Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Basketball Visits No. 23 Villanova Sunday Evening
11/16/2007 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 16, 2007
WHAT: Bucknell (2-0) vs. No. 23 Villanova (1-0)
WHERE: The Pavilion, Villanova, Pa.
WHEN: Sunday, November 18, 2007, 5 p.m.
TV: None
INTERNET VIDEO: Nova Nation All-Access
RADIO: Eagle 107 and SportsJuice.com
COMPLETE PRESS NOTES
NOTE: Sunday's game will not be televised on regional or local television platforms, and the game is sold out. However, fans can watch the game live online via Villanova's "Nova Nation All-Access." There is a $9.95 subscription charge, which covers a month of programming including the Bucknell-Villanova game. Scott Graham, who calls college basketball for ESPN and Comcast Sports Net and is also one of the signature voices of NFL Films, will handle play-by-play, while John Celestand, a former Wildcat guard who played on three NCAA Tournament teams during his four seasons (1995-99) at Villanova, joins Graham as color analyst.
With a Victory over Villanova, Bucknell Would ...
-- ... begin the season 3-0 for the second time in the last three years, and for the third time under coach Pat Flannery.
-- ... defeat a nationally ranked team for the fourth time since January 2005, and for the first time since Nov. 22, 2005 (74-69 at No. 17 Syracuse).
-- ... defeat the Wildcats for the first time since Dec. 8, 1945 (43-32).
-- ... win on the Wildcats' home floor for the first time since Dec. 13, 1944 (43-42).
About the Game
Bucknell puts its 2-0 record on the line against No. 23 Villanova on Sunday evening at The Pavilion in the middle game of a three-game road trip. Despite beginning the season without the services of three injured veterans, the Bison are off to a 2-0 start with a home victory over Albany (55-52) and Wednesday's road triumph at Towson (71-57). Bucknell features a lineup with four first-time starters, while the top three reserves are all true freshmen. Even with that relative lack of experience, the Bison have authored two victories with solid play down the stretch in both games. Villanova has played just once thus far, an 86-64 home win over Stony Brook last Friday. Shane Clark had a big game for the Wildcats in the opener, scoring 25 points on 8 of 11 shooting from the field, 4 of 5 from 3-point range. Malcolm Grant also went 4-for-5 from the arc and scored 16 points off the bench, while Dante Cunningham scored 14 points and Scottie Reynolds had 13 and six assists. Jay Wright's squad went 22-11 last year, falling to Kentucky in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.
Bucknell vs. Villanova
This will be the 23rd meeting between the Bison and Wildcats in an all-time series that dates back to 1908. Villanova holds a 13-9 series lead, including three victories since 2001. The previous 19 meetings all came prior to 1949.
Meeting an Old Friend
Jay Wright, Bucknell Class of 1983, is in his seventh year as Villanova's head coach. A co-captain of Bucknell's 17-11 team in 1982-83, Wright was the team's leading scorer as a junior (11.9 ppg). A three-year letterman, Wright averaged 6.4 ppg in 74 career games. As a freshman in 1979-80, he played on the Bison junior varsity squad while current head coach Pat Flannery captained the varsity squad. Wright, who previously built Hofstra into one of the powers of the America East conference, is 4-0 against his alma mater as a head coach. He led Hofstra to a 69-55 win over the Bison at the Fairfield Tournament in 1997-98 and has won three times against Bucknell while at Villanova, 69-45 in 2001-02, 89-51 in 2004-05 and 79-60 at Sojka Pavilion in 2005-06.
Bucknell vs. The Big East
The Bison are 30-89 (.252) against current members of the Big East (9-13 vs. Villanova; 9-18 vs. Pittsburgh; 8-22 vs. Rutgers; 2-9 vs. Georgetown; 1-8 vs. Syracuse; 0-8 vs. West Virginia; 0-5 vs. Seton Hall; 0-2 vs. Connecticut; 0-2 vs. Notre Dame; 1-0 vs. DePaul; 0-1 vs. South Florida and 0-1 vs. St. John's). Bucknell has, however, won three of its last five games against the Big East. The 69-66 upset of then-No. 7 Pittsburgh in January 2005 was Bucknell's first win over a Big East team since Jan. 11, 1975 (also Pitt, 72-66). The Bison also defeated Syracuse and DePaul early in the 2005-06 season.
Griffin Comes Home
Bucknell senior guard John Griffin makes a return to his hometown of Philadelphia this weekend. Griffin, whose final game there will be on Dec. 22 when the Bison visit Drexel, starred at St. Joseph's Prep prior to coming to Bucknell. Also playing not far from home are Southeastern PA natives Todd O'Brien (New Holland) and Jason Vegotsky (Yardley).
Last Time vs. Villanova
One of the most special nights in Bison hoops history was tarnished only by the final score, as Bucknell dropped a 79-60 decision to fourth-ranked Villanova before 4,433 fans at 4,000-seat Sojka Pavilion on Dec. 6, 2005. The Bison cut an early 19-point deficit to just nine at the half, then clawed within three at 44-41 just over three minutes into the second half. But Villanova scored 10 straight points in only 56 seconds to pull away. Despite the loss, it was a career night for Bison center Chris McNaughton, who scored a personal-best 29 points. Villanova was paced by its outstanding four-guard lineup of Randy Foye (28 points), Allan Ray (20), Kyle Lowry (15) and Mike Nardi (9), who combined for 72 of the team's 79 points.
More from the `05-'06 Game
The 2005-06 Bucknell-Villanova game featured a number of notable milestones:
-- The crowd of 4,433 is still the largest ever for a Bucknell home basketball game. It represents about 111% of Sojka Pavilion's seating capacity.
-- No. 4 Villanova became the highest-ranked team ever to play at Bucknell.
-- Villanova became the first visiting team to score more than 74 points on Bucknell at Sojka Pavilion. Only Wake Forest has done it since.
Last Time Out
On Wednesday night at the Towson Center Bucknell made it two straight wins to start the season with a 71-57 decision over Towson in the return appearance from last year's O'Reilly's ESPNU BracketBusters game. The Bison trailed by six points early while struggling with their outside shooting, but after a 1-for-7 start from 3-point range they canned five in a row from the arc and took the lead for good with about seven minutes left in the first half. John Griffin hit three of those 3-pointers en route to a career-high 21 points. Backcourt mate Justin Castleberry scored 16 points, all coming in the second half as the Bison built their lead to as many as 19 points.
Inside the Towson Boxscore
-- Josh Linthicum enjoyed his best career game, finishing with six points, nine rebounds and a pair of steals. One of those thefts resulted in the play of the night for the Bison, as Linthicum picked off a pass, spun around a Towson player and went the length of the floor for a breakaway slam.
-- Factoring in Todd O'Brien's six points, five rebounds and three blocks, Bucknell's center platoon of Linthicum and O'Brien combined for 12 points, 14 rebounds and four blocks.
-- After corralling 13 rebounds on opening night against Albany, Stephen Tyree picked up two quick fouls and was limited to three points and three boards in 23 minutes.
-- Patrick Behan hit two big first-half 3-pointers and finished with nine points and six rebounds.
-- Justin Castleberry's 16-point second half represented the most points scored by a Bucknell player in one half since Chris McNaughton had 17 in the first half against Towson last season.
-- After a 2-for-14 showing from 3-point range against Albany in the opener, the Bison improved to 10-for-22 (.435) accuracy against the Tigers.
-- Defensively, Bucknell held Towson to 33.9% shooting from the field and 25.0% from the 3-point line (4-16). Reserve guard Tim Crossin went 3-for-3 from the arc, but the rest of the team went 1-for-13.
-- Towson forward Junior Hairston had 26 points and 21 rebounds in the Tigers' season-opening win over Loyola (Md.), but the Bison held him to 12 points and 10 rebounds.
-- Darryl Shazier's first collegiate field goal was an impressive one. His acrobatic hanging jumper in the lane came just before the halftime buzzer sounded.
-- Sophomore Zach Evans checked into the game in the first half for the first time in his career. Evans saw three minutes of action and grabbed a rebound.
RPI Musings
It is obviously way too early in the season for the Ratings Percentage Index (RPI) to have any meaning whatsoever, but it was fun to note that as of Thursday afternoon, Bucknell's RPI ranking was No. 1.
Four First-Time Starters
With stalwarts Abe Badmus, Donald Brown and Chris McNaughton having graduated, and veterans Darren Mastropaolo and Jason Vegotsky injured at the start of the season, Bucknell lined up for the first two games of the season with four first-time starters. Senior John Griffin had 38 previous career starts, including all 31 last season, but none of the other four had ever started a game at the collegiate level coming into the season. Junior guard Justin Castleberry, sophomore forwards Stephen Tyree and Patrick Behan, and junior center Josh Linthicum all made their first starts against Albany.
Freshman Contributions
It has not taken long for Bucknell's three freshmen to become indoctrinated to the world of college basketball. Just six minutes into the season opener against Albany, all three Bison freshmen were on the floor together. Against Towson on Wednesday, the rookie trio all checked in together just over three minutes into the game. Todd O'Brien is platooning with Josh Linthicum at center, Darryl Shazier backs up John Griffin at point guard and G.W. Boon is playing a variety of roles on the wing. So far, all three are averaging between 15-22 minutes per game, and all have played significant minutes late in close games.
Block Party
Bucknell has not been a prolific shot-blocking team in recent years, but the team already has 12 blocks in two games. The seven blocks against Albany was the team's most since it had eight against Villanova on Feb. 15, 2005. Freshman center Todd O'Brien has been the main catalyst, with three blocks in each of the first two contests. Last season, Bucknell as a team had only 47 blocks in 31 games to rank 318th out of 325 teams nationally.
Milestone Watch
-- John Griffin ranks sixth on Bucknell's career 3-point field goals list (145). He needs nine treys to catch fifth-place Gordon Mboya. Kevin Bettencourt holds the school record with 294.
-- Griffin needs 307 points for 1,000 in his career.
-- Seniors Griffin, Darren Mastropaolo and Rob Thomas need 12 wins to become the most successful senior class in school history. The Class of 2007 won a record 87 games.
Who's Got Next?
Following the Villanova game Bucknell will take a six-day break surrounding the Thanksgiving holiday before getting back to action on Nov. 24 at Wagner. This will be the first meeting between the Bison and Seahawks since 1984-85. Wagner is off to a 1-1 start, with a 74-70 victory over Lafayette and a 69-56 loss to Manhattan.
