Bucknell University Athletics
Bison Men's Basketball Resumes Schedule Friday at La Salle
12/16/2010 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 16, 2010
WHAT: Bucknell (4-6) at La Salle (6-4)
WHERE: Tom Gola Arena, Philadelphia, Pa.
WHEN: Friday, Dec. 17, 7 p.m. ET
WEBCAST: GoExplorers.com 
RADIO: Eagle 107 (107.3 WEGH FM) and SportsJuice.com
LIVE STATS: GameTracker 
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format 
With a Win over La Salle, Bucknell Would ...
•... win its third straight game and improve to 5-6 overall this season.
•... improve to 3-0 in the month of December.
•... capture its first road victory of the season.
•... snap a two-game losing streak to the Explorers.
•... beat the Explorers in Philadelphia for the first time ever.
•... win coming out of the final exams break for the fifth time in the last seven years.
About the Game
• Bucknell comes out of a 13-day layoff for final exams when it visits La Salle Friday night at Tom Gola Arena.
• The exam break interrupted a stretch of good basketball for the Bison, who had beaten Columbia and Boston Univeristy in succession to improve to 4-6 on the season. The home victories marked the first time Bucknell had linked together consecutive wins this season, and they capped a busy stretch in which the Bison had played 10 games in 22 days to start the year.
• Sophomore center Mike Muscala continues to lead the team in scoring (13.3), rebounding (5.8) and blocked shots (1.6). Senior forward G.W. Boon is also in double figures at 11.1 points per game, and seven Bison are scoring at least 4.9 points per game. Senior point guard Darryl Shazier is leading the Patriot League in assists (5.4) and assist-to-turnover ratio (3.86).
• La Salle is a strong 6-4 so far, with its only losses coming against Baylor (74-64), Missouri (83-71), Oklahoma State (92-87 in 2OT) and Villanova (84-81). In their last outing on Dec. 12, the Explorers had an eight-point second-half lead against Villanova, but the Wildcats came from behind to win late. La Salle and Bucknell share wins over Columbia and Boston University.
• The Explorers are led by 6-10 sophomore center Aaric Murray, the reigning Big 5 Rookie of the Year. Murray leads the team in scoring (15.3), rebounding (8.5) and blocks (2.9) while shooting better than 55% from the floor and 84% from the foul line.
• Three other Explorers also score in double figures: Ruben Guillandeaux (15.3), Jerrell Williams (14.1) and Earl Pettis (10.0). Point guard Tyreek Duren scores 8.1 ppg and also averages 5.1 assists per game.
• La Salle shoots 48.5% as a team and averages 78.5 points per game.
How to Get the Game
• The Bucknell-La Salle 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.
• A live Webcast of the game will be carried live on GoExplorers.com (subscription required).
• The audio feed is also available online free of charge via BucknellBison.com and SportsJuice.com.
• Live statistics are available on GameTracker via BucknellBison.com.
Bucknell vs. La Salle Series Notes
• Bucknell and La Salle are former conference rivals in both the Middle Atlantic Conference and the East Coast Conference.
• La Salle has a 17-4 lead in a series that dates all the way back to 1903.
• Bucknell's series wins came in 1903, 1904, 1979 and 2007.
• The Bison are 0-11 against La Salle on the Explorers' home floor.
• Last season at Tom Gola Arena, only a handful of brave souls ventured out in blizzard conditions to see La Salle hold off the Bison 83-70. Kimmani Barrett scored 23 points and Rodney Green 22 to lead the Explorers. Mike Muscala led the Bison with 15 points off the bench, while Bryson Johnson added 12 and Colin Klebon a career-high 11. Bucknell's bench outscored its staters 43-27 in the game. The Bison led 41-39 at the half but went cold early in the second as La Salle opened the half on a 25-10 run.
Bucknell vs. The Atlantic 10
Bucknell is 33-92 (.264) all-time against the teams that currently comprise the Atlantic 10. In addition to their 4-17 record against La Salle, the Bison are 5-29 vs. Temple, 3-17 vs. St. Joseph's, 7-2 vs. George Washington, 5-8 vs. Fordham, 3-5 vs. Duquesne, 3-5 vs. Rhode Island, 1-5 vs. St. Bonaventure, 1-0 vs. Saint Louis, 1-0 vs. Xavier, 0-3 vs. Richmond and 0-1 vs. Dayton. Bucknell has never played Charlotte or Massachusetts. Bucknell had won four of six against the A-10 between 2004-05 and 2007-08, but has since lost five straight to A-10 teams. The Bison will play Richmond coming up on Jan. 2.
More from the Boston University Game
• On a night when it shot only 23.3% in the second half and 31.0% for the game, Bucknell turned to its defense and held off America East preseason favorite Boston University 52-49 on Dec. 4 at Sojka Pavilion.
• Bryan Cohen was Bucknell's co-scoring leader with 10 points, but one of the stories of the night was his defense on reigning America East scoring champion John Holland. Holland, who averaged better than 19 points per game last season and was scoring at an 18.1 ppg clip coming in, was held to 11 points on 4-for-17 shooting. He missed 11 of his last 12 shots while being harassed by Cohen.
• Bucknell held Boston University to 21.9% second-half shooting (7-32) and 33.3% for the game. The Terriers made only 5 of 20 3-point attempts and 4 of 9 free-throw tries. The Bison held BU to one field goal over the last 10:54 of the game.
• Bucknell struggled offensively as well, with Cohen and Mike Muscala leading the team with 10 points each. G.W. Boon added nine points and eight rebounds, and it was his 3-pointer with 1:30 to play that gave the Bison the lead for good.
• While the Terriers struggled at the free-throw line, the Bison went 10-for-12.
• After committing an uncharacteristic eight turnovers in the first half, the Bison had only two in the second half and finished with 11 assists and 10 miscues.
• Bucknell's 31.0% field-goal percentage was its lowest in a victory since March 2, 1996, when it shot 28.3% in a 56-55 win over Lafayette in the Patriot League Tournament quarterfinals at Holy Cross.
Boon Promoted to Captain
• During the final exam break, Bucknell head coach Dave Paulsen announced that senior G.W. Boon has been designated a team co-captain, where he joins classmate Darryl Shazier and graduate student Stephen Tyree.
• Boon, a biomedical engineering major, is Bucknell's second-leading scorer at 11.1 points per game, and he has scored at least eight points in nine straight games.
Defense the Key
Defense has been the X factor for Bucknell so far in 2010-11.
• In Bucknell's four wins, it is allowing just 50.5 points per game, while opponents are shooting 33.2% from the field and 27.5% from the 3-point arc.
• In the six losses, opponents are scoring 72.7 points per game and shooting 48.1% from the field, 41.8% from the arc.
Statistically Speaking
Some other notable numbers from Bucknell's first 10 games:
• Bucknell has a 146-to-115 assist-to-turnover ratio in 10 games, the best mark in the Patriot League and the 39th-best in Division I basketball. The Bison have had a negative ratio only once all season (17:18 at Marquette).
• The Bison as a team are shooting 37.1% from long range, up from last season's 32.9% mark.
• While the team's 3-point percentage is up, it a lower percentage of Bucknell's total shots have come from beyond the 3-point arc. So far 31.2% of the team's attempts have come from long range, down from 34.7% last year and 35.0% in 2008-09.
• Despite a 4-6 record, Bucknell has outscored its opponents on the season, 645-638.
• Bucknell has made 10 more field goals than its opponents this season. In three of their six losses, the Bison have made either more or the same number of FGs as their opponent.
• Bucknell has recorded an assist on 62.9% of its field goals this season. By comparison, last year the team was credited with an assist on only 51.6% of its baskets.
• Over its last five games, Bucknell is shooting 81.0% (81-100) from the free-throw line.
Who's Got Next?
• Bucknell's four-game road trip continues on Monday at Cornell at 7 p.m. The reigning Ivy League champs are now coached by a Bucknell graduate, Bill Courtney '92.
• The next home game will be Thursday, Dec. 30 at 7 p.m. against Dartmouth.
