Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Basketball Starts Patriot League Action Saturday at Army, Site of Lone 2011 League Loss
1/6/2012 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Jan. 6, 2012
WHAT: Bucknell (10-6, 0-0 PL) at Army (7-8, 0-0 PL)
WHERE: Christl Arena, West Point, N.Y.
WHEN: Saturday, Jan. 7, 4 p.m. ET
LIVE WEBCAST: GameTracker 
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format 
With a Win over Army, Bucknell Would ...
• ... win its third straight game and improve to 11-6 on the season.
• ... improve to 5-5 on the road this season.
• ... win its Patriot League opener for the second year in a row.
• ... win its third straight game against the Black Knights and improve to 42-19 all-time against them.
Headlines
• Bucknell returns to the scene of its only 2011 Patriot League loss when it travels to Army on Saturday afternoon to open the 22nd season of Patriot League play.
• The Bison went 16-1 against PL competition last season, including the postseason, but the one loss was a 90-70 setback at Christl Arena.
• Bucknell comes in on a two-game winning streak, with both victories coming against Ivy League competition. After beating Cornell 63-60 last Saturday, the Bison made a long trip to Dartmouth on Tuesday and came home with a 67-59 win.
• For the first time in program history, Bucknell enters conference play with 10 wins.
• Mike Muscala has surged ahead in the Bucknell team scoring race with 80 points in his last four games. Muscala is now averaging 14.8 points per game, seventh-best in the Patriot League. Cameron Ayers (11.9), Joe Willman (11.3) and Bryson Johnson (9.9) are not far behind.
• Muscala continues to lead the Bison in rebounding (9.3) and blocked shots (1.4). He leads the Patriot League in rebounding by a wide margin, and he has seven double-doubles this season, including an 18-point, 13-rebound performance in last Saturday's win over Cornell.
• 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.
• Army is red-hot entering Patriot League play. The Black Knights have won four of their last five to improve to 7-8 on the season, and they are coming off a 96-point showing in a blowout win over Longwood on Tuesday. Army features one of the league's top players in Ella Ellis, who comes in averaging 17.9 points per game. Ellis scored 57 points in three games against Bucknell last season (19.0 ppg).
How to Get the Game
• The Bucknell-Army game will not be televised, however a live webcast will be available via Patriot League All-Access (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 at GoArmySports.com.
Bucknell vs. Army
• The Bison hold a 41-19 lead in a series that dates back to 1929. Bucknell had a 15-game series winning streak, then the Black Knights won four in a row before the Bison have bounced back with four wins in the last five meetings.
• The Bison are 23-4 all-time at home against Army.
• Army won the first 10 series showdowns, nine of them coming prior to 1966.
• As Patriot League rivals, Bucknell has won 40 of 49 meetings.
• In Patriot League Tournament action, Bucknell is 6-1 against Army, including a 78-51 win at Sojka Pavilion in last year's quarterfinals. Cameron Ayers scored 19 points to lead the Bison, who led 34-12 at the half.
• In this year's first meeting, Army shot 53.4% and ended Bucknell's nine-game winning streak with a 90-70 decision at Christl Arena. The Black Knights knocked down 12 3-pointers, and all five starters scored in double figures, led by 23 from Jeremy Hence. Mike Muscala led the Bison with 20 points and nine rebounds, while Joe Willman had his first career double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds.
• In the regular-season rematch at Sojka Pavilion, the Bison used a balanced offensive attack and strong defense to beat Army 78-64. The Black Knights started the game 1-for-16 from the field and finished at 36.7% on the day. Bucknell shot 55.2% in the second half after a similarly slow start and led by as many as 22 in the second half. Seven players scored between seven and 12 points, led by Bryan Cohen with 12. Muscala recorded 11 points, 10 rebounds and six blocked shots, and the Bison bench outscored Army's 35-6.
Patriot League Success
• The Bison are 188-92 (.671) 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 10 straight games against Patriot League foes, seven 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
• For the second straight game, Bucknell staged a second-half rally to beat an Ivy League team. This time it was a 67-59 victory at Dartmouth on Tuesday night.
• Bucknell trailed by 10 points in the first half and was down 37-29 at halftime. But a sensational defensive effort in the second half paved the way to victory. Bucknell held Dartmouth to four field goals in the first 17:30 of the second half and took over the game with a late 15-0 run.
• Mike Muscala led the Bison with 18 points and eight rebounds. He was a perfect 10-for-10 from the foul line, setting a career high for made free throws.
• Joe Willman turned in one of the best showings of his career, finishing with 15 points on 7-for-10 shooting, along with seven rebounds, a career-high six assists and two steals in a career-high 37 minutes of action.
• Bryson Johnson gave the Bison the lead for good with a tiebreaking 3-pointer with 4:49 to play. It was his third trey of the night, and he finished with 10 points.
• Cameron Ayers also hit three from 3-point range and totaled 11 points, four rebounds, three assists and two steals.
• The Bison went 7-for-14 from 3-point range and shot 51.1% overall. They had assists on 18 of 23 field goals.
• Defensively, in the second half Bucknell had five steals, five blocked shots and held the Big Green to 33.3% shooting.
Stats Worth Noting
• Bucknell has shot 50% or better as a team in four of its last seven games.
• Bucknell leads the Patriot League in both field goal percentage (.457) and field goal percentage defense (.412).
• 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 +105 since then and have outrebounded every opponent except Syracuse and Loyola. Bucknell's +5.6 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 16 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 80.0% (96-120) as a team in the last six 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 73.1% 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.
Ayers Filling it Up
• Bison sophomore Cameron Ayers leads the Patriot League in both free-throw percentage (.914) and 3-point field goal percentage (.491), and he ranks fourth in the league in field-goal percentage (.508).
• Ayers is one of only four Division I men's basketball players who ranks in the top five in his conference in each of the three shooting percentage categories. The others are Connecticut's Jeremy Lamb, Creighton's Doug McDermott and Oklahoma's Steven Pledger.
What's Next?
• Bucknell plays its first home conference game on Wednesday against Colgate at 7 p.m.
• The Raiders are 5-9 overall heading into Saturday's Patriot League opener at American.
