Bucknell University Athletics
First-Place Bison Put Nation's Sixth-Longest Win Streak on Line Wednesday at Lehigh
1/25/2011 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 25, 2011
WHAT: Bucknell (14-7, 5-0 PL) at Lehigh (11-9, 2-3 PL)
WHERE: Stabler Arena, Bethlehem, Pa.
WHEN: Wednesday, Jan. 26, 7 p.m. ET
WEBCAST: Bison Vision 
RADIO: Eagle 107 (107.3 WEGH FM) and SportsJuice.com
LIVE STATS: lehighsports.com
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format 
With a Win over Lehigh, Bucknell Would ...
• ... win its ninth game in a row and its 13th in the last 14 outings.
• ... start 6-0 in Patriot League play for the first time since 2005-06, when it went 14-0.
• ... maintain sole possession of first place in the Patriot League standings.
• ... improve to 7-5 on the road this season.
• ... snap a three-game losing streak at Stabler Arena.
• ... surpass last season's win total.
Hot Topics
• The Patriot League's defending champion hosts the current first-place team on Wednesday night when Bucknell visits Lehigh for a 7 p.m. contest at Stabler Arena. The Bison are currently on quite a roll, winning eight straight games and 12 of their last 13. Bucknell's only loss since Dec. 1 was an 84-80 decision at Boston College that was not decided until the final seconds. The Bison sit alone at the top of the Patriot League standings with a 5-0 record, one game ahead of American. Lehigh is in a three-way tie for fourth place at 2-3, and the Mountain Hawks are 11-9 overall. Lehigh is coming off a 79-62 win over arch-rival Lafayette, and its other league win came at home against Navy.
• The Bison are in the midst of their best 13-game stretch (12-1) since winning 14 straight games in 2006-07. The current eight-game winning streak is also the longest since 2006-07, and it is tied for the sixth-longest active streak in the nation.
• The Bison have been strong offensively since the end of the final exam break in December, averaging 74.6 points while shooting 47.91% from the field, 43.4% from the 3-point stripe and 79.3% from the foul line over their last 11 games. Bucknell has three players scoring in double figures and six averaging at least 7.5 points per game over that span, led by Mike Muscala at 17.5 ppg.
• Muscala has seven 20-point games this season and continues to lead the team in scoring (15.5), rebounding (6.9) and blocked shots (1.6). After producing 56 points, 23 rebounds and eight blocks in two games last week, Muscala was named the Susquehanna Valley Limousine Bison Athlete of the Week, the Patriot League Player of the Week and the Oscar Roberston National Player of the Week.
• Hot-shooting sophomore Bryson Johnson (10.7) and senior G.W. Boon (10.0) are also scoring in double figures, and seven Bison are scoring at least 5.9 points per game. Senior point guard Darryl Shazier is leading the Patriot League in assists (5.5) and ranks No. 3 in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (4.00). Shazier scored a career-high 28 points in the win over Navy, and he had a nine-assist, no-turnover game against Holy Cross.
• Johnson is 35-for-65 (.538) from long range in the last 10 games, including a 7-for-12 showing at Boston College, a 5-for-7 effort at Richmond and a 4-for-6 performance last time out against Colgate. Johnson leads the league and ranks fifth nationally in 3FG percentage on the season (.480).
• As a team, Bucknell is leading the Patriot League in field-goal percentage (.454) and 3-point percentage (.404) while ranking a close second to Lafayette in free-throw percentage (.780). Among the national leaders, the Bison are fifth in FT%, 11th in 3FG% and 9th in fewest turnovers per game (10.8).
• Lehigh features one of the Patriot League's most explosive offensive performers in sophomore C.J. McCollum. Last season McCollum became the first freshman ever to be named both Player of the Year and Rookie of the Year in the same season, and he is backing it up with another strong year in 2010-11. McCollum leads the league in scoring at 21.7 ppg, and he is also third in rebounding at 7.3 rpg. He is coming off a 23-point, 14-rebound effort against Lafayette, and earlier in the year he poured in 42 points against Kent State. McCollum, who averaged 24.5 ppg in two appearances against Bucknell last season, is shooting 42.2% from the field and 30.7% from 3-point range.
• Also for Lehigh, Michael Ojo (12.4) and Gabe Knutson (12.3) are scoring in double figures, while freshman point guard Mackey McKnight has handed out a team-high 73 assists.
How to Get the Game
• The Bucknell-Lehigh game will be televised locally on the Service Electric cable system, and a live Webcast will be available on Bison Vision at BucknellBison.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 also available online free of charge via BucknellBison.com and SportsJuice.com.
• Live statistics are available at lehighsports.com.
Bucknell vs. Lehigh Series Notes
• Bucknell has played more games (152) and won more games (92) against Lehigh than any other school. The Bison have a 92-60 lead in a series that originated in 1902.
• Since the start of Patriot League play in 1990-91, Bucknell holds a 33-13 advantage, including an 18-3 mark at home.
• Lehigh is responsible for snapping Bucknell's 35-game home winning streak against Patriot League foes. The Bison had not lost to a conference opponent at Sojka Pavilion in nearly five years, until the Mountain Hawks won 56-54 in Lewisburg on Jan. 30, 2008.
• Lehigh also won the first game ever played in Sojka Pavilion, a 60-56 decision on Jan. 15, 2003. Including that game, Bucknell is 6-2 against the Mountain Hawks in Sojka.
• Bucknell went 1-1 against Lehigh last season, with the home team winning each time.
• In the first Bucknell-Lehigh last season at Sojka Pavilion, G.W. Boon scored 12 of his 18 points in the final 1:39 of regulation and overtime to lift the Bison to an 81-76 OT win. Bucknell scored the final 10 points of regulation, capped by Mike Muscala's tying free throws with 30 seconds left. Darryl Shazier had 13 points and seven assists and also made two key defensive plays at the end of both regulation and overtime. Muscala finished with 16 points and 10 rebounds for his first double-double. Marquis Hall scored 21 points and C.J. McCollum 20 for the Mountain Hawks, who were held to three points in the final seven minutes of regulation.
• The rematch at Stabler Arena was a battle for first place in the Patriot League in the second-to-last game of the regular season. Lehigh prevailed 81-59 behind 29 points from McCollum, and the Mountain Hawks would eventually go on to claim the No. 1 seed and win the Patriot League Tournament. Muscala led the Bison with 14 points and nine rebounds.
Patriot League Success
• The Bison are 180-91 (.664) in Patriot League regular-season games, the best record of any league team. They have finished at least .500 in PL play in 16 of 20 seasons.
• The Bison won a league-record 23 straight contests against conference foes from Feb. 23, 2005 to Jan. 12, 2007.
• Bucknell had a streak of 35 straight wins at home against conference opponents come to an end in 2008.
• Bucknell has an all-time record of 24-18 in 20 Patriot League Tournaments. Bucknell has beaten every team in the league at least once in the postseason. The Bison have reached the championship game six times, including wins in 2005 and 2006, and reached at least the semifinals in 15 of 20 years.
More from the Colgate Game
• Bucknell took this game over early, erasing a 4-2 deficit with a 14-0 run. The Bison led 47-26 at halftime and by as many as 33 points in the second half before prevailing 76-49.
• For the second straight game, Bucknell's large lead afforded coach Dave Paulsen the opportunity to rest his starters for most of the second half. No Bison played more than 26 minutes, and five reserves saw at least 13 minutes of action.
• Bucknell's starters went 17-for-29 (.586) from the field, while the bench went 7-for-23 (.304). As a team, the Bison shot 46.2% overall and 38.1% (8-21) from 3-point range. They also continued their fine free-throw shooting, making 20 of 25.
• Mike Muscala led the team in scoring for the fourth straight game with 17 points (5-8 FG, 7-7 FT). Muscala also gravved six rebounds, blocked three shots and handed out two assists in 21 minutes of action.
• Bryson Johnson continued his torrid 3-point shooting, making 4 of 6 en route to a 12-point evening.
• Joe Willman had an efficient game, totaling 10 points and five rebounds in only 12 minutes.
• Bryan Cohen equaled his career high with six assists, all of them coming during Bucknell's season-best 47-point first half. Cohen also had two steals, did not commit a turnover, and helped limit Colgate scoring leader Yaw Gyawu to just two field goals.
• Bucknell had one of its best defensive nights of the season, holding Colgate to 49 points on 25.0% shooting. The Raiders scored almost half (22 of 49) of their points at the free-throw line and managed only 12 field goals all night. Bucknell set season highs for forced turnovers (18) and steals (8).
• The Bison committed only one first-half turnover and finished with 17 assists and seven turnovers for the game. Guards Cohen and Darryl Shazier combined for 11 assists and one turnover.
Let's Go Streaking
• Bucknell's current eight-game winning streak is the team's longest under current head coach Dave Paulsen. The last streak of longer duration came in 2006-07, when the Bison set a modern-day record with a 14-game win streak. This is tied for the 17th-longest streak in program history.
Longest Winning Streaks in Bucknell History (broken up by): 17* 3/1/1902 - 2/19/1904 (Allegheny) 15* 2/5/1901 - 2/11/1902 (at Princeton) 14 1/17/2007 - 3/4/07 (at Holy Cross, Patriot League championship game) 14* 1/10/1908 - 1/27/1909 (at State College) 13* 3/9/1906 - 3/9/1907 (at Harrisburg Collegians) 13* 2/15/1918 - 2/8/1919 (at Lehigh) 12 1/7/2006 - 2/18/2006 (at Northern Iowa) 11 12/4/2004 - 1/23/2005 (at American) 11 2/1/1993 - 3/6/1993 (Holy Cross, Patriot League championship game) 11* 2/6/1920 - 1/13/1921 (at Temple) 10 1/14/1984 - 2/8/1984 (at Lafayette) 10* 2/16/1919 - 12/20/1919 (at Syracuse) 9 1/21/1987 - 2/21/1987 (at Lafayette) 9 1/7/1975 - 1/25/1975 (Rutgers) 9* 2/19/1959 - 12/10/1959 (at Cornell) 9* 3/3/1956 - 12/28/1956 (vs. West Virginia Tech) 8 12/28/2010 - present (?) 8 1/13/1996 - 2/7/1996 (at St. Bonaventure) 8 1/6/1989 - 1/25/1989 (at Delaware) 8* 2/26/1909 - 1/31/1910 (Allegheny) * Streak carried over multiple seasons
Streaking, Part 2
Bucknell's current eight-game winning streak is tied for the sixth-longest active streak in the nation (through Thursday).
Team Streak
1. Ohio State 20
San Diego State 20
3. Coastal Carolina 16
4. Utah State 13
5. BYU 9
6. Bucknell 8
Belmont 8
Duquesne 8
Statistically Speaking
Some other notable numbers from Bucknell's first 21 games:
• Bucknell has a 312-to-227 assist-to-turnover ratio in 21 games, the best mark in the Patriot League and 15th-best in the nation. The Bison have had a negative ratio only four times all season, against Marquette, Loyola, Dartmouth and Richmond. Their 10.8 turnovers per game is the ninth-best mark in Division I basketball.
• The Bison as a team are shooting 40.4% from long range, up from last season's 32.9% mark. Bucknell ranks 11th nationally in 3-point accuracy.
• Bucknell's 45.4% field-goal shooting is the best mark in the Patriot League, and the Bison rank No. 1 in the league and No. 5 in the nation in free-throw percentage at 78.0%.
• 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 31.4% 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 60.1% of its field goals this season. By comparison, last year the team was credited with an assist on only 51.6% of its baskets.
• Bucknell has scored 70 or more points in 10 of its last 11 games, including five straight. Prior to this season, the last time a Bucknell team reached 70 in five consecutive games was all the way back in 1997-98, when it happened six straight times. The Bison have scored 70+ points 14 times so far, their most since doing it 16 times in 1996-97.
Who's Got Next?
• The Bison are back on the road Saturday, closing out the first round of Patriot League play against Army at Christl Arena at 4 p.m.
• The next home game will be Saturday, Feb. 5 against Navy at 7 p.m. Earlier that day (1 p.m.), Bucknell will hold its annual alumni game.
