1953–54 Bradley Braves men's basketball team

1953–54 Bradley Braves men's basketball
1953–54 Bradley Braves men's basketball
NCAA Tournament, Runner-up
National Championship Game, ; L 76-92 vs. La Salle
Conference	Independent
Ranking
AP	No. 7
Record	19–13
Head coach	Forddy Anderson (6th season);
Captains	Bob Carney; John Riley;
Home arena	Robertson Memorial Field House

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		–		–	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

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.

Schedule and results

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

^ "Bradley season-by-season results". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2014. Retrieved May 9, 2014.
^ "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.

[1] "Bradley season-by-season results". sports-reference.com. Sports Reference LLC. 2014. Retrieved May 9, 2014.

[MGUIDE-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.

[1]

[2]

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 Point-shaving scandal Gambling scandal
People	Head coaches Statistical leaders
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 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 2024–25
NCAA Final Four appearances in italics