Bucknell University Athletics
Men's Basketball Hosts Navy Wednesday at 6 p.m.
2/11/2014 6:44:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Where: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
When: Wednesday, Feb. 12, 2014, 6 p.m.
Webcast: Bison Vision on Patriot League Network
Radio: Eagle 107 (107.3 WEGH)
Internet Radio: BucknellBison.com
Live Statistics: BucknellBison.com
• ... snap a two-game losing streak and improve to 11-13 overall, 6-7 in the Patriot League.
• ... earn a split in the season series with the Midshipmen.
• ... defeat the Midshipmen for the sixth straight time at Sojka Pavilion.
• ... give head coach Dave Paulsen his 110th Bucknell victory, moving him into a tie for third with Malcolm Musser on Bucknell's all-time list. Musser had four different stints as head basketball coach at Bucknell: 1917-18, 1919-20, 1925-26 and 1932-42.
Headlines
• Bucknell has dropped six of its last eight games after starting 3-1 in Patriot League play, and the Bison enter play on Wednesday tied for sixth place in the standings alongside Loyola. The Bison are one game behind Lehigh for fifth place and two clear of Colgate and Navy, who are tied for eighth. Two key mileposts that teams are striving for are to finish at least sixth (to avoid playing a Patriot League Tournament first-round game) and then to finish at least fourth (to guarantee hosting a quarterfinal game).
• Senior Cameron Ayers is working on a streak of 17 straight double-figure scoring games, however his run of four straight 20-point games came to an end on Sunday when he was held to 15 (all in the first half) in a 66-50 loss at Holy Cross. Ayers continues to lead the team and rank third in the Patriot league in scoring at 15.4 ppg.
• Brian Fitzpatrick has taken over the league lead in field-goal percentage (.617), thanks to a 41-for-57 (.719) stretch over his last 10 games. Fitzpatrick is shooting 66.2% in Patriot League play.
• Chris Hass (10.9 ppg) has emerged as a scorer in league play, where he ranks sixth in the PL with a 14.3 ppg league average. That total includes a career-high 26-point performance against Colgate in the first meeting between the two teams. Hass missed the Jan. 22 Loyola game with a knee injury, but he returned against Boston University and scored 17 points off the bench, all of them coming during Bucknell's late comeback attempt. Hass returned to the starting lineup at Colgate last week.
• This is a “new-look” Bison squad, as three standout players from last year's NCAA Tournament team graduated (Mike Muscala, Bryson Johnson, Joe Willman) and are all playing professionally overseas. Three Bucknell players made their first career starts on opening night 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 returned 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.
• Navy snapped a six-game losing streak with a resounding 79-57 road win over arch-rival Army on Saturday. The Midshipmen's previous win was a 62-61 decision over Bucknell in Annapolis back on Jan. 15. Worth Smith was the star of the Army game with 23 points and eight rebounds, and he leads the team in both of those categories (11.5 ppg, 5.3 apg) on the season. Brandon Venturini, who scored a team-high 14 points in the win over the Bison last month, also scores in double figures at 10.4 ppg.
How to Get the Game
• The Bucknell-Navy game will not be televised, however a free live webstream will be available on Bison Vision on the Patriot League Network. Visit BucknellBison.com or PatriotLeague.tv to access the coverage.
• 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 BucknellBison.com.
1988-89 Team and Seniors to be Honored Feb. 15
• Bucknell's 1988-89 East Coast Conference championship and NCAA Tournament team will be staging a 25-year reunion on Saturday, Feb. 15 during the home game against Army. The team will be honored at halftime.
• Hall of Fame coach Charlie Woollum is expected to be in attendance along with his assistant coaches Tommy Thompson, George Petrie and Doug Allen. Among the players expected back are Mike Butts, Mike Joseph, Greg Leggett, Keith Fenton, Bobby Woollum, Rob Joy and Steve Leshinski. Also coming back for the event is the former “Voice of the Bison” Bob Behler, who is now the lead play-by-play man at Boise State.
• Saturday will also be Senior Day at Sojka Pavilion. Cameron Ayers, Ben Brackney, Brian Fitzpatrick and Ryan Hill will all be honored prior to the game.
Bucknell vs. Navy
• This will be the 69th all-time meeting between the Bison and Midshipmen, with Navy owning a 35-33 series lead.
• Bucknell had won eight in a row in the series, including an 58-42 win in last season's Patriot League Tournament quarterfinals, before Navy edged the Bison 62-61 at Alumni Hall back on Jan. 15.
• The Mids won 12 of 16 from the Bison prior to joining the Patriot League in 1991-92.
• As conference rivals, Bucknell leads 29-23, with the home team winning most of the time. Since Navy joined the league, Bucknell is 20-5 against the Mids at home but is only 9-18 against Navy in Alumni Hall.
• Bucknell and Navy have met in each of the last two postseasons, with the Bison winning both times in the quarterfinal round. Bucknell is 4-3 all-time against Navy in the Patriot League Tournament, including the Midshipmen's 76-75 win in the 1997 championship game.
• Last month in Annapolis, Bucknell charged back from a 16-point deficit with less than five minutes to play to pull within one point, but the Bison came up empty on three chances to win it in the final seconds. Bucknell turned the ball over with 12 seconds left, but Navy missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Cameron Ayers missed a 3-pointer and Chris Hass snagged the offensive rebound, but his jumper was blocked by Kendall Knorr at the buzzer. Steven Kaspar led the Bison with 12 points , 10 assists and seven rebounds, while Brandon Venturini scored 14 to pace Navy.
Patriot League Success
• Bucknell is 216-103 (.677) 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 19 of 23 seasons.
• Bucknell won the last three outright Patriot League regular-season titles, becoming the first team in league history to accomplish that feat.
• The Bison went 13-1 in the league in 2011 and 12-2 in each of the last two seasons, making them 37-5 over the previous three campaigns. Dating back to mid-2010, Bucknell has won 49 of its last 63 league games.
• Bucknell won Patriot League Tournament titles in 2005, 2006, 2011 and 2013. The Bison have made it to the semifinals 18 times and to the championship game 10 times in the 23-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
• Holy Cross stretched a six-point halftime lead up to 20 with a strong second half, and the Crusaders held off the Bison 66-50 on Sunday at the Hart Center to gain a split of the season series.
• Cameron Ayers scored 15 of Bucknell's 21 points in the first half, but Ayers was kept off the board in the second half and his string off consecutive 20-point games ended at four.
• Chris Hass went 3-for-4 from 3-point range and joined Ayers in double figures with 14 points.
• John Azzinaro gave the Bison a spark off the bench with seven points and three assists in a career-high 22 minutes.
• The Bison were held to 32.7% shooting, including a 7-for-22 day from the 3-point arc.
• Holy Cross outrebounded Bucknell 38-30. The Crusaders' 13 offensive rebounds were the third-most by a Bison opponent this season.
• Bucknell did not shoot a free throw in the first half, then went 11-for-13 from the line in the second.
Numbers Worth Noting
• After shooting 12-for-15 from 3-point range at Lafayette on Jan. 8, Bucknell ranked No. 1 in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (.440). In the nine games since then, however, the Bison have gone 54-for-172 (.314) from the arc, lowering their season percentage to .386. That is still the 29th-best mark in the nation.
• Oddly, Bucknell has shot much better on the road (44.7 FG%, 42.7 3FG%, 76.9 FT%) this season than at home (40.5 FG%, 32.7 3FG%, 74.5 FT%).
• In wins this season, Bucknell has shot 49.6 FG%, 49.1 3FG%, 78.1 FT%. In the losses, the Bison have shot 38.3 FG%, 31.4 3FG%, 73.4 FT%.
• In each of the last two seasons, Bucknell led the nation in defensive rebounding percentage (i.e. percentage of opponents' missed shots that Bucknell has rebounded). This year, despite playing almost exclusively with a four-guard lineup, the Bison still rank a respectable 13th out of 351 Division I teams in DR%. Last year, led by senior big men Mike Muscala and Joe Willman, Bucknell grabbed 79.0% of its opponents' misses. This year that figure is still a solid 76.0%.
• 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 10.0 turnovers per game to rank 12th nationally. They turned the ball over a season-low four times at Colgate on Feb. 1.
• Last season Bucknell featured one of the nation's most prolific shot-blockers in Mike Muscala, but so far this season the Bison have blocked only 33 shots in 23 games, compared to 99 by their opponents. Bucknell ranked last nationally in blocks per game, before climbing out of the cellar with a season-high six rejections against Loyola on Jan. 22. At 1.4 blocks per game, the Bison are now ahead of Central Michigan and Sacramento State.
• Bucknell ranks 33rd nationally in fewest personal fouls per game (17.2).
• Brian Fitzpatrick is now shooting 66.2% in Patriot League games, and he is 41-for-57 (.719) in his last 10 contests. His 61.7% accuracy for the season is No. 1 among all Patriot League players and No. 20 among all Division I players.
• Cameron Ayers now leads the Patriot League and ranks 43rd in the nation in free-throw shooting at 87.7%. As a team, Bucknell ranks No. 11 nationally in free-throw percentage at 75.7%.
Who's Got Next?
• Bucknell hosts Army on Senior Day this Saturday at 7 p.m. at Sojka Pavilion.
• Bucknell dropped a 74-67 decision at West Point on Jan. 19.
HeadlinesBucknell has dropped six of its last eight games after starting 3-1 in Patriot League play, and the Bison enter play on Wednesday tied for sixth place in the standings alongside Loyola. The Bison are one game behind Lehigh for fifth place and two clear of Colgate and Navy, who are tied for eighth. Two key mileposts that teams are striving for are to finish at least sixth (to avoid playing a Patriot League Tournament first-round game) and then to finish at least fourth (to guarantee hosting a quarterfinal game). Senior Cameron Ayers is working on a streak of 17 straight double-figure scoring games, however his run of four straight 20-point games came to an end on Sunday when he was held to 15 (all in the first half) in a 66-50 loss at Holy Cross. Ayers continues to lead the team and rank third in the Patriot league in scoring at 15.4 ppg. Brian Fitzpatrick has taken over the league lead in field-goal percentage (.617), thanks to a 41-for-57 (.719) stretch over his last 10 games. Fitzpatrick is shooting 66.2% in Patriot League play. Chris Hass (10.9 ppg) has emerged as a scorer in league play, where he ranks sixth in the PL with a 14.3 ppg league average. That total includes a career-high 26-point performance against Colgate in the first meeting between the two teams. Hass missed the Jan. 22 Loyola game with a knee injury, but he returned against Boston University and scored 17 points off the bench, all of them coming during Bucknell's late comeback attempt. Hass returned to the starting lineup at Colgate last week.This is a “new-look” Bison squad, as three standout players from last year's NCAA Tournament team graduated (Mike Muscala, Bryson Johnson, Joe Willman) and are all playing professionally overseas. Three Bucknell players made their first career starts on opening night 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 returned 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.Navy snapped a six-game losing streak with a resounding 79-57 road win over arch-rival Army on Saturday. The Midshipmen's previous win was a 62-61 decision over Bucknell in Annapolis back on Jan. 15. Worth Smith was the star of the Army game with 23 points and eight rebounds, and he leads the team in both of those categories (11.5 ppg, 5.3 apg) on the season. Brandon Venturini, who scored a team-high 14 points in the win over the Bison last month, also scores in double figures at 10.4 ppg.
How to Get the GameThe Bucknell-Navy game will not be televised, however a free live webstream will be available on Bison Vision on the Patriot League Network. Visit BucknellBison.com or PatriotLeague.tv to access the coverage. 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 BucknellBison.com.
1988-89 Team and Seniors to be Honored Feb. 15Bucknell's 1988-89 East Coast Conference championship and NCAA Tournament team will be staging a 25-year reunion on Saturday, Feb. 15 during the home game against Army. The team will be honored at halftime. Hall of Fame coach Charlie Woollum is expected to be in attendance along with his assistant coaches Tommy Thompson, George Petrie and Doug Allen. Among the players expected back are Mike Butts, Mike Joseph, Greg Leggett, Keith Fenton, Bobby Woollum, Rob Joy and Steve Leshinski. Also coming back for the event is the former “Voice of the Bison” Bob Behler, who is now the lead play-by-play man at Boise State. Saturday will also be Senior Day at Sojka Pavilion. Cameron Ayers, Ben Brackney, Brian Fitzpatrick and Ryan Hill will all be honored prior to the game.
Bucknell vs. NavyThis will be the 69th all-time meeting between the Bison and Midshipmen, with Navy owning a 35-33 series lead.Bucknell had won eight in a row in the series, including an 58-42 win in last season's Patriot League Tournament quarterfinals, before Navy edged the Bison 62-61 at Alumni Hall back on Jan. 15.The Mids won 12 of 16 from the Bison prior to joining the Patriot League in 1991-92. As conference rivals, Bucknell leads 29-23, with the home team winning most of the time. Since Navy joined the league, Bucknell is 20-5 against the Mids at home but is only 9-18 against Navy in Alumni Hall. Bucknell and Navy have met in each of the last two postseasons, with the Bison winning both times in the quarterfinal round. Bucknell is 4-3 all-time against Navy in the Patriot League Tournament, including the Midshipmen's 76-75 win in the 1997 championship game. Last month in Annapolis, Bucknell charged back from a 16-point deficit with less than five minutes to play to pull within one point, but the Bison came up empty on three chances to win it in the final seconds. Bucknell turned the ball over with 12 seconds left, but Navy missed the front end of a 1-and-1. Cameron Ayers missed a 3-pointer and Chris Hass snagged the offensive rebound, but his jumper was blocked by Kendall Knorr at the buzzer. Steven Kaspar led the Bison with 12 points , 10 assists and seven rebounds, while Brandon Venturini scored 14 to pace Navy.
patriot league successBucknell is 216-103 (.677) 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 19 of 23 seasons. Bucknell won the last three outright Patriot League regular-season titles, becoming the first team in league history to accomplish that feat.The Bison went 13-1 in the league in 2011 and 12-2 in each of the last two seasons, making them 37-5 over the previous three campaigns. Dating back to mid-2010, Bucknell has won 49 of its last 63 league games. Bucknell won Patriot League Tournament titles in 2005, 2006, 2011 and 2013. The Bison have made it to the semifinals 18 times and to the championship game 10 times in the 23-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 Holy Cross stretched a six-point halftime lead up to 20 with a strong second half, and the Crusaders held off the Bison 66-50 on Sunday at the Hart Center to gain a split of the season series. Cameron Ayers scored 15 of Bucknell's 21 points in the first half, but Ayers was kept off the board in the second half and his string off consecutive 20-point games ended at four.Chris Hass went 3-for-4 from 3-point range and joined Ayers in double figures with 14 points. John Azzinaro gave the Bison a spark off the bench with seven points and three assists in a career-high 22 minutes. The Bison were held to 32.7% shooting, including a 7-for-22 day from the 3-point arc.Holy Cross outrebounded Bucknell 38-30. The Crusaders' 13 offensive rebounds were the third-most by a Bison opponent this season. Bucknell did not shoot a free throw in the first half, then went 11-for-13 from the line in the second.
Numbers Worth Noting After shooting 12-for-15 from 3-point range at Lafayette on Jan. 8, Bucknell ranked No. 1 in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (.440). In the nine games since then, however, the Bison have gone 54-for-172 (.314) from the arc, lowering their season percentage to .386. That is still the 29th-best mark in the nation. Oddly, Bucknell has shot much better on the road (44.7 FG%, 42.7 3FG%, 76.9 FT%) this season than at home (40.5 FG%, 32.7 3FG%, 74.5 FT%). In wins this season, Bucknell has shot 49.6 FG%, 49.1 3FG%, 78.1 FT%. In the losses, the Bison have shot 38.3 FG%, 31.4 3FG%, 73.4 FT%.In each of the last two seasons, Bucknell led the nation in defensive rebounding percentage (i.e. percentage of opponents' missed shots that Bucknell has rebounded). This year, despite playing almost exclusively with a four-guard lineup, the Bison still rank a respectable 13th out of 351 Division I teams in DR%. Last year, led by senior big men Mike Muscala and Joe Willman, Bucknell grabbed 79.0% of its opponents' misses. This year that figure is still a solid 76.0%. 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 10.0 turnovers per game to rank 12th nationally. They turned the ball over a season-low four times at Colgate on Feb. 1.Last season Bucknell featured one of the nation's most prolific shot-blockers in Mike Muscala, but so far this season the Bison have blocked only 33 shots in 23 games, compared to 99 by their opponents. Bucknell ranked last nationally in blocks per game, before climbing out of the cellar with a season-high six rejections against Loyola on Jan. 22. At 1.4 blocks per game, the Bison are now ahead of Central Michigan and Sacramento State. Bucknell ranks 33rd nationally in fewest personal fouls per game (17.2). Brian Fitzpatrick is now shooting 66.2% in Patriot League games, and he is 41-for-57 (.719) in his last 10 contests. His 61.7% accuracy for the season is No. 1 among all Patriot League players and No. 20 among all Division I players. Cameron Ayers now leads the Patriot League and ranks 43rd in the nation in free-throw shooting at 87.7%. As a team, Bucknell ranks No. 11 nationally in free-throw percentage at 75.7%.
Preseason Prognostications The Bison were picked fourth in the Patriot League Preseason Poll of head coaches and sports information directors. Bucknell received 113 points in the poll. Voters are not permitted to consider their own teams or players.In addition, senior guard Cameron Ayers was named to the Preseason All-Patriot League Team for the second year in a row.Boston University and Loyola Maryland are both in their first year as members of the Patriot League.
Patriot League Preseason Poll1. Boston University 162 (18 first-place votes)2. Lafayette130 (2)3. Army1154. Bucknell1135. Loyola1096. Lehigh937. Holy Cross708. Colgate499. American3610. Navy23
St. John's Review Bucknell and St. John's met for the first time since 1912 on Nov. 19 at Carnesecca Arena, and the Red Storm rallied from nine points down in the second half to win 67-63. The Bison led for most of the night, but a late 11-0 run proved to be the difference. The loss spoiled another terrific performance by Cameron Ayers, who finished with a career-high 25 points on 9-for-15 shooting. Ayers entered the game nine for his last 10 from 3-point range, and he hit his first two in this one to stretch that streak to 11-for-12. He would end up 3-for-5 from long distance on the night. Dom Hoffman logged 10 points and a career-high eight rebounds, with five of those boards coming on the offensive end. In fact, all five of Hoffman's field goals came on put-backs. Brian Fitzpatrick reached double figures for the third time in four games with 12 points on 6-for-10 shooting. The Bison were shooting well over 50% as a team until hitting a six-minute scoring drought in the latter part of the second half. They finished at 46.4% for the night.Steven Kaspar had a solid all-around game with six points, six rebounds and six assists. He had all six of Bucknell's assists in the game. The Bison committed a season-high 12 turnovers. A big factor in the game was St. John's shot-blocking ability. The Red Storm led the nation in blocked shots last season, and they rejected 13 shots against Bucknell, led by seven from Chris Obekpa and four from Orlando Sanchez. Of Bucknell's 30 missed shots, 43.3% where blocked by St. John's.Bucknell outrebounded St. John's 35-32, had a 12-9 edge in second-chance points and led 34-24 in points in the paint.
A Look Back at Penn State Bucknell exorcised a few decades worth of demons on Nov. 13 with a well-played 90-80 win at Penn State. The Bison snapped a 12-game losing streak to the Nittany Lions dating back to 1976. Bucknell had been 0-10 all-time in the Bryce Jordan Center, and it won in State College for the first time since 1968.The Bison were terrific at the offensive end of the floor, led by a career-high 25 points from Steven Kaspar. Bucknell shot 60.9% from the floor and made 10 of 15 3-point tries after a 10-for-12 start. The Bison also went 24-for-31 (.774) from the free-throw line, including 11 straight makes in the final 2:37 to ice the game. Kaspar scored 20 of his 25 points in the second half, and Cameron Ayers tallied 16 of his 19 in the second half, when the Bison outscored Penn State 54-39. Ayers went 5-for-6 from 3-point range, and Ben Brackney made four straight treys early in the game before finishing 4-for-5. Brackney also hit four straight free throws in the final minute before finishing with a career-high 16 points, and Brian Fitzpatrick also reached a career high with 13 on 4-for-5 shooting.Bucknell flipped a five-point deficit into an 11-point lead with a 21-5 run midway through the second half. The play of the night came during that surge, when Kaspar soared through the air to reject Graham Woodward's 3-point attempt and then chased down the loose ball and scored on a breakaway to give Bucknell a 64-60 lead. Led by defensive stalwart Ryan Frazier, Bucknell did a solid job on Penn State star guard Tim Frazier. The All-Big Ten performer had gone 12-for-17 from the foul line and scored 25 points in the Nittany Lions' season-opening win over Wagner. But against the Bison he did not make a foul shot (0-2) and was limited to 13 points and five turnovers. The 90 points are the most Bucknell has ever scored against Penn State in 101 all-time meetings. The Bison hit the 90-point mark for the first time since Feb. 11, 2012 against Lafayette and for the first time on the road since a 91-85 overtime win at Colgate on Feb. 6, 2008. The last time they scored 90 in a regulation-time road contest was Feb. 20, 1993 at Lehigh (90-80). Bucknell's 37-game streak without allowing 80 points came to an end. The last team to score 80 on the Bison was Lehigh in the 2012 Patriot League championship game. The last time Bucknell allowed 80 points and won the game was an 83-82 double-overtime win over Old Dominion in Dave Paulsen's first season in 2008-09. The last time Bucknell allowed 80 points and won in regulation was a 98-88 victory over Lehigh on Feb. 19, 1994, which was the last game Charlie Woollum ever coached in Davis Gym. Coupled with its win over Purdue last season, the Bison have now beaten a Big Ten team two years in a row. The win was No. 100 at Bucknell for Paulsen.
Stanford Rewind Bucknell opened the season with a hard-fought 72-68 loss at Stanford on Nov. 8. There were 11 lead changes in the contest, and it was just a two-point game after Steven Kaspar hit a driving layup with 54 seconds left. Dwight Powell scored for Stanford with 38 ticks remaining to make it 72-68, and the Bison had two 3-point attempts rim out in the final 30 seconds.Ben Brackney, Brian Fitzpatrick and Dom Hoffman all played well in their first collegiate starts. Brackney led the team with 13 points and 8 rebounds in 36 minutes. Each of those figures was a career high. Fitzpatrick matched his personal best with 10 points, and Hoffman added eight.Kaspar was terrific at the point guard position. He scored 12 points, grabbed seven rebounds and put on a passing clinic with nine assists (all career highs). Kaspar either scored or set up 13 of Bucknell's final 15 points of the night.Cameron Ayers had an off shooting night (5-16 FG, 1-8 3FG), but still finished with 11 pts., 5 reb., 3 asst.Bucknell held its own on the glass against the much-taller Cardinal. Stanford finished with a 38-32 rebounding edge and had nine offensive boards, but four of those came in one flurry in the opening minutes of the game. The Bison finished with a 12-4 advantage in second-chance points. Bucknell committed only seven turnovers while collecting 14 assists. The Bison went 8-for-9 from the foul line, while Stanford was 15-for-21. A Look Back at 2012-13 Bucknell last season became the first team in Patriot League history to win three straight outright regular-season championships. The Bison started out the year 5-0 and were 13-3 entering league play, with the only losses coming on the road at Penn State (60-57), Princeton (79-67) and No. 12 Missouri (66-64). Bucknell went 12-2 in the league, earned the No. 1 seed for the Patriot League Tournament, and then swept Navy, Army and Lafayette to capture the league title. Bucknell earned a No. 11 seed at the NCAA Tournament — the second-highest seed in program history — and was sent to Lexington, Ky., to face No. 6 Butler. The Bison used a 19-2 second-half run to flip an 11-point deficit into a six-point lead, but Butler went back on top with an 8-0 run of its own and pulled out a 68-56 victory. Joe Willman had a career day for the Bison, scoring 20 points on 10-for-16 shooting. Among Bucknell's regular-season wins were Purdue, George Mason, La Salle and New Mexico State. La Salle would go on to advance to Sweet Sixteen and end the year ranked No. 24 nationally. New Mexico State won the WAC title. The Purdue win was Bucknell's first over a team from the Big Ten.
Big Shoes to fill Bucknell must overcome the loss of one of the most successful senior classes in program history. The Class of 2013 won a school-record 92 games against only 42 losses, and it was a part of three Patriot League regular season championships, two Patriot League Tournament titles, two NCAA Tournament appearances and one NIT appearance.
2013 SeniorsPointsRebounds3-Point FGsMike Muscala2,0361,09321Bryson Johnson1,384285323Joe Willman1,1626451Colin Klebon101701Totals4,6832,093346
Picking Up the Slack Helping to offset the loss of those 4,683 points are Cameron Ayers, Steven Kaspar, Ben Brackney, Dom Hoffman, Chris Hass and Brian Fitzpatrick, all of whom have significantly surpassed their career scoring averages so far.
PlayerPrior Career Avg.12-13 Avg.13-14 Avg.Cameron Ayers (Sr.)10.312.415.4Chris Hass (So.)1.81.810.9Brian Fitzpatrick (Gr.)3.12.29.5Ben Brackney (Sr.)2.21.78.1Steven Kaspar (Jr.)2.42.47.2Dom Hoffman (So.)2.12.15.4
Elite Company Bucknell is one of only 12 Division I programs to record 25 or more wins in each of the last three seasons.
Schools with 25+ Wins in Each of Last Three SeasonsSchool2010-112011-122012-13Belmont302726BUCKNELL252528Duke322730Florida292629Gonzaga252632Kansas353231Louisville253035North Carolina293225Ohio State343129Syracuse273430VCU282927Wichita State292730
Dave Paulsen Climbing Career Victory ChartSixth-year head coach Dave Paulsen has already moved up to fourth on Bucknell's career list for coaching wins and third in winning percentage. Paulsen recorded his 100th Bucknell victory at Penn State on Nov. 13.
Most Coaching Wins, Bucknell History1.Charlie Woollum 1975-943182.Pat Flannery1994-082343. Malcolm Musser4 stints1104.Dave Paulsen2008-pres.1095.Ben Kribbs1952-6297
Best Coaching Winning Percentage, Bucknell History*1.George Hoskins1908-11.6672.Charlie Woollum 1975-94.5903.Dave Paulsen2008-pres..5834.George Cockill1914-17.5765.Pat Flannery1994-08.568* Minimum 3 seasons
Ayers on All-Time Scoring ChartSenior guard Cameron Ayers now has 1,420 career points. That total ranks 10th on Bucknell's all-time list. Ayers also ranks fifth all-time with 187 career 3-point field goals.
Points in a Career, Bucknell History1.Mike Muscala2009-132,0362.Al Leslie1977-811,9733.Bob Barry1976-801,8094.Mike Bright1989-931,6705.Kevin Bettencourt2002-061,5776.Jaye Andrews1981-851,5357.Chris McNaughton2003-071,5298.Mike Joseph1986-901,5189.Bill Courtney1988-921,49910.Cameron Ayers2010-pres.1,420
3-Point Field Goals in a Career, Bucknell History1.Bryson Johnson2009-133232.Kevin Bettencourt2002-062943.John Griffin2004-082204.Mike Bright1989-932065.Cameron Ayers2010-pres.1876.Mike Joseph1986-901837.J.R. Holden1994-981808.G.W. Boon2007-111609.Gordon Mboya1993-9715410.Bryan Cohen2008-12137
bingo!The NCAA instituted the 3-point shot in 1986-87, and since then Bucknell has played 833 games. The Bison have failed to make at least one 3-pointer in only five of those 833 games (1/30/89 at Cornell, 1/16/93 vs. Lafayette, 2/5/00 at Navy, 12/22/00 at Penn State and 2/29/04 at Colgate). Bucknell has converted a trifecta in 314 straight games.
bison scholar-athletesThe Bucknell basketball program has also enjoyed tremendous success in the classroom in recent years. Among the highlights: The Bison men's basketball team combined for a 3.49 grade-point average in the spring 2013 semester, one of the highest in the country. Bucknell had combined GPAs over 3.0 in both semesters in 2012-13, the fourth straight year the team has accomplished that. The Bison men's basketball program posted a perfect score of 1,000 in the NCAA's Academic Performance Rate (APR) study, released last June. That earned the Bison program an NCAA APR Public Recognition Award. The APR awards have been given since 2007, and the Bison men's basketball program has been honored in all seven years. Bucknell has claimed 125 national Academic All-Americans since 1970, including nine from men's basketball. The total of 125 ranks fifth among all Division I institutions, trailing only Nebraska, Notre Dame, Penn State and Stanford.In the Patriot League's 23-year history, the men's basketball Scholar-Athlete of the Year has come from Bucknell 10 times, including Mike Muscala's selection last season. Muscala and Bryson Johnson both earned spots on the 5-man Academic All-Patriot League Team last year. It was Muscala's third straight selection and the second in a row for Johnson.Last year Muscala and Johnson both made the five-man Capital One Academic All-District Team. It was the second All-District honor for both, and it was the first time since 1989 that the men's basketball program had two All-District honorees in the same year. Muscala went on to garner national Academic All-America honors (third team) for the first time in his career. He became the ninth Bison men's basketball student-athlete to do so, and the first since Valter Karavanic received the honor in back-to-back years in 1998 and 1999.Muscala was one of 10 national finalists for the 2013 Senior CLASS Award, honoring senior student-athletes who have notable achievements in four areas of excellence: community, classroom, character and competition.In October the NCAA released its annual graduation rate report, and according to the U.S. Department of Education's standards, Bucknell and Stanford tied for the national lead, with a four-class average of 93 percent for student-athletes entering between 2003-04 and 2006-07. In the NCAA's Graduation Success Rate (GSR) formula, Bucknell tied for fourth nationally at 98 percent.
who's got next?Bucknell hosts Army on Senior Day this Saturday at 7 p.m. at Sojka Pavilion. Bucknell dropped a 74-67 decision at West Point on Jan. 19.
