Bucknell University Athletics
First-Place Bison Host Hot Midshipmen in Men's Hoops Clash Saturday Night
2/4/2011 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 4, 2011
WHAT: Navy (8-15, 3-4 PL) at Bucknell (15-8, 6-1 PL)
WHERE: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
WHEN: Saturday, Feb. 5, 7 p.m. ET
WEBCAST: Bison Vision 
RADIO: Eagle 107 (107.3 WEGH FM) and SportsJuice.com
LIVE STATS: GameTracker 
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format 
With a Win over Navy, Bucknell Would ...
• ... win its 14th game in the last 16 outings.
• ... improve to 7-1 in Patriot League play and remain in first place.
• ... sweep the season series from the Midshipmen for the first time since the 2006-07 season.
• ... win its seventh straight home game and improve to 8-1 at home this season.
• ... improve to 78-29 overall and 55-12 against Patriot League competition at Sojka Pavilion.
• ... give coach Dave Paulsen his 299th career win.
Hot Topics
• The Bison had their nine-game winning streak come to an end last weekend at Army, but they still sit atop the Patriot League standings as the second half of Patriot League play begins Saturday night against red-hot Navy. At 6-1 in the league, Bucknell has a one-game lead over American, which comes to Lewisburg on Wednesday. At 3-4 in the Patriot League, Navy is piled up in a five-way logjam for third place, along with Lehigh, Holy Cross, Army and Lafayette.
• Bucknell is going for the season sweep of the Midshipmen. The Bison won 71-64 in Annapolis on Jan. 8, behind a career-high 28 points from Darryl Shazier.
• The Bison are in the midst of their best 15-game stretch (13-2) since 2006-07, when the team set a modern-day record with a 14-game winning streak. Bucknell was riding the nation's fifth-longest winning streak and was one game away from the first perfect January since 1918-19 before falling to hot-shooting Army last Saturday.
• The Bison have been strong offensively since the end of the final exam break in December, averaging 74.8 points while shooting 47.3% from the field, 42.4% from the 3-point stripe and 80.5% from the foul line over their last 13 games. Bucknell has three players scoring in double figures and six averaging at least 7.6 points per game over that span, led by Mike Muscala at 17.5 ppg.
• Muscala has eight 20-point games this season and continues to lead the team in scoring (15.7), rebounding (7.0) and blocked shots (2.0). Muscala is coming off a 20-point, 9-rebound outing against Army, one game after tying the school record with eight blocked shots in a win at Lehigh.
• Muscala on Thursday was named to the Capital One Academic All-District Team. A management major with a 3.47 cumulative GPA (3.75 in the fall 2010 semester), Muscala now moves on to the national Academic All-America ballot.
• Hot-shooting sophomore Bryson Johnson (10.8) is also scoring in double figures, and seven Bison are scoring at least 6.4 points per game. Senior point guard Darryl Shazier is leading the Patriot League in assists (5.5) and ranks No. 4 in the nation in assist-to-turnover ratio (3.53). Shazier scored a career-high 28 points in the Jan. 8 win over Navy, and he had a 9-assist, no-turnover game against Holy Cross.
• Johnson is 40-for-79 (.506) from long range in the last 12 games, including a 7-for-12 showing at Boston College, a 5-for-7 effort at Richmond and a 4-for-6 performance against Colgate. Johnson leads the league and ranks 10th nationally in 3FG percentage on the season (.467).
• As a team, Bucknell is leading the Patriot League in all of the shooting categories: field-goal percentage (.452), 3-point percentage (.401) and free-throw percentage (.789). Among the national leaders, the Bison are 4th in FT%, 15th in 3FG% and 13th in fewest turnovers per game (11.0).
• Defensively, Bucknell leads the league in field-goal percentage defense (.407) and ranks third 3-point percentage defense (.338).
• Following Bucknell's loss last week, Navy now has the league's longest winning streak. After starting 0-4 in the league, the Midshipmen have won three straight. An 85-81 win at arch-rival Army led to a 72-53 rout of American and an 81-78 overtime victory at Colgate.
• Navy is led by junior guard Jordan Sugars, who ranks third in the Patriot League in scoring at 16.5 ppg. Sugars is also the Midshipmen's top rebounder (5.8) and 3-point shooter (51). J.J. Avila is the league's top freshman scorer at 11.7 ppg, and he is a seven-time Patriot League Rookie of the Week. Greg Brown also averages in double figures at 10.2 ppg.
• For the season, Navy averages 69.2 points per game (5th in PL) and allows 73.9 (7th).
How to Get the Game
• The Bucknell-Navy game will not be televised, however 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 on GameTracker via BucknellBison.com.
Alumni Game Saturday
• The Bison Club and the Bucknell men's basketball program will be holding the annual Alumni Game on Saturday at 1 p.m. at Sojka Pavilion. Admission is free for all interested spectators.
• At least seven members of the 2005 Patriot League championship team that defeated Kansas in the NCAA Tournament are expected to headline the Alumni Game. Chris Niesz, the lone senior on that team, will be back, along with Abe Badmus, Charles Lee, Darren Mastropaolo, John Griffin, Rob Thomas and head coach Pat Flannery.
• Other former players expected back include Mark Allsteadt '87, Bob Barry '80, Kevin Blackwell '86, Dan Bowen '00, John Campbell '85, Keith Fenton '91, Matt Fiery '10, Brian Muckle '00, Steve O'Brien '80, Dave Shehadi '81, Ed Sigl '84, Dave Steigerwald '96, Mark Treiber '97, Jason Vegotsky '09, Tom Welch '97 and Kevin Wenk '96.
Bucknell vs. Navy Series Notes
• This will be the 61st all-time meeting between the Bison and Midshipmen, with Navy owning a 34-26 series lead.
• The Midshipmen had won four straight over the Bison until Bucknell won 71-64 in Annapolis last month. Navy swept the season series from Bucknell in both 2009 and 2010, winning by 4, 2 (in OT), 2 and 2 points.
• The Mids won 12 of 16 from the Bison prior to joining the Patriot League in 1991-92.
• As conference rivals, the series is tied at 22 wins apiece, 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 7-17 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.
• Back on Jan. 8 in Annapolis, Bucknell got off to a strong start in Patriot League play as Darryl Shazier scored 23 of his career-high 28 points in the second half of a 71-64 win. Mike Muscala added 19 points and Joe Willman 12 for the Bison. J.J. Avila had 20 points to lead Navy. Bucknell shot 55.2 percent and outscored Navy 44-36 in the second half after trailing by one point at the half. The Bison had another terrific night at the foul line, making 14 of 16, including 6-for-6 in the final 20 seconds to win the game.
Patriot League Success
• The Bison are 181-92 (.663) 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 Army Game
• Bucknell shot 47.2% and hit the 70-point mark for the 16th time this season (and seventh time in a row), but the Bison just could not stop Army's offensive onslaught. The Black Knights shot 53.4%, made 12 3-pointers and had all five starters score in double figures en route to a 90-70 victory. It was the most points allowed by Bucknell in a Patriot League game since a 93-84 loss to Lafayette in 1998-99.
• Mike Muscala had another big game for the Bison, finishing with 20 points on 10-for-15 shooting, along with nine rebounds, three assists and three blocked shots. It was Muscala's eighth 20-point game of the season.
• Joe Willman recorded his first career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. The 11 boards were a season high, two shy of his career high.
• Freshman Cameron Ayers played 28 minutes off the bench and scored a career-high 17 points on 6-for-13 shooting (3-7 3FG). Ayers saw considerable time at the point, with Darryl Shazier limited by illness.
• Bryan Cohen also scored in double figures with 11 points. Cohen also had four assists and hit his first two 3-pointers in Patriot League play.
• Bucknell had an uncharacteristic 17 turnovers, but did have 18 assists on 25 field goals.
• The Bison had another strong night at the foul line, making 12 of 15.
• Army was led by 23 points and seven rebounds from Jeremy Hence.
Who's Got Next?
• Following the Navy game, Bucknell remains home on Wednesday to face preseason league favorite American. The Bison played one of their best games of the season in the first matchup with the Eagles, winning 75-60 at Bender Arena on Jan. 12.
