Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell, Penn State to Meet for 99th Time on Hardwood Tuesday at Bryce Jordan Center
11/20/2006 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 20, 2006
WHAT: Bucknell (0-3) vs. Penn State (2-1)
WHERE: Bryce Jordan Center, University Park, Pa.
WHEN: Tuesday, November 21, 2006, 7:30 p.m.
RADIO: Eagle 107 and SportsJuice.com
COMPLETE PRESS NOTES
Bucknell and Penn State meet for the first time in three seasons Tuesday night at the Bryce Jordan Center. Bucknell is off to a frustrating 0-3 start and is anxious for a victory. The Bison have dropped close road games in sold-out gyms at defending America East champion Albany and A-10 challenger Saint Joseph's, sandwiched around an overtime home loss to Wake Forest. Bucknell was in position to win all three games in the final minutes but fell short down the stretch in each one. Penn State defeated Morehead State (63-46) and UNC Greensboro (69-56) to start the year, but the Nittany Lions were upset at home by Stony Brook (59-51) in their most recent outing Friday night. Jamelle Cornley leads the team in scoring (16.3) and rebounding (10.3), while Ben Luber (11.3) also scores in double figures. Penn State has missed the services of Third Team All-Big Ten wing Geary Claxton, who is out with an injury.
with a victory over penn state, bucknell would ...
-- ... enter the win column for the first time in 2006-07.
-- ... snap a 10-game losing streak to the Nittany Lions.
-- ... defeat the Nittany Lions for the first time since Jan. 14, 1976 (69-64 at Davis Gym).
-- ... defeat the Nittany Lions in State College for the first time since Feb. 21, 1968 (74-73 OT).
-- ... hand PSU its first-ever loss to a Patriot League team.
bucknell vs. penn state
This is the 99th meeting between Bucknell and Penn State in a series that dates all the way back to 1897. The only teams the Bison have played more frequently than the Nittany Lions are Lehigh (144), Lafayette (137) and Gettysburg (126). On Jan. 14, 1976 the Bison won 69-64 in Lewisburg, and the two teams did not face off again until the 1994-95 season. They then met once per season for the next 10 years, with the Lions winning all 10, and on Tuesday Bucknell and Penn State play for the first time since Jan. 3, 2004, a 58-46 PSU win.
the last bucknell-penn state meeting (jan. 3, 2004)
Jan Jagla led seven players in double figures with 17 points and Penn State used a decisive 14-2 run early in the second half to pull away from Bucknell 58-46 at Bryce Jordan Center. Bucknell took a 26-25 halftime lead on Kevin Bettencourt's long 3-pointer as time expired, and Bettencourt opened the second half with another three to give the Bison a four-point lead, but they managed only one field goal over the next 9:36. Buoyed by seven points from point guard Marlon Smith, Penn State outscored Bucknell 14-2 over that span and took a 39-31 lead with 9:38 to play. Bucknell closed within four on John Clark's elbow jumper at the 7-minute mark, but two free throws by Ndu Egekeze and a 3-pointer by Ben Luber made it an eight-point lead at 46-38 with 5:16 left. The Nittany Lions went 4-for-4 from the foul line and got 3-pointers from Smith and Jagla in the final four minutes to seal the verdict. The Bison led by as many as six points in the opening half following back-to-back layups by Chris McNaughton midway through the period. There were six ties and five lead changes in the half, the last coming on Bettencourt's buzzer-beater. Penn State guards Smith and Luber both played 40 minutes each and combined for 26 points, six assists and five steals. Bettencourt led Bucknell with 16 points and McNaughton had 10 points and nine rebounds. The Bison shot 50.0 percent from the field in the first half but only 29.2 in the second and finished at 39.1 for the game.
last time out
A 25-6 run to close the first half erased an early deficit and sent host Saint Joseph's on to a 63-53 victory over Bucknell on Sunday afternoon at sold-out Alumni Memorial Gymnasium (see p. 25 for complete recap and boxscore). Chris McNaughton scored a season-high 14 points and Darren Mastropaolo had a career-high 13 for the Bison, who led throughout much of the first half before the Hawks' big run gave them a 13-point lead. The Bison closed within four in the final five minutes, but Saint Joseph's had enough down the stretch to snap a two-game losing streak to Bucknell. Ahmad Nivins led the Hawks with 15 points, while Pat Calathes added 14 and Rob Ferguson 11.
inside the saint joseph's boxscore
-- When the Bison last played on Hawk Hill two years ago, they made 10 of 15 3-point attempts in a 69-62 victory. This time, however, they made only 3 of 15 from long range.
-- John Griffin, who attended Saint Joseph's Prep, had four assists without a turnover and now has a league-best 14-to-2 assist-to-turnover ratio through three games.
-- Bucknell collected 13 offensive rebounds and had an overall 30-23 rebounding edge.
-- Point guard Abe Badmus had five assists, but seven turnovers.
-- Darren Mastropaolo set career highs for points (13), field goals (6) and field-goal attempts (12).
a rare losing streak
Having lost only five games all of last season and only 14 over the last two years, losing streaks have certainly been rare at Bucknell in recent times. The Bison had not lost more than two games in a row since January 2004, when they lost five straight before winning 11 of 15 to finish the year.
junior achievement
Last Tuesday's game against Wake Forest was a stellar night for Bucknell's junior class, particularly for two players who have been out of the spotlight in their first two seasons.
-- Rob Thomas came into the game with 36 points in 36 career games, but he exploded for 16 against Wake Forest on 6-for-9 shooting (3-3 3FG).
-- Andrew Morrison entered the contest with 11 points in 31 career games, but he pocketed 10 points and five rebounds in 21 minutes off the bench. Morrison had four career field goals coming in, but he went 4-for-7 from the field against Wake. Morrison played only 33 minutes all of last season, but he has already played 34 in two games this season.
-- Darren Mastropaolo has been a starter for about a season and a half, but like Thomas and Morrison had never scored in double figures until Tuesday. Mastropaolo scored a career-high 10 points on 4-for-4 shooting. He also had two steals and drew three charging calls.
-- John Griffin had an off shooting night (1-7 FG, 1-6 3FG), but still had a career-high six assists with only one turnover.
milestone watch
-- Chris McNaughton ranks 17th on Bucknell's career scoring list (1182). He needs one point to catch Joe Gallagher (1183) for 16th place and 11 to equal current assistant coach Dan Bowen (1193) for 15th.
-- Abe Badmus now ranks second on Bucknell's career steals list (174). He needs 112 thefts to catch Mike Bright (286) for the school record. Badmus needs six steals for 300 in his career.
-- Pat Flannery needs five victories for 300 in his career.
bucknell vs. the big ten
Against the 11 teams that currently make up the Big Ten, Bucknell owns an all-time record of 24-79. The Bison are 24-74 against Penn State (0-10 since PSU joined the Big Ten in 1992-93), and 0-1 against Ohio State, Iowa, Michigan State, Wisconsin and Northwestern.
who's got next?
Bucknell's four-game road swing continues after Thanksgiving, when the Bison visit Yale in New Haven, Conn., on Saturday at 2 p.m. The Bulldogs routed Allegheny 98-55 in their opener, then fell to 1-1 with a 73-65 loss at Ohio on Sunday. Yale remains in the Buckeye State to take on Dayton on Tuesday night before returning home to host Bucknell. Junior guard Eric Flato leads the team in scoring at 15.5 ppg.
