Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Welcomes Wake Forest to Sojka Pavilion Tuesday Evening
11/12/2006 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 12, 2006
WHAT: Bucknell (0-1) vs. Wake Forest (1-0)
WHERE: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
WHEN: Tuesday, November 14, 2006, 7 p.m.
RADIO: Eagle 107 and SportsJuice.com
TV: CN8 and Fox Sports Net South
COMPLETE PRESS NOTES
with a victory over wake forest, bucknell would ...
-- ... defeat the Demon Deacons for the first time ever.
-- ... defeat a team from the ACC for the first time since 1961 (Virginia) and only the second time ever.
-- ... win its home opener for the third straight year.
-- ... extend its home winning streak to 14.
-- ... improve to 40-7 all-time in Sojka Pavilion.
about the game
One of the most highly anticipated home games in Bucknell basketball history takes place on Tuesday evening, when Wake Forest becomes the first Atlantic Coast Conference team ever to play the Bison in Lewisburg. Both teams opened up on Saturday. The Bison fell 55-49 at Albany, while a young Wake Forest squad rallied to defeat James Madison 91-82 at Joel Coliseum behind 23 points (10-10 FG) from Kyle Visser and 12 points and 11 assists from freshman Ishmael Smith. The Demon Deacons finished 17-17 last season and advanced to the semifinals of the ACC Tournament. They then lost at Minnesota in the first round of the NIT. Wake Forest has averaged 22 wins per season under sixth-year head coach Skip Prosser. His Deacon teams played in the NCAA Tournament four straight years from 2002-05, advancing to at least the second round each time, including a Sweet Sixteen appearance in 2004. Wake Forest was ranked No. 1 in the nation as recently as 2005. The Demon Deacons graduated their top four scorers from a year ago, but they do boast the nation's No. 10-ranked recruiting class, according to Rivals.com. Bucknell and Wake Forest have met twice previously, both times in Winston-Salem, N.C. The Demon Deacons won 83-56 on Jan. 2, 1974 and 83-67 on Feb. 6, 1991.
a family affair
For the very first time, Wake Forest head coach Skip Prosser will coach against his son, Mark, who is now in his fourth year as an assistant on Pat Flannery's staff at Bucknell. Mark is the younger of Skip and Nancy Prosser's two sons. He graduated from Lawrenceville (N.J.) Prep and attended Marist on a basketball scholarship. A knee injury cut short his playing career, but he remained with the program as a student assistant coach under Dave Magarity. After graduating in 2002, he joined the coaching staff at Wofford for one season before coming to Bucknell prior to the 2003-04 season.
big names in sojka pavilion
This is the second straight year that a "major-conference" team has paid a visit to Sojka Pavilion. Last December, fourth-ranked Villanova broke open a three-point game in the second half and won 79-60. A Bucknell-record crowd of 4,433 witnessed that contest. The Wildcats were the highest-ranked team ever to play at Bucknell.
last time out
In their 2006-07 season opener, the Bison let a 15-point lead get away and defending America East champion Albany pulled out a 55-49 victory at sold-out SEFCU Arena on Saturday. John Griffin scored a career-high 19 points and Jason Vegotsky added 13, but Bucknell managed only four field goals in 21 attempts in the second half. The Bison built a 34-19 lead late in the first half and still led 34-22 at intermission, but the Great Danes outscored Bucknell 33-15 over the final 20 minutes. Brian Lillis hit two go-ahead free throws with 51 seconds left, and Jason Siggers led Albany with 17 points.
a rare sight
Just how rare was it for Bucknell to lose grasp on any halftime lead, much less a double-digit advantage? The Bison were 20-1 last season and had been 51-6 over the last three years when leading at the half.
inside the boxscore
-- John Griffin made a career-high four 3-pointers on the way to a personal-best 19 points. He also had four assists with only one turnover, blocked a shot and recorded two steals.
-- Andrew Morrison played 13 minutes off the bench and hit his first career 3-pointer.
-- Donald Brown's nine rebounds were one shy of his career high.
-- Bucknell made only one of its first 15 field-goal attempts to start the second half and at one point went 14:01 without a bucket from the floor.
-- The Bison went 14-for-16 (.875) from the free-throw line, including a 7-for-7 showing from Griffin.
griffin a strong starter
Junior John Griffin has had three of the best games of his career in each of his three season openers. As a freshman, Griffin started at point guard in place of the injured Abe Badmus against Princeton in the Coaches vs. Cancer Classic at the Carrier Dome and scored 18 points on 5-for-5 shooting. That was his career scoring high until Saturday night, when he scored 19 against Albany in this year's opener. Last season, Griffin had six points and a career-high five assists at Rider, and he hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 17 seconds left in what eventually became a Bison victory.
what a year!
For a more in-depth look back at Bucknell's exhilarating 2005-06 championship season, see pp 4-11 and 86-94 in the Bucknell media guide, but below are some quick highlights from last season:
-- The Bison went 27-5, breaking the school victory record, and became the first team in Patriot League history to go unbeaten in the league at 14-0. Gonzaga (WCC) and George Washington (A-10) were the only other teams in the nation to go unbeaten in league play.
-- Bucknell defeated Holy Cross in the Patriot League championship game for the second straight year, completing a perfect 17-game sweep of league foes.
-- Seeded ninth in the NCAA Tournament -- the highest seed ever for Bucknell or any Patriot League member -- the Bison advanced to the Round of 32 for the second year in a row by defeating Arkansas 59-55. In the second round Bucknell fell to top-seeded Memphis 72-56.
-- Of Bucknell's five losses, three came at the hands of No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament -- Villanova, Duke and Memphis. A fourth loss came in double overtime at Northern Iowa, an NCAA at-large selection.
-- For the first time in school history the Bison earned a national Top-25 ranking. On Feb. 13 the Bison were ranked No. 24 in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches' Polls. They dropped out of the Top-25 after the UNI loss, but they re-entered at No. 25 in the final coaches' poll of the season.
milestone watch
-- Chris McNaughton ranks 19th on Bucknell's career scoring list (1164). He needs three points to match Bryan Bailey (1167) for 18th, 10 points to catch Gerald Purnell (1174) for 17th and 19 to equal Joe Gallagher (1183) for 16th.
-- Abe Badmus ranks third on Bucknell's career steals list (170). He needs three thefts to equal Sekou Hamer (173) for second place and 116 to catch Mike Bright (286) for the school record.
honors for mcnaughton
Senior center Chris McNaughton pocketed a pair of significant preseason honors over the last few weeks. He was named the Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year for the second year in a row at the Patriot League Media Day at the ESPNZone restaurant in Baltimore on Oct. 19. Then on Oct. 31 he was named to the collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Preseason All-America Team. McNaughton has played in 94 straight games entering the 2005-06 season and has a career 12.3 scoring average while shooting 60.8 percent from the field, the second-best career mark in school history. McNaughton also ranks 20th on the career scoring list with 1,158 points.
patriot league success
No Patriot League team has won more regular-season conference games than Bucknell since the start of league play in 1990-91. The Bison carry an impressive 143-67 (.681) conference ledger and have posted 14 winning or even conference records in 16 years. Including Patriot League Tournament games, the Bison have won 21 straight contests against conference foes. Their last league loss came on Feb. 23, 2005 at Holy Cross. Bucknell has also won 27 straight home games against conference opponents, with their last home league loss coming on March 2, 2003 against Colgate.
bucknell in home openers
Bucknell is 8-4 in home openers under Pat Flannery. Last season the Bison defeated Yale 87-60 in their home opener and went on to finish 14-1 at Sojka Pavilion.
home, sweet home
Bucknell was 14-1 at home last season and is 26-2 in Sojka Pavilion since the start of the 2004-05 season. The Bison enter this season with a 13-game overall home winning streak and a 27-game run against league foes. All told, the Bison are 39-7 (.848) in Sojka Pavilion since debuting in the new facility on Jan. 15, 2003. That is the 16th-best winning percentage in the nation for teams in their current home arenas.
road warriors
Last season Bucknell tied its school record with 11 road victories en route to an 11-3 record on enemy hardwood. The 1983-84 team also won 11 road contests, but no other team has reached double digits since 1927-28.
bison scholar-athletes
The Bucknell basketball program has also enjoyed tremendous success in the classroom in recent years. Among the highlights:
-- Chris McNaughton has been named the Patriot League Scholar-Athlete of the Year in both 2005 and 2006, and last season he was voted onto the ESPN the Magazine Academic All-District Team. McNaughton is an electrical engineering major who posted a stellar 3.55 grade-point average in the spring 2006 semester.
-- In the Patriot League's 16-year history, the league's men's basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year has come from Bucknell eight times.
-- Bucknell drew national acclaim at the NCAA Tournament last March for its perfect 100-percent men's basketball graduation rate.
-- The Bison men's basketball program easily met the national standard in the NCAA's Academic Performance Rate (APR) study, released last March.
-- Bucknell has claimed 111 national Academic All-Americans since 1970, including eight from men's basketball. The total of 111 ranks fourth among all Division I institutions, trailing only Nebraska, Notre Dame and Penn State.
bucknell vs. the acc
Against the 12 teams that currently make up the Atlantic Coast Conference, Bucknell owns a all-time record of 1-19. The lone victory came at Virginia (99-81) on Jan. 27, 1961. Bucknell's most recent game against an ACC foe was on Jan. 2, 2006, when the Bison fell 84-50 to No. 1 Duke at Cameron Indoor Stadium.
who's got next?
Bucknell's difficult schedule continues next Sunday on Hawk Hill, where a sellout crowd is expected for the Bison and Saint Joseph's in Philadelphia. The Hawks lead the all-time series 16-3, but the Bison have beaten Phil Martelli's Atlantic 10 squad in each of the last two seasons. Saint Joseph's opens its 2006-07 season on Tuesday night at home against Fairfield. The Hawks will then travel to Lafayette on Friday before hosting the Bison on Sunday afternoon at 2 p.m.
