Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Cagers Travel to No. 25 Villanova on Tuesday
2/15/2005 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 15, 2005
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Having won three of its last four and 14 of its last 17 contests, Bucknell takes a quick diversion from Patriot League play Tuesday night at No. 25 Villanova. The game is Bucknell's third in the last five days, and it kicks off a three-game road trip that will continue with conference tilts at Army and Holy Cross. Over the weekend the Bison made some major headway in the battle for a top-two seed and the right to host the first two rounds of the Patriot League Tournament next month. Bucknell entered the weekend in a three-way tie for second place, but double-digit wins over American and Navy left the Orange & Blue alone in second, but still two games behind frontrunning Holy Cross. The Villanova game features a coaching matchup of two former Bucknell teammates in Pat Flannery (BU Class of 1980) and Jay Wright (1983). The duo has squared off twice before, most recently in a 69-45 Wildcats victory at the Pavilion in 2001-02. Despite a 90-75 loss to eighth-ranked Syracuse on Saturday, Villanova held on to the final spot in this week's Associated Press Top-25 Poll. The Wildcats are led by the high-scoring trio of Allan Ray (17.4 ppg), Curtis Sumpter (15.8 ppg, 7.7 rpg) and Randy Foye (14.9 ppg). Point guard Mike Nardi (8.8 ppg, 4.1 apg) gives 'Nova four players with at least 23 3-pointers on the season, while Foye leads the Big East in steals with 46. Villanova is also buoyed by the return from injury of center Jason Fraser, who ranks second in the league in blocked shots with 49 and averages 7.1 rpg. The Wildcats average 73.4 ppg and allow only 62.7 while compiling nearly six rebounds more than their opponents. Bucknell and Villanova have met 20 times previously, with the Wildcats holding an 11-9 series lead. The two teams have met just once since 1948, however.
about the bison
After struggling through a 1-3 road trip, the Bison righted themselves in front of two outstanding crowds at Sojka Pavilion over the weekend, avenging earlier defeats at American and Navy. Bucknell dropped the Eagles 65-52 on Friday, then held off Navy 71-60 on Sunday afternoon. The Herd entered the weekend in a three-way tie for second place in the Patriot League standings alongside American and Lehigh, but 48 hours later they had wrestled away sole possession of second place thanks to Lehigh's loss at Holy Cross and another American setback at Colgate.
with a victory over villanova, bucknell would ...
• ... improve to 2-0 against Top-25 teams this season.
• ... defeat a Big East team for the second time in 2005.
• ... win its fifth straight non-conference road game (Yale, Cornell, St. Joseph's, Pittsburgh).
• ... improve to 7-5 on the road this season.
• ... defeat the Wildcats for the first time since 1945.
• ... have its first 18-win season since 1996-97.
last time out
Charles Lee scored 19 of his 22 points in the first half to lead Bucknell to a 71-60 Patriot League victory over Navy on Sunday at Sojka Pavilion. The Bison shot 54.5% from the field and forced 22 Navy turnovers. Abe Badmus added 10 points, six assists and four steals for Bucknell, which stretched a nine-point halftime lead to as many as many as 15 in the second half. Navy twice pulled within seven points, but both times Kevin Bettencourt hit 3-pointers to stretch the lead back to 10. After a quiet start, Bettencourt scored all nine of his points in the game's final 6:31. Greg Sprink led Navy with 14 points and 10 rebounds. (See complete boxscore and recap on page 29.)
inside the boxscore
Freshman Darren Mastropaolo established career highs for points (9) and minutes played (29) ... Mastropaolo was 4 of 5 from the field ... Chris McNaughton was limited to 15 minutes due to foul trouble, but still managed eight points and seven rebounds ... the Bison had assists on 17 of 24 field goals ... they came up with 13 steals to help offset Navy's 37-26 rebounding edge.
american recap
On Friday, Bucknell opened with a 10-2 run and led wire-to-wire in a 65-52 win over American, which entered the game in a second-place tie with the Bison ... Kevin Bettencourt made 5 of 6 3-point attempts and scored a game-high 20 points ... Charles Lee had his second double-double of the year with 10 points and 10 rebounds, while Chris McNaughton added 11 points ... Chris Niesz made two big first-half threes and finished with a season-high nine points ... the Bison made 10 of 19 from 3-point territory and 19 of 22 from the free-throw line ... Bucknell outrebounded American 35-25 ... the Bison held Patriot League scoring leader Andre Ingram to four points on 2-for-12 shooting ... the Eagles' No. 2 scorer, Jason Thomas, was limited to five points on 2-for-9 accuracy.
meeting an old friend
Jay Wright, Bucknell Class of 1983, is in his fourth year as Villanova's head coach. A co-captain of the Bison's 17-11 team in 1982-83, Wright was the team's leading scorer as a junior (11.9 ppg.). A three-year letterman, Wright averaged 6.4 ppg. in 74 career games. As a freshman in 1979-80, he played on the Bison junior varsity squad while current Bison head coach Pat Flannery captained the varsity squad. Wright, who previously built Hofstra into one of the powers of the America East conference, is 2-0 against his alma mater as a head coach. He led Hofstra to a 69-55 win over the Bison at the Fairfield Tournament in 1997-98, then guided Villanova to a 69-45 victory over Bucknell in 2001-02.
philadelphia freedom
This will be Bucknell's third game this season in Philadelphia. Of the first two Philly trips, one went very well, and the other not so much. On Dec. 1 Bucknell suffered its most lopsided defeat of the season, 65-52 at Penn in a game it trailed by as many as 21 points. On Dec. 28, however, the Bison went into sold-out Alumni Memorial Gymnasium and dispatched St. Joseph's 69-62. That game was followed five days later by the Pittsburgh upset, one of the biggest wins in Bucknell history.
griffin returns home
The return to the Philadelphia area also means another homecoming for Bucknell freshman John Griffin. Typically the first guard off the bench, Griffin is averaging 7.1 ppg in his rookie campaign. He ranks fifth in the Patriot League in 3-point accuracy (.415) and is 34-38 (.895) from the free-throw line this season. Griffin scored six points against both Penn and St. Joseph's in his two previous games in Philadelphia. His father, John Griffin, is a former player and head coach at St. Joe's, and the younger Griffin starred at St. Joseph's Prep before coming to Bucknell.
against the big east
Bucknell is 28-85 (.248) all-time against the teams that currently comprise the Big East. The Bison are 9-11 against Villanova, 9-18 against Pittsburgh, 8-22 against Rutgers, 2-9 against Georgetown, 0-8 against West Virginia, 0-8 against Syracuse, 0-5 against Seton Hall, 0-2 against Connecticut, 0-2 against Notre Dame, 0-1 against St. John's and 0-1 against Boston College (they have never played Providence). Before stunning then-seventh-ranked Pittsburgh on Jan. 2, Bucknell's previous victory over any current Big East member was its 72-66 win over Pitt in 1974-75.
last meeting vs. villanova
On Dec. 1, 2001 at The Pavilion, Bucknell dropped a 69-45 decision to Villanova in a game that was much closer than the final score indicates. The Bison trailed by 10 with 11 minutes to play before the Wildcats pulled away late. Gary Buchanan led Villanova with 24 points (8-11 FG, 5-7 3FG) while Ricky Wright had 12. Norristown, Pa., native Chris Rodgers had one of his best career games for the Bison, finishing with 12 points (4-6 FG, 3-4 3FG), four assists and three steals off the bench. Boakai Lalugba added 11 points and seven rebounds. Only three active players on either team saw action in that game -- Bucknell's Chris Niesz (1 steal in 2 minutes), Villanova's Marcus Austin (5 points, 4 rebounds in 21 minutes) and Villanova's Tom Grace (2 minutes).
road warriors
In winning six of its last nine road contests, Bucknell has already blown by its road victory total from all of last season. The Bison were 2-11 on enemy hardwood a year ago, but now stand 6-5 in 2004-05. The Bison had a five-game road winning streak come to an end at American three weeks ago. It was the team's longest road run since the 1974-75 season, when Jim Valvano led his squad to eight straight victories on enemy hardwood.
home, sweet home
Bucknell is 9-1 at home this season and now has a 13-game home winning streak against PL foes. The Bison are 22-6 in Sojka Pavilion since debuting in the new facility on Jan. 15, 2003.
next up
Bucknell returns to Patriot League action on Saturday afternoon at Army. The Bison defeated the Black Knights 63-46 in Lewisburg on Jan. 15 and now lead the all-time series 30-14. In last season's meeting at West Point, Bucknell won 56-23.
