Bucknell University Athletics
Men's Hoops Returns to Sojka Pavilion as 8-5 Bucknell Hosts 8-3 Loyola (Md.) Wednesday Night
12/27/2011 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Dec. 27, 2011
WHAT: Loyola (8-3) at Bucknell (8-5)
WHERE: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
WHEN: Wednesday, Dec. 28, 7 p.m. ET
LIVE WEBCAST: GameTracker 
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format 
With a Win over Loyola, Bucknell Would ...
• ... win its second straight game and improve to 9-5 on the season.
• ... improve to 6-0 at home this season and win its 19th straight home game dating back to last year.
• ... defeat the Greyhounds for the second straight year and improve to 6-1 all-time against them.
• ... improve to 90-29 all-time at Sojka Pavilion.
Headlines
• Bucknell looks to build on a terrific performance at Boston University last week when Loyola (Md.) visits Sojka Pavilion on Wednesday night.
• The Bison hit the Christmas break with an 8-5 record, including a 4-3 mark against teams that played in the 2011 NCAA Tournament. The eight wins tied the school mark for most victories at Christmas (the 2005-06 team was 8-1 at the break). Bucknell was 6-7 on this date last season, before a win over Loyola ignited a nine-game winning streak.
• Bucknell bounced back from a loss at No. 1 Syracuse with a dominant effort at Boston University last Thursday. The Bison raced out to a 46-29 halftime lead, went up by as many as 22 in the second half and won it 75-61.
• Mike Muscala needs 20 points to reach 1,000 for his career. He would become the 34th member of Bucknell's 1,000-point club and the 17th in program history with 1,000 points and 500 rebounds.
• Muscala has re-taken the lead in a very tight race for the Bucknell scoring lead. Muscala (13.6 ppg) now has 12 more points than Cameron Ayers (12.7), with Joe Willman (11.5) and Bryson Johnson (10.3) not far behind.
• Muscala continues to lead the Bison in rebounding (9.2) and blocked shots (1.7). He leads the Patriot League in rebounding by a wide margin, and he has six double-doubles this season, including a 20-point, 11-rebound performance at Boston University last time out.
• Freshman Steven Kaspar, who has played very well of late at the point guard spot, has started the last four games, with junior Bryson Johnson providing good productivity coming off the bench.
• The Bison were unanimously picked as the preseason favorite in the Patriot League by the league's head coaches and SIDs.
• The Bison returned four starters from last year's team that finished 25-9 overall and 13-1 in the Patriot League. Bucknell went on to capture the Patriot League Tournament title, but the 14th-seeded Bison were ousted by red-hot Connecticut, the eventual national champions, in their NCAA Tournament opener.
• Loyola comes in with an 8-3 record. The Greyhounds opened the season with a loss at Wake Forest before winning eight games in a row. They have lost their last two, however, falling on the road at St. Bonaventure and Kentucky before Christmas. Dylon Cormier leads Loyola in scoring at 16.5 ppg. Like Bucknell, the Greyhounds have four players scoring in double figures.
How to Get the Game
• The Bucknell-Loyola game will not be televised, however a live webcast will be available on Bison Vision at BucknellBison.com (subscription rates 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.
Bucknell vs. Loyola
• The Bison and Greyhounds have met six times previously. Bucknell won the first four, then Loyola won 55-49 in 2009-10 at Sojka Pavilion before the Bison returned the favor with a 70-59 decision in Baltimore last year.
• 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. The Bison won 75-59 win in Baltimore, and in late February 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 Hall-of-Famer Mike Bright.
• Last season at Reitz Arena, Bucknell's power forward combo of Joe Willman and G.W. Boon accounted for 32 points to lead the Bison to a 70-59 victory. With Willman in quick foul trouble, Boon came off the bench and scored 14 of his 16 points in the first half. Willman then came back and scored all 16 of his points in the second half. Bryson Johnson added 13 for the Bison, while Shane Walker led the Greyhounds with 14 points and nine rebounds.
• Coincidentally, this will be the third straight year that Bucknell and Loyola have played on Dec. 28.
Bucknell vs. The MAAC
• Bucknell is 47-48 (.495) all-time against the teams that currently comprise the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference. In addition to their 5-1 record against Loyola, the Bison are 30-24 against Rider, , 4-3 vs. Marist, 3-5 vs. Niagara, 2-2 vs. Manhattan, 2-4 vs. Iona, 1-0 vs. St. Peter's, 0-6 vs. Canisius, 0-2 vs. Fairfield and 0-1 vs. Siena.
• Bucknell is 1-0 against the MAAC this season, having beaten Marist 74-68 on Nov. 22.
Last Time Out
• Bucknell came back from an 80-61 loss to No. 1 Syracuse with a convincing 75-61 victory at Boston University on Dec. 22.
• The Bison took over the game in the last 11 minutes of the first half. Trailing 17-16 at that point, Bucknell closed the half on a 30-12 run to go up 46-29 at halftime. The Bison led by as many as 22 points at 70-48 before the Terriers made a last-ditch surge to get within 14 by the final buzzer.
• Bucknell placed five in double figures in the scoring column, led by Mike Muscala with 20 points. Muscala also had 11 rebounds for his sixth double-double of the season.
• Joining Muscala in double figures were Joe Willman with a career-high 19 points, Bryson Johnson with 12, Cameron Ayers with 11 and Brian Fitzpatrick with a career-high-tying 10. Fitzpatrick was the catalyst of Bucknell's key first-half run, scoring seven straight Bison points to stretch an 18-17 lead to 25-19.
• Bucknell played a near-flawless first half offensively. The Bison shot 64.3% from the floor and committed just one turnover.
• Willman scored 17 of his 19 points in the first half and finished the night 7-for-12 from the field and 5-for-5 from the foul line.
• Bucknell was again dominant on the glass, outrebounding Boston University 34-17. The Bison gave up only two offensive rebounds all night. At halftime, the Terriers had only five rebounds.
Stats Worth Noting
• Bucknell has now shot 54% or better from the field in three of its last four games.
• Bucknell has been dominant on the glass of late. After going -15 in rebound margin against Minnesota and Vanderbilt to start the season, the Bison are +102 since then and have outrebounded every opponent except Syracuse. Bucknell's +6.7 rebound margin for the season is by far the best in the Patriot League.
• A big part of Bucknell's rebounding success has been limiting opponents' second chances. The Bison have held 11 of their last 13 foes to eight or fewer offensive rebounds. That has been a key strength, as Bucknell is also holding opponents to 40.6% shooting on the season, the best mark in the Patriot League.
• Bucknell has been better at the free-throw line of late. After shooting just 68.5% at the line in their first 10 games, the Bison have made 90.7% (49-54) as a team in the last three contests. That includes a 21-for-21 performance in the win over Richmond. Last year Bucknell ranked third in the nation in free-throw shooting last season at 78.8%, and after the slow start the team is up to 73.6% this season.
• Bucknell has four players scoring in double digits: Mike Muscala (13.6), Cameron Ayers (12.7), Joe Willman (11.5) and Bryson Johnson (10.3).
• Bucknell has gotten a big lift so far from newcomers Brian Fitzpatrick and Steven Kaspar. Fitzpatrick, a junior forward in his first eligible season after transferring from Penn, is 21-for-34 (.618) from the floor and is averaging 4.5 points and 3.0 rebounds in 12.4 minutes per game. Kaspar, a freshman point guard, has not scored much yet, but he leads the team and ranks in the top 10 in the Patriot League in both assists (40) and steals (16).
• Eight Bison have had at least one double-digit scoring game this season, and 10 of the 14 on the roster have done it at least once in his career.
• Kaspar's seven assists against West Alabama were the most by a Bison freshman since Abe Badmus had eight against Navy in 2003-04.
• Johnson's 15 3-pointers in the wins over West Alabama and Morehead State were a school record for most threes in consecutive games. Bucknell's 17 treys in the West Alabama game set a school record.
Milestone Watches
• Junior Mike Muscala recorded his 500th career rebound at Syracuse last Tuesday and now has 980 points and 515 rebounds in his career. He is close to becoming Bucknell's 17th player with 1,000 points and 500 rebounds.
• Senior Bryan Cohen has 925 career points, leaving him 75 shy of 1,000.
• Junior Bryson Johnson has 199 career 3-point field goals. He is trying to become the fourth player in program history to reach 200. He also has 816 points.
Sojka Savvy
• Bucknell once again did well to protect its home floor in 2010-11. The Bison won their final 13 home games in a row and went 14-1 at Sojka Pavilion last season. The only home loss was a 77-73 setback to Wagner on Nov. 29.
• The current 18-game home winning streak is the 11th-longest in Division I basketball.
• All-time at Sojka Pavilion, Bucknell is 89-29 (.754) overall and 61-12 (.836) against Patriot League opponents.
Active Home Court Winning Streaks Team Streak Next Kentucky 42 Dec. 28 vs. Lamar Duke 41 Dec. 30 vs. Western Michigan Ohio State 33 Dec. 28 vs. Northwestern Notre Dame 27 Dec. 27 vs. Pittsburgh Purdue 25 Dec. 31 vs. Illinois Temple 24 Dec. 28 vs. Buffalo North Carolina 24 Dec. 29 vs. Elon Belmont 21 Dec. 29 vs. Marshall Harvard 20 Dec. 31 vs. Saint Joseph's Louisville 20 Dec. 28 vs. Georgetown BUCKNELL 18 Dec. 28 vs. Loyola (Md.)
What's Next?
• Bucknell will be home again on Saturday to face Cornell in a New Year's Eve matinee (2 p.m.).
• Bucknell Hall-of-Famer Bill Courtney will return to Lewisburg as Cornell's head coach.
• The Bison defeated Cornell 75-64 last season in Ithaca, N.Y.
