GAME NOTES: The Championship Series of the inaugural College Basketball Invitational moves to Peoria this evening, as the Bradley Braves play host to the Tulsa Golden Hurricane in the second game of a best-of-three series. The Golden Hurricane are seeking the tournament title tonight, as they took Game One on Monday at the Reynolds Center by a score of 73-68. This will be Tulsa's first road game in this event, as the team has enjoyed some home cooking, knocking off Miami-Ohio (61-45), Utah (69-60), Houston (73-6) and the Braves all in the friendly confines of the Reynolds Center. The team is a solid 24-13 on the season, but 10 of those losses have come in true road games. The Braves are desperate to make it 11 road losses for Tulsa. The Braves are 20-16 on the season and advanced to the championship series with home wins over Cincinnati (70-67) and Ohio University (79-73) and a solid road win at Virginia (96-85). The game on Monday was the 100th between these two old Missouri Valley Conference rivals, with Bradley staking claim to a 60-40 series advantage. The series will switch back to Tulsa for the final game on Friday, if the Braves can find a way to knock off the Hurricane tonight.

There were several reasons for the Braves' loss in Tulsa on Monday. Bradley shot just 59.5 percent from the free-throw line (22-of-37) and turned the ball over a costly 17 times. Jeremy Crouch led the way offensively with 16 points. He was 6-of-13 from the floor in the game, but a mere 1-of-7 from behind the arc. Fellow guard Daniel Ruffin was the only other Brave in double figures, tallying 15 points, while doling out five assists. Center Matt Salley didn't add much in terms of scoring punch (seven points), but did a solid job on the boards, pulling down 11 caroms. Crouch has been this team's catalyst at the offensive end all season long. He leads the MVC in both scoring (15.9 ppg) and in three-pointers this year, setting a school record with 112 treys. Ruffin runs the offense for Bradley and has shown the ability to be both a scorer and deft distributor, coming into this week, averaging 14.3 points and 5.8 assists per game.

Seven-footer Jerome Jordan once again dominated in the paint, as his 18 points and 13 rebounds led the Golden Hurricane to a Game One victory on Monday. Jordan hit a pair of free-throws down the stretch to clinch the outcome for Tulsa. Fellow sophomore Ben Uzoh matched Jordan's effort in terms of scoring, pouring in 18 points of his own. Rod Earls continued his strong play off the bench, tacking on a dozen points, while Brett McDade chipped in with 10. The Golden Hurricane shot just 28.6 percent from the floor in the first half (8- of-28), but were able to go into the locker room at halftime tied with Bradley, 27-27. Tulsa came out of the break fired up though, shooting a red- hot 55.6 percent over the final 20 minutes to take the win. The team has been led all season long by the inside/out games of Uzoh and Jordan. Uzoh is a versatile guard, averaging 15.7 points and 5.5 rebounds per game, while also showing the ability to pass the ball (81 assists) and play solid defense (team-high 37 steals). Jordan is a force down low, converting 58 percent of his shots and averaging 10.5 points and 7.8 rebounds per game, while ranking as one of the nation's premier shot-blockers (133 on the season).

The Golden Hurricane have certainly struggled outside of Tulsa this season and Bradley would like to keep that trend going. Uzoh and Jordan will produce again this evening, but the Braves will find a way to force the rubber match on Friday.