Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Basketball Opens League Play Saturday at Navy on CBS College Sports
1/5/2011 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 5, 2011
WHAT: Bucknell (9-7) at Navy (5-11)
WHERE: Alumni Hall, Annapolis, Md.
WHEN: Saturday, Jan. 8, 8 p.m. ET
TV: CBS College Sports 
RADIO: Eagle 107 (WEGH 107.3 FM) and SportsJuice.com
LIVE STATS: GameTracker 
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format 
With a Win over Navy, Bucknell Would ...
• ... win its eighth game in its last nine outings and move to 10-7 on the season.
• ... start 1-0 in Patriot League play for the first time since 2007-08.
• ... improve to 5-5 on the road this season.
• ... snap a four-game losing streak to the Midshipmen.
• ... win in Annapolis for the first time since the 2008 Patriot League Tournament quarterfinals, when the Bison won on John Griffin's buzzer-beater from just inside halfcourt.
Hot Topics
• Bucknell is in the midst of its best stretch of basketball this season, winning seven of its last eight games. The Bison went 6-1 in December, then started off 2011 on a high note with a 62-61 win at Richmond on Sunday. Of the seven wins in this current hot streak, four have come on the road, including two against Atlantic 10 programs in Richmond and La Salle.
• The Bison have been strong offensively of late, averaging 75.0 points while shooting 48.6% from the field and 50.0% from the 3-point stripe over their last six games.
• Sophomore center Mike Muscala was one of the stars of the Richmond win on Sunday, culminating a 17-point, eight-rebound performance with a 16-foot turnaround jumper at the final buzzer. Muscala has five 20-point games this season and continues to lead the team in scoring (13.8), rebounding (6.3) and blocked shots (1.3). Senior forward G.W. Boon (10.6) and hot-shooting sophomore guard Bryson Johnson (10.5) are also scoring in double figures, and seven Bison are scoring at least 6.6 points per game. Senior point guard Darryl Shazier is leading the Patriot League in assists (5.6) and now ranks No. 4 in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (4.05).
• Johnson and junior guard Bryan Cohen have both been red hot from 3-point distance of late, and the duo ranks 1-2 in the Patriot League in 3-point percentage. In his last six games, Cohen is 10-for-13 from the arc. He is now up to 48.5% on the season, the No. 1 figure in the Patriot League. Johnson is 21-for-35 (.600) from long range in the last five games, including a 7-for-12 showing at Boston College and a 5-for-7 effort Sunday at Richmond. Johnson is second in the league in 3FG percentage on the season (.484).
• As a team, Bucknell is leading the Patriot League in field-goal percentage (.448) and 3-point percentage (.419), and the team is No. 2 in free-throw percentage (.780). Among the national leaders, the Bison are fifth in 3FG% and seventh in FT%.
• Navy also comes into Saturday's CBS College Sports-televised game off a victory. After trailing by eight points at halftime, the Midshipmen outscored Longwood 57-32 in the second half en route to an 87-70 victory that snapped a five-game losing streak. Talented guard Jordan Sugars led Navy with 20 points, while standout freshman J.J. Avila had 19.
• Sugars leads Navy and ranks fifth in the Patriot League in scoring at 16.0 ppg. He is also the Midshipmen's top rebounder at 6.0 rpg. Greg Brown (11.4) and Avila (10.2) also score in double figures for Navy, which averages 68.9 ppg as a team while surrendering 74.9 ppg.
• Bucknell and Navy have played just one common opponent this season: Presbyterian. The Bison defeated the Blue Hose 71-47 at a neutral site (James Madison) on Nov. 22, while Navy lost at home to Presbyterian 60-58 on Sunday.
• There will be plenty happening at Alumni Hall on Saturday, as Navy is honoring its 1986 team on the 25th anniversary of its run to the Elite 8. David Robinson was the star of that team and is expected to be in attendance. Bucknell will be sending a fan bus from Lewisburg and will be hosting a pregame tailgate reception.
How to Get the Game
•The Bucknell-Navy game will be televised nationally on CBS College Sports. The network is available through most cable operators (check local listings), as well as on DIRECTV Channel 613 and Dish Network Channel 152. Tom McCarthy will handle the play-by-play duties, with former Xavier, Providence and Virginia head coach Pete Gillen serving as the color analyst.
• 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 on GameTracker via BucknellBison.com.
Bucknell vs. Navy Series Notes
• This will be the 60th all-time meeting between the Bison and Midshipmen, with Navy owning a 34-25 series lead.
• The Midshipmen have won four straight in the series to end an 8-1 stretch for the Bison. Navy swept the season series from Bucknell in each of the last two seasons, winning by 4, 2 (in OT), 2 and 2 points. In fact, each of the last six Bucknell-Navy games have been decided by six points or less.
• The Mids won 12 of 16 from the Bison prior to joining the Patriot League in 1991-92.
• As conference rivals, Navy has a slim 22-21 series lead, with the home team winning most of the time. Since Navy joined the league, Bucknell is 15-5 against the Mids at home but is only 6-17 against Navy in Alumni Hall during that time.
• Last season, Navy opened league play with a 69-67 win at Sojka Pavilion, then won 81-79 at Alumni Hall a month later. In the game in Lewisburg, O.J. Avworo scored on a driving layup with just over a minute to play to give Navy the win. Chris Harris led the Midshipmen with 15 points in that game, while Jeremy Wilson, Romeo Garcia and Greg Brown had 10 each. Bryson Johnson paced Bucknell with 18 points, while Mike Muscala added 16 points, eight rebounds and seven blocked shots.
• In the rematch in Annapolis, blizzard conditions outside Alumni Hall limited the crowd to only a few hundred loyal fans, but inside the arena Bucknell and Navy were red-hot for long stretches of time. In the end, Navy made 13 3-pointers to Bucknell's 11 and outscored the Bison 81-79. Garcia hit five treys and scored 20 points for Navy, while Harris had 18, Avworo 17 and 10 assists, and Jordan Sugars 15 points and 10 rebounds. The Bison had five double-figure scorers, led by Johnson and G.W. Boon with 16 each. Muscala added 15 points, seven rebounds and four blocks, Joe Willman had 12 points and nine rebounds, and Darryl Shazier had 10 points and six assists.
Patriot League Success
• The Bison are 175-91 (.658) 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 Richmond Game
• Mike Muscala's buzzer-beater has received plenty of media coverage, particularly on the Internet, where video clips of the shot have garnered nearly 200,000 hits on YouTube.
• Muscala's shot came on the back end of the “Christian Laettner Play,” as Joe Willman inbounded the ball under his own basket with 1.7 seconds left. Muscala caught the long pass at the opposite free-throw line with his back to the basket, spun to his right and drilled the 16-foot fadeaway jumper with a hand in his face as time expired.
• Muscala finished with 17 points (7-12 FG) and eight rebounds, while Bryson Johnson also scored 17 points on 5-for-7 shooting from 3-point distance.
• Bucknell outrebounded Richmond 36-31, with Joe Willman leading the way with nine boards.
• Darryl Shazier had another solid all-around game with nine points, seven assists, five rebounds and two steals.
• The Bison shot 46.2% from the floor and went 8-for-16 from 3-point range. That was the sixth time this season the team made at least half of its 3-point attempts.
• Bucknell held Richmond to 42.6% shooting, and the Spiders hurt themselves at the foul line, where they went 9-for-18 on the day and 1-for-8 in the final three minutes.
• Richmond came into the game with an 11-3 record and was coming off a 16-point rout of Wake Forest. The Spiders had also beaten No. 8 Purdue, Arizona State, Seton Hall and VCU.
Dishing out Some Revenge
• There were eight non-league opponents that defeated Bucknell last season and which also appeared on this year's schedule. Amazingly, Bucknell avenged the loss on all eight occasions.
Opponent 2009-10 Result 2010-11 Result Binghamton L, 64-60 W, 66-38 Columbia L, 73-59 W, 73-68 Boston University L, 63-53 W, 52-49 La Salle L, 83-70 W, 89-77 Cornell L, 104-98 (OT) W, 75-64 Loyola (Md.) L, 55-49 W, 70-59 Dartmouth L, 49-43 W, 74-57 Richmond L, 59-50 W, 62-61
Sweet December
• Bucknell finished 6-1 in the month of December and wrapped up one of the best Decembers in school history with the win over Dartmouth.
• The school record for wins in the month is seven (7-1), set in December 1956. The only other six-win December came in 1958 (6-2).
• The last time the team posted only one December loss was 2004 (5-1).
On a Roll on the Road
• Bucknell is 4-1 in its last five road games, encompassing wins over La Salle (89-77), Cornell (75-64), Loyola (70-59) and Richmond (62-61) along with an 84-80 loss at Boston College.
• In those five games, the Bison scored 75.2 points per game and shot 49.3% from the field, 51.7% from 3-point range and 79.2% from the free-throw line. They also had 82 assists and 58 turnovers in the five games.
• All told this season, Bucknell is shooting 47.6% from the field and 46.8% from 3-point range while averaging 70.1 ppg on the road. On the other hand, at home the Bison shoot 40.1% from the field, 35.4% from the arc and score 67.6 ppg.
Statistically Speaking
Some other notable numbers from Bucknell's first 16 games:
• Bucknell has a 238-to-189 assist-to-turnover ratio in 15 games, the second-best mark in the Patriot League, despite a recent upswing in turnovers. The Bison have had a negative ratio only four times all season, but three of them have come in the last three games against Loyola, Dartmouth and Richmond. Their 11.8 turnovers per game is the 30th-best mark in Division I basketball.
• The Bison as a team are shooting 41.9% from long range, up from last season's 32.9% mark. Bucknell ranks fifth nationally in 3-point accuracy.
• Bucknell's 44.8% field-goal shooting is the best mark in the Patriot League, and the Bison rank No. 2 in the league and No. 7 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 31.2% 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 60.9% 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 nine games, Bucknell is shooting 81.0% (162-200) from the free-throw line.
• Bucknell had scored 70 or more points in five straight games until that streak was broken in Sunday's 62-61 win at Richmond. 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.
Shazier Lends Helping Hand
• This season senior point guard Darryl Shazier leads the Patriot League in assists (5.6) and assist-to-turnover ratio (4.05). The latter figure ranks No. 4 nationally among all players averaging at least 3.0 assists per game (Shazier was No. 1 in the nation for several weeks in December).
• In his last 14 games, Shazier has 82 assists and only 16 turnovers. He had recorded five or more assists in 11 straight games until finishing with just one in limited minutes in last week's rout of Dartmouth.
• Shazier had a stellar 118-to-50 assist-to-turnover ratio last season. Among the Patriot League leaders he ranked third in assists and second in assist-to-turnover ratio.
• As a sophomore in 2008-09, Shazier became the first Bucknell player to win a Patriot League assists title. Shazier averaged 4.6 assists per game that season and had six or more assists 13 times. He also led the Patriot League in assist-to-turnover ratio (2.06).
• Shazier now ranks fourth on Bucknell's career assists chart, and in the Richmond game he became the fourth player in school history to reach 400 helpers. He also ranks 11th on the Patriot League all-time assists leaderboard.
Assists in a Career, Bucknell History 1. Mike Joseph 1986-90 565 2. Chris Seneca 1983-87 553 3. Pat Flannery 1976-80 505 4. Darryl Shazier 2007-pres. 402 5. Cal Puriefoy 1981-84 399 6. Abe Badmus 2003-07 375 7. Russell Peyton 1989-93 332
Who's Got Next?
• Bucknell returns to the area on Wednesday to take on American at Bender Arena at 7:30 p.m. The Bison swept the Eagles last season, but this year American's revamped lineup is off to a league-best 10-5 start.
• Following the American game, the Bison return home to face Holy Cross on Sunday, Jan. 16. That game will also be televised on CBS College Sports.
