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Every game in Bradley's Missouri Valley basketball schedule, including one big showdown

dave eminian, peoria journal star
·3 min read

PEORIA — The Missouri Valley Conference again has set up a potential winner-take-all regular-season finale between the Bradley Braves and Drake Bulldogs.

Defending champion Bradley is slated to play at Drake on March 3. The rivals are expected to be primary contenders for the Valley championship again this season. Bradley cut down the nets last season with a final-day 73-61 win over Drake in front of a sellout crowd of 10,458 who saw Bradley win its first regular-season MVC championship in 27 years.

The Braves two-game early MVC tilts are at Murray State on Nov. 29 and against Indiana State in Carver Arena on Dec. 2.

After two nonconference games, BU begins its full Valley lineup with a Jan. 3 game at Valparaiso. That is the only time Bradley faces Valpo. Belmont is the other single-game series this season, a Jan. 20 game in Carver Arena.

'Battle tested': How Bradley basketball assembled its 2023-24 nonconference schedule

The Braves will play Drake twice in the last seven games of the season. They will face Illinois State twice in a seven-game stretch, on the road first on Feb. 3, then a rematch at Carver Arena on Feb. 21.

It all leads into the 2024 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament at Enterprise Center in St. Louis, March 7-10, with an automatic bid to the NCAA tourney at stake.

2023-24 Bradley men's basketball schedule

Here is Bradley's full 2023-24 schedule, with conference games indicated by asterisk and home games in CAPS:

  • Nov. 6: at UAB, Bartow Arena, 7 p.m.

  • Nov. 11: UTAH STATE, Carver Arena, 7 p.m.

  • Nov. 14: SoCal Challenge, TARLETON STATE, Carver Arena, 7 p.m.

  • Nov. 20: SoCal Challenge, vs Tulane, JSerra Pavilion, San Juan Capistrano, Calif.

  • Nov. 22: SoCal Challenge, vs Cal or UTEP, JSerra Pavilion, San Juan Capistrano, Calif.

  • Nov. 25: VERMONT, Carver Arena, 7 p.m.

  • Nov. 29: * at Murray State, CFSB Center

  • Dec. 2: * INDIANA STATE, Carver Arena

  • Dec. 5: at Akron, James A. Rhodes Arena

  • Dec. 15: CLEVELAND STATE, Carver Arena

  • Dec. 18: vs Duquesne, at Akron St. Vincent-St. Mary High School

  • Dec. 21: SIU EDWARDSVILLE, Carver Arena

  • Dec. 28: TRUMAN STATE, Carver Arena

  • Jan. 3: * at Valparaiso, Arc

  • Jan. 6: * MISSOURI STATE, Carver Arena

  • Jan. 10: * EVANSVILLE, Carver Arena

  • Jan. 13: * at UIC, Credit Union 1 Arena

  • Jan. 17: * at Southern Illinois, Banterra Center

  • Jan. 20: * BELMONT, Carver Arena

  • Jan. 24: * MURRAY STATE, Carver Arena

  • Jan. 27: * at Indiana State, Hulman Center

  • Jan. 31: * NORTHERN IOWA, Carver Arena

  • Feb. 3: * at Illinois State, CEFCU Arena

  • Feb. 7: * at Evansville, Ford Center

  • Feb. 10: * DRAKE, Carver Arena

  • Feb. 14: * UIC, Carver Arena

  • Feb. 18: * at Northern Iowa, McLeod Center

  • Feb. 21: * at Missouri State, Great Southern Bank Arena

  • Feb. 24: * ILLINOIS STATE, Carver Arena

  • Feb. 28: * SOUTHERN ILLINOIS, Carver Arena

  • March 3: * at Drake, Knapp Center

More: These four players are projected to start for the Bradley Braves in 2023-24

2024 Missouri Valley Conference Tournament

At Enterprise Center, St. Louis

  • March 7: First round, seeds 5-12.

  • March 8: Quarterfinals

  • March 9: Semifinals

  • March 10: Championship, CBS, 1 p.m.

Dave Eminian is the Journal Star sports columnist, and covers Bradley men's basketball, the Rivermen and Chiefs. He writes the Cleve In The Eve sports column for pjstar.com. He can be reached at 686-3206 or deminian@pjstar.com. Follow him on Twitter @icetimecleve.

This article originally appeared on Journal Star: Bradley Braves basketball: Missouri Valley schedule for 2023-24