Bucknell Men's Basketball Battles Boston U. in Home Opener Tuesday Night

Nov. 17, 2008

WHAT: Bucknell (0-1) vs. Boston University (0-1)
WHERE: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
WHEN: Tuesday, November 18, 2008, 7 p.m.
RADIO: Eagle 107 and SportsJuice.com
TV: None
STREAMING VIDEO: Bison Vision
LIVE STATISTICS: GameTracker
COMPLETE PRESS NOTES

With a Victory Over Boston University, Bucknell Would ...

... give coach Dave Paulsen his first Bucknell victory.

... win its home opener for the fourth time in the last five years.

... improve to 2-0 all-time against the Terriers.

About the Game
Bucknell opens its 2008-09 home slate Tuesday night against preseason America East favorite Boston University, as the Terriers make their first-ever visit to Lewisburg. The Bison are coming off an 81-52 loss at Maryland on Friday night. Bucknell had one very good defensive half and improved offensively as the game progressed, but a 2-for-18 start from the field and a tough oustide shooting night was too much to overcome. Now they hope to pick up victory No. 1 on the familiar Sojka Pavilion rims. Boston University also struggled shooting the ball in its opener on Friday, a 63-58 overtime loss to George Washington. The Terriers shot 29.7 percent from the field, 27.6 percent from the 3-point stripe and 46.2 percent from the free-throw line. They did force 26 turnovers and block eight shots, however, and got 22 points and eight rebounds from forward John Holland. BU, under the direction of 15th-year head coach Dennis Wolff, returned all five starters from last year's team that went 14-17 overall and 9-7 in the America East Conference.

Bucknell vs. Boston U.
This will be only the second all-time meeting between the Bison and Terriers. The other came on Dec. 28, 2005, a 63-57 Bucknell victory in the first round of the Cable Car Classic, hosted by Santa Clara. In that game, Chris McNaughton scored 20 points and Charles Lee had 15 for the Bison, who improved to 9-1 with the win en route to a record-setting 27-5 season. Corey Hassan scored 16 points to lead the Terriers.

Bucknell vs. The America East Conference
Bucknell is 14-9 all-time against the current members of the America East. The Bison are 6-2 against UMBC, 4-2 vs. Albany, 2-2 vs. Maine, 1-0 vs. Boston University, 1-1 vs. Hartford and 0-2 vs. Vermont. Bucknell will play another America East squad on Dec. 9, when Binghamton visits Sojka Pavilion for the first-ever meeting between the two schools.

Bucknell in Home Openers
Bucknell is 3-2 in season home openers in the Sojka Pavilion era, with the losses coming to Yale (63-62) in 2003 and Wake Forest (86-83 in OT) in 2006. Last season, the Bison defeated Albany 55-52 in the home opener.

Last Time Out
Bucknell opened the 2008-09 season on Friday night at Maryland and fell 81-52. The Bison were doomed by cold shooting in all areas. They made 19 of 60 (.317) shots from the field, 3 of 16 (.188) from 3-point range and 11 of 23 (.478) from the free throw line. The Bison were also hampered by 20 turnovers. Bucknell played well defensively and especially on the glass in the first half, but the Bison started 2-for-18 from the field and trailed 33-17 at halftime. Maryland heated up and wore down the Bison in the second period, scoring 48 points on 53.1% shooting.

Opening-Night Positives
Despite the 29-point loss, there were some positive developments in Bucknell's season opener at Maryland on Friday:

The Bison did very well in the rebounding department. They outrebounded Maryland 28-23 in the first half and had the edge on the glass until the Terrapins had a few late-game offensive rebounding flurries. Maryland finished with a 48-45 rebounding edge. The 45 boards were Bucknell's most in a regulation-time game since it had 47 against Navy in 2005-06 (the Bison had 48 in the triple-overtime PL Tournament win over Navy last season).

Defensively, Bucknell held the Terps to 34.2% shooting in the first half and only allowed five 3-pointers all night.

Bucknell blocked six shots in the game, including three from Josh Linthicum. The Bison had six or more blocks only three times last season.

The Bison appeared much more comfortable on offense in the second half of the game, when they upped their field goal percentage to 37.5% from 25.0% in the opening half. Bucknell was more aggressive driving to the basket in the second half, and it had a 7-to-6 assist-to-turnover ratio in period No. 2 after a shaky 4-to-14 ratio in the opening 20 minutes.

Inside the Maryland Boxscore
More from the Maryland game:

Four Bison grabbed at least six rebounds, and all four set career highs in that category: Patrick Behan (9), Enoch Andoh (7), Darryl Shazier (6) and Zach Evans (6).

Of the 10 Bison who played in the game, nine scored a point and nine grabbed at least one rebound.

Evans played a career-high 21 minutes off the bench and was very active at both ends. His previous career high for minutes played was just 10, at Colgate last season.

Bucknell did not make its first 3-point field goal until the 13:36 mark of the second half, when Jason Vegotsky connected. Bryan Cohen and Darryl Shazier later hit threes, but the Bison finished 3-for-16 from the arc.

The 29-point loss was the team's most one-sided setback since an 84-50 loss to No. 1 Duke on Jan. 2, 2006.

Bucknell held Maryland's All-ACC guard Greivis Vasquez to 13 points on 5-for-16 shooting, thanks in large part to the strong defensive work of the rookie Cohen. Landon Milbourne led the Terps with 16 points, while Cliff Tucker added 14 and Adrian Bowie 12.

Freshmen Make Strong First Impressions
All three of Bucknell's scholarship freshmen played on opening night against Maryland, and all three had solid boxscore lines:

Bryan Cohen became the first freshman to start on opening night since John Griffin in 2004-05, and the versatile rookie guard was solid defensively while matched up with Vasquez for most of the night. He also contributed nine points, three rebounds, two steals, an assist and a blocked shot. He handled the ball well with only two turnovers in 28 minutes, and he made a strong drive to the basket for a layup, hit a 3-pointer and had a tip-in.

Enoch Andoh played 19 minutes off the bench in the Bison frontcourt and finished with eight points, seven rebounds, two steals and an assist. He made 4 of 5 shots from the floor, including an 18-foot jumper off an inbounds play in the first half.

Probese Leo played in both halves and saw a total of four minutes of reserve action. The Bahamas native's first career points came on a first-half layup, and he also grabbed a rebound and blocked a shot.

Behan's Blog
Junior Patrick Behan is putting his English major to good use as a guest blogger for The New York Times' college sports blog called "The Quad." Behan has already penned three installments -- the latest was posted on Monday -- and will be contributing regularly throughout the 2008-09 basketball season. To read his entries, visit http://thequad.blogs.nytimes.com/author/pbehan/.

Bingo!
The NCAA instituted the 3-point shot in 1986-87, and since then Bucknell has played 648 games. The Bison have failed to make at least one 3-pointer in only five of those 648 games (1/30/89 at Cornell, 1/16/93 vs. Lafayette, 2/5/00 at Navy, 12/22/00 at Penn State and 2/29/04 at Colgate). Bucknell has converted a trifecta in 129 straight games.

Who's Got Next?
Bucknell is back on the road on Saturday night, taking on Saint Francis (Pa.) at 8 p.m. The Bison will be going up against a couple of old friends on the Red Flash bench in that one. Saint Francis' first-year head coach Don Friday was an assistant coach under Pat Flannery at both Bucknell and Lebanon Valley, while Red Flash assistant coach Abe Badmus starred as a point guard on Bucknell's two NCAA Tournament teams in 2005 and 2006. Saint Francis opened its season with an 81-47 loss at Texas Tech on Friday.

Bucknell University Athletics

Bucknell Men's Basketball Battles Boston U. in Home Opener Tuesday Night

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