Bucknell University Athletics
Bison Cagers in Search of Eighth Straight Win Wednesday at Army
1/31/2006 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 31, 2006
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Bucknell will try to get to 8-0 in Patriot League play for the first time ever on Wednesday night when it travels to West Point to play Army. A victory would also match the team's best-ever 20-game start. The Bison have won seven straight games since falling to then-No. 1 Duke on Jan. 2, with all seven coming in league play. Most recently, they ran past Navy 81-47 at Sojka Pavilion on Saturday. The only other time Bucknell was 7-0 in the Patriot League was 1994-95 -- Pat Flannery's first year as the team's head coach -- but the Bison lost at Navy in game No. 8 that season. At the halfway point of conference play, the Orange & Blue own a one-game lead over Lehigh and a two-game cushion over Holy Cross. Army comes into the contest in eighth place at 1-6. The Black Knights defeated arch-rival Navy 80-73 on Jan. 22, but since then have suffered losses to Lafayette (82-61) and Colgate (60-41). Veteran coach Jim Crews' team is led offensively by Jarell Brown, who averages 15.2 ppg. Brown has had some prodigious scoring games this season, including a 26-point showing at Connecticut and a 29-point effort against Lafayette last week. Matt Bell, a Second Team All-Patriot League pick last season, is scoring at a 13.9-ppg clip. Bucknell has won the last nine meetings with Army and has allowed only 47.3 ppg in those nine victories. The Black Knights' last win over the Bison came on Feb. 14, 2001 at Christl Arena (60-55). Bucknell leads the all-time series 31-14.
with a victory over army, bucknell would ...
• ... go to 17-3, which would equal the best 20-game start in school history (1983-84).
• ... go to 8-0 in the Patriot League for the first time ever.
• ... win its 12th straight game against Patriot League foes (including PL Tournament).
• ... remain in sole possession of first place in the Patriot League.
• ... defeat the Black Knights for the 10th straight time.
• ... win at Christl Arena for the fifth straight year.
last time out: bison sweep season series from midshipmen
After defeating Lehigh in a first-place showdown last Wednesday, Bucknell showed no signs of a letdown in a wire-to-wire, 81-47 victory over Navy at sold-out Sojka Pavilion on Saturday. Charles Lee scored 12 points and Abe Badmus and Donald Brown had 11 each in a balanced scoring attack, as Bucknell swept the season series from the Midshipmen. It was another terrific defensive outing for the Bison, who forced Navy into 26 turnovers and 27.7% shooting. Bucknell sprinted to a 10-1 lead, went up 34-20 at the half, and led by 30-plus for much of the second half.
inside the boxscore
Bucknell had 12 steals, while Navy had a 7-to-26 assist-to-turnover ratio ... Abe Badmus and the rest of the Bison backcourt forced Navy point guard Kaleo Kina into a 10-turnover evening ... the Bison shot a season-high 42 free throws, making 28 ... sophomore reserve Rob Thomas scored a career-high nine points in nine minutes ... the Bison bench tallied 41 points in both victories over Navy this season ... Badmus had eight assists for the second time in three games ... Charles Lee scored 11 of his 12 points in the second half.
last year's bucknell-army meetings
• Jan. 15, 2005 at Sojka Pavilion: Charles Lee led all players with 15 points and nine rebounds to pace Bucknell to a 63-46 victory over Army. Chris McNaughton scored all 12 of his points in the second half and Abe Badmus had 11 points, eight rebounds and three steals. Bucknell did most of its damage in the second half, rallying from a miserable shooting performance over the first 20 minutes. The Bison made only three of their first 19 shots from the field and led just 21-19 at the break. Bucknell shot 23.3% overall in the first half (7-30) and made just 1 of 12 3-point tries. Thee Bison doubled their scoring output with a 42-point second stanza, buoyed by 50% shooting from the field (13-26). Colin Harris led Army with 14 points.
• Feb. 19, 2005 at Christl Arena: Lee scored 22 points and Kevin Bettencourt added 14 to lead Bucknell to a 69-55 victory at West Point. Matt Bell tallied 23 points for the Black Knights. Bucknell broke open a six-point game at the half by scoring 24 of the first 33 points of the second half. The Bison began the game without two ill starters -- Badmus and McNaughton, who played only eight and nine minutes, respectively.
bucknell to play northern iowa in espn bracketbusters
ESPN on Monday announced the TV pairings for the Feb. 18 "BracketBusters presented by eBay" showcase, and Bucknell has been paired with No. 24 Northern Iowa. Game times and ESPN network assignments will be announced on Feb. 7. The Bison and Panthers nearly met in the second round of the NCAA Tournament last season. Just prior to Bucknell's upset of Kansas, UNI lost a down-to-the-wire 57-52 decision to Wisconsin.
"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
hot starts
Bucknell has become the sixth Patriot League team to start a season 7-0, and only two have extended the streak beyond seven.
Best Starts in Patriot League play
Fordham, 1990-91 Started 11-0 Finished 11-1
Navy, 1997-98 Started 9-0 Finished 10-2
Holy Cross, 1992-93 Started 7-0 Finished 12-2
Bucknell, 1994-95 Started 7-0 Finished 11-3
Lafayette, 2003-04 Started 7-0 Finished 9-5
Bucknell, 2005-06 Started 7-0 Finished ?-?
patriot league foes find points hard to come by
In seven Patriot League games thus far in 2006, Bucknell has allowed only 45.7 ppg and has held teams to 31.0% shooting. That continues a trend of stellar defense dating back to last season, when the Bison allowed 34, 35 and 57 points in three Patriot League Tournament wins. In their last 10 games against PL foes, the Bison have allowed an average of only 44.6 ppg. Bucknell has allowed less than 70 points in each of its last 27 games against league competition.
bison now rank fourth in nation in scoring defense ...
Through Monday's games, Bucknell ranks fourth nationally in scoring defense, allowing only 55.2 points per game.
National Leaders, Scoring Defense: 1. Air Force 53.1 2. Richmond 53.5 3. Southern Illinois 54.9 4. Bucknell 55.2 5. Princeton 56.0 6. Illinois 56.4 7. St. John's 57.3 8. Boston University 57.4 9. Washington State 57.5 10.Northwestern 57.7
... and third in field-goal percentage defense
National Leaders, FG% Defense: 1. Kansas .358 2. Texas .367 3. Bucknell .367 4. Connecticut .367 5. Iowa .372 6. Memphis .376 7. George Mason .378 8. St. John's .378 9. Kansas State .381 10.Xavier .384
