Bucknell University Athletics
First-Place Bison Pay Visit to Lehigh Wednesday Evening
2/20/2007 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 20, 2007
WHAT: Bucknell (18-8, 11-1) vs. Lehigh (12-16, 7-5)
WHERE: Stabler Arena, Bethlehem, Pa.
WHEN: Wednesday, February 21, 2007, 7 p.m.
RADIO: Eagle 107 and SportsJuice.com
TV: Service Electric (Eastern Pa.)
LIVE ONLINE VIDEO: Patriot League All-Access
COMPLETE PRESS NOTES
After taking a quick breather from the rigors of Patriot League play with Saturday's BracketBusters win over Towson, Bucknell finishes up its regular-season conference slate this week with two tough road tests beginning Wednesday night at Lehigh. The Bison and Mountain Hawks have been two of the league's top teams in recent years, and 2007 is no different. While Bucknell comes to Stabler Arena tied for first in the league at 11-1, Lehigh is a solid third at 7-5. The Bison have not lost a game since Jan. 12 at Holy Cross and have rolled off 10 wins in a row since then. One of those was a 62-44 decision over Lehigh at Sojka Pavilion on Jan. 23. The Mountain Hawks, who are 12-16 overall, saw their two-game winning streak come to an end on Sunday when they fell 75-71 in double overtime at crosstown rival Lafayette. Senior guard Jose Olivero ranks third in the Patriot League in scoring at 16.8 points per game, while freshman point guard Marquis Hall, the leading candidate for PL Rookie of the Year honors, averages 11.5 points and 4.1 assists per game.
with a victory over lehigh, bucknell would ...
-- ... win its 11th game in a row, which would be tied for the seventh-longest streak in school history and tied for second-longest under Pat Flannery.
-- ... win its 19th game in 23 outings since the 0-4 start.
-- ... capture its fifth straight road victory.
-- ... reach the 19-win mark for the 10th time in school history.
-- ... maintain at least a share of first place in the Patriot League standings.
-- ... win its sixth straight game over the Mountain Hawks.
bucknell vs. lehigh
Bucknell has played more games (145) and won more games (89) against Lehigh than any other school. The Bison have an 89-56 lead in a series that originated in 1902. Since the start of Patriot League play in 1990-91, Bucknell holds a 30-9 advantage, including a 16-2 mark at home.
bucknell vs. lehigh earlier this season
On Jan. 23 at Sojka Pavilion, Chris McNaughton tallied 15 points and 11 rebounds while Donald Brown added 15 points and seven boards to lead Bucknell to a 62-44 win over Lehigh. In one of its better defensive efforts of the year, Bucknell held Lehigh to 31.5% shooting and limited star guard Jose Olivero to nine points. Marquis Hall hit four 3-pointers in eight attempts and scored 18 points, but the rest of the Mountain Hawks combined to go 1-for-13 from long distance.
bucknell vs. lehigh last season
The Bison swept the season series from Lehigh a year ago, winning a pair of close games.
-- On Jan. 25 at Stabler Arena, Kevin Bettencourt scored 16 points, including three big 3-pointers in the second half, to help Bucknell to a come-from-behind 59-54 victory in a battle of two teams that came in with 5-0 Patriot League records. Abe Badmus scored 10 points, including a clinching 3-pointer late in the game, and Donald Brown finished with eight points and 10 rebounds for the Bison. Joe Knight (21) and Jose Olivero (19) combined for 40 of Lehigh's 54 points.
-- On Feb. 22 at Sojka Pavilion, the league's top two defensive teams played a surprisingly high-scoring game, as the Bison prevailed 81-70 behind a career-high 17-point showing from Badmus. Charles Lee added 16 for the Bison, who improved to 13-0 in PL play with the win. Olivero had 21 and Knight 15 for the Mountain Hawks.
badmus comes up big against lehigh
Bison point guard Abe Badmus has not been a prolific scorer throughout his career, but he has saved some his best offensive performances for Lehigh. He has scored 15 or more points three times in his career, and two of the three have come against the Mountain Hawks. At Sojka Pavilion last season he pocketed a career-high 17 points in an 81-70 win over Lehigh. In 2004-05 he hit the game-winning 3-pointer with six seconds left in a 65-63 win, and he scored a then-career-high 15 points in the other matchup with Lehigh that season. Badmus has a career scoring average of 7.8 ppg against the Mountain Hawks, his best against any Patriot League team. He had nine points in the first meeting of this season.
last time out
Bucknell's defense and frontcourt was too much for Towson in Saturday's 73-63 BracketBusters victory at Sojka Pavilion. The Bison used a 25-5 run to take control in the first half, and they led 36-21 at halftime and by more than 20 for most of the second half before the Tigers made a last-ditch run against Bucknell's reserves. Chris McNaughton had his way inside, scoring a game-high 23 points on 11-for-14 shooting, and he also collected eight rebounds and a career-high three blocked shots. Also starring defensively was Abe Badmus, who locked up Towson star Gary Neal for most of the night. Neal, who came in ranked fourth nationally in scoring at 25.5 points per game, only managed four shots in the first half and did not make a field goal there was 15:43 left in the game. By that time the Bison had amassed a 20-point lead.
inside the towson boxscore
-- Bucknell shot 58.3% from the field, its second-highest percentage of the season and the fifth time in the last seven games over 50%.
-- For the second straight game, John Griffin equaled a personal best with four 3-pointers. Griffin finished with 15 points, four rebounds and two assists without a turnover.
-- Already playing without injured forward Donald Brown, Bucknell's frontcourt was dealt a further blow when Darren Mastropaolo picked up his third foul just 3:35 into the game. Freshmen Patrick Behan and sophomore Josh Linthicum filled in admirably. Behan finished with career highs in points (7), rebounds (5) and assists (3).
-- Abe Badmus equalled his season high with seven assists (he also had seven against Wake Forest). He assisted on Bucknell's first five baskets of the second half.
-- While Tigers high-scoring guard Gary Neal was held to just a single point in the first 24:17 of the game, he did manage to finish with 21 points. Neal warmed up late in the game after the outcome had long been decided.
-- Bucknell outrebounded the Tigers 34-27, marking the 10th straight time the Bison won the battle of the boards.
mcnaughton named patriot league player of the week
Bison center Chris McNaughton earned his first Patriot League Player of the Week citation on Monday, after producing a pair of 20-point efforts last week. In Thursday's 76-58 Patriot League victory over Lafayette, McNaughton scored 21 points on 7 of 10 shooting from the field and 7-8 accuracy from the foul line. He added six rebounds and a career-high four assists. A dozen of his 21 points came in the first half as the Bison opened up a 20-point halftime lead. Less than 48 hours later, McNaughton scored 17 of his season-high 23 points in the first half of a 73-63 O'Reilly ESPNU BracketBusters win over Towson. He was 11-for-14 from the field against the Tigers, grabbed eight rebounds and blocked three shots. For the week, the Patriot League Preseason Player of the Year averaged 22.0 points per game and shot 75.0 percent from the floor (18-24).
bison back in mid-major top-25
Bucknell returned to the collegeinsider.com Mid-Major Top-25 Poll this week. The Bison, who are currently listed No. 25, were ranked as high as No. 2 last season, and they were No. 6 at the start of the 2006-07 campaign before the 0-4 start knocked them out of the top-25. For the complete poll, see p. 5.
senior class breaks victory record
Prior to Saturday's game against Towson, Bucknell's three seniors -- Abe Badmus, Donald Brown and Chris McNaughton -- were honored as part of Senior Day ceremonies. Then they went out and won their 83rd game, breaking the school record for wins by a class. The previous mark of 82 wins was held by the Class of 1987.
Class Wins 1. 2007 83 2. 1987 82 3. 2006 79 4. 1989 78 5. 1986 77 1993 77
streaking
Bucknell has now pieced together a winning streak of seven games or longer in four straight seasons. Its current 10-game streak is the fourth-longest active streak in the nation (through Monday).
Team Streak 1. Memphis 15 2. Winthrop 13 3. Ohio State 11 4. BUCKNELL 10
streaking, part ii
Bucknell's current 10-game winning streak is the third-longest in the Pat Flannery era. The longest overall winning streak in school history is 17 games (1902-04), and the longest within a season is 12 games (1907-08 and 2005-06).
Longest Bucknell Winning Streaks Under Pat Flannery (Since 1994-95): 12 1/7/06-2/18/06 11 12/4/04 - 1/23/05 10 1/17/07-pres. 8 1/13/96 - 2/7/96 7 1/30/04 - 2/22/04
among the best
At 11-1 in Patriot League play, Bucknell and Holy Cross rank among the nation's best in terms of conference records. Through Monday, the Bison and Crusaders were two of 13 Division I teams with zero or one conference loss.
Team (Conf.) Record Pct. Memphis (C-USA) 12-0 1.000 Winthrop (Big South) 12-0 1.000 Davidson (Southern) 15-1 .938 Vermont (America East) 13-1 .929 Ohio State (Big 10) 12-1 .923 Oral Roberts (Mid-Con) 12-1 .923 Wisconsin (Big 10) 12-1 .923 BUCKNELL (Patriot) 11-1 .917 Florida (SEC) 11-1 .917 Holy Cross (Patriot) 11-1 .917 Nevada (WAC) 11-1 .917 Texas A&M C-C (Southland) 11-1 .917 Penn (Ivy) 8-1 .889
it's not just the men
While Bucknell's men own an 11-1 Patriot League record, so does the first-place Bison women's basketball team. Bucknell owns the second-best combined men's and women's conference record in the nation, through Monday's games.
Team (Conf.) Men Women Combined Pct. 1. Ohio State 12-1 13-1 25-2 .926 2. BUCKNELL 11-1 11-1 22-2 .917 3. Old Dominion 13-3 13-1 26-4 .867 4. Marist 13-4 15-1 28-5 .848 5. Belmont 12-4 13-1 25-5 .833 So. Illinois 13-3 12-2 25-5 .833 BYU 10-2 10-2 20-4 .833 Gonzaga 9-3 11-1 20-4 .833
bison one of only two in nation with one league loss in last two years
After becoming the first Patriot League team to go 14-0 in league play last season, the Bison are now 25-1 in the conference over the last two years. Only one other team in the nation has suffered only one league loss in that time -- Memphis, which is also 25-1 in Conference USA. Memphis was the team that ousted Bucknell from the NCAA Tournament in second round in 2006.
righting the ship
Bucknell got off to a frustrating 0-4 start this season, with two of the losses coming in overtime to Wake Forest and Penn State. Since then, however, the Bison are 18-4, with three of those setbacks coming to teams (Northern Iowa, Texas Tech, Holy Cross) with a combined 53-30 record. Since the 0-4 start, Bucknell has quality non-league wins over Xavier and George Mason. Five times they have come back from double-digit deficits to win (Saint Francis, Cornell, Lafayette, Colgate, Holy Cross), and seven times they have won by 14 or more points.
chase for pl tournament seeding resumes this week
With each team having two games remaining on its regular-season schedule, there is still plenty to be decided when it comes to seeding for the Patriot League Tournament. At the top of the standings, Bucknell and Holy Cross are both tied for first place at 11-1. Both have already clinched home games for the quarterfinal and semifinal rounds of the tournament. The battle for the No. 1 seed rages on, however (see tiebreaker procedures below). At 7-5, Lehigh has clinched a first-round home game and seems to have a solid grasp on the No. 3 seed, but there is still plenty of jockeying to be done for the all-important No. 4 seed. American at 5-7 has a one-game lead on Colgate (4-8) and Navy (4-8) for the final first-round home game, while Army (3-9) and Lafayette (3-9) could still move up and avoid one of the top two seeds in the first round.
patriot league tournament tiebreakers
In the case of ties in the Patriot League final regular-season standings, the following process will be used until all ties are broken and the seeding process is completed (ties will be broken in rank order beginning with the highest seed): The first tiebreaker is head-to-head competition. The higher seed will go to the team that has won the most Patriot League contests played against the other team(s) involved in the tie. If a tie still exists, a comparison of records will be made between the tied institutions starting at the highest possible seed and continuing through the lowest seed if necessary. If a tie still exists, the Patriot League office will use the RPI according to the Collegiate Basketball News men's RPI Report, published on the day following the final regular-season Patriot League game to determine the higher-seeded team.
what's left
For those Patriot League prognosticators out there, here is a look at each team's RPI (according to RPI guru Ken Pomeroy, through Monday's games) and remaining conference games.
-- Bucknell (11-1, RPI 99): @Lehigh, @Army
-- Holy Cross (11-1, RPI 65): Colgate, @Lehigh
-- Lehigh (7-4, RPI 228): Bucknell, Holy Cross
-- American (5-7, RPI 202): @Navy, Lafayette
-- Colgate (4-8, RPI 268): at Holy Cross, Navy
-- Navy (3-8, RPI 204): American, @Colgate
-- Army (3-8, RPI 233): Lafayette, Bucknell
-- Lafayette (2-9, RPI 275): @Army, @American
badmus shines on "d"
Abe Badmus has long been considered one of the top defensive players in the Patriot League, and he won the league's inaugural Defensive Player of the Year Award as a sophomore in 2005. The 6'0" guard certainly has to be considered one of the favorites again this season, particularly given his recent defensive play. Two prime examples have come in the last few weeks. First in the Feb. 9 home win over Holy Cross, when Badmus was assigned to Crusader star Keith Simmons, a 6'5" wing and the league's leading scorer, for much of the second half. Badmus and company helped limit Simmons to three second-half field-goal attempts, with his only make coming with 12 seconds left in a six-point game. On Saturday Badmus was assigned to Towson star Gary Neal, the nation's fourth-leading scorer, and Neal was held to jusy one point on 0-for-4 shooting in the first half. By the time he made his first bucket almost five minutes into the second half, the Bison had a 20-point lead.
(7-0) X 4 at sojka
Last Thursday's win over Lafayette gave the Bison a 7-0 home Patriot League record for the fourth straight year, meaning the Bucknell seniors never lost a regular-season home game to a PL foe. Including the Patriot League Tournament, the Bison have now won 33 consecutive games at Sojka against PL competition. Now 8-2 at home this season after dropping the first two to Wake Forest and Northern Iowa, Bucknell is 34-4 in Sojka Pavilion since the start of the 2004-05 season. All told, the Bison are 47-9 (.839) in Sojka Pavilion since debuting in the new facility on Jan. 15, 2003. This year's PL Tournament will be entirely contested at higher seeds' home floors, and Bucknell has secured home court advantage at least through the semifinals.
glasswork
During its current 10-game winning streak, Bucknell has outrebounded its opponents in every game by a total of 330-234 (+96). The Bison have walked away with the rebounding edge in 10 of their 12 Patriot League games thus far, including nine straight.
success when getting to the line
Bucknell has shot more free throws than its opponent 16 times this season and is 15-1 in those games. In Patriot League play, the Bison have outscored their 12 opponents 183-120 from the stripe.
who's got next?
Bucknell wraps up the regular season on Saturday afternoon against Army at Christl Arena. Game time is 1 p.m. By the end of the weekend, the Bison will know their opponent for the first round of the Patriot League Tournament, which begins Wednesday, Feb. 28.
