Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Basketball Goes for Nine Straight Saturday Night at Navy
1/27/2012 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 27, 2012
WHAT: Bucknell (16-6, 6-0 PL) at Navy (3-17, 0-6 PL)
WHERE: Alumni Hall, Annapolis, Md.
WHEN: Saturday, Jan. 28, 7 p.m. ET
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 Navy, Bucknell Would ...
• ... win its ninth straight game and improve to 17-6 on the season.
• ... get out to a 7-0 start in Patriot League play for the third time (1995, 2006).
• ... maintain at least a two-game lead in the Patriot League standings.
• ... win its 17th straight game against Patriot League foes dating back to last season (including postseason), extending the longest conference winning streak in the nation.
• ... win its sixth straight road game and improve to 8-5 away from home this season.
Headlines
• Bucknell closes out the first round of Patriot League play Saturday night at Navy. The Bison passed an important test on Wednesday at home against second-place American, and now Bucknell has a two-game lead over American, Lafayette and Lehigh atop the league standings.
• Bucknell has won eight straight games, 11 of its last 13, and 16 of its last 20. Since Dec. 1, 2010, Bucknell is 39-9.
• This is the corresponding date on which Bucknell suffered its only Patriot League loss last season. The Bison started 6-0 before falling on the road at Army, 90-70.
• Navy will be on shorter rest, following a 71-60 loss at Lehigh on Thursday night. The Midshipmen will be trying to end a 13-game losing streak, although six of those losses have been by seven points or less. Navy features one of the league's top players in sophomore J.J. Avila, who averages 16.3 points and 7.4 rebounds per contest. Veteran guard Jordan Sugars, a preseason All-Patriot League pick, scored 15 points on Thursday at Lehigh and averages 11.5 per game.
• Bucknell now features two 1,000-point scorers after Bryan Cohen hit the milestone last time out against American. Mike Muscala logged his 1,000th point against Loyola on Dec. 28.
• Muscala is averaging 18.9 points over his last 12 games, and he has upped his season scoring average to 15.8, fifth-best in the Patriot League. Cameron Ayers (11.9), Joe Willman (10.4) and Bryson Johnson (9.4) are also top scorers.
• Muscala continues to lead the Bison in rebounding (9.4) and blocked shots (1.5). He leads the Patriot League in rebounding by a wide margin, and he has 11 double-doubles this season, the most in the league. Muscala is working on a streak of three straight double-doubles, and he is now five shy of the Bucknell single-season record.
• 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.
How to Get the Game
• The Bucknell-Navy 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.
Patriot League Success
• The Bison are 194-92 (.678) 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 last week made Bucknell the first Patriot League team to go 100 games over .500 in league play.
• 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.
• Bucknell has won 16 straight games against Patriot League foes, 13 in the regular season and three in the Patriot League Tournament. With Long Island's loss at Robert Morris on Thursday, Bucknell now owns the longest active conference winning streak (including postseason) among Division I teams.
NCAA Leaders, Consecutive Wins vs. Conference Opponents (through Thursday's games)
16 -- Bucknell (Patriot)
15 -- Kansas (Big 12)
12 -- Kentucky (SEC)
Bucknell vs. Navy
• This will be the 62nd all-time meeting between the Bison and Midshipmen, with Navy owning a 34-27 series lead.
• The Midshipmen had won four straight over the Bison until Bucknell won twice last season. Navy swept the season series from Bucknell in both 2009 and 2010, winning by 4, 2 (in OT), 2 and 2 points. Last year Bucknell prevailed 71-64 in Annapolis and 75-49 at Sojka Pavilion.
• The Mids won 12 of 16 from the Bison prior to joining the Patriot League in 1991-92.
• As conference rivals, Bucknell leads 23-22, with the home team winning most of the time. Since Navy joined the league, Bucknell is 16-5 against the Mids at home but is only 7-17 against Navy in Alumni Hall during that time.
• In last year's meeting 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 a strong night at the foul line, making 14 of 16, including 6-for-6 in the final 20 seconds to win the game.
• In the rematch in Lewisburg, Willman scored a then-career-high 18 points along with 10 rebounds, and Muscala had 11 points and a career-high 17 rebounds and five assists to lead Bucknell to a 75-49 victory. Bryson Johnson chipped in five 3-pointers and scored 18 points for the Bison, who jumped out to a 10-0 lead.
Last Time Out
• Bucknell strengthened its grip on first place in the Patriot League with a 67-61 home win over second-place American on Wednesday night. The Bison trailed by seven points in the first half — their largest deficit in league play so far — but closed the half on a 14-4 run to take the league for good. Bucknell went up by as many as 15 in the second half, then survived a few missed free throws down the stretch.
• Even though he missed almost six minutes of action while receiving stitches to close a gash in his chin, Mike Muscala still managed 21 points (8-12 FG) and 12 rebounds.
• Bryson Johnson scored all 13 of his points in the second half, nine of them coming on 3-pointers. Johnson hit one of the biggest shots of the night, a late-shot-clock trey with about five minutes to go that stretched an eight-point lead back up to 11.
• Bryan Cohen had a memorable night at both ends of the floor. His first shot attempt was a 3-pointer that gave him 1,000 career points. With that milestone out of the way, he locked in defensively on American's top scorer, Charles Hinkle (19.7 ppg). Hinkle was held without a field goal on only two attempts in the first half, although he did get into double digits with a last-ditch 3-pointer with 0:04 left in the game.
• Bucknell shot 51.1% from the field (5-11 3FG) and committed only nine turnovers.
• The Bison held the Eagles to 37.7% shooting.
• For only the fourth time all season, Bucknell was outrebounded. American finished with a 31-26 edge on the glass. Bucknell's three offensive rebounds equaled a season low (Vanderbilt).
Stats Worth Noting
• Bucknell is now 8-0 since point guard Ryan Hill joined the starting lineup.
• The Bison are 12-0 when leading at the half.
• Bucknell has shot 50% or better as a team in seven of its last 13 games. The Bison have shot 50% nine times this season and are 9-0 in those games. Bucknell ranks 10th nationally in 3FG% at 40.8%.
• In the last seven games, Bucknell is shooting 48.4% (46-95) from 3-point distance.
• Bucknell leads the Patriot League in both field goal percentage (.464) and field goal percentage defense (.396).
• During this current eight-game winning streak, Bison opponents are shooting 36.4% (154-423). Only two of those eight teams (Dartmouth, Lafayette) have eclipsed 40%.
• The Bison rank 38th nationally (out of 338 teams) in fewest turnovers per game (11.9), but they only rank 277th in turnover margin (-1.9). Bucknell averages only 3.9 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 for most of the year. After going -15 in rebound margin against Minnesota and Vanderbilt to start the season, the Bison are +145 since then and have outrebounded every opponent except Syracuse, Loyola, Lehigh and Americna. Bucknell's +6.0 rebound margin for the season is by far the best in the Patriot League and ranks 26th nationally.
• A big part of Bucknell's rebounding success has been limiting opponents' second chances. The Bison have held 16 of their 22 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 78.8% (197-250) as a team in the last 12 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 74.5% 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 70.8% 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.
What's Next?
• After the Navy game the Bison will have a full week off — their longest break since the final exam period in early December — before hosting Army next Saturday at 7 p.m.
• The Black Knights have played good basketball of late, winning three of their last four games heading into Sunday's road tilt at Lehigh. Army is 10-11 overall and 3-3 in the Patriot League.
