Bucknell University Athletics

Bucknell Men's Basketball Back in Action Tuesday at No. 18 Vanderbilt as Part of TicketCity Legends Classic
11/14/2011 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Nov. 14, 2011
WHAT: Bucknell (0-1) at #18 Vanderbilt (1-1)
WHERE: Memorial Gym, Nashville, Tenn.
WHEN: Tuesday, Nov. 15, 8 p.m. ET
LIVE WEBCAST: vucommodores.com 
RADIO: Eagle 107 (WEGH 107.3 FM) and SportsJuice.com
SATELLITE RADIO: XM 199 and Sirius 216
LIVE STATS: GameTracker 
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format ![]()
With a Win over Vanderbilt, Bucknell Would ...
• ... pick up its first win of the season.
• ... defeat a ranked team for the first time since Nov. 22, 2005 (at No. 17 Syracuse).
• ... win its third straight game against an SEC team (last was March 17, 2006 vs Arkansas in first round of NCAA Tournament).
• ... become the first active Patriot League team to defeat the Commodores.
Headlines
• After letting a late lead slip away on opening night at Minnesota, the Bison face another major-conference opponent on Tuesday night when they travel to No. 18 Vanderbilt.
• This will be the first-ever meeting between the Bison and Commodores.
• After opening the season with a 78-64 win over Oregon, the then-seventh-ranked Commodores lost 71-58 to Cleveland State on Sunday. This week Vandy slipped to No. 18 in the AP Poll and No. 20 in the ESPN/USA Today Coaches Poll.
• Tuesday's game is a preliminary matchup of the TicketCity Legends Classic. Bucknell will host a Legends Classic subregional later this month, with Princeton, Morehead State and West Alabama visiting Sojka Pavilion.
• The Bison were unanimously picked as the preseason favorite in the Patriot League by the league's head coaches and SIDs.
• Bucknell returns four starters and 10 lettermen from last year's Patriot League championship squad.
• Bucknell has one Tennessee native coming home on Tuesday. Freshman Steven Kaspar is a native of Lakeland, near Memphis.
• Only 29 Division I players shot 40% from 3-point range last season (minimum 2.5 made per game), and two of them are playing in this game. Bucknell's Bryson Johnson ranked seventh at 45.6%, while Vanderbilt's John Jenkins ranked 25th at 40.8%. CBS Sports' Jeff Goodman ranked the top 50 shooters in the nation before the season, and he ranked Jenkins No. 1 and Johnson No. 39.
How to Get the Game
• The Bucknell-Vanderbilt game will not be televised, however a live video webcast will air at vucommodores.com (subscription fees apply).
• The game can be heard in the Susquehanna Valley on the radio on Eagle 107 (WEGH 107.3 FM), with Doug Birdsong and Terry Conrad describing the action. The pregame show begins 30 minutes before tip-off.
• The audio feed is available online free of charge via BucknellBison.com and SportsJuice.com.
• Live statistics are available on GameTracker via BucknellBison.com.
• Satellite radio subscribers can listen to the Vanderbilt call on XM 199 and Sirius 216.
Bucknell vs. Vanderbilt Series Notes
• Bucknell and Vanderbilt have never before met in men's basketball ...
• ... however this will not be Bucknell's first trip to Vanderbilt's Memorial Gymnasium. The Bison participated in the 1993 Music City Invitational, where they lost to Illinois State (89-76) before defeating Harvard (80-73).
• The Bison have played two other Tennessee schools: Middle Tennessee State at the 1977 Senior Bowl Classic in Mobile, Ala. (77-65 loss), and Tennessee at the 1957 Charlotte (N.C.) Tournament (89-71 loss).
Bucknell vs. The Southeastern Conference
• The Bison are 3-6 (.333) against current members of the SEC (1-0 vs. Arkansas, 1-1 vs. Alabama, 1-1 vs. South Carolina, 0-1 vs. Tennessee, 0-1 vs. Florida, 0-2 vs. Georgia).
• Bucknell goes to Vanderbilt with a two-game winning streak against SEC opponents, although the wins are fairly spread out. On Dec. 29, 1995, the Bison defeated Alabama 72-64 at the Cessna Classic in Wichita, Kansas. Their next appearance against an SEC foe came in Dallas at the 2006 NCAA Tournament, and the ninth-seeded Bison edged eighth-seeded Arkansas 59-55.
• Bucknell's last loss to an SEC program came on Dec. 1, 1991 at Georgia (93-90).
Last Time Out
• Bucknell held a 53-48 lead on Minnesota with 5:30 to play, but the Golden Gophers ended the game on a 22-5 run and prevailed 70-58 at Williams Arena on Friday night.
• Three Bison scored in double figures, led by Bryson Johnson with 16 points. Johnson hit four 3-pointers in the first half, but was held to just four free throws in the second. Cameron Ayers followed with 13 points, while Minnesota native Mike Muscala recorded a double-double with 12 points and 11 rebounds.
• All-America candidate Trevor Mbakwe was the difference for Minnesota down the stretch. He scored nine of his 17 points in the final 5:30 and also grabbed 10 rebounds.
More from the Minnesota Game
• Bucknell shot 45.8 FG% in the first half, but then was held to 5 FGs (22.7 FG%) in the second half.
• The Bison went 7-for-16 (.438) from 3-point range, compared to Minnesota's 3-for-15 (.200).
• After finishing third in the nation in team free-throw percentage last season, the Bison went 19-for-23 (.826) against the Gophers. Mike Muscala was 8-for-10 at the stripe to help offset a rare off shooting night (2-10 FG).
• Two big keys for Bucknell going into the game were limiting turnovers and keeping Minnesota off the offensive glass. The Gophers ended up with 15 offensive boards, leading to 21 second-chance points, and the Bison had an 8-to-14 assist-to-turnover ratio.
• Three players made their Bucknell debuts in the game. Junior Brian Fitzpatrick played nine minutes off the bench in his first Bucknell appearance after transferring from Penn. Freshman Steven Kaspar and Joshea Singleton saw a handful of minutes in the second half.
• Bucknell was solid defensively for most of the night, holding Minnesota to 28.0 FG% in the second half and 40.0 FG% overall.
• The Bison were whistled for 28 fouls in the game, with starting forward Joe Willman particularly hampered by foul trouble.
What's Next?
• Bucknell plays its home opener on Saturday night at 7 p.m. against Saint Francis (Pa.).




