Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Basketball Closes out Road Trip Tuesday at Loyola
12/27/2010 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 27, 2010
WHAT: Bucknell (6-7) at Loyola (Md.) (4-7)
WHERE: Reitz Arena, Baltimore, Md.
WHEN: Tuesday, Dec. 28, 7 p.m. ET
WEBCAST: loyolagreyhounds.com 
RADIO: Eagle 107 (107.3 WEGH FM) and SportsJuice.com
LIVE STATS: GameTracker 
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format 
With a Win over Loyola, Bucknell Would ...
• ... win its fifth game in its last six outings and get back to .500 at 7-7 on the season.
• ... improve to 5-1 in the month of December.
• ... improve to 3-5 on the road this season.
• ... improve to 5-1 all-time against the Greyhounds.
• ... give coach Dave Paulsen his 290th career win.
Hot Topics
• Bucknell went into the Christmas holiday playing its best basketball of the season, and now the Bison look to keep their recent strong play going Tuesday night at Loyola (Md.). Last time out, Bucknell had its four-game winning streak come to an end in a well-played 84-80 loss at Boston College. The Bison are 4-1 in December, and in their last three games are averaging 81.4 ppg.
• In that Boston College game last Wednesday, Bucknell tied the school record with 15 3-pointers and took the 10-win Eagles right down to the wire. The Bison led by as many as 16 in the first half, and the game was tied until Biko Paris hit a go-ahead 3-pointer with 2:18 left. The game was not clinched until Paris hit two free throws to make it a four-point game with six seconds left. Sophomore guard Bryson Johnson hit seven of Bucknell's 15 treys and scored a career-high 25 points, the most by a Bison this season.
• Sophomore center Mike Muscala has five 20-point games this season and continues to lead the team in scoring (14.5), rebounding (5.8) and blocked shots (1.5). Senior forward G.W. Boon is also in double figures at 10.5 points per game, and seven Bison are scoring at least 6.2 points per game. Senior point guard Darryl Shazier is leading the Patriot League in assists (5.9) and now leads the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (4.81). Johnson's average is up to 9.5 ppg after his 25-point game, and he is now shooting 45.3% from the 3-point arc.
• In his last three games, junior guard Bryan Cohen is 7-for-8 from the 3-point arc. Cohen is now up to 46.4% from the arc on the season, the No. 3 figure in the Patriot League. Cohen is also averaging 14.0 ppg in his last five games.
• Loyola has dropped two straight and five of its last six after a 3-2 start, and the Greyhounds come into Tuesday's game at 4-7 on the season. Most recently, Loyola fell 69-65 at Howard last Wednesday.
• Loyola's wins this season have come against UMBC, Dartmouth, Morgan State and Mount St. Mary's.
• The Greyhounds just got high-scoring freshman guard Justin Drummond back from injury, and Drummond is averaging a team-best 12.7 ppg in his three appearances. Jamal Barney is also in double figures at 11.1 ppg, while four others score at least 8.3 ppg. Shane Walker, a 6-10 center, is the top rebounder (7.2) and shot-blocker (1.9). Despite a 4-7 record, Loyola is +4.3 on the glass on the season.
How to Get the Game
• The Bucknell-Loyola 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 also available online free of charge via BucknellBison.com and SportsJuice.com.
• A live Webcast (subscription required) will be carried on Loyola's athletics Web site at loyolagreyhounds.com.
• Live statistics are available on GameTracker via BucknellBison.com.
Bucknell vs. Loyola Series Notes
• The Bison and Greyhounds have met five times previously. Bucknell won the first four, then Loyola won 55-49 last season at Sojka Pavilion. Two of Bucknell's wins came in Davis Gym and the two others came at Reitz Arena in Baltimore, all in 1993 or earlier.
• This will be Bucknell's first appearance in Reitz Arena since Jan. 4, 1993, a 75-59 Bison win.
• The first series meeting came on Jan. 7, 1987 in Lewisburg. The Bison prevailed that day 72-70. A year later Bucknell won 80-60 on Loyola's home floor.
• Bucknell and Loyola played twice within the 1992-93 season. In addition to the aforementioned 75-59 win in Baltimore, on Feb. 24 at Davis Gym the Bison rolled to a 116-85 victory. In the latter game the Bison produced their second-highest point total in program history, led by an incredible 9-for-10 3-point shooting performance by Mike Bright.
• Last season at Sojka Pavilion, Bucknell enjoyed one of its best defensive efforts and worst offensive performances on the same night. The Bison shot only 33.3% from the field, went 10-for-19 from the foul line and had 16 turnovers in the 55-49 loss. Anthony Winbush scored 17 points and Jamal Barney added 10 for Loyola, which shot 37.0% and had 15 turnovers. Mike Muscala led Bucknell with 10 points, while Darryl Shazier added nine points and five assists for the Bison.
Bucknell vs. The MAAC
• Bucknell is 45-48 (.484) all-time against the teams that currently comprise the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. In addition to their 4-1 record against Loyola, the Bison are 30-24 against Rider, 3-5 vs. Niagara, 2-2 vs. Manhattan, 3-3 vs. Marist, 2-4 vs. Iona, 1-0 vs. St. Peter's, 0-6 vs. Canisius, 0-2 vs. Fairfield and 0-1 vs. Siena.
More from the Boston College Game
• Bucknell's bid to defeat an ACC program for the first time since 1961 fell just short last Wednesday at Boston College. The Bison never trailed in the first half after racing out to an 8-0 lead, and they led by as many as 16 points at 37-21. The Eagles used a 14-0 run to close within 42-39 at the half and finally went ahead for the first time early in the second half. There would be five lead changes and three ties the rest of the way, and BC did not take the lead for good until Biko Paris snapped a 76-all tie with a 3-pointer with 2:18 left. It was an 82-80 game with 0:06 left when Paris iced it with two free throws.
• Bucknell went 15-for-29 from 3-point range, tying in the school record for treys in a game, previously set at Villanova in 2007-08.
• Bryson Johnson went 7-for-12 from the arc and 9-for-14 overall en route to a career-high 25 points. That total led all players in the game and was the highest by a Bucknell player since Darryl Shazier scored 27 against Holy Cross last season.
• Shazier had a terrific game with eight points, six rebounds and a career-high 10 assists. The Bison point guard did not commit a turnover in 33 minutes.
• Center Mike Muscala was limited to 24 minutes due to foul trouble and finished with 14 points on 6-for-10 shooting.
• Bryan Cohen continued his offensive surge with 13 points on 5-for-8 shooting (3-for-4 from 3-point distance).
• Joe Willman had a solid game with eight points and a game-high eight rebounds. Willman also blocked two shots.
• The Bison finished with 17 assists and only seven turnovers in the game, while Boston College had 19 assists against five turnovers.
• The two teams combined for 60 field goals, 27 3-pointers and only 12 turnovers.
On a Roll on the Road
• Bucknell has played its best offensive basketball of the season on this road trip, encompassing wins over La Salle (89-77) and Cornell (75-64) along with the 84-80 loss at Boston College.
• In those three games, the Bison are scoring 81.3 points per game and shooting 51.4% from the field, 53.6% from 3-point range (30-56) and 76.6% from the free-throw line. They also have 55 assists and 27 turnovers in the three games.
• One of the catalysts in this three-game stretch has been Bryan Cohen. Over the last three games, Cohen is 17-for-27 from the floor (.630) and 7-for-8 from 3-point range (.875), and he is averaging 16.3 points, 5.0 rebounds and 2.3 assists per game.
Statistically Speaking
Some other notable numbers from Bucknell's first 13 games:
• Bucknell has a 201-to-142 assist-to-turnover ratio in 13 games, the best mark in the Patriot League. The Bison have had a negative ratio only once all season (17:18 at Marquette). Their 10.9 turnovers per game is the 13th-best mark in Division I basketball.
• The Bison as a team are shooting 41.2% from long range, up from last season's 32.9% mark. Bucknell's 44.7% field-goal shooting is now the best mark in the Patriot League.
• While the team's 3-point percentage is up, a lower percentage of Bucknell's total shots have come from beyond the 3-point arc. So far 31.5% of the team's attempts have come from long range, down from 34.7% last year and 35.0% in 2008-09.
• Bucknell has recorded an assist on 62.6% 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 seven games, Bucknell is shooting 79.6% (117-147) from the free-throw line.
• Bucknell has committed 10 turnovers or less in each of its last five games.
Who's Got Next?
• Bucknell returns home for the first time in 26 days on Thursday when Dartmouth visits Sojka Pavilion. The Big Green are 4-7 on the season and are idle until the Bucknell game.
