Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Basketball Resumes Schedule Sunday at Wake Forest
12/12/2007 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 12, 2007
WHAT: Bucknell (3-4) vs. Wake Forest (5-3)
WHERE: Lawrence Joel Coliseum, Winston-Salem, N.C.
WHEN: Sunday, December 16, 2007, 2 p.m.
TV: None
RADIO: Eagle 107 and SportsJuice.com
LIVE VIDEO: ACC Select
COMPLETE PRESS NOTES
Probable Starters
Bucknell:
G, 11 John Griffin, Sr., 13.3 ppg
G, 13 Darryl Shazier, Fr., 3.1 ppg
C, 0 Todd O'Brien, Fr., 6.4 ppg
F, 15 Stephen Tyree, So., 4.9 ppg
F, 31 Patrick Behan, So., 12.6 ppg
Wake Forest:
G, 10 Ishmael Smith, So., 8.0
G, 4 Harvey Hale, Jr., 9.9
G, 42 L.D. Williams, So., 10.8
F, 23 James Johnson, Fr., 13.3
C, 13 Chas McFarland, So., 7.0
With a Victory over Wake Forest, Bucknell Would ...
-- ... win its second straight game and get back to .500 on the season at 4-4. -- ... 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 a game in the state of North Carolina for the first time since 1958-59 (Bucknell went 2-1 at the Carrousel Tournament in Charlotte, defeating South Carolina and Pittsburgh and losing to St. Francis (N.Y.))
About the Game
Well-rested after a 13-day break for final exams, Bucknell gets back on the hardwood on Sunday afternoon against Wake Forest at the Lawrence Joel Coliseum. The Bison put a lid on the first semester with a much-needed 67-66 victory over La Salle. The dramatic, come-from-behind victory snapped a four-game losing streak and sent them into the break on a positive note. Three Bucknell players are scoring in double figures, led by last week's Patriot League Player of the Week John Griffin at 13.3 ppg. Patrick Behan (12.6 ppg) and Justin Castleberry (10.3) are also in double figures, well above their career averages coming into the season. Wake Forest, meanwhile, has dropped three of its last four contests after a 4-0 start, and the Demon Deacons come in with a 5-3 record. A strong, nine-point road win over Iowa in the Big Ten/ACC Challenge got them to 4-0, but since then Wake Forest has suffered losses to Charlotte (63-59), Vanderbilt (83-80) and Georgia (72-50), all on the road. Freshman forward James Johnson leads the team in both scoring (13.3) and rebounding (9.4), while sophomore guard L.D. Williams (10.8) is the only other Deacon averaging in double figures. Wake Forest graduated only two seniors after the 2006-07 season, but both had a big impact on last year's game in Lewisburg. Center Kyle Visser hit for 26 points and reserve guard Michael Drum had nine points and five rebounds in Wake Forest's 86-83 overtime victory.
Internet Video Feed Available
There is no over-the-air or cable television broadcast scheduled for Sunday's game, however an Internet telecast will be available for a small fee via ACC Select. For more information or to purchase the broadcast, visit accselect.com.
A Melancholy Return
When Bucknell and Wake Forest scheduled a series prior to last season, the storyline included a fun backdrop with Wake head coach Skip Prosser going up against his son, Mark Prosser, now in his fifth season as a Bucknell assistant. Skip brought his Demon Deacons to Lewisburg last season, making them the first ACC team ever to play basketball at Bucknell, and Mark was looking forward to a remtach this season. Tragically, things changed when Skip suddenly passed away after a workout in Winston-Salem this past July. 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.
Bucknell vs. Wake Forest
This will be the fourth all-time meeting between Bucknell and Wake Forest. The Demon Deacons have won each of the previous three. The teams first met on Jan. 2, 1974 in Winston-Salem, an 83-56 Demon Deacons victory. On Feb. 6, 1991, Wake prevailed 83-67 at Joel Coliseum. Last season at Sojka Pavilion, Wake Forest pulled out an 86-83 victory in overtime.
Bucknell vs. The Atlantic Coast Conference
Against the 12 teams that currently make up the Atlantic Coast Conference, Bucknell owns an all-time record of 1-21. The lone victory came at Virginia (99-81) on Jan. 27, 1961. The Bison are 1-2 against Virginia, 0-6 vs. Maryland, 0-3 vs. Wake Forest, 0-3 vs. Duke, 0-2 vs. Clemson, 0-2 vs. Miami, 0-1 vs. Virginia Tech, 0-1 vs. Florida State, 0-1 vs. Boston College.
Last Time vs. Wake Forest
Six Bucknell players scored in double figures, including career scoring highs from Rob Thomas (16), Andrew Morrison (10) and Darren Mastropaolo (10), but Wake Forest rallied for a nail-biting 86-83 overtime victory over the Bison before a standing-room-only crowd at Sojka Pavilion on Nov. 14, 2006. Kyle Visser scored a career-high 26 points for Wake Forest, which snapped Bucknell's 13-game home winning streak. Bucknell led virtually the entire way, despite a rash of foul trouble throughout the night. The Bison were whistled for 33 of the 62 fouls in the game, which featured a combined 80 free throws. The Demon Deacons never led by more than two points all night until Ishmael Smith opened the overtime session with a high arcing 3-pointer, snapping a 75-all tie. Trailing 83-76, the Bison fought back, as Abe Badmus (16 points) scored five straight, the last three coming on a 20-footer from the top of the key to make it 83-81 with 1:35 left. Bucknell fouled Harvey Hale with 0:05 left, and he missed the first but made the second to make it 86-83. Morrison's heavily contested 3-pointer from the right corner fell short as time expired. Wake Forest became the first ACC team ever to play basketball at Bucknell.
Last Time Out
John Griffin scored 21 points, the last two coming on a pair of go-ahead free throws with 0:08 remaining, lifting Bucknell to a come-from-behind, 67-66 victory over La Salle at Sojka Pavilion on Dec. 3. Justin Castleberry and Patrick Behan both hit career highs with 18 points each for the Bison, who trailed by as many as 16 in the first half and by nine with 4:45 to play before ending the game on a 12-2 run. Bucknell overcame a long-range shooting display by the Explorers, who canned a Sojka Pavilion-record 14 3-pointers in 29 attempts. Seven of those treys came from Darnell Harris, who scored a game-high 25 points. The bad news for La Salle: it shot only 7-for-29 from inside the arc, including a miss from close in by Ruben Guillandeaux just before the final buzzer.
Inside the La Salle Boxscore
-- The trio of John Griffin, Patrick Behan and Justin Castleberry combined for 57 of Bucknell's 67 points, and 21 of its 26 field goals. -- In addition to his 21 points, Griffin had three assists and no turnovers in a season-high 37 minutes of action. -- The Bison shot over 50% from the field (53.1%) for the first time this season. Behan led the way with a 9-for-11 shooting performance. -- Bucknell was 5-for-13 from 3-point range, with four of those 3-pointers coming in the final nine minutes of the game. -- Freshmen Darryl Shazier and Todd O'Brien were in the starting lineup for the second straight game. -- In addition to his career-high 18 points, Behan added a career-high eight rebounds. -- Bucknell blocked a season-high eight shots, led by three from O'Brien and two by Griffin. -- La Salle shot 48.3% from the 3-point arc, but only 36.2% overall from the field and 62.5% from the free-throw line. -- The Bison were outrebounded 34-31, primarily because La Salle crashed the glass for 15 offensive caroms.
New Faces
Bucknell's lineup on Sunday will be radically different from the one that faced Wake Forest just 13 months ago in Lewisburg. With Abe Badmus (16 points vs. Wake last season), Donald Brown (11) and Chris McNaughton (4) having graduated, Andrew Morrison (10) no longer with the team, and Rob Thomas (16), Jason Vegotsky (11) and Darren Mastropaolo (10) injured, 78 of Bucknell's 83 points from last year's game will be missing on on Sunday. John Griffin, who tallied five points in the overtime loss to the Demon Deacons last year, would be the only returning Bison who scored in that game. Patick Behan and Josh Linthicum both saw some time off the bench, but did not score.
Freshman Contributions
With veterans Darren Mastropaolo, Rob Thomas and Jason Vegotsky all out with injuries, Bucknell coach Pat Flannery has used his three-man freshman class extensively. In the first five games freshmen G.W. Boon, Todd O'Brien and Darryl Shazier were the first three players off the bench, then O'Brien and Shazier were insterted in the starting lineup in game No. 6 vs. Saint Francis (Pa.). Through seven games, the trio is averaging a combined 14.9 ppg and 10.3 rpg.
Six First-Time Starters
Due to graduation and injuries, Bucknell lined up on opening night 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. With freshmen Todd O'Brien and Darryl Shazier starting the last two games, that makes six Bison who have made their first career starts this season.
Break Time is Over
Bucknell has won three straight times in its first game coming out of the final exams break, all three against Cornell. Last season, the Bison got behind by as many as 17 points early in the game before rallying to defeat the Big Red 70-66 on the road.
Honors
Two Bison have been honored by the Patriot League in the last two weeks. Senior John Griffin was named Patriot League Player of the Week on Monday after his big game against La Salle, and the previous week freshman Todd O'Brien earned Patriot League Rookie of the Week honors after a 14-point, 13-rebound performance against Saint Francis (Pa.).
Behan Relishing Expanded Role
Sophomore Patrick Behan is coming off one of his best games, an 18-point, 8-rebound performance against La Salle in which he went 9-for-11 from the field. Behan, who averaged 1.7 ppg as a freshman, also had a 16-point game against Villanova and now ranks 11th in the Patriot League in scoring at 12.6 ppg.
Frosty Shooting
Bucknell's good shooting night against La Salle snapped a three-game run of cold shooting. In losses to Wagner, Marist and Saint Francis, the Bison went just 12-for-47 (.255) from the arc and shot 34.9% from the field overall. That three-game stretch came on the heels of the Villanova game, in which Bucknell drained a school-record 15 3-pointers.
Rare Home Losses
Bucknell had only lost nine games in Sojka Pavilion since the facility opened in January 2003 before dropping back-to-back home games for only the third time in Sojka. The Bison avoided a three-game home losing streak by pulling out a 67-66 win over La Salle last time out. The team's last three-game home losing streak came all the way back in 1994-95, Pat Flannery's first season as Bucknell head coach.
Rebound Turnaround
Last season Bucknell was the best rebounding team in the Patriot League, outrebounding opponents by 5.0 boards per game. With a smaller lineup, the Bison have struggled in that area early this season. They have been outrebounded six times and been even once thus far. Bucknell is -5.7 in rebounding margin thus far, and Sunday's opponent, Wake Forest, is +2.2 and has five players averaging at least four rebounds per game.
Defending the Perimeter
Bucknell's perimeter defense has been strong early in the season, as the Bison are holding opponents to 30.8% shooting from the 3-point arc, the second-best best figure in the Patriot League. The Bison were actually limiting foes to 26.5% accuracy from 3-point distance before La Salle went 14-for-29 last week. Bucknell ranks second in the conference in overall field goal percentage defense (.388) and third in scoring defense (60.1). Wake Forest has struggled shooting the three, making only 51 of 173 (.295) on the season, including a 4-for-21 showing against Georgia last time out.
Who's Got Next?
Following the Wake Forest game, Bucknell will return home on Wednesday evening to take on Cornell at 7 p.m. at Sojka Pavilion. The Big Red (4-2) will be coming off an 18-day break for final exams. Bucknell has won four straight against them, but this appears to be one of the top Cornell teams in recent years. Preseason favorites to win the Ivy League, the Big Red are averaging 80.3 ppg and have eight players scoring at least 8.0 ppg.
