Bucknell University Athletics
Patriot Powers Bucknell, Holy Cross to Meet Saturday; No Admission Charge at Sojka Pavilion
1/6/2005 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 6, 2005
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If the Patriot League schedule-makers wanted a marquis matchup for the opening weekend of conference play, they sure picked a dandy with Bucknell and Holy Cross squaring off Saturday on College Sports Television (CSTV). The Bison and Crusaders, two of the league's traditional powers, are both coming off outstanding out-of-conference play. Bucknell has won six straight, capped by Sunday's remarkable 69-66 victory over then-seventh-ranked Pittsburgh. At 9-4 the Bison have their most victories heading into their conference opener since 1974-75. Holy Cross is also off to a terrific start, with Wednesday's 73-52 home win over Dartmouth upping its record to 8-4. The Crusaders also have quality wins over Boston University, Brown, Northeastern and Rhode Island, and they lost by just three to Boston College (in OT) and Princeton. Holy Cross is led by junior Kevin Hamilton, who averages 13.6 ppg. Keith Simmons (11.0) and Torey Thomas (10.6) also average in double digits. Saturday's game matches two of the nation's best defensive teams. In the latest NCAA rankings, Holy Cross ranked 23rd in scoring defense (58.5 ppg) while the Bison listed 28th (59.0 ppg). Neither team has allowed more than 76 points in a game all season, despite very challenging schedules, and both squads rank in the top 100 of the latest RPI rankings (HC 57, BU 96). Bucknell enters the game with a 19-17 lead in an all-time series that dates back to the start of the Patriot League in 1990-91. The Bison took 2 of 3 from the Crusaders last season, including a win in the first round of the Patriot League Tournament. Bucknell has won 8 of 15 meetings in Lewisburg (1-1 at Sojka Pavilion).
about the bison
Quite simply, Bucknell is coming off one of its best streches of non-conference play in the 110-year history of the program. The Bison take a six-game winning streak into Saturday's conference opener, with dramatic moments abound and each win seemingly bigger and better than the next. A summary of the team's last month:
• Dec. 4 at Yale: Trailing by six with 44 seconds left in regulation, John Clark and Charles Lee hit 3-pointers, the last with 15 seconds left, to send the game into overtime. In OT, the Bison scored eight of the first 11 points and went on to win 73-65.
• Dec. 7 vs. Robert Morris: Leading by just a point at the half, the Bison outscored the Colonials 40-26 after the break en route to a 60-45 win.
• Dec. 18 at Cornell: In a virtual repeat of the Robert Morris game, Bucknell snapped a 26-all halftime tie and blew away the Big Red 59-44 with a huge second half.
• Dec. 22 vs. Niagara: The Purple Eagles came to Lewisburg as the nation's highest-scoring team at just under 90 points per game, but the Bison held them well below that figure in a dramatic 76-74 win made possible by Charles Lee's jumper with nine-tenths of a second to play.
• Dec. 28 at St. Joseph's: Bucknell was 1-16 all-time against St. Joseph's but stunned the SRO crowd at Alumni Memorial Fieldhouse an epic shooting display in a 69-62 victory. The Bison shot 10-for-15 from 3-point range, including 7-for-8 in the second half, and beat the Hawks for the first time since 1979. It was St. Joe's first loss at the fieldhouse in two seasons.
• Jan. 2 at No. 7 Pittsburgh: In the biggest upset in school and Patriot League history, Bucknell knocked off the seventh-ranked Panthers 69-66, giving Pitt just its second home loss in three seasons at Petersen Events Center. Kevin Bettencourt's free throws with 23 seconds left proved to be the winning points.
with a victory over holy cross, bucknell would ...
• ... improve to 10-4, matching its best 14-game start since 1992-93.
• ... reach the 10-win plateau on the earliest date in school history.
• ... defeat the Crusaders for the 20th time.
• ... improve to 4-1 at home this season and win its eighth straight conference home game.
• ... post a seven-game winning streak for the second year in a row, marking the first time that's happened since 1918-19 and 1919-20.
pittsburgh flashback
Bucknell achieved several significant milestones in Sunday's big win at No. 7 Pittsburgh:
• Pitt was the highest-ranked opponent Bucknell has ever beaten.
• The defending Big East regular-season champs entered the game 43-1 all-time at Petersen Events Center. Syracuse was the only other team to win there. (Note: Georgetown also won at Pitt on Wednesday).
• The Panthers entered the game 10-0 on the season and had won 48 straight non-conference home games (25 straight overall in the regular season).
• The Bison defeated Pitt for the first time since Jan. 11, 1975, when Jim Valvano coached Bucknell. That was also the last time Bucknell defeated any current member of the Big East.
inside the boxscore
Chris McNaughton led the Bison with 17 points on 8 of 12 shooting ... Charles Lee added 14 points, including the team's first five of the night as well as two clinching free throws with 2.3 seconds to play ... Kevin Bettencourt logged 13 points and five assists ... Bettencourt was 9 of 10 from the free-throw line, and the team was 14 of 16 (Pitt was 9-for-20) ... John Griffin made three big 3-pointers and scored nine points ... Bucknell committed only 13 turnovers, while forcing 18 ... the Bison outscored the Panthers 24-14 in the paint and 6-0 in transition ... Bucknell's largest lead was 12, while Pitt's was just two ... the Bison led at seven of the eight media timeouts ... the Herd shot 59.1% in the first half and 51.1% for the night.
poll watching
For the first time in school history, Bucknell is ranked in the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll. The Bison are ranked 24th this week. Bucknell also received four votes in the Associated Press Poll, giving it an unofficial ranking of No. 35. See Page 5 for complete rankings.
honors
After terrific performances in wins over St. Joseph's and Pittsburgh, Bison sophomore Chris McNaughton earned his first Patriot League Player of the Week citation on Monday. McNaughton scored 10 points on 5-for-7 shooting against the Hawks, but perhaps his biggest contribution came at the defensive end, where he held standout center Dwayne Jones to four points and seven rebounds, well below his season averages of 12.4 ppg and 12.6 rpg. Against Pitt, McNaughton went head-to-head with preseason All-Big East center Chris Taft and scored 17 points on 8-for-12 shooting. McNaughton is averaging 13.4 ppg and ranks second in the PL and 30th in the nation in field-goal percentage at 59.8%.
streaking
Bucknell's current six-game winning streak is the third-longest streak in Pat Flannery's 11-year tenure as head coach. The longest run under Flannery's watch was an 8-game streak in 1995-96.
Longest Bucknell Winning Streaks Under Pat Flannery (Since 1994-95):
8 - 1/13/96 - 2/7/96
7 - 1/30/04 - 2/22/04
6 - 12/4/04 - pres.
5 - 1/11/97 - 1/25/97
5 - 1/9/99 - 1/23/99
5 - 1/31/99 - 2/17/99
5 - 1/15/00 - 1/26/00
5 - 2/9/00 - 2/23/00
streaking, part II
The Bison are one of only 24 Division I teams that have active winning streaks of at least six games (through Wednesday's games). Of those, 12 are ranked in the Top 25.
Longest Active Winning Streaks: #1 Illinois 15, #25 Boston College 12, #3 North Carolina 12, #5 Duke 10, #2 Kansas 10, Minnesota 8, #12 Washington 8, #13 Arizona 8, Miami (Fla.) 8, Arkansas 8, #4 Wake Forest 7, #6 Syracuse 7, Villanova 7, #18 Mississippi State 7, Texas-El Paso 7, Northern Iowa 7, Utah 7, Bucknell 6, #20 Michigan State 6, # 8 Kentucky 6, Vanderbilt 6, Charlotte 6, Oregon State 6, St. Mary's (Calif.) 6.
last season vs. holy cross
• Feb. 1 at Sojka Pavilion: Kevin Bettencourt scored 29 points to lead the Bison to a 77-67 victory. Bucknell had been 0-9 on the season when trailing at the half, but turned a 32-31 deficit into a 10-point win. Nate Lufkin led Holy Cross with 12 points.
• Feb. 27 at Hart Center: Lufkin scored 14 points to help the Crusaders snap Bucknell's seven-game winning streak, 72-61. With head coach Pat Flannery at home with an illness, the Bison got 21 points from Bettencourt but couldn't overcome 18 turnovers.
• March 6 at Show Place Arena: Fourth-seeded Bucknell bounced No. 5 Holy Cross 66-60 in the opening round of the Patriot League Tournament. Charles Lee and Chris McNaughton combined for 39 points on 14-for-18 shooting. Bucknell overcame a season-high 28 turnovers by shooting 61.8% from the field. Kevin Hamilton had 19 points for the Crusaders.
free admission for saturday's holy cross game
Bucknell opens its Patriot League slate on Saturday against Holy Cross at Sojka Pavilion, and as part of Community Day festivities there will be no admission charge. The game will be televised live to a national audience on College Sports Television (CSTV). Tipoff is at 2 p.m.
honest abe
Sophomore point guard Abe Badmus is averaging just 4.5 ppg, but he may very well be Bucknell's most valuable player thus far. Badmus leads the Patriot League in assist-turnover ratio, ranks third in steals and fourth in assists. He has also frustrated opposing guards with tenacious defense, and his acrobatic block of Carl Krauser's breakaway layup in the final minute of Sunday's 69-66 win at No. 7 Pittsburgh was the team's defensive play of the year.
clark a spark
Bucknell is now 6-0 this season with sophomore forward John Clark in the starting lineup. Clark was inserted as a starter in the Yale game, and the Bison have not lost since. Clark is 16-7 in his career as a starter.
protecting the pumpkin
While turnovers hampered the Bison early in the season, Bucknell has done a terrific job taking care of the basketball of late. The team has a positive assist-turnover ratio in four of its last five games (Robert Morris, Cornell, Niagara, Pittsburgh).
dee-fense
Bucknell's strong start has been keyed by its defense, which is yielding a meager 59.0 points per game and is holding opposing shooters to 39.8% from the floor. On. Dec. 28 the Bison held Niagara, the nation's highest scoring team at the time (89.7 ppg on the season and 96.2 ppg in its six games prior to Bucknell), to 74 points, including just one field goal in the last 6:36 of the contest. The Bison have not allowed more than 74 all season, and only two teams have reached the 70-point mark. Bucknell leads the Patriot League and ranks 28th nationally in scoring defense.
• In Bucknell's last 100 games, it has allowed ...
• ... 90 points once.
• ... 80-89 points 3 times.
• ... 70-79 points 19 times.
• ... 60-69 points 37 times.
• ... 50-59 points 25 times.
• ... 40-49 points 11 times.
• ... 30-39 points 2 times.
• ... 20-29 points 2 times.
dee-fense, part ii
Of its first 13 opponents, only three surpassed their season scoring average against Bucknell:
Opponent Season Avg.* Pts. vs. BU Difference Princeton 55.2 61 +5.8 Northern Colorado 61.2 54 -7.2 Rider 71.8 50 -21.8 Saint Francis (Pa.) 68.9 70 +1.1 Stephen F. Austin 70.9 49 -21.9 Iowa State 69.7 62 -7.7 Penn 63.3 65 +1.7 Yale 73.4 65 -8.4 Robert Morris 67.3 45 -22.3 Cornell 64.7 44 -20.7 Niagara 87.9 74 -13.9 St. Joseph's 62.0 62 E Pittsburgh 76.6 66 -10.6 * As of Jan. 5
road warriors
In winning its last four road contests, Bucknell has already surpassed its road victory total from all of last season. The Bison were 2-11 on enemy hardwood a year ago, but now stand 4-2 in 2004-05. The four-game road winning streak is the team's first since the 1998-99 season, when it topped Holy Cross, Colgate, Lehigh and Army.
home, sweet home
Bucknell is 3-1 at home this season and enters Saturday's tilt with a seven-game home winning streak against Patriot League foes. The Bison are 15-6 in Sojka Pavilion since debuting in the new facility on Jan. 15, 2003.
free points
In recent years Bucknell has struggled at times with its free-throw shooting, but that area has become a strength for the Bison. Led by outstanding free-throw shooters Kevin Bettencourt (93.3%) and Charles Lee (73.5%), as well as the much-improved shooting of Chris McNaughton (69.4%, up from 59.5% last season), Bucknell is shooting 70.5% as a team. Even more impressive, the Bison are knocking them down at crunch time, connecting on 77.4% (48-62) in the final five minutes of games (including overtime). They were 7-for-7 down the stretch and 14-for-16 overall in the win over Pittsburgh.
free points, part ii
Kevin Bettencourt was 9-for-10 from the line against Pitt and is now 42-for-45 (.933) on the season. As of Wednesday, he ranked tied for second in the nation in free-throw percentage, behind only Emanuel Dildy of Eastern Illinois (.939). Duke's J.J. Redick was also 42-for-45.
next up
The Bison play their first PL road game of the year at Colgate on Wednesday. Bucknell leads the all-time series with Colgate 43-38 and has won six of its last nine games at Cotterell Court.
