retrieved May 7, 2023.
"1979-80 Men's Basketball Schedule". Bradley University Athletics. Retrieved May 7, 2023.

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[1] sports-reference.com 1979-80 Missouri Valley Conference Season Summary

[2] "1979-80 Men's Basketball Roster". Bradley University Athletics. Retrieved May 7, 2023.

[3] "1979-80 Men's Basketball Schedule". Bradley University Athletics. Retrieved May 7, 2023.

Bradley Braves men's basketball
Venues	Peoria YMCA (1902–1909) Hewitt Gymnasium (1909–1925) Peoria Armory (1925–1941) Woodruff High School Gymnasium (1941–1943) Peoria Armory (1945–1949) Robertson Memorial Field House (1949–1982) Carver Arena (1982–present)
Rivalries	Illinois State
Culture & lore	Longest game in Division I history
Seasons	1902–03 1903–04 1904–05 1905–06 1906–07 1907–08 1908–09 1909–10 1910–11 1911–12 1912–13 1913–14 1914–15 1915–16 1916–17 1917–18 1918–19 1919–20 1920–21 1921–22 1922–23 1923–24 1924–25 1925–26 1926–27 1927–28 1928–29 1929–30 1930–31 1931–32 1932–33 1933–34 1934–35 1935–36 1936–37 1937–38 1938–39 1939–40 1940–41 1941–42 1942–43 1943–44 1944–45 1945–46 1946–47 1947–48 1948–49 1949–50 1950–51 1951–52 1952–53 1953–54 1954–55 1955–56 1956–57 1957–58 1958–59 1959–60 1960–61 1961–62 1962–63 1963–64 1964–65 1965–66 1966–67 1967–68 1968–69 1969–70 1970–71 1971–72 1972–73 1973–74 1974–75 1975–76 1976–77 1977–78 1978–79 1979–80 1980–81 1981–82 1982–83 1983–84 1984–85 1985–86 1986–87 1987–88 1988–89 1989–90 1990–91 1991–92 1992–93 1993–94 1994–95 1995–96 1996–97 1997–98 1998–99 1999–2000 2000–01 2001–02 2002–03 2003–04 2004–05 2005–06 2006–07 2007–08 2008–09 2009–10 2010–11 2011–12 2012–13 2013–14 2014–15 2015–16 2016–17 2017–18 2018–19 2019–20 2020–21 2021–22 2022–23 2023–24
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics