Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Basketball Returns Home to Face Colgate Saturday on ESPNU
1/19/2007 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 19, 2007
WHAT: Bucknell (9-8, 3-1) vs. Colgate (6-11, 1-3)
WHERE: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
WHEN: Saturday, January 20, 2007, 2 p.m.
RADIO: Eagle 107 and SportsJuice.com
SATELLITE RADIO: SIRIUS 123
TV: ESPNU
PROMOTIONS: Hawaiian Day, ESPN Spirit Week
COMPLETE PRESS NOTES
As part of ESPN's "Spirit Week" the Bucknell marketing and promotions staff has declared an "Orange Out" for Saturday's ESPNU-televised game against Colgate at Sojka Pavilion. All fans attending the game are encouraged to wear orange.
Bucknell brings a 3-1 Patriot League record into the contest against Colgate. The Bison are tied with Lehigh for second place in the Patriot League standings, one game behind 4-0 Holy Cross. Bucknell shook off a slow start at Lafayette last time out and rallied for a 67-61 victory. Donald Brown led all players with 19 points in the victory, and he continues to lead the Bison in scoring (12.0), rebounding (6.5), field-goal percentage (.611) and steals (26). John Griffin also scores in double figures at 10.5 ppg. Colgate has dropped three straight games and eight of its last 10, including a 60-59 setback at Lehigh on Wednesday. The Raiders are one of four Patriot League teams with 1-3 conference records, with their lone PL win coming at home in overtime against Army on Jan. 6. Colgate's top scorer is senior guard Jon Simon (13.1 ppg), who poured in 28 against Lehigh earlier in the week, including the 1,000th point of his career. Kendall Chones (11.5) is also a double-figure scorer and leads the team in rebounding (4.2).
with a victory over colgate, bucknell would ...
-- ... earn its 10th win of the year and move two games over .500 for the first time this season.
-- ... win its fifth straight game against the Raiders.
-- ... win its fourth straight home game against the Raiders.
-- ... win its 29th straight home game against Patriot League opponents.
-- ... improve to 42-9 all-time at Sojka Pavilion.
bucknell vs. colgate
In a series that dates back to 1920, Bucknell leads 47-38. The Bison have swept each of the last two season series and have beaten Colgate four straight times. As Patriot League rivals, Bucknell has won 26 of the 37 meetings, including 13 of 16 in Lewisburg.
bucknell vs. colgate last season
The Bison took two from the Raiders a year ago, one a lopsided decision at home, the other a hard-fought, come-from-behind win on the road.
-- On Jan. 21 at Sojka Pavilion, Chris McNaughton scored 16 points and Donald Brown had 14 points and eight rebounds off the bench to lead Bucknell to a 62-43 victory. The Bison held Colgate to 34.0% shooting and only two field goals in the last 10:18 of the game. Alvin Reed and Kyle Roemer scored 11 points apiece to lead the Raiders.
-- On Feb. 4 at Cotterell Court, the Bison trailed by 12 points in the second half but rallied for a 68-59 win behind 17 points from Kevin Bettencourt and 13 points and seven assists from Charles Lee. The Bison started 2-for-17 from the field to fall behind, but then went 14-for-21 in the second half, when they outscored Colgate 48-31. Roemer led all scorers with 19 for the Raiders.
colgate last patriot league team to win at sojka
On March 2, 2003, when the current Bison freshmen were in the ninth grade, Colgate rallied for a 64-56 victory at Sojka Pavilion. The Bison have not lost to a Patriot League team at home since then, winning 28 in a row including regular-season and PL Tournament games. During that streak, Bucknell's closest call also came against Colgate. In the 2004-05 regular-season finale, the Raiders scored 12 straight points to take a 59-57 lead, but senior Chris Niesz hit a 3-pointer at the buzzer to win it for the Bison.
last time out
The Bison got off to a horrific start in Easton on Wednesday night, but for the third time this season they rallied from a double-digit deficit and defeated Lafayette 67-61 (see p. 32 for complete recap and boxscore). Bucknell trailed 13-3 in the early going before pulling within two at the half. Lafayette stretched its lead back to eight early in the second half, but three 3-pointers from Jason Vegotsky and 14 straight free throws in the final 2:57 helped complete the comeback.
inside the lafayette boxscore
-- Bucknell came into the game averaging only 10 turnovers in its first three Patriot League games. Against Lafayette, however, the Bison turned it over on each of its first five possessions, had 10 by halftime and finished with 20 miscues, its most since the Wake Forest game in the first week of the season.
-- John Griffin had gone five straight games without a turnover, but the streak ended when he had a pass stolen on the very first possession of the night.
-- One game after being outrebounded 31-19 at Holy Cross, the Bison held a commanding 39-23 edge on the glass. The +16 margin was by far a season high, more than doubling the previous best of +7.
-- Bucknell started the game 4-for-12 from the free-throw line, then made its last 15 in a row.
-- Donald Brown was the team's top scorer for the seventh time this season, finishing with 19 on 7-for-11 shooting.
-- Chris McNaughton equaled his career high with 11 rebounds.
-- Jason Vegotsky finished with a season-high 18 points, one shy of his career high. His four 3-pointers were a season best, and he set new personal highs in field-goal attempts (13) and 3-point attempts (11).
-- The victory was the 1,200th in school history, against 1,071 losses.
success when getting to the line
Bucknell has shot more free throws than its opponent eight times this season and is 7-1 in those games. In Patriot League play, the Bison have outscored their four opponents 67-41 from the stripe.
defending the arc
One area of concern for the Bison has been defending the 3-point line. In four Patriot League games, Bucknell opponents have made 34 trifectas, including 10 each by both Navy and Lafayette, while the Bison have made 19. They have now been outscored from the arc in five of the last six games. League opponents are shooting an even 40.0% from 3-point range.
making amends
Early in the season Bucknell lost two games in which it had double-digit leads, first on opening night at Albany and then at home against Wake Forest. The Bison atoned for those two lost chances by overcoming big deficits against Saint Francis (Pa.), Cornell and Lafayette. On Nov. 29, the Bison trailed the Red Flash by 15 in the first half, by 10 at halftime and by eight with 2:55 left. At Cornell on Dec. 16, Bucknell trailed by 17 in the first half, by 13 at halftime and by eight with 4:45 left. At Lafayette on Wednesday, the Bison fell behind 13-3 and trailed by as many as eight in the second half before winning 67-61.
protecting the rock
The Bison had been doing an outstanding job taking care of the basketball in recent games, but struggled in that department in Wednesday's win over Lafayette. 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 at Holy Cross last weekend, but then committed 20 errors against Lafayette in Easton on Wednesday night.
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 3.5-to-1 (52 assists, only 15 turnovers). He had gone five straight games without a single miscue until the streak was snapped at Lafayette on Wednesday. Going into that game he led the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio among players averaging 3.0 assists per game or better, and now he ranks third after a three-assist, three-TO showing against the Leopards.
Player APG A/TO 1. Darris Nichols, West Virginia 4.8 4.3 2. Engin Atsur, N.C. State 5.2 3.9 3. John Griffin, Bucknell 3.1 3.5 4. Eric Maynor, Virginia Commonwealth 5.8 3.3 5. Mike Conley, Ohio State 6.6 3.3
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 146-68 (.682) 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.
milestone watch
-- Chris McNaughton how has 1,324 points, which ranks 12th on Bucknell's career list. He is now just three points behind J.R. Holden (1,327) for 11th and 10 points behind Boakai Lalugba (1,334) for 10th.
-- Abe Badmus now ranks second on Bucknell's career steals list (195). He is 91 thefts shy of the school record set by Mike Bright (286) from 1989-93. Badmus has also moved into fifth place on the school chart with 336 career assists. He needs 63 more to catch Cal Puriefoy for fourth place.
-- Badmus needs four 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 108, which is 10th-most in school history).
who's got next?
Bucknell's three-game homestand continues on Tuesday night when Lehigh visits Sojka Pavilion for a 7 p.m. start. The Mountain Hawks are tied for second place with Bucknell in the Patriot League standings entering their game with crosstown rival Lafayette on Saturday night.
