AUBURN HILLS, MICH. ? Sure, it’s a difficult task, but Bradley University’s men’s basketball players are trying to treat Friday night’s first-round NCAA Tournament showdown against Kansas as “just another game.”
“There’s more on the line,” Tony Bennett, a senior guard out of Chicago’s Westinghouse High and Pratt Community College conceded, “but we’ll prepare for it like any other game. I feel good, because we can show we can hang with the so-called big dogs.
“We’ve got nothing to lose. All the pressure’s on them,” added Bennett, who averages 11.0 points a game. “Everybody’s picked them to go far, and we’re supposed to be out on Friday.”
Tipoff for the contest is 8:30 p.m. in The Palace of Auburn Hills outside Detroit.
“I see it as a chance to play against another ballclub,” noted Bradley senior forward Marcellus Sommerville, who averages 15.4 points and 6.8 boards per game. “It’s 0-0 right now and both are fighting for that championship. We were pretty excited on Sunday to get in the tournament. Now it’s just a game we want to go win. You guys (media) put a lot more attention on it. We’ll just play it like we’ve been playing.”
Not many expect No. 13 seed Bradley (20-10) to upend the No. 4-seeded Jayhawks (25-7) and advance to Sunday’s 11 a.m. battle against either Kent State or Pittsburgh.
The Braves agree the Jayhawks present a formidable test.
“The most impressive thing I saw them do (on tape) is run the floor and get easy transition layups,” said senior forward Lawrence Wright, who averages 10.0 points and 5.4 boards. “Their bigs run the floor really well, and their guards push the ball every time. Our key is to play good defense against them trying to stop their best players from running out and getting layups. We want to push the ball back on them and put some pressure on them.”
If Bradley can do that and win, “it’d be a huge boost of confidence for our team and our program,” Wright said. “People won’t talk about mid-major teams not being able to hang with high-major teams. It would help our conference reputation a lot.”
Coach Jim Les, who, like KU, brought his team Wednesday to Michigan, has great respect for the Jayhawks.
“You could argue they’re the hottest team coming into this tournament,” Les said. “I’ve watched tapes from the middle of the season to the end, and it’s amazing. You look down their roster and see a lot of freshmen and sophomores, but you watch the tape and you don’t see guys playing like freshmen and sophomores.
“They’re playing at a high level. They transition very well and defend very well. It’s a good basketball team. We’ve had good practices, good bounce, good life, good energy. The execution has been decent. How that translates, I’m not sure. Regardless of how long it’s been, it’s do-or-die come Friday night, so we have to bring it.”
Les just might mention the David-Goliath angle to his players.
“The budget Kansas has, they probably have every team in the country’s tapes,” Les said. “I was kind of hoping the tornado went through and took out all their video equipment and they’d have to scramble some. From what I hear, that didn’t happen, so I’m sure they’ll be ready,” he quipped.
