Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Basketball Back in Action Wednesday at Lafayette
1/16/2007 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 16, 2007
WHAT: Bucknell (8-8, 2-1) vs. Lafayette (7-11, 1-2)
WHERE: Kirby Sports Center, Easton, Pa.
WHEN: Wednesday, January 17, 2007, 7 p.m.
TV: Lafayette Sports Network (RCN-4 & WBPH-60 in Lehigh Valley)
RADIO: Eagle 107 and SportsJuice.com
LIVE VIDEO: Patriot League All-Access
COMPLETE PRESS NOTES
Bucknell looks to bounce back from its first Patriot League loss in almost two years in the first of two scheduled meetings with Lafayette on Wednesday night at the Kirby Sports Center in Easton. The Bison fell 65-60 at Holy Cross on Friday and are now tied for second place in the Patriot League at 2-1 (8-8 overall). Five of the league's eight teams are currently 1-2 in PL play, and Lafayette is one of the teams in that logjam. The Leopards, who are 7-11 overall, have lost four of their last five, including a 60-44 setback at Navy on Saturday. Matt Betley, who had 19 points in that game, leads the team in scoring (11.2 ppg) and rebounding (4.5). The Leopards are one of the league's highest-scoring teams, averaging 66.1 ppg, but they are last in the conference in scoring defense at 74.2 ppg.
with a victory over lafayette, bucknell would ...
-- ... get back over .500 at 9-8 overall.
-- ... win its seventh straight game against the Leopards.
-- ... win its third straight game in Easton.
-- ... win its 1,200th all-time game.
bucknell vs. lafayette
Bucknell and Lafayette have met 137 times previously, making the Leopards Bucknell's second most-played opponent (the Bison have played Lehigh 144 times). Since the series began in 1915, Lafayette leads 82-55. Since the start of Patriot League play in 1990-91, however, Bucknell has won 26 of 36 meetings, including the last six in a row.
bucknell vs. lafayette last season
The Bison swept the Leopards last season, winning both meetings by a combined 50 points.
-- On Jan. 18 at Sojka Pavilion, Bucknell held Lafayette to its lowest point total since 1948 in a 62-32 victory. Kevin Bettencourt scored a game-high 19 points, but the story was Bucknell's defense which forced the Leopards to miss 37 of 48 shots and commit 27 turnovers. Paul Cummins was Lafayette's top scorer with seven points.
-- On Feb. 15 at the Kirby Sports Center, No. 24 Bucknell played its first-ever game as a nationally ranked team and topped Lafayette 69-49 behind 14 points and 11 rebounds from Charles Lee. The Bison closed the first half with an 18-3 run to take control and improved to 21-3 on the season with their 12th straight win. Andrei Capusan led Lafayette with 12 points.
last time out
For the first time since Feb. 23, 2005, a span of 23 straight games, Bucknell lost a game to a Patriot League team when the Bison dropped a 65-60 decision at Holy Cross on Friday. Keith Simmons scored 22 points for the Crusaders, who led by 14 points in the second half before the Bison made a furious comeback. They cut it to one at 61-60 with 58 seconds to play but could get no closer. The rally evoked memories of last season's game at the Hart Center, when Bucknell came from 15 down with 16 minutes to play to win 57-52.
inside the holy cross boxscore
-- Justin Castleberry led the Bison with a career-high 16 points. He hit three 3-pointers and scored five straight points to cut Holy Cross' lead from 61-55 to 61-60 late in the game.
-- Holy Cross outscored Bucknell 19-10 from the free throw line.
-- The Bison had their worst rebounding game of the season, losing the battle on the glass 31-19.
-- Chris McNaughton and Abe Badmus both spent most of the first half on the bench with foul trouble, and the senior duo finished with four and zero points, respectively.
-- The Bison had a 10-to-4 assist-to-turnover ratio in the second half (5-to-8 in the first half).
-- Darren Mastropaolo went 4-for-5 from the field, making him 9-for-12 in Patriot League play thus far.
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 145-68 (.681) conference ledger and have posted 14 winning or even conference records in 16 years. The Bison won a league-record 23 straight contests against conference foes from Feb. 23, 2005 to Jan. 12, 2007. Bucknell has an active streak of 28 straight wins at home against conference opponents, with their last home league loss coming on March 2, 2003 against Colgate.
protecting the rock
The Bison have done an outstanding job taking care of the basketball in recent games. Bucknell had gone 44 straight games without a single-digit turnover total before doing so in three recent games in a row, including a season-low six turnovers against Navy on Jan. 6. That was Bucknell's lowest total in 418 games,when it had six miscues in an 88-64 win over North Texas at the KYLT Industries Classic at Montana on Dec. 5, 1992 . Prior to Navy, the Bison committed a then-season-low nine turnovers against Central Arkansas on Dec. 29, and one night later Bucknell lowered that total to eight miscues in the win over Northern Illinois. Prior to those three games, the last time Bucknell committed fewer than 10 turnovers was in the historic NCAA Tournament win over Kansas in 2005, when it had nine. The Bison had a positive assist-to-turnover ratio (15-12) for the fourth straight game last time out at Holy Cross.
protecting the rock, part ii
Bucknell's dramatic drop in turnovers has coincided with junior John Griffin sharing more of a ballhandling role. Griffin now leads the Patriot League in assist-to-turnover ratio by a wide margin at better than 4-to-1 (49 assists, only 12 turnovers), and that figure also leads the nation among players averaging at least 3.0 assists per game. He has gone five straight games without a single miscue, while accumulating 19 assists over that span.
Player APG A/TO 1. John Griffin, Bucknell 3.1 4.1 2. Darris Nichols, West Virginia 4.7 3.9 3. Engin Atsur, N.C. State 5.2 3.9 4. Eric Maynor, Virginia Commonwealth 5.8 3.6 5. Shane James, Loyola (Md.) 3.0 3.2
milestone watch
-- Chris McNaughton how has 1,315 points, which ranks 12th on Bucknell's career list. He is now 12 points behind J.R. Holden (1,327) for 11th.
-- Abe Badmus now ranks second on Bucknell's career steals list (192). He is 94 thefts shy of the school record set by Mike Bright (286) from 1989-93. Against Holy Cross Badmus moved into fifth place on the school chart with 333 career assists. He needs 66 more to catch Cal Puriefoy for fourth place.
-- Abe Badmus needs nine points for 600 in his career. John Griffin scored his 500th career point against American.
-- Against Texas Tech, Griffin became the 12th player in school history to record 100 career 3-pointers (he now has 107, tied for 10th-most in school history).
who's got next?
Bucknell begins a three-game homestand on Saturday agianst Colgate. The 2 p.m. contest will air live on ESPNU. Following the visit by the Raiders, Lehigh will be at Sojka Pavilion on Jan. 23, followed by Army on Jan. 27.
