Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Looks to Slow Down High Scoring Niagara Wednesday Night At Sojka Pavilon
12/22/2004 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 22, 2004
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Bucknell and Niagara meet Wednesday in a very interesting pre-Christmas battle of two clashing strengths. Winners of three straight, the Bison come in ranked 14th nationally in scoring defense (56.5) and are holding opponents to just 38.1% shooting. Niagara, on the other hand, is the highest scoring team in all of Division I basketball. Fresh off a 111-75 throttling of St. Bonaventure on Monday, the Purple Eagles are averaging 89.7 points per game. Led by the MAAC's second-leading scorer in Juan Mendez (25.9), who is the No. 2 scorer in school history behind only Calvin Murphy, Niagara has six players averaging at least 9.0 ppg, and the high-flying Purple Eagles have scored 87 points or more in six straight contests. Bucknell's vaunted defense, which has yielded only 89 combined points in its last two games, will be put to the test. Niagara won last year's meeting in Rochester 90-71. That is the only time in the last 157 games that the Bison have allowed 90 or more points. Bucknell and Niagara have met only six times previously. Niagara has won five of those, including the last four. Bucknell is 1-1 against the Eagles in Lewisburg, with its only series win coming in 1982-83 (67-48). Following the contest the Bison players will take a few days of much-needed rest, returning home for Christmas before prepping for next Tuesday's game at St. Joseph's in Philadelphia.
about the bison
Saturday's victory at Cornell extended Bucknell's winning streak to three and lifted its record to 6-4 on the season. The Bison are two games over .500 for the first time since starting the 2000-01 season 2-0, and they have pieced together their first three-game non-conference winning streak since beating Maine, Marist and Robert Morris to start the 1999-2000 campaign. At 6-4 Bucknell has matched its best 10-game start in the last 14 years. The Bison were also 6-4 in 1999-2000, 1992-93 and 1991-92.
with a victory over niagara, bucknell would ...
• ... improve to 7-4, matching its best 11-game start since 1992-93.
• ... defeat the Purple Eagles for the first time since Jan. 17, 1983.
• ... have its first non-conference four-game winning streak since early in the 1990-91 season (Northern Iowa, Saint Louis, Delaware, Yale).
• ... improve to 3-1 at home this season.
• ... improve to 2-0 against the MAAC this season.
tough road to come
The Bison will lead into Patriot League play with games against Niagara, St. Joseph's and Pittsburgh, three teams that combined to go 73-17 last season.
offense vs. defense
Here is the skinny on Wednesday's matchup between Bucknell's typically stingy defense and Niagara's potent offense. Which will prevail?
Niagara's Offense ...
• ... averages a national-best 89.7 ppg on the season (96.2 ppg over the last six games).
• ... shoots 45.4% from floor, 37.6% from 3-point range, 75.4% from foul line.
• ... has six players averaging 9.0 ppg or better.
• ... has scored at least 74 points in every game this season.
Bucknell's Defense ...
• ... holds foes to 56.5 ppg on the season (44.5 ppg over the last two games).
• ... holds opponents to 38.1% from floor, 30.6% from 3-point range.
• ... has not allowed more than 70 points this season.
last time out
On Dec. 18 at Sojka Pavilion, Chris McNaughton scored 15 points and Bucknell outscored Cornell 33-18 in the second half en route to a 55-49 win at Newman Arena. Bucknell led 38-36 with 11:39 to play but outscored the Big Red 21-5 over the next nine minutes. Charles Lee scored eight of his 14 points during a late 13-0 run that turned what had been a tight contest into a rout. The Bison shot 60.0% in the second half, while Cornell shot just 25.0%.
inside the boxscore
Bucknell had a season-best assist-turnover ratio of 17-11 ... Charles Lee led the team in rebounding for the third straight game with eight ... the Bison outrebounded Cornell 34-30, including 20-10 in the second half ... Bucknell held Cornell's leading scorer, Lenny Collins (18.9 ppg coming in) to just four points on 2-for-12 shooting ... Chris Niesz enjoyed his most productive game of the season, tallying six points (3-5 FG) and five rebounds in 23 bench minutes ... Bucknell scored 14 of its 33 second-half points in transition ... Cornell was whistled for only nine fouls all day, leading to a season-low seven free-throw chances for the Bison.
the last bucknell-niagara meeting
On Nov. 29, 2003 at Blue Cross Arena in Rochester, N.Y., David Brooks scored 23 points to lead five Niagara players in double figures as the hot-shooting Purple Eagles sprinted to a 90-71 lead over Bucknell in Rochester. Kevin Bettencourt scored 21 points and Chris McNaughton tossed in 14 on 5 of 7 shooting, but Niagara forced 22 Bison turnovers with its pressure defense. Niagara lit it up from long range, making 11 of 27 3-point attempts, including eight in the first half.
second-half surge
Bucknell has won its last two contests against Robert Morris and Cornell with dominant second halves. The Bison outscored those two foes by a combined 73-44 in the latter 20 minutes. Against Robert Morris, Bucknell turned a 20-19 halftime lead into a 60-45 win, and at Cornell on Saturday the Bison won 59-44 after heading to the locker room tied at 26-all at the half.
scoring balance
While the Bison do not currently have a player ranked in the top nine in the Patriot League in scoring, they have received good scoring balance thus far. Bucknell has four players averaging at least 8.3 ppg and seven averaging at least 3.7. The Bison are one of only two Patriot League teams with three players averaging in double figures (Colgate has four).
Pat Flannery notches 250th career win
Now in his 11th season as head coach at Bucknell, Pat Flannery became the longest-tenured head coach in the Patriot League when Navy's Don DeVoe retired at the end of last season. Flannery notched his 150th Bucknell win on Nov. 12 against Northern Colorado and now has 155 victories, a total that ranks second in school annals, trailing only the legendary Charlie Woollum, who won 318 games from 1975-94. Woollum notched many of those wins with Flannery as his point guard in the late-1970s. Flannery picked up career victory No. 250 on Saturday at Cornell.
milestone watch
Chris McNaughton recently became eligible for Bucknell's career field-goal percentage list, and he jumped right into the No. 1 position at 63.7% ... Kevin Bettencourt, only a junior, needs only 48 3-pointers to break Mike Bright's Bucknell career record ... Bettencourt tied the school record with 72 last season, and he is currently fourth on the BU career chart (158) ... he needs 22 more to catch J.R. Holden for third place ... Bettencourt also needs 125 points to become Bucknell's 30th 1,000-point scorer.
free points
In recent years Bucknell has struggled at times with its free-throw shooting, but that area has become a real strength for the Bison. Led by outstanding free-throw shooters Kevin Bettencourt (92.0%) and Charles Lee (75.0%), as well as the much-improved shooting of Chris McNaughton (70.0%, up from 59.5% last season), Bucknell is shooting 70.2% as a team. Even more impressive, the Bison are knocking them down at crunch time, connecting on 81.3% (39-48) in the final five minutes of games (including overtime).
against the maac
Bucknell is the second Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference squad the Bison will battle this season. On Nov. 19 they topped Rider 69-50 at Sojka Pavilion. Bucknell is 40-45 (.471) all-time against teams currently in the MAAC, with 52 of those 85 games coming against Rider, a former conference mate in the now-defunct East Coast Conference.
