Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell to Play Old Dominion in BracketBusters game on Feb. 23
2/4/2008 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 4, 2008
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Bucknell men's basketball team will travel to Old Dominion for a non-televised game as part of the O'Reilly's ESPNU BracketBusters event, it was announced Monday. The contest will be played Saturday, Feb. 23 at the Constant Convocation Center in Norfolk, Va., at 7 p.m.
This will be just the second all-time meeting between the Bison and Monarchs. The other came on Jan. 5, 1979, when Old Dominion won 88-76 in the first round of the Old Dominion Classic in Norfolk.
The game will represent a homecoming for Bucknell freshman guard Darryl Shazier, who hails from nearby Newport News, Va., and graduated from Menchville High School in 2007.
Led by veteran coach Blaine Taylor, the Monarchs are currently 11-12 overall and 6-5 in the Colonial Athletic Association. Three of those losses came in succession to top-6 teams in No. 1 North Carolina, No. 6 Louisville and No. 5 Georgetown back in November. Among its victories, Old Dominion can claim an impressive 72-69 home triumph over Virginia Tech of the Atlantic Coast Conference on Dec. 16.
Gerald Lee, a 6'10" sophomore forward from Finland, leads the team in scoring (13.0) and rebounding (5.9). Lee is the only Monarch with a double-figure scoring average, but the team does have six other players averaging better than six points per game. As a team, ODU scores 65.8 points per game while allowing 64.2. The Monarchs shoot 42.2 percent from the field as a team and outrebound their opponents by nearly three per game.
Old Dominion's last four seasons closely resemble Bucknell's. Just like the Bison, the Monarchs eclipsed the 20-win mark in each of the last three campaigns and made two NCAA Tournament trips, but now they are trying to rebound from a significant graduation hit.
In 2004-05, Old Dominion went 28-6, won the CAA and lost to Michigan State 89-81 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. In 2005-06 the Monarchs finished 24-10 after losing to Michigan at Madison Square Garden in the semifinals of the NIT. Last season, Old Dominion posted a 24-9 record and received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament based in large part on impressive non-league wins over Georgetown and Alabama-Birmingham. The Monarchs lost to Butler, 57-46, in the first round of the NCAA Tournament in Buffalo, N.Y.
After graduating its top three scorers from last year's team, Old Dominion now starts three freshmen, a sophomore and a senior.
This will be Bucknell's third appearance in the BracketBusters showcase, and the second in a row against a CAA program. Last season, the Bison defeated Towson 73-63 at Sojka Pavilion. In their BracketBusters debut in 2006, the Bison fell in a 65-61 double-overtime thriller at Northern Iowa on ESPN2.
As part of the BracketBusters arrangement, Old Dominion will travel to Bucknell in 2008-09.
Bucknell is currently 9-12 overall and 4-3 in the Patriot League. The Bison will look to snap a two-game losing streak on Wednesday night at Colgate.
