Bucknell University Athletics
First-Place Bison Men's Basketball Hosts Holy Cross Saturday Night, Limited Seats Available
1/20/2012 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 20, 2012
WHAT: Holy Cross (8-10, 2-2 PL) at Bucknell (14-6, 4-0 PL)
WHERE: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
WHEN: Saturday, Jan. 18, 7 p.m. ET
TICKETS: Limited walk-up available
LIVE WEBCAST: GameTracker 
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format 
The Bucknell Department of Athletics & Recreation announced today that a limited number of general public tickets remain available for Saturday's men's basketball game against Holy Cross. The Sojka Pavilion Ticket Windows will open on Saturday, Jan. 21 at 6 p.m. for walk-up general admission sales and tickets will be made available on a first-come, first-served basis.
For tickets to future Bucknell basketball contests, call the ticket office at 570-577-1000, stop by the Weis Center or Barnes & Noble box offices Monday through Friday from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. (Weis Center open until 5 p.m.), or visit Bucknell's on-line ticket center.
With a Win over Holy Cross, Bucknell Would ...
• ... win its seventh straight game and improve to 15-6 on the season.
• ... get out to a 5-0 start in Patriot League play for the second straight year and for the fifth time as a member of the Patriot League.
• ... maintain sole possession of first place in the Patriot League.
• ... win its 15th straight game against Patriot League foes dating back to last season (including postseason).
• ... improve to 8-1 at home this season.
• ... improve to 92-30 all-time at Sojka Pavilion, 63-12 against Patriot League foes.
Headlines
• Patriot League rivals Bucknell and Holy Cross meet for the 56th time on Saturday night at Sojka Pavilion. The Bison are red hot right now and sit atop the Patriot League standings at 4-0 following Wednesday's big 68-61 road win at Lehigh. The Crusaders dropped to 2-2 in the league after falling at home to Lafayette 54-43 on Thursday night.
• Bucknell has won six straight games, nine of its last 11, and 14 of its last 18. Since Dec. 1, 2010, Bucknell is 37-9.
• While the Bison are 4-0 in the Patriot League, their lead is just one over American and Lafayette. Holy Cross, Lehigh and Army are all just two games back at 2-2.
• Mike Muscala is averaging 19.5 points over his last 10 games, and he has upped his season scoring average to 15.8, fifth-best in the Patriot League. Cameron Ayers (12.1), Joe Willman (10.7) and Bryson Johnson (9.6) are also top scorers.
• Muscala continues to lead the Bison in rebounding (9.2) and blocked shots (1.5). He leads the Patriot League in rebounding by a wide margin, and he has nine 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.
• Holy Cross opened Patriot League play with big home wins over Lehigh and Navy, but the Crusaders have since dropped two straight to American and Lafayette. Back in November they smacked Boston College 86-64 for one of the league's better non-conference victories. Devin Brown leads the team in scoring at 15.3 points per game.
How to Get the Game
• The Bucknell-Holy Cross 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. Holy Cross
The Patriot League has deep-rooted rivalries based on geography (Lehigh-Lafayette) and military brethren (Army-Navy), but there has been no better basketball rivalry in the league than Bucknell-Holy Cross. Some of the highlights:
• The Bison and Crusaders have combined to win seven of the last 11 Patriot League titles, and they are the only two league teams to have won in the postseason (Bucknell in the 2005 and 2006 NCAA Tournaments, Holy Cross in the 2005 NIT).
• These two teams have met in 13 of the 21 Patriot League Tournaments, including four times in the championship game. Bucknell defeated Holy Cross in the 2005 and 2006 title tilts, while the Crusaders topped the Bison in the final in 1993 and 2007.
• The Bison and Crusaders had never met until the formation of the Patriot League in 1990-91, but this will be the 56th meeting in 22 years.
• Bucknell leads the series 30-25. The road team has won five of the last 10, including Holy Cross' upset of the Bison in the 2010 Patriot League Tournament quarterfinals at Sojka Pavilion. That was the last time Bucknell lost a home game to a Patriot League opponent.
• Bucknell is 18-13 against Holy Cross in Lewisburg and 7-4 at Sojka Pavilion. One of those Sojka meetings was a 74-59 Bison win in the 2006 Patriot League championship game.
• Bucknell head coach Dave Paulsen is 5-4 against Holy Cross, including his Williams College team's 78-71 upset of the Crusaders at the Hart Center on Dec. 4, 2003.
• The Bison swept the season series last year, winning 74-72 at home on Jan. 16 and 60-56 in Worcester on Feb. 12. The victory at Sojka Pavilion came on Mike Muscala's tiebreaking jumper from deep in the right corner with 1.4 seconds remaining. Muscala had 23 points and 13 rebounds in that one. Bryson Johnson hit a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 32 seconds left in the rematch at the Hart Center. Muscala battled foul trouble in that game, but still finished with 15 points and seven rebounds in 24 minutes.
Patriot League Success
• The Bison are 192-92 (.676) 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.
• The victory at Lehigh made Bucknell the first Patriot League team to go 100 games over .500 in league play.
• Bucknell has won 14 straight games against Patriot League foes, 11 in the regular season and three in the Patriot League Tournament. Only Long Island has a longer active conference winning streak (20) among Division I teams.
• 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. The Bison have currently won 11 in a row at home against league foes.
NCAA Leaders, Consecutive Wins vs. Conference Opponents (through Thursday's games)
20, Long Island (NEC)
14, Bucknell (Patriot)
14, UNC-Asheville (Big South)
13, Kansas (Big 12)
10, Kentucky (SEC)
Last Time Out
• In a matchup between two of the Patriot League's top teams, Bucknell picked up an important road win over Lehigh, 68-61 Wednesday night at Stabler Arena. Lehigh was picked second to Bucknell in the Patriot League preseason poll, but the win pushed the Bison two games clear of the Mountain Hawks in the standings.
• It was also a matchup of the last two Patriot League Players of the Year in Lehigh's C.J. McCollum (2010) and Bucknell's Mike Muscala (2011). Muscala finished with 20 points and 12 rebounds, while McCollum logged 14 points (5-15 FG) and nine assists. McCollum came into the game ranked fifth nationally in scoring at 21.2 points per game, and he was averaging 28.3 per game in league play.
• Bryan Cohen played a critical role at both ends of the floor. He made all three of his 3-point attempts in the first half and finished game with 12 points, and he also spent much of the night marking McCollum. When Cohen wasn't on McCollum, the assigment went to Cameron Ayers, who also fared well. Ayers and Cohen both had to take over some ballhandling duties as well, with point guards Ryan Hill and Steven Kaspar both in foul trouble at times. Ayers also connected on three 3-pointers and finished with 13 points.
• Joe Willman tossed in 11 points, giving Bucknell four double-digit scorers.
• Hill continued his fine recent play, producing four points, five assists and a career-high six rebounds in 25 minutes.
• Cohen (3-3), Muscala (2-3) and Ayers (3-5) combined to go 8-for-11 from 3-point range.
• The Bison were terrific defensively, holding the league's highest scoring team to 35.6% shooting. Lehigh was held under 70 points for the first time all year.
• For only the fifth time in 20 games this season, the Bison were outrebounded. Lehigh finished with a 38-33 edge on the glass.
• The Bison had assists on 17 of 20 field goals and turned the ball over only eight times.
Stats Worth Noting
• Bucknell is now 6-0 since point guard Ryan Hill joined the starting lineup.
• The Bison are 10-0 when leading at the half.
• Bucknell has shot 50% or better as a team in six of its last 11 games. The Bison have shot 50% eight times this season and are 8-0 in those games. Bucknell ranks 17th nationally in 3FG% at 40.1%.
• In the last five games, Bucknell is shooting 48.5% (32-66) from 3-point distance.
• Bucknell leads the Patriot League in both field goal percentage (.463) and field goal percentage defense (.405).
• During this current six-game winning streak, Bison opponents are shooting 38.3% (120-313).
• The Bison rank 32nd nationally (out of 338 teams) in fewest turnovers per game (11.8), but they only ranked 276th in turnover margin (-2.1). Bucknell averages only 4.0 steals per game (332nd), 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 +131 since then and have outrebounded every opponent except Syracuse, Loyola and Lehigh. Bucknell's +5.9 rebound margin for the season is by far the best in the Patriot League and ranks 34th nationally.
• A big part of Bucknell's rebounding success has been limiting opponents' second chances. The Bison have held 14 of their 20 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 80.5% (165-205) as a team in the last 10 contests. That includes a 21-for-21 performance in the win over Richmond and a 15-for-15 in the win at Lafayette. 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 74.9% this season.
• Strangely, Bucknell has been a much better free-throw shooting team on the road this season. The Bison shoot 77.9% as a team in road games, but only 70.7% at Sojka Pavilion.
• 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.
Playing from Ahead
• In its four Patriot League games thus far, Bucknell has held the lead more than 95% of the time.
Opponent Time Tied Time Trailing Time Leading at Army 0:19 0:00 39:41 vs. Colgate 1:17 1:18 37:25 at Lafayette 1:30 0:14 38:16 at Lehigh 1:15 1:33 37:12 TOTALS 4:21 3:05 152:34
What's Next?
• Bucknell is back at home on Wednesday to take on American at 7 p.m.
• The Eagles have played very well in 2011-12 and are 12-7 overall and 3-1 in the Patriot League heading into Saturday's home game against Army. Charles Hinkle is the nation's 11th-leading scorer at 20.3 ppg.
