Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell, Lafayette Meet Saturday in Men's Hoops Championship Game Rematch
1/13/2012 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 13, 2012
WHAT: Bucknell (12-6, 2-0 PL) at Lafayette (7-10, 2-0 PL)
WHERE: Kirby Sports Center, Easton, Pa.
WHEN: Saturday, Jan. 14, 1 p.m. ET
TV: Lafayette Sports Network
LIVE WEBCAST: Bison Vision 
RADIO: Eagle 107 (WEGH 107.3 FM) and SportsJuice.com
LIVE STATS: GameTracker 
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format 
With a Win over Lafayette, Bucknell Would ...
• ... win its fifth straight game and improve to 13-6 on the season.
• ... get out to a 3-0 start in Patriot League play for the second straight year and for the seventh time as a member of the Patriot League.
• ... win its 13th straight game against Patriot League foes dating back to last season (including postseason).
• ... win its fourth straight road game and improve to 6-5 on the road this season.
• ... defeat the Leopards for the fifth straight time.
Headlines
• Bucknell and Lafayette square off Saturday afternoon at Kirby Sports Center in a rematch of the 2011 Patriot League championship game. The Bison won that title match 72-57 at Sojka Pavilion.
• Both teams are off to 2-0 starts in Patriot League play and sit in a three-way tie along with Holy Cross atop the standings. So far Bucknell has beaten Army on the road (75-59) and Colgate at home (70-57), while Lafayette has defeated Navy on the road (65-63) and Army at home (75-63).
• Bucknell has won four straight games, seven of its last nine, and 12 of its last 16.
• Mike Muscala is averaging 18.5 points over his last eight games, and he has upped his season scoring average to 14.9, eighth-best in the Patriot League. Cameron Ayers (11.8), Joe Willman (10.8) and Bryson Johnson (10.3) give the Bison four double-figure scorers.
• Muscala continues to lead the Bison in rebounding (9.2) and blocked shots (1.6). He leads the Patriot League in rebounding by a wide margin, and he has eight double-doubles this season, the most in the league.
• 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.
• A prolific 3-point shooting team, Lafayette is averaging just under 10 made treys per game, third-best in the nation. The Leopards have six players with at least 16 threes, led by top scorer Jim Mower (15.6 ppg) with 39. Ryan Willen (15.0 ppg) is also having an outstanding year.
How to Get the Game
• The Bucknell-Lafayette game will be televised locally on the Lafayette Sports Network (RCN-4, RCN-8, WBPH-60), and on tape delay on the Mid-Atlantic Sports Network (MASN) on Wednesday, Jan. 18 at 10 a.m. In addition, 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. Lafayette
• Bucknell and Lafayette have met 148 times previously, making the Leopards Bucknell's second most-played opponent (the Bison have played Lehigh 155 times). Since the series began in 1915, Lafayette leads 85-63.
• Since the start of Patriot League play in 1990-91, however, Bucknell has won 34 of 47 meetings.
• Bucknell had lost three straight meetings in Easton before winning in overtime there last season. The Bison are just 24-49 there all-time.
• The Bison went 3-0 against Lafayette last season, including a 72-57 victory in the Patriot League championship game at Sojka Pavilion. During the regular season, Bucknell won 75-56 at home, followed by a 74-69 overtime victory in Easton. Bryson Johnson scored a career-high 30 points in the game at Kirby Sports Center.
Patriot League Success
• The Bison are 190-92 (.674) 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 12 straight games against Patriot League foes, nine 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
• In their first home Patriot League game of the season, the Bison cruised to a 70-57 victory over Colgate on Wednesday night. After the Raiders hit some early threes, Bucknell buckled down defensively and led by at least eight points for the final 22 minutes of the game.
• Bryson Johnson hit five 3-pointers in nine attempts and scored a game-high 17 points.
• Mike Muscala recorded his eighth double-double of the season with 13 points and 11 rebounds.
• Ryan Hill enjoyed his second straight terrific game, finishing with a career-high eight assists along with five points and two steals. One game earlier, Hill scored a career-high eight points in a win at Army.
• Bryan Cohen scored Bucknell's first nine points of the second half. He finished with 13 points, 11 coming after halftime, on 6-for-8 shooting.
• The Bison shot 52.9% from the field while holding Colgate to 37.0% shooting. After hitting five 3-pointers in the first half, the Raiders managed only one in the second half, and that was a banked-in shot.
• Bucknell finished with a 38-25 rebounding edge and outscored Colgate 26-12 in the paint.
• Muscala was honored prior to the game for scoring his 1,000th career point earlier in the season.
• No Colgate player scored more than 10 points.
Stats Worth Noting
• Bucknell has shot 50% or better as a team in five of its last nine games. The Bison have shot 50% seven times this season and are 7-0 in those games.
• In the last three games, Bucknell is shooting 51.3% (20-39) from 3-point distance.
• Bucknell leads the Patriot League in both field goal percentage (.461) and field goal percentage defense (.405).
• During this current four-game winning streak, Bison opponents are shooting 37.3% (76-204).
• At the start of the week, the Bison ranked 38th nationally (out of 338 teams) in fewest turnovers per game (12.1), but they only ranked 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 +120 since then and have outrebounded every opponent except Syracuse and Loyola. Bucknell's +5.9 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 13 of their 18 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 77.8% (130-167) as a team in the last eight 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 73.0% 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 returns to Eastern Pennsylvania on Wednesday to face Lehigh at 7 p.m.
• The Mountain Hawks are 13-5 overall and 1-1 in Patriot League play heading into Saturday's game at Colgate.
