Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Draws No. 24 Northern Iowa in ESPN BracketBusters Game
1/30/2006 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 30, 2006
LEWISBURG, Pa. - In its first-ever appearance in "BracketBusters presented by eBay," a day-long showcase of the nation's top "mid-major" college basketball programs, Bucknell will travel to 24th-ranked Northern Iowa for a nationally televised game on Saturday, Feb. 18, ESPN announced Monday. The Bucknell-Northern Iowa matchup is being billed by ESPN as the headliner among 13 games that will be televised live on ESPN, ESPN2, ESPNU and ESPN360. Game times and network assignments will be announced by ESPN on Feb. 7.
Tickets for the Bucknell-Northern Iowa game may be purchased through the Bucknell Ticket Office at the Weis Center, or by calling 570-577-1000.
The contest pits two of this year's highest-ranked mid-major teams. In Monday's CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll, Bucknell ranks No. 2 while Northern Iowa is No. 3. In the latest Ratings Percentage Index (RPI), Northern Iowa is ranked 13th, while the Bison are 34th. Both teams have also received significant votes in the two major national polls all season, with the Panthers finally breaking into the top 25 for the first time this week. UNI is ranked 24th in the ESPN/USA TODAY Coaches' Poll and 25th in the Associated Press Poll.
The two teams are a combined 35-6 this season, and both can claim victories over major-conference foes. While Bucknell has knocked off No. 17 Syracuse, DePaul and St. Joseph's, Northern Iowa has wins over No. 12 Iowa, LSU and Dayton.
"The exposure associated with the BracketBusters and ESPN is tremendous for the Bucknell program at this time of year," said Bison head coach Pat Flannery, who recently became the Patriot League's all-time wins leader.
This year's "BracketBusters presented by eBay" field has been expanded to 100 teams, representing 18 mid-major conferences. Fifty of those teams were designated as home teams and 50 were pre-selected as away teams. Of the 50 games, 11 are scheduled to be televised, with six contests on ESPN or ESPN2 and an additional five on ESPNU.
As part of the BracketBusters agreement, Northern Iowa will play at Bucknell in a non-conference game in 2006-07. The Bison and Panthers have met just once previously, a 71-57 Bucknell victory at the San Juan Shootout on Nov. 24, 1990.
Northern Iowa has won its last five games and boasts a 19-3 overall record, 9-2 in the competitive Missouri Valley Conference. The Panthers, coached by Greg McDermott, have made back-to-back appearances in the NCAA Tournament. They won the MVC title for the first time in 2003-04, then last year they earned an at-large bid and a No. 11 seed, where they came up just short in a down-to-the-wire 57-52 loss to Wisconsin in Oklahoma City. Had UNI prevailed in that game, it would have met Bucknell in the second round. The Bison upset Kansas 64-63 just after the UNI-Wisconsin game.
The Panthers are led by senior guard Ben Jacobson (14.6 points per game), a First Team All-MVC selection a year ago. Jacobson has scored over 1,600 career points and is the school's career 3-point leader. Junior forward Grant Stout leads the MVC in rebounding at 8.4 per game and also scores 12.1 ppg. Sophomore Eric Coleman (11.9 ppg, 7.6 rpg) is the reigning MVC Freshman of the Year. Senior guard Erik Crawford also averages in double figures at 10.5 ppg, although he has been sidelined by a foot injury since early January.
Bucknell will travel to Cedar Falls armed with no shortage of star power. Junior center Chris McNaughton is the Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year and leads the Bison in scoring at 13.5 ppg. McNaughton just became the school's 31st 1,000-point scorer.
Senior co-captain Kevin Bettencourt (12.1 ppg) is Bucknell's career leader in 3-pointers, and he leads the Patriot League in assist-to-turnover ratio (60-29). Fellow co-captain Charles Lee (11.0 ppg) is a preseason all-league pick, who leads the PL in rebounding (5.8 rpg) despite standing only 6'3". Junior point guard Abe Badmus is the reigning Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year.
Now 16-3 overall and 7-0 in the Patriot League, the Bison travel to Army on Wednesday for a 7 p.m. contest.
"BracketBusters presented by eBay" Television Matchups
• Bucknell at Northern Iowa
• George Mason at Wichita State
• Missouri State at Wisconsin-Milwaukee
• Louisiana Tech at Southern Illinois
• Buffalo at Iona
• Fresno State at Creighton
• Akron at Nevada
• Butler at Kent State
• Marist at Old Dominion
• Northwestern State at Utah State
• Samford at Ohio
• Albany at Virginia Commonwealth
• Northern Arizona at Western Kentucky
