Men's Basketball Hosts Penn State Friday in Throwback Game

11/26/2014 6:16:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: TBD

What: Penn State (5-1) at Bucknell (2-4)
Where: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
When: Friday, Nov. 28, 2014, 4 p.m.
Internet Video: Bison Vision on the Patriot League Network (free)
Radio: Eagle 107 (107.3 WEGH)
Internet Radio: BucknellBison.com
Live Statistics: BucknellBison.com
Tickets: 570-577-1000 or buy online

WEAR YOUR '70S ATTIRE TO THE GAME AND WIN PRIZES!

With a Win over Penn State, Bucknell Would ...
• ... win its second straight game and improve to 3-4 on the season.
• ... defeat Penn State for the second year in a row.
• ... defeat a Big Ten team for the third year in a row.
• ... improve to 122-40 all-time in Sojka Pavilion.

Headlines
• Bucknell is hosting Penn State for the first time since Jan. 14, 1976. Both teams are wearing throwback uniforms today (see below for more details), and there will be a '70s theme for the game. Fans wearing '70s garb will receive a free soft drink at the concession stand and be eligible to win prizes.
• Bucknell just concluded a difficult stretch of six games in 12 days to start the season, with three of the games (Michigan, Villanova, Mount St. Mary's) coming against 2014 NCAA Tournament teams and a fourth (Toledo) against a team that played in the NIT a year ago.
• In terms of results, it has been a mixed bag so far for the Bison. They have pulled out two close wins (Marist, UMES), suffered two close losses to quality opponents (Villanova, Mount St. Mary's), and have absorbed two blowout losses (Michigan, Toledo).
• Most recently, the Bison went 1-1 at the Toledo Subregional of the Progressive Legends Classic. After falling 92-65 to Toledo on Monday, Bucknell defeated Maryland-Eastern Shore 58-55 less than 24 hours later. Chris Hass was named to the All-Tournament Team after scoring six points in the final 23 seconds of the UMES win, including the three go-ahead free throws with 5.3 seconds remaning.
• Hass was terrific in the two games against top-25 opponents last week. He scored 21 points at Michigan, and then pumped in a career-high 32 at Villanova, which is a program record for points in a game against a ranked opponent. In the two games combined, Hass produced 53 points and hit 16 of 26 from the field, 8 of 14 from 3-point distance and 13 of 14 from the foul line. Hass added 17 points in the loss to Mount St. Mary's and was named Lids Team Sports Patriot League Player of the Week.
• Head coach Dave Paulsen coached in his 200th game at Bucknell on Tuesday. He is 117-83 in his seventh season on the Bison bench.
• The Bison were picked to finish fifth in the Patriot League in a preseason poll of the league's head coaches and sports information directors.
• Bucknell lost four players to graduation following last season, including 2014 Patriot League Player of the Year Cameron Ayers. Also gone are former starting center Brian Fitzpatrick and experienced role players Ben Brackney and Ryan Hill. The Bison do return 10 lettermen from last year's 16-14 squad, including a 2014 Third Team All-Patriot League selection in Hass.
• Penn State is off to a 5-1 start, including a come-from-behind 78-72 home victory over Akron on Tuesday. Senior guard D.J. Newbill, a Second Team All-Big Ten selection a year ago, scored 29 points in that contest and is the nation's fourth-leading scorer at 24.5 points per game. Freshman guard Shep Garner is averaging 11.3 ppg, and junior Brandon Taylor is also scoring in double figures at 10.2 ppg.

How to Get the Game
• The Bucknell-Penn State game will not be televised, however a free live webcast will be available on Bison Vision on the Patriot League Network. Log on to Patriot League.TV to watch the game.
• 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 also available online free of charge via BucknellBison.com.
• Live stats can be accessed at BucknellBison.com.

What are they Wearing?
• Both teams will be wearing throwback uniforms on Friday. The Bison kits are from the mid-1970s era, complete with “Bisons” across the chest, as the teams were known then. Penn State will be wearing pink and black uniforms.
• In addition to the '70s-era uniforms, during warm-ups, the Bucknell players will wear orange and blue striped pants, while the shooting shirts will feature a simple, block “B”. That is an homage to the 1897 Bucknell basketball team, which defeated Penn State 24-4 in the very first game played between the two Central Pennsylvania schools. Bucknell's program started a year earlier in 1896, making it the oldest Division I men's basketball team along with Yale and Minnesota.
• Bucknell adopted the nickname “Bisons” at the suggestion of faculty member William C. Bartol in 1910. The nickname commemorates Bucknell's location in the Buffalo Valley, which was one of the last widespread roaming areas for the American bison in the United States. Around 1981, the nickname was altered to “Bison”, which is the more widely accepted plural form of Bison.
• Penn State's uniforms will feature a black and pink color scheme, which actually predates the now-familiar blue and white as the school's primary colors. According to Penn State, a three-member committee representing the sophomore, junior and senior classes was appointed in October of 1887 to develop color options from which the student body would select the school's official colors. Dark pink and black was the unanimous choice of the student body after considering the color combinations presented by the committee. One of the students on the committee who chose pink and black, George R. Meek, Class of 1890 and editor of La Vie, Penn State's yearbook, wrote, “We wanted something bright and attractive but we could not use red or orange as those colors were already used by other colleges so we chose a very deep pink — really cerise — which with black made a very pretty combination.” Soon many students and the baseball team were sporting pink and black striped blazers and caps. However, problems arose when the pink faded to white after several weeks of exposure to the sun. The students then opted for blue, rather than black, and white. The official announcement of the new choice was made on March 18, 1890.

Last Time Out
• Down four without the ball in the final minute and reeling after letting a 19-point lead get away, Bucknell somehow got up off the canvas and pulled out a 58-55 victory over Maryland-Eastern Shore on Tuesday in Toledo at the Progressive Legends Classic.
• The Bison forced a shot-clock violation to get the ball back with 35 seconds to go, and Chris Hass hit a 3-pointer from the top of the arc to bring them within a point at 54-53. Devin Martin, a 90-percent free-throw shooter, missed a pair at the line with 13.8 seconds left, but Bucknell was called for a foul on the rebound. That sent UMES' leading scorer Michael Myers to the line, and he made 1 of 2 for a 55-53 lead. At the other end, Hass was run over while attempting a 3-pointer, and he stuck all three free throws with 5.3 seconds to play to put the Bison in front 56-55. Isaac Smith stepped on the sideline in his own backcourt as he brought the ball up against pressure, and on the inbounds Dom Hoffman found D.J. MacLeay for a backdoor layup with 2.7 seconds left. UMES missed a half-court shot at the buzzer.
• Bucknell had a 30-11 lead after Ryan Frazier's layup with 3:35 left in the first half. But the Hawks switched to an aggressive, full-court press, and it changed the momentum of the game as the Bison struggled to take care of the ball.
• Hass led the Bison with 17 points despite an off shooting night (5-14 FG, 3-8 3FG).
• J.C. Show gave the Bison a big lift off the bench with 10 points (4-7 FG, 2-4 3FG), as did MacLeay with 4 pts. and 10 reb.
• Bucknell overcame 19 turnovers by converting nine offensive rebounds into 16 second-chance points. The Bison had a 35-25 edge on the glass.

Series Notes
• This is the 102nd meeting between Bucknell and Penn State in a series that dates all the way back to 1897.
• Bucknell has played only four other opponents as many as 100 times: Lehigh (162), Lafayette (156), Gettysburg (126) and Colgate (102).
• Bucknell snapped a 12-game series losing streak last year with a 90-80 victory in State College. Its last series win had been on Jan. 14, 1976 in Davis Gym (69-64). That was also Bucknell's first win at the Bryce Jordan Center after 10 losses there. The Bison's previous win in State College was a 74-73 overtime decision on Feb. 21, 1968 at Rec Hall.
• That Jan. 14, 1976 game also marked Penn State's last visit to Lewisburg. Scott Hebditch, Tom Muller and Roger Clark scored 10 points each in Bucknell's five-point victory.
• In last year's matchup, Steven Kaspar had a career night with 25 points, and Cameron Ayers scored 16 of his 19 in the second half to lift the Bison to the 90-80 victory. The game was a shootout right from the beginning, as Penn State made 10 of its first 13 field-goal attempts, but Ben Brackney hit four straight 3-pointers to keep the Bison in the game. Bucknell would go on to connect on 10 of 15 3-point tries and shoot 60.9% overall. D.J. Newbill led four Penn State players in double figures with 18 points. Brandon Taylor and Ross Travis scored 17 each.

Who's Got Next?

• Bucknell will be back on the road on Monday night, taking on Fairfield at 7 p.m.
• The Stags are 2-3 on the season, with the wins coming against Central Connecticut State and South Dakota.
• Bucknell will be looking to avenge a 73-64 home loss to Fairfield from last season.