(Photo By Flickr User Douglas Porter)

The Bradley men’s basketball team is headed to a familiar location for the NCAA Tournament as the Braves are set to play in Des Moines, IA for the first and second rounds.

BU earned a No. 15 seed for the tournament and opens play against No. 2 Michigan State on Thursday.

The Missouri Valley Conference Champions and Big Ten Champion Spartans are set to face off for the fifth time in the schools’ history at Des Moines’ Wells Fargo Center.

Michigan State has claimed all four previous meetings with the most recent contest coming during the 2008-09 campaign, a 75-59 victory in East Lansing, MI.

Game time will be shown at 1:30pm Central Time on CBS-TV.

The winner advances to face No. 7 seed Louisville and No. 10 seed Minnesota on Saturday, March 23rd.

The Braves are set to make their ninth appearance in the NCAA Tournament and first in 13 years since a Sweet 16 run in 2006.

Winners of the Missouri Valley Conference Tournament for the first time since 1988, Bradley is 11-8 all-time in the national tournament.