Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Men's Basketball Squad Starts Round Two of League Play Saturday at West Point
2/8/2013 7:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
Feb. 8, 2013
WHAT: Bucknell (19-4, 6-1 PL) at Army (10-12, 3-4 PL)
WHERE: Christl Arena, West Point, N.Y.
WHEN: Saturday, Feb. 9, 4 p.m. ET
WEBCAST: Patriot League All-Access 
RADIO: Eagle 107 (WEGH 107.3 FM) and SportsJuice.com
LIVE STATS: Game Tracker 
Complete Game Notes in PDF Format 
With a Win over Army, Bucknell Would ...
• ... improve to 7-1 in the Patriot League and maintain at least a share of the league lead.
• ... improve to 20-4 on the season, which would mark the third-best 24-game start in program history (the 1983-84 and 2005-06 teams started 21-3).
• ... reach the 20-win mark for the 12th time in program history.
• ... record three straight 20-win seasons for the second time in program history (2004-05, 2005-06, 2006-07).
• ... complete a season sweep of the Black Knights and extend its series winning streak to six.
• ... improve to 10-3 on the road this season, marking three straight years with double-digit road wins.
Headlines
• Bucknell and Army start round two of Patriot League play on Saturday afternoon at West Point's Christl Arena. Both teams have had a full week of rest. The Bison are aiming to maintain at least a share of the Patriot League lead, while the Black Knights are looking to solidify a top-four seed.
• The Bison enter the weekend tied for the Patriot League lead with Lehigh at 6-1. The Bison and Mountain Hawks are two games clear of third-place Lafayette (4-3), while Army, American and Colgate sit in a tie for fourth place at 3-4.
• Through Thursday's games, Bucknell is tied for 10th nationally with 19 victories.
• Bucknell is second nationally with nine road wins. Only Stony Brook has more with 10, while Albany also has nine.
• Bucknell in the rankings:
Associated Press Poll: NR
USA Today Coaches' Poll: NR
CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Poll: 7
ESPN.com Mid-Major Poll: 7
RPI (from RPIforecast.com): 54
Ken Pomeroy computer ranking: 58
Jeff Sagarin computer ranking: 70
• Bryson Johnson and Mike Muscala were both named to the Capital One Academic All-District Team last week, and Muscala was just named one of 10 national finalists for the Senior CLASS Award. Johnson and Muscala both made the Dean's List in the fall semester, and they grabbed two of the five All-District spots. They are both now eligible for the national Academic All-America ballot.
• The Bison have been outstanding defensively this season. Opponents are averaging only 58.4 points per game, and Bucknell has held 17 of its last 21 foes under 40% shooting.
• Bryson Johnson has broken the Bucknell career record for career 3-pointers, and with 300 under his belt he needs just two more to tie the Patriot League record, held by American's Garrison Carr.
• Mike Muscala is in the midst of an outstanding senior year for the Bison, and he has garnered frequent national mentions throughout the season. An All-America and NBA Draft candidate, Muscala leads the Bison in scoring (19.0), rebounding (11.5), assists (2.8), blocks (2.8) and FG% (.524). He leads the league in scoring, rebounding and blocks and ranks in the top 30 nationally in each of those categories (4th reb., 27th pts., 17th blk.).
• Muscala is the only player in the country averaging at least 18 points and 11 rebounds per game. And there are only three players in all of Division I basketball who are leading his team in points, rebounds, assists and blocked shots. They are Muscala, Princeton's Ian Hummer and Towson's Jarelle Benimon. Benimon (17) is one ahead of Muscala (16) for the national lead in double-doubles.
• Cameron Ayers (11.9), Bryson Johnson (11.3) and Joe Willman (11.1) are also scoring in double figures for the Bison, who average 68.1 ppg.
• The Bison opened the campaign with wins over Purdue and George Mason, and then swept Niagara, New Mexico State and West Alabama at the Niagara Subregional of the 2K Sports Classic benefitting Wounded Warrior Project. Bucknell won all three of those games by double figures and improved to 5-0 for the first time since 2005-06. The first loss of the season came at Penn State on Nov. 23.
• Bucknell returned four starters and 11 lettermen from last year's 25-10 squad. The lone graduated starter was 6'5” guard Bryan Cohen, who won each of the last three Patriot League Defensive Player of the Year awards. Despite that loss, the experienced Bison start three seniors and two juniors. Bucknell's starting five has a combined 547 career games played.
• Army coach Zach Spiker has utilized an all-plebe starting lineup over the last three games, two of which resulted in wins over American and Holy Cross. Most recently, the Black Knights fell 85-76 to Lehigh at home last Saturday. Army spotted the Mountain Hawks a big early lead, then got back in the game late but could not quite pull off the comeback.
• Army features one of the league's best players in Ella Ellis, who averages 16.8 points per game and has a team-high 49 3-pointers. Kyle Wilson (12.9 ppg), Kyle Toth (8.8 ppg) and Dylan Cox (6.4 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 3.3 apg) are three of the top rookies in the Patriot League. Army averages 73.5 points per game and allows 70.1.
How to Get the Game
• The Bucknell-Army game will not be televised, however a live webcast will be available on Patriot League All-Access via PatriotLeague.com.
• 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 stats are available on GameTracker via BucknellBison.com.
Bucknell vs. Army
• The Bison hold a 44-19 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 seven wins in the last eight meetings. • The Bison are 25-4 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 43 of 52 meetings. • In Patriot League Tournament action, Bucknell is 6-1 against Army. • Back on Jan. 12 at Sojka Pavilion, Bucknell opened league play with a 76-55 victory over the Black Knights. Mike Muscala had a huge game with 20 points, 13 rebounds, seven assists and three blocked shots. Joe Willman also had a big game with 18 points on 8-for-12 shooting, and Cameron Ayers went 3-for-3 from 3-point range and scored 15 points. Ella Ellis led Army with 17 points, 15 coming in the second half.
Patriot League Success
• Bucknell is 206-95 (.684) all-time in Patriot League regular-season games, the best record of any league team. They have finished at least .500 in PL play in 18 of 22 seasons.
• Bucknell has won the last two Patriot League regular-season titles, and it is trying to become the first team to win three outright titles in a row.
• The Bison went 13-1 in the league in 2011 and 12-2 last year, making them 25-3 over those two seasons. Dating back to mid-2010, Bucknell has won 39 of its last 45 league games.
• Bucknell won Patriot League Tournament titles in 2005, 2006 and 2011. The Bison have made it to the semifinals 17 times and to the championship game nine times in the 22-year history of the league.
• The Bison are the only team to go unbeaten in league play in a season (14-0 in 2006).
Last Time Out
• Bryson Johnson became Bucknell's all-time leading 3-point shooter in the opening minute of the game, then tacked on five more treys en route to a 20-point night, leading Bucknell to a 69-54 home win over Navy last Saturday.
• Johnson went 6-for-10 from the arc and 7-for-11 overall. His 20 points marked a season high.
• Bucknell completely dominated on the boards, outrebounding Navy 47-20. Mike Muscala nearly outrebounded the Midshipmen all by himself, equaling his season and career highs with 19 boards. Just 8:57 into the game he grabbed his 10th rebound, and his 11th board came at the offensive end 9:06 in, which led to a pair of free throws. He needed only 12:45 to record his national-best 16th double-double of the season.
• Bucknell led by as many as 24 points in the second half before clearing the bench. No Bison played more than 29 minutes, and 11 different players scored.
• The lone negative stat for Bucknell was a season-high 21 turnovers. The Bison came into the game ranked second in the nation in fewest turnovers per game.
• One game after an 11-for-24 performance at the foul line at American, Bucknell bounced back with a 16-for-19 performance against Navy.
• The Bison held the Mids to 31.7 percent shooting from the field. Navy was just 13-for-40 (.289) from inside the arc and 6-for-15 (.400) from 3-point range.
Milestone Watch
• Several Bison are chasing significant milestones:
• Mike Muscala needs 137 points to become Bucknell's all-time leading scorer (Al Leslie had 1,973) and 164 to become the program's first 2,000-point scorer. If Bucknell plays the minimum number of games it could possibly play the rest of the way (8), Muscala would have to average 17.1 points to catch Leslie.
• Muscala needs 21 rebounds to join Hal Danzig as the only players in program history with 1,000 points and 1,000 rebounds.
• Muscala needs 23 blocked shots to catch school record-holder Mike Butts, who had 278.
• Bryson Johnson has surpassed Kevin Bettencourt's Bucknell career record of 294 made 3-pointers. Johnson now has 300 career treys, and he is two shy of the Patriot League record of 302, set by American's Garrison Carr.
• Cameron Ayers needs 81 points for 1,000 in his career.
Starting off on the Right Foot
• Bucknell's 19-4 start is the third-best in program history. The 1983-84 and 2005-06 teams were 20-3 after 23 games.
• If Bucknell can defeat Army to get to 20-4, it would also be the third-best 24-game start in team history. The Bison were 21-3 in 1983-84 and 2005-06.
• Bucknell became the first team in Patriot League history to record 13 non-league wins in a regular season. Fordham (1990-91) and Lehigh (2011-12) previously won 12.
Dee-Fense
• For the most part, Bucknell has played stellar defense this season against a strong schedule. The Bison are allowing only 58.4 points per game, which ranks No. 1 in the Patriot League and No. 25 out of 347 Division I teams.
• Bucknell has allowed more than 60 points in a game only seven times all season, and four those came in victories.
• The last time Bucknell yielded less than 60 ppg in a season was 2006-07 (57.8).
• Bison opponents are shooting 37.4% from the field. That is the best FG% defense figure in the Patriot League and the No. 11 mark in the nation.
• Purdue (.459), George Mason (.400), Princeton (.510), Missouri (.429), Colgate (.426) and American (.478) are the only teams to shoot 40% or better against the Bison this season, and George Mason is the only one to do it at Sojka Pavilion. Bucknell held 10 straight opponents under 40% in one stretch, and 17 of their last 21 opponents have failed to reach that mark.
1000-Point Club
• Bucknell now has three 1,000-point scorers on the roster. Mike Muscala and Bryson Johnson both hit the 1,000-point mark last season, and Joe Willman got there against Colgate on Jan. 16.
• Bucknell, Santa Clara, Loyola (Md.) and North Carolina State are the only three programs in the country with at least three active 1,000-point scorers (N.C. State has four).
• Bucknell has never had four 1,000-point scorers on the same roster before, but that could happen this year if Cameron Ayers can reach that milestone. Ayers has 919 points.
And They Get it Done Off the Court Too
• All three of Bucknell's 1,000-point scorers made the Dean's List in the fall semester.
• The senior class combined for a 3.53 GPA last semester.
• The entire Bison roster combined for a 3.0 GPA in the fall.
• Bryson Johnson and Mike Muscala both made the 2013 Capital One Academic All-District Team, and both have moved on to the national Academic All-America ballot.
• Muscala is also one of 10 national finalists for the Senior CLASS Award. The award recognizes seniors who have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition. Nationwide fan voting is now underway to help select the winner (seniorclassaward.com).
Who's Got Next?
• Bucknell returns home on Wednesday to face Colgate at 7 p.m. at Sojka Pavilion.
• Bucknell defeated Colgate 73-59 at Cotterell Court back on Jan. 16. Mike Muscala registered 26 points, 10 rebounds, seven blocked shots and four assists to lead the Bison.
