Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Basketball Makes First Trip to Columbia's Levien Gym Tuesday Night
11/23/2009 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 23, 2009
WHAT: Bucknell (3-2) vs. Columbia (1-1)
WHERE: Levien Gymnasium, New York, N.Y.
WHEN: Tuesday, November 24, 8 p.m.
RADIO: Eagle 107 and SportsJuice.com
TV: None
WEBCAST: GoColumbiaLions.com
LIVE STATISTICS: GoColumbiaLions.com
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format 
With a Win Over Columbia, the Bison Would ...
+ ... win their fourth straight game and improve to 4-2 on the season.
+ ... achieve their first four-game winning streak since 2006-07, when they won 14 in a row.
+ ... improve to 2-1 all-time against the Lions.
+ ... win a game in one of New York's five boroughs for the first time since Jan. 14, 1995, when the Bison defeated Fordham 75-52 in The Bronx.
About the Game
Bucknell puts a three-game winning streak on the line Tuesday night when it visits Columbia for the first time. The Bison have played good basketball so far in 2009-10. After opening the season with a pair of close losses to strong teams in Mercer and Providence, the Bison have bounced back with consecutive victories over Bryant, Delaware and Saint Francis (Pa.). The last of those wins came on Saturday night in the home opener at Sojka Pavilion. Bucknell has had excellent scoring balance so far, with four players averaging at least 9.6 ppg and five others contributing between 3.0-7.0 ppg. In fact, the Bison have had a different leading scorer in every game so far. Columbia has played just twice, dropping a close one (59-53) at DePaul before coming home to beat Longwood 72-61 on Friday.
How to Get the Game
The Bucknell-Columbia game will not be televised, however a live Webcast will be shown on GoColumbiaLions.com (subscription required). The game can be heard in the Susquehanna Valley on the radio on Eagle 107 (WEGH 107.3 FM), with Doug Birdsong and Ed Sigl on the call. The pregame show begins 30 minutes before tip-off. The audio feed is available free of charge via BucknellBison.com and SportsJuice.com. Live statistics are available through GoColumbiaLions.com.
Bucknell vs. Columbia Series Notes
+Bucknell and Columbia have met just twice, with each team winning once.
+Both previous meetings were neutral-site games as part of in-season tournaments, so this will be Bucknell's very first game in Levien Gymnasium.
+On Nov. 26, 1994, Columbia defeated Bucknell 63-58 in the consolation game of the Pepsi/Marist Classic. That was the second game of coach Pat Flannery's tenure at Bucknell.
+On Nov. 29, 2002, the Bison beat the Lions 61-47 in the first round of the Red Auerbach Colonial Classic in Washington, D.C. The Bison went on to drop a three-point game to host George Washington in the championship the following day.
Bucknell vs. The Ivy League
Bucknell is 38-40 all-time against the Ivy League. The Bison have played 44 games against Cornell, but only 34 combined against the other seven Ivy teams. In addition to its 22-22 record against Cornell, Bucknell is 4-2 against Yale, 3-1 vs. Brown, 3-4 vs. Penn, 3-9 vs. Princeton, 1-0 vs. Dartmouth, 1-1 vs. Columbia and 1-1 vs. Harvard.
Last Time Out
A strong start and a strong finish were enough to lift Bucknell to a 70-58 win over Saint Francis (Pa.) on Saturday night at Sojka Pavilion. The Bison jumped out to a 19-6 lead and led by 10 at the half. A 5-0 run to start the second period made it 35-20, but the Red Flash climbed back into it and eventually cut the Bison lead to 45-43 at the 10-minute mark. But Bucknell never gave up the lead, thanks to the tenaciousness of Patrick Behan and Joe Willman, and some timely baskets by Darryl Shazier. Behan's put-back ended Saint Francis' 23-10 run, then Shazier hit a 3-pointer and a coast-to-coast layup to restore a nine-point lead. Later, five straight points from Behan pushed the lead back to 14 at 63-49, and the Bison cruised home from there. Behan and Willman finished with 12 rebounds apiece, while Behan led all scorers with 23.
Inside the Saint Francis Boxscore
+Patrick Behan had a huge night with 23 points and 12 rebounds. He scored 20 points in the second half and had 12 over the last 9:30 after Saint Francis had cut Bucknell's lead down to two.
+Freshman Joe Willman was a menace on the glass on Saturday. He collected 12 rebounds, which were the most by a Bucknell freshman since another red-head, Dan Bowen, had 13 against Western Maryland on Feb. 3, 1997.
+Of Willman's 12 boards, seven came at the offensive end of the floor. Bucknell parlayed 16 offensive rebounds into a 23-2 edge in second-chance points. Saint Francis had 14 offensive boards, but could not capitalize on them.
+Enoch Andoh gave Bucknell a nice lift off the bench for the second straight game. After the Bison struggled on the glass early, Andoh came in and recorded six points and five rebounds in six minutes of action.
+Bucknell posted a stellar 10-to-4 assist-to-turnover ratio in the game. The four turnovers is a Sojka Pavilion record low and is one shy of the school record (see note below).
+Defensively, Bucknell held Saint Francis to 36.2% shooting. The Red Flash got off to a 2-for-18 start from the floor.
+G.W. Boon played a season-high 24 minutes off the bench and was on the floor for most of the key possessions down the stretch. Boon, who finished with seven points and three rebounds, converted a 3-point play with 6:05 left that stretched a five-point lead back to eight.
+Freshman Mike Muscala had a season-high three blocked shots.
Not Cheap Double-Doubles
Patrick Behan has now recorded five career double-doubles, and in three of them he has collected at least 20 points and 12 rebounds.
Getting it Done Inside
In each of the last two games, Bucknell was able to come away with double-digit victories without relying on the 3-point shot. Against Delaware last Wednesday, only eight of the Bison's 42 field-goal attempts came from behind the arc (they made five), but they still managed to score 82 points in a 16-point win. In the Saint Francis game on Saturday, the Bison shot just 2-for-16 from long range but had a 44-26 edge in points in the paint in a 70-58 victory.
Protecting the Rock
One game after turning the ball over a season-high 21 times against Delaware, Bucknell committed only four miscues against Saint Francis.
+The four turnovers marked a Sojka Pavilion record. The previous standard was five, set by Towson against the Bison on Feb. 17, 2007.
+The school record for fewest turnovers in a game is three, set in a 49-48 win against Colgate on Jan. 10, 1976 in Davis Gym.
+Bucknell has committed four turnovers in a game two other times: Jan. 17, 1990 vs. Hofstra and Feb. 28, 1987 vs. Lehigh.
Behan Named PL Player of Week
Patrick Behan earned Patriot League Player of the Week honors on Monday. In two wins last week over Delaware and Saint Francis, Behan averaged 20.5 points and 10.0 rebounds while shooting 66.7% (16-24) from the field. Behan had 18 points and eight rebounds against Delaware and 23 points and 12 boards in the Saint Francis win. This is his third career PL Player of the Week award, with the other two coming last season.
Spreading the Wealth
In a demonstration of the team's much-improved depth in 2009-10, the Bison have had a different leading scorer in each one of the five games so far. Bucknell's top point-producers have been Bryson Johnson (18 vs. Mercer), Bryan Cohen (18 vs. Providence), Mike Muscala (12 vs. Bryant), Darryl Shazier (24 vs. Delaware) and Patrick Behan (23 vs. Saint Francis).
Cohen Earns All-Tournament Honors
Sophomore Bryan Cohen was named to the All-Tournament Team at the World Vision Invitational. He averaged 15.3 points and 4.7 rebounds in the three games, while shooting a crisp 64.3% (9-14) from 3-point distance.
Sure-Handed Shazier
Darryl Shazier led the Patriot League in both assists per game and assist-to-turnover ratio last season, and he appears to have picked up where he left off in 2009-10. Shazier has played 175 minutes (35.0 per game) and has 19 assists with only five turnovers so far. Three of those five miscues came in one game (Delaware).
Freshman Contributions
Three of Bucknell's five freshman have made major contributions in the opening weeks of the season, and all three had at least one double-digit scoring game.
+Forward Joe Willman earned a starting assignment at the “4” spot coming out of the preseason. He is averaging 7.0 points and 6.0 rebounds so far. He has highs of 11 points against Providence and 12 rebounds against Saint Francis. Willman is second on the team with 32 rebounds, with more than half of them (17) coming on the offensive end.
+Guard Bryson Johnson made the biggest splash on opening night. He made six of his first eight 3-point attempts and finished with a team-high 18 points. He was kept off the scoreboard against Providence, but then came back to hit three more treys against Bryant and scored 11 points. Johnson was named the Patriot League Rookie of the Week last week, then validated that award by hitting for 12 points in the win over Delaware. Johnson is averaging 9.6 ppg and is 11-for-31 (.387) from the arc.
+Center/forward Mike Muscala battled foul trouble on opening night against Mercer and finished with two points in 11 minutes. He had two points and three rebounds in 22 minutes against Providence, then he had his best game yet against Bryant, totaling a team-high 12 points, three rebounds and two blocks in 24 minutes. In the Bryant win he hit a critical jumper off an inbounds play and also blocked a shot down the stretch. Muscala is averaging 4.0 ppg and ranks fourth in the league with six blocked shots.
Statistically Speaking
Some other notable numbers from Bucknell's first four games:
+Bucknell attempted 189 fewer free throws than its opponents last season, but so far this year the Bison seem to have reversed the trend. Bucknell has shot 118 free throws compared to 95 for its opponents, and the Bison have outscored the opposition 90-67 from the line.
+Bucknell outrebounded three of its first five opponents. Providence (46-31) and Delaware (38-29) have had major edges, but the Bison won the battle of the boards against both Mercer (32-31), Bryant (40-36) and Saint Francis (43-39). Defensive rebounding continues to be a struggle, however, as Bucknell's opponents are averaging 16.0 offensive rebounds per game.
+The Bison are averaging a respectable 12.4 turnovers per game, while forcing 14.4.
+Bryan Cohen, Bryson Johnson and Darryl Shazier are a combined 27-for-65 (.415) from 3-point distance, while the rest of the team is 1-for-14 (.071).
+After going 29-for-33 from the foul line against Delaware and 16-for-23 against Saint Francis last week, Bucknell is now shooting 76.3% from the stripe on the season. Darryl Shazier is now 22-for-26 (.846), and he has the most attempted free throws in the Patriot League. G.W. Boon leads the league in free-throw percentage at .923 (12-13).
Who's Got Next?
Bucknell will be back in the New York area on Saturday to take on Wagner at 7 p.m. The team will celebrate Thanksgiving together on Thursday, and will head over to the Donald Heiter Community Center to help serve Thanksgiving meals to underprivileged families.
