Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Basketball Makes NIT Debut at Arizona Wednesday on ESPN2
3/12/2012 8:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
March 12, 2012
WHAT: #8 Bucknell (24-9) at #1 Arizona (23-11), NIT First Round
WHERE: McKale Center, Tucson, Ariz.
WHEN: Wednesday, March 14, 9 p.m. EDT
TV: ESPN2 
LOCAL RADIO: Eagle 107 (WEGH 107.3 FM) and SportsJuice.com
INTERNET: ESPN3
LIVE STATS: GameTracker 
"In the Herd" Video Preview
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format 
Bucknell at Arizona (NIT) Pregame Reception Information
• Reception Information
• When: 4-5:30 p.m. (MST), March 14
• Where: Tucson Marriott University Park, 880 East Second Street, Tucson, Ariz., 85719
• Bucknell-Arizona Regional Viewing Parties
With a Win over Arizona, Bucknell Would ...
• ... advance to the second round of the NIT and face the winner of Oral Roberts and Nevada.
• ... defeat a Pac-12 member for the first time since 1951 (Arizona State).
• ... reach the 25-win plateau for the third time in program history (27 wins in 2005-06, 25 wins in 2010-11).
• ... improve to 25-9 overall.
• ... improve to 11-6 on the road this season.
Headlines
• Bucknell makes its very first NIT appearance on Wednesday night when it travels to No. 1-seed Arizona. The Bison, seeded eighth, earned an automatic bid to the NIT when they captured the Patriot League regular-season title but fell to Lehigh in the championship game of the Patriot League Tournament.
• This will be the very first meeting between Bucknell and Arizona. In fact, the Bison have played only one other Pac-12 program, posting a 1-2 record against Arizona State.
• Bucknell won the Patriot League regular-season title with a 12-2 record, but after becoming the first team in league history to win both its quarterfinal and semifinal games by 20 or more points, the Bison fell to second-seeded Lehigh 82-77 at Sojka Pavilion last Wednesday.
• This will be Bucknell's sixth postseason appearance, with the other five coming at the NCAA Tournament. Most recently, the Bison earned an NCAA bid in 2011 and fell to eventual national champion Connecticut in the first round. Bucknell posted NCAA Tournament wins in both 2005 (Kansas) and 2006 (Arkansas), the only two NCAA wins in program and Patriot League history.
• Arizona is making its first NIT showing since 1951 after falling to Colorado 53-51 in the Pac-12 title game over the weekend.
• Bucknell enters the NIT having won 16 of its last 19, 20 of its last 24, and 24 of its last 31. Since Dec. 1, 2010, Bucknell is 47-12.
• Junior center Mike Muscala is averaging 18.7 points over his last 23 games, including a monster 30-point, 14-rebound effort against Lehigh in the Patriot League championship game. Muscala is averaging 16.7 points per game on the season, fourth best in the Patriot League. The last Bison to average better than 16 points per game was Bryan Bailey (17.4) back in 2001-02.
• Muscala continues to lead the Bison in rebounding (8.9) and blocked shots (1.6). He leads the Patriot League in rebounding by a wide margin, and he has 15 double-doubles this season, the most in the league. He is just one shy of the school record for double-doubles in a season. Muscala also has 12 20-point games this year.
• Junior guard Bryson Johnson needs 12 points for 1,000 in his career. He would become the third active 1,000-point scorer on the roster, as Muscala and senior Bryan Cohen also reached the century mark earlier this season.
How to Get the Game
• The Bucknell-Arizona game will be televised live on ESPN2 and online on ESPN3. Carter Blackburn and Miles Simon will have the call for ESPN.
• 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.
• Live statistics are available on GameTracker via BucknellBison.com.
Patriot League Success
• The Bison are 200-94 (.680) in Patriot League regular-season games, the best record of any league team. Including this season, they have finished at least .500 in PL play in 18 of 22 seasons.
• This was Bucknell's sixth Patriot League regular-season title (fourth outright).
• The victory at Lehigh on Jan. 18 made Bucknell the first Patriot League team to go 100 games over .500 in league play. The win over Navy to end the regular season made the Bison the first to reach 200 regular-season PL victories.
• 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.
• Bucknell had won 20 straight games against Patriot League foes, 17 in the regular season and three in the 2011 Patriot League Tournament, before falling to Lehigh on Feb. 16. The Bison were one of five remaining Division I conference unbeatens at the time.
Bucknell vs. Arizona and the Pac-12
• This will be Bucknell's very first meeting with Arizona.
• Bucknell is 1-0 all-time against head coach Sean Miller. The Bison defeated Miller's Xavier team 68-67 on Dec. 20, 2006.
• The Bison will be making their third trip to the state of Arizona, with the first two coming in Arizona State's holiday tournament. Bucknell lost to ASU and defeated Manhattan at the 1999 Fiesta Bowl Classic, and in 2002 the Bison lost to ASU and beat UC Santa Barbara at the azcentral.com Hoops Classic.
• The Bison are 1-2 all-time against teams from the Pac-12, with all of those games coming against Arizona State. Bucknell defeated the Sun Devils 75-67 in Boston in 1951-52 before suffering the aforementioned losses to ASU in 1999 and 2002.
Last Time Out
• Top-seeded Bucknell hosted No. 2 Lehigh in the Patriot League championship game at jam-packed Sojka Pavilion last Wednesday, and the two conference heavyweights duked it out for 40 minutes before Lehigh prevailed 82-77 in a well-played game.
• Bucknell never led in the game, but rallied numerous times to either tie or get within in one possession, only to see the Mountain Hawks answer every time. In the the final 40 seconds of the game Bucknell trailed 78-71 before Bryson Johnson hit two 3-pointers in just four seconds to make it a one-point game. After Mackey McKnight missed two free throws, the Bison had a possession down by one in the closing seconds, but Gabe Knutson blocked Cameron Ayers' reverse layup attempt, and Lehigh closed it out at the free-throw line.
• Bucknell and Lehigh feature the Patriot League's top two players in Mike Muscala (Bucknell) and C.J. McCollum (Lehigh), and the two stars did not disappoint. Muscala turned in a brilliant performance with 30 points, 14 rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots, while McCollum was just as good with 29 points, five assists, two blocks and three steals.
• Bucknell had not lost a game all season when scoring more than 70 points (14-0).
• Lehigh's 82 points were the most allowed by the Bison all year, and the Mountain Hawks became the first visiting team to score 80 at Sojka Pavilion since Cornell defeated Bucknell 104-98 in overtime on Dec. 2, 2009.
• Lehigh also became only the fifth team all year to shoot 50% from the field against Bucknell.
• No. 1 seeds had been 53-5 all-time in the Patriot League Tournament until Bucknell fell to Lehigh. The top seed had won the Patriot League title five years in a row and in 16 of 21 years in league history.
Stats Worth Noting
• Bucknell has attempted 145 fewer 3-point field goals than its opponents this season, but it has shot them at a much higher percentage (.393 to .344). Arizona, on the other hand, has attempted 82 more treys than its opponents and has outshot them by almost 100 percentage points (.380 to .281). The Wildcats 3FG defense ranks third in the nation.
• Mike Muscala this season has shot 54.7% from the field in Bucknell's 24 wins and 40.0% in the nine losses. Bryson Johnson is 44.2% from 3-point range in the wins but 30.4% in the losses.
• At the end of the regular season, Bucknell was averaging 4.0 steals and 9.7 forced turnovers per game, but the Bison drastically improved those figures in the postseason. In the three Patriot League Tournament games, they averaged 6.7 steals and 16.0 forced turnovers per game.
• Last year senior point guard Daryl Shazier racked up 185 assists, third most in program history. This year the Bison have replaced that production by committee. For the first time ever, Bucknell has six different players with at least 50 assists in a season: Bryan Cohen (80), Steven Kaspar (79), Cameron Ayers (60), Mike Muscala (57), Ryan Hill (55), Joe Willman (52).
• Bucknell is now 16-3 since point guard Ryan Hill joined the starting lineup. • The Bison were 16-0 when leading at the half before suffering their first such loss against Lehigh on Feb. 16. The Bison led 29-27 at the break in that one. They are now 19-1 when leading at the half on the season.
• The Bison have shot 50% or better from the field 13 times this season and are 13-0 in those games. Nationally, Bucknell ranks 48th in FG%, 16th in 3FG% and 5th in FT%.
• Bucknell leads the Patriot League in both field goal percentage (.465) and field goal percentage defense (.395). The latter figure ranks 25th nationally.
• In the last 19 games, Bison opponents are shooting 38.1% (378-993). Only six of those 19 teams (Dartmouth, Army, Lafayette twice, Navy, Lehigh) have eclipsed 40%.
• If the season ended today, Bucknell's average scoring defense of 61.2 would rank ninth in program history.
• 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 +236 since then and have outrebounded every opponent except Syracuse, Loyola, Lehigh, American and Holy Cross. Bucknell's +6.7 rebound margin for the season is by far the best in the Patriot League and ranks 17th nationally.
• A big part of Bucknell's rebounding success has been limiting opponents' second chances. The Bison have held 24 of their 33 foes to eight or fewer offensive rebounds.
• Bucknell has been terrific at the free-throw line after a slow start. After shooting just 68.5% at the line in their first 10 games, the Bison have made 80.3% (375-467) as a team in the last 23 contests. That includes a 21-for-21 performance in the win over Richmond, 19-for-19 in the Patriot League semifinal win over Lafayette, 15-for-15 in the regular-season road win at Lafayette, and 10-for-10 in the win at Navy. 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 No. 5 nationally at 77.0% this season.
Muscala, Cohen in Elite Company
• Junior Mike Muscala and senior Bryan Cohen have joined an elite fraternity of 1,000-point scorers at Bucknell this season. Muscala reached the milestone on Dec. 28 against Loyola, while Cohen hit his 1,000th point on Jan. 25 vs. American. Muscala and Cohen are the 34th and 35th members of the 1,000-point club.
• Muscala also became the 17th player in program history with 1,000 points and 500 rebounds, and the third with 1,000 points, 500 rebounds and 150 blocked shots (see p. 6 for complete charts).
• With his 30-point performance against Lehigh in the Patriot League championship game, Muscala moved into the top 10 on Bucknell's career scoring list, and he became just the sixth player in program history to record 550 points in a season.
Points in a Season, Bucknell History 1. Bill Courtney 1990-91 619 2. Patrick King 1991-92 610 3. Greg Leggett 1989-90 585 4. Al Leslie 1979-80 564 5. Mike Muscala 2011-12 551
Milestone Watches
• Senior Bryan Cohen needs 18 rebounds for 500 in his career.
• Junior Bryson Johnson recently moved past John Griffin for second place on Bucknell's career list for made 3-pointers. He needs 49 more to catch Kevin Bettencourt for first on that list. Johnson also has 988 points and should be Bucknell's next 1,000-point scorer.
• Junior Mike Muscala needs five more rebounds for 300 this season. That milestone has been reached only six times in program history, and the last to do it was Craig Greenwood (340) in 1968-69.
• This game will be Bucknell's 34th of the season, which will tie a program record. Muscala, Cohen, Cameron Ayers, Joe Willman, Brian Fitzpatrick and Steven Kaspar would all tie individual single-season games-played records when they take the floor on Wednesday.
Who's Got Next?
• Should Bucknell defeat Arizona, it would face the winner of No. 4 Oral Roberts and No. 5 Nevada on a date and time to be determined.
