Bucknell University Athletics
Bison Men's Hoops Hosts Colgate Wednesday Night at Sojka Pavilion
1/10/2012 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 10, 2012
WHAT: Colgate (5-10, 0-1 PL) at Bucknell (11-6, 1-0 PL)
WHERE: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
WHEN: Wednesday, Jan. 11, 7 p.m. ET
LIVE WEBCAST: GameTracker 
TICKETS: Buy online or call 570-577-1000
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format 
With a Win over Colgate, Bucknell Would ...
• ... win its fourth straight game and improve to 12-6 on the season.
• ... get out to a 2-0 start in Patriot League play for the second straight year.
• ... win its 12th straight game against Patriot League foes dating back to last season (including postseason).
• ... improve to 7-1 at home this season.
• ... defeat the Raiders for the fifth straight time overall and for the ninth straight time at home.
• ... improve to 91-30 all-time at Sojka Pavilion.
Headlines
• Bucknell plays at home for the first time in 2012 when Colgate comes to Sojka Pavilion on Wednesday night.
• The Bison opened up Patriot League play on Saturday with a 75-59 road victory over Army, avenging its only conference loss from a year ago. Colgate lost 82-54 at American in its league opener.
• Bucknell has won three straight games, six of its last eight, and 11 of its last 15.
• Mike Muscala is averaging 19.3 points over his last seven games, and he has upped his season scoring average to 15.1, eighth-best in the Patriot League. Cameron Ayers (12.1), Joe Willman (11.1) and Bryson Johnson (9.9) are not far behind.
• Muscala continues to lead the Bison in rebounding (9.1) and blocked shots (1.6). He leads the Patriot League in rebounding by a wide margin, and he has seven double-doubles this season, the most in the league.
• Muscala will be honored prior to the game for reaching the 1,000-point and 500-rebound milestones earlier this season.
• 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.
• Colgate is looking to snap a five-game losing streak that has lowered its season record from 5-5 to 5-10, and it has dropped eight straight games on the road since a season-opening win at Dartmouth. Pat Moore leads the Raiders in scoring at 10.5 points per game, followed closely by Mitch Rolls at 10.0 ppg. Moore, Rolls and Mike Venezia (9.9) are all among the best 3-point shooters in the Patriot League.
How to Get the Game
• The Bucknell-Colgate game will not be televised, however a live webcast will be available on Bison Vision via BucknellBison.com as well as Patriot League All-Access via PatriotLeague.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 at BucknellBison.com.
Bucknell vs. Colgate
• This will be the 97th all-time meeting between Bucknell and Colgate in a series that dates back to 1920. The Bison have a 56-40 series lead.
• As Patriot League rivals, Bucknell has won 35 of the 48 meetings, including 18 of 21 in Lewisburg.
• Bucknell is 8-1 against Colgate at Sojka Pavilion. The Raiders won there in the arena's inaugural season (2002-03), but since then the Bison have won eight in a row, three of which have been decided by four points or less.
• Bucknell is 10-4 in its last 14 games in Hamilton.
• Bucknell has won four straight over Colgate, sweeping the season series in each of the last two seasons. Last year, Bucknell won 76-49 at home and 77-69 at Cotterell Court.
Patriot League Success
• The Bison are 189-92 (.673) in Patriot League regular-season games, the best record of any league team. They have finished at least .500 in PL play in 17 of 21 seasons.
• Bucknell has won 11 straight games against Patriot League foes, eight in the regular season and three in the Patriot League Tournament.
• 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.
Last Time Out
• Bucknell got off to a good start in Patriot League play, winning 75-59 at Army on Saturday afternoon at Christl Arena. The Bison never trailed in the game. They led by as many as 19 in the first half and by 15 at halftime. Army rallied within eight in the second half, but Bucknell quickly responded and pushed the lead back to 15, mostly at the free-throw line in what was a glacially paced, foul-filled contest.
• Mike Muscala scored Bucknell's first eight points of the day and finished with a game-high 19. He went 5-for-7 from the floor and 9-for-10 from the foul line, and he also added seven rebounds and four blocked shots.
• After Muscala tallied the team's first eight points, Cameron Ayers then scored the next eight in a row. He finished with 14 points and four assists, and he went 3-for-4 from 3-point range.
• Ryan Hill turned in his best performance in two seasons as a Bison. Playing a career-high 26 minutes, Hill scored a personal-best eight points to go with three assists, two steals and no turnovers.
• Joe Willman scored all eight of his points in the second half and pulled down a season-high 11 rebounds.
• Brian Fitzpatrick had yet another efficient game off the bench, producing eight points and seven rebounds in 13 minutes without missing a shot (3-3 FG, 2-2 FT).
• The Bison made 7 of 12 3-point attempts and held Army, a prolific 3-point shooting team, to just four in seven attempts.
• The Bison held Army to 33.3% shooting in the game.
• Bucknell and Army were called for a combined 51 fouls, leading to 61 free throws.
Stats Worth Noting
• Bucknell has shot 50% or better as a team in four of its last eight games.
• In the last two games, Bucknell is shooting 53.8% (14-26) from 3-point distance.
• Bucknell leads the Patriot League in both field goal percentage (.457) and field goal percentage defense (.407).
• The Bison rank 38th nationally (out of 338 teams) in fewest turnovers per game (12.1), but they only rank 275th in turnover margin (-1.9). Bucknell averages only 4.2 steals per game (331st), but it has counterbalanced that with a good FG% defense and strong defensive rebounding.
• 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 +107 since then and have outrebounded every opponent except Syracuse and Loyola. Bucknell's +5.5 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 12 of their 17 foes to eight or fewer offensive rebounds.
• 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 79.5% (120-151) as a team in the last seven 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 73.5% this season.
• 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.
What's Next?
• Bucknell travels to Lafayette on Saturday for a rematch of the 2011 Patriot League championship game. Tip-off is 1 p.m. at the Kirby Sports Center.
• The Leopards defeated Navy on the road in their Patriot League opener to improve to 6-10, 1-0. Lafayette hosts Army on Wednesday.
