Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell, Mount St. Mary's Set to Meet for First Time in 12 Years
11/25/2013 9:22:00 PM | Men's Basketball
What: Bucknell (3-2) at Mount St. Mary's (1-5)
Where: Knott Arena, Emmitsburg, Md.
When: Tuesday, Nov. 26, 7 p.m.
Internet Video: NEC Front Row
Radio: Eagle 107 (107.3 WEGH)
Internet Radio: BucknellBison.com
Live Stats: MountAthletics.com
With a Win over Mount St. Mary's, Bucknell Would ...
• ... improve to 4-2 on the season.
• ... improve to 3-2 on the road this season.
• ... improve to 13-8 all-time against Mount St. Mary's.
Headlines
• Bucknell looks to keep its hot shooting going on Tuesday night when it takes on Mount St. Mary's for the first time in 12 years. The Bison come in with a 3-2 overall record after beating defending America East champion Albany 77-64 on Saturday. Mount St. Mary's, coached by former Bucknell manager of basketball operations Jamion Christian, is now 1-5 after beating American 68-64 last time out.
• Bucknell made 14 of 21 3-point tries at Albany and now rank fourth nationally in 3-point percentage at 48.3%. The Bison have shot over 50% from the field in three of their first five games and lead the Patriot League with a 51.4 FG%. Ben Brackney is coming off a career-high 22-point effort at Albany in which he made six 3-pointers in 10 attempts, and Cameron Ayers is 10-14 from 3-point range in his last four games.
• Both of Bucknell's losses this season have come by four-point margins on the road against major-conference opponents. The Bison opened the season with a 72-68 setback at Stanford, and last Tuesday they fell 67-63 at St. John's. Bucknell's three wins are by double-digit margins, 90-80 at Penn State, 72-50 at home against Saint Francis (Pa.) and 77-64 at Albany.
• Junior point guard Steven Kaspar has turned heads so far. After logging career highs with 12 points, seven rebounds and nine assists against Stanford, he more than doubled his career high with 25 points on 9-for-13 shooting in the win at Penn State. Kaspar has a pair of 9-assist games this season, and he is averaging 12.0 points, 5.4 rebounds and a league-high 6.4 assists so far.
• Bucknell used only two different starting lineups all of last season. The Bison have already had three different starting fives this year and have yet to use the same starting lineup in consecutive games.
• This is a “new-look” Bison squad, as three standout players from last year's NCAA Tournament team have graduated (Mike Muscala, Bryson Johnson, Joe Willman). Three Bucknell players made their first career starts at Stanford (Brian Fitzpatrick, Dom Hoffman, Ben Brackney), Ryan Frazier started for the first time in his career at Penn State, and Chris Hass did the same against Saint Francis.
• Bucknell returns two starters and 11 lettermen from last year's squad that won a school-record 28 games, captured Patriot League regular-season and tournament titles, and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the sixth time in program history.
• Mount St. Mary's began the year with a tough five-game road trip and dropped games to West Virginia, Villanova, BYU, UMBC and Maryland-Eastern Shore. The Mount finally played a home game on Saturday and picked up a victory over American. Jamion Christian's squad went 18-14 overall and 11-7 in the NEC last year. Julian Norfleet leads the up-tempo Mountaineers in scoring at 19.7 ppg, followed by Rashad Whack at 13.8 ppg and Sam Prescott at 10.0 ppg. Knott Arena is a tough place to play for visiting teams. Mount St. Mary's has won seven straight home games and is 11-2 at home under Christian.
How to Get the Game
• The Bucknell-Mount St. Mary's game will not be televised, however a free internet webcast will be available on NEC Front Row (NECFrontRow.com).
• The game can be heard in the Susquehanna Valley on the radio on Eagle 107 (WEGH 107.3 FM), with Doug Birdsong calling the action. The pregame show begins 30 minutes before tip-off.
• The audio feed is available online free of charge via BucknellBison.com.
• Live stats can be accessed at MountAthletics.com.
Bucknell vs. Mount St. Mary's Series Notes
• Bucknell has a 12-8 lead in a series that dates back more than 100 years.
• In what must have been a thriller, Mount St. Mary's won the initial meeting 18-17 in Emmitsburg on March 8, 1912.
• The last meeting between the two teams came on Jan. 2, 2002 at Knott Arena. Bucknell won that one 58-46 behind an early 17-0 run. Brian Werner (16 points, 9 rebounds) and Boakai Lalugba (15 points, 9 rebounds) led the Bison that night. Sophomore Jamion Christian hit a 3-pointer and dished out two assists in 19 minutes off the bench for The Mount.
• Christian served as Bucknell's manager of basketball operations in 2006-07 and 2007-08 under head coach Pat Flannery.
Bucknell vs. The Northeast Conference
• Bucknell is 45-34 (.570) all-time against the teams that currently comprise the Northeast Conference. The Bison are 17-12 against Saint Francis (Pa.), 12-8 vs. Mount St. Mary's, 6-3 vs. Robert Morris, 5-2 vs. Saint Francis (N.Y.), 4-7 vs. Wagner, 1-0 vs. Bryant and 0-1 vs. Central Connecticut State. Bucknell has never played Fairleigh Dickinson.
• The Bison defeated an NEC squad back on Nov. 16 when they took down Saint Francis (Pa.) 72-50 at Sojka Pavilion.
Last Time Out
• Bucknell put on quite a shooting display on Saturday night at Albany. The Bison made 10 of their first 12 from three-point range and finished 14-for-21 from the arc in a 77-64 win over the defending America East champion.
• The Bison led 51-38 at the half. It was their first 50-point first half since Dec. 17, 2005 against Cornell.
• Ben Brackney enjoyed a career night, finishing with a personal-best 22 points on 7-for-11 shooting, including a 6-for-10 showing from long distance.
• Cameron Ayers remained red hot from the outside, hitting 2 of 3 from the arc in a 15-point night. Ayers is now 14-for-18 from 3-point range in his last four games.
• Center Brian Fitzpatrick even got in on the 3-point act. Coming into the game, Fitzpatrick's only two career 3-pointers came in the same game against Monmouth when he was playing for Penn as a freshman in 2009-10. But Fitzpatrick went 2-for-2 from the arc against Albany and finished with 10 points.
• Steven Kaspar logged 11 points, six rebounds and nine assists in 29 minutes. The nine assists matched his career high, set in the season opener at Stanford.
• Bucknell finished with 20 assists on 29 field goals.
• Bucknell won by 13 points despite being outscored 18-5 from the free-throw line.
• After struggling defensively in the first half, the Bison limited the Great Danes to 26 points on 36.4% shooting in the second half.
• Bucknell shot 62.5% in the first half and 54.7% overall.
Worth Noting
• Steven Kaspar (12, 25), Ben Brackney (13, 16) and Brian Fitzpatrick (10, 13) all set career scoring highs in the opener against Stanford, and then re-set them in game No. 2 at Penn State.
• Bucknell now has four players scoring in double figures — Cameron Ayers, Kaspar, Fitzpatrick and Brackney — and Dom Hoffman is four points shy of that mark (46 points in five games).
• Bucknell has struggled to get to the free-throw line in recent games. After going 24-31 at the line in the win at Penn State, the Bison are a combined 11-for-16 in the three games since then. That includes the Saint Francis game on Nov. 16 when the Bison did not attempt a single free throw. They rank 339th out of 345 teams in free-throw attempts on the season.
• Bucknell has typically ranked among the very best in the nation in fewest turnovers under coach Dave Paulsen, and this year has been no different. The Bison are averaging only 9.8 turnovers per game to rank 21st nationally.
• Bucknell's center combo of Fitzpatrick and Hoffman are shooting a combined 61.1% from the field while averaging 19.4 ppg.
• Through five games the Bison are shooting 51.4% from the field, 48.3% from 3-point range and 76.8% from the foul line. They lead the Patriot League in FG% and 3FG% and rank fourth nationally in 3FG%.
NCAA Leaders, 3FG%
1. Evansville .527
2. Indiana State .515
3. Gonzaga .484
4. BUCKNELL .483
5. North Dakota .469
Who's Got Next?
• Bucknell returns home on Saturday to host Princeton at 7 p.m. at Sojka Pavilion.
• The Bison will be looking to avenge last year's 79-67 loss to the Tigers at Jadwin Gym.
• Princeton is 3-1 heading into Tuesday's home game against George Mason. The Tigers have beaten Florida A&M (67-50), Lafayette (81-80 OT) and Rice (70-56), with the loss coming at Butler (70-67).
