Men's Hoops Heads to Baltimore Wednesday to Face Loyola on ASN

1/19/2015 9:25:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: TBD

What: Bucknell (9-10, 4-2 PL) at Loyola (7-10, 3-3 PL)
Where: Reitz Arena, Baltimore, Md.
When: Wednesday, Jan. 21, 2015, 8 p.m.
TV: American Sports Network (Station List)
Webcast: Patriot League Network
Radio: Eagle 107 (WEGH 107.3 FM)
Internet Radio: BucknellBison.com
Live Statistics: LoyolaGreyhounds.com

With a Win over Loyola, Bucknell Would ...
• ... improve to 5-2 in the Patriot League and 10-10 overall.
• ... improve to 228-105 all-time in Patriot League games.
• ... snap a five-game road losing streak and improve to 2-8 on the road this season.
• ... beat the Greyhounds for the fourth straight time and improve to 9-2 in the series and 6-0 at Reitz Arena.

Headlines
• After back-to-back home victories over the service academies last week, the Bison are 4-2 in Patriot League play and just one game behind league-leading Colgate. Most recently, Bucknell defeated Army 81-75 on Saturday, keyed by a 4-point play from Chris Hass that stretched a one-point lead all the way up to five with 0:53 left.
• Bucknell is 7-2 at home this season, including a 3-0 mark against Patriot League opponents. The Bison will need to improve on the road, however, in order to stay within reach of the league lead. They are 1-8 on the road this season, including close PL losses at Colgate and Holy Cross. The Bison have two tough road games this week at Loyola and Boston University, although they won in both venues last season.
• The Patriot League standings remain tight with one-third of the league schedule in the books. Colgate remains in sole possession of first place at 5-1, with Bucknell and American close behind at 4-2. Seven of the 10 teams in the league are within two games of first place.
• Junior Chris Hass is Bucknell's leading scorer at 15.8 ppg. He snapped a 28-for-87 (.322) shooting slump with a 23-point performance against Army on Saturday. Hass was terrific in the two games against top-25 opponents earlier in the year. 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. Including a 14-point performance against Penn State and a 26-point showing at Wake Forest, Hass averaged 23.3 ppg in the four games against major-conference opponents this season.
• Freshman guard J.C. Show went into the Christmas break mired in a 5-for-27 shooting slump (2-18 3FG), but he has heated up in the seven games since then, making 24 of 46 shots (16-29 3FG). Show scored a career-high 23 pts. at Siena on Dec. 28, but he has been limited by a sore leg in the last two games.
• Freshman center Nana Foulland has been the Lids Team Sports Patriot League Rookie of the Week in two of the last three weeks. Foulland had the best game of his young career at Colgate, when he posted 17 points on 7-for-11 shooting, and then he matched that with 17 points and nine rebounds against Army last time out. Dating back to the Penn State game on Nov. 28, Foulland is averaging 10.7 ppg, 5.4 rpg and shooting 54.4% in 13 contests. Foulland set a career high with six blocked shots against Lafayette, the most by a Bucknell freshman since Mike Muscala had seven against Navy in 2009-10.
• 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 did return 10 lettermen from last year's 16-14 squad, including a 2014 Third Team All-Patriot League selection in Hass.
• Loyola pulled out a crazy 91-86 overtime win over Boston University on Sunday. The Greyhounds scored five points in the final second of regulation, then survived two missed free throws by the Terriers to force overtime. Loyola has won three of its last four games, with two of the victories coming in OT, to improved to 3-3 in league play and jump right into the thick of the race. Tyler Hubbard leads the Greyhounds in scoring at 12.3 ppg, and Eric Laster also scores in double figures at 10.6 ppg.

How to Get the Game
• The Bucknell-Loyola game will be televised by the American Sports Network in nearly 100 markets across the country. In Pennsylvania, it will air on My Network TV (WQMY) out of Scranton/Wilkes-Barre, WLYH-2 in the Harrisburg area, WJAC-3 in Johnstown-Altoona, WPGH-2 in Pittsburgh and CSN Mid-Atlantic on cable and satellite systems throughout the state. Log on to BucknellBison.com for a complete national clearance list. Jason Knapp and former Colgate coach Emmett Davis will call the action for ASN.
• The game will also be streamed live on the internet via the Patriot League Network. Log on to PatriotLeague.TV to access the stream.
• 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 LoyolaGreyhounds.com.

Last Time Out
• Bucknell and Army engaged in an exciting, fast-paced game on Saturday night at Sojka Pavilion, and the Bison prevailed 81-75 behind 23 points from Chris Hass and 17 points and nine rebounds from Nana Foulland.
• Hass delivered the key moment of the game, a 4-point play with 0:53 left with the Bison clinging to a 71-70 lead. After the free throw, Bucknell's lead was suddenly 75-70, and four free throws from Steven Kaspar helped seal the verdict.
• Foulland had a terrific night, hitting 7 of 12 shots from the field while equalling personal bests with 17 points and nine rebounds. He also blocked two shots and handed out a career-high three assists.
• Kaspar, the senior co-captain, has been a vital cog off the bench in recent weeks. He logged his second straight 6-assist game and also scored a season-high 11 points. Kaspar made both of his 3-point attempts, went 5-for-6 at the foul line in the final 3:29, and committed only one turnover in 28 minutes against Army's full-court pressing defense.
• Freshman Stephen Brown started for the second straight game and scored a career-high eight points in 19 minutes.
• Bucknell shot 52.9% from the field (62.5% in the second half) and went 9-for-15 (.600) from 3-point range. The Bison continued their recent free-throw struggles, however, making 14 of 25 (.560) at the stripe.
• Bucknell committed only 10 turnovers against Army's pressure defense and finished with a 33-25 edge on the glass.
• The Bison had 19 assists on 29 made field goals. Kaspar led the way with six assists, while Ryan Frazier handed out a career-high five.

Bucknell vs. Loyola
• The Bison and Greyhounds have met 10 times previously, with Bucknell leading 8-2 in the series, including a 5-0 mark at Reitz Arena. Loyola joined the Patriot League last season, and the Bison swept the season series in the first two games as league rivals.
• The first series meeting came on Jan. 7, 1987 in Lewisburg. The Bison prevailed that day 72-70. A year later Bucknell won 80-60 on Loyola's home floor.
• Bucknell and Loyola played twice within the 1992-93 season. The Bison won 75-59 in Baltimore, and in late February at Davis Gym the Bison rolled to a 116-85 victory. In the latter game the Bison produced their second-highest point total in program history, led by an incredible 9-for-10 3-point shooting performance by Hall-of-Famer Mike Bright.
• Last season at Sojka Pavilion, Cameron Ayers scored 19 points and Steven Kaspar produced eight assists and two key defensive plays down the stretch to lift Bucknell to a 70-60 win. Dylon Cormier paced Loyola with 20 points. In the rematch in Baltimore, Ayers hit the go-ahead 3-pointer with 16 seconds left to send the Bison to a 55-53 win. Ayers scored 22 points to lead the Bison, while Jordan Latham and Jarred Jones had 13 each for the Greyhounds.

Patriot League Success
• Bucknell is 227-105 (.684) all-time in Patriot League regular-season games, the best record of any league team. The Bison have finished at least .500 in PL play in 20 of the 24 Patriot League seasons.
• Bucknell won three straight outright Patriot League regular-season titles from 2011-13, 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 both 2012 and 2013, making them 37-5 over those three campaigns. Dating back to mid-2010, Bucknell has won 59 of its last 75 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 24-year history of the league.
• The Bison are the only team to go unbeaten in league play in a season (14-0 in 2006).

Numbers Worth Noting
• Bucknell led the nation in defensive rebounding percentage in both 2011-12 and 2012-13 and ranked in the top 10 last season, but the Bison struggled a bit on the defensive glass in non-league play this season. They have turned that around in league play, however, allowing only 37 offensive boards in six Patriot League games.
• Rebounding has been a key for the Bison. They are 8-2 this season when outrebounding their opponent but 1-8 when losing the battle on the glass.
• Last season the Bison shot the ball significantly better on the road than at home, but this year those numbers have reversed. At Sojka Pavilion the Bison are shooting 46.6% from the field and 43.9% from 3-point distance. In road games those numbers drop to 40.0% from the field and 30.7% from the arc. Bucknell is averaging 72.8 points at home, where it is 7-2 this season, and 60.2 on the road, where it is 1-8.
• Bench scoring has been a positive for Bucknell this season. Bison reserves are averaging 26.2 points per game, compared to 16.1 for their opponents. In the last seven games, Bucknell has piled up an 214-94 edge in bench scoring.
• In Patriot League play Bucknell has a +5.4 rebounding margin and an 133-105 edge in free-throw attempts.
• Bucknell's leader in individual +/- (scoring differential while that player was on the floor) is J.C. Show at +35. D.J. MacLeay is next at +24.
• Bucknell has a 135-100 assist-turnover ratio in its victories this season and a 113-130 ratio in its losses.
• Nana Foulland has made 16 of his last 23 free throws after starting the season 13-for-33. Steven Kaspar was a career 49.4% free-throw shooter entering the season, but he is 71.4% this season, including 14-18 (.778) in Patriot League play.
• As a team, however, the Bison have struggled at the foul line in recent games. Bucknell is shooting 65.4% at the line in its six Patriot League contests.

Who's Got Next?
• Bucknell continues its road trip on Saturday at Boston University. The 2 p.m. contest will air live on the Patriot League Network.
• The Terriers are 7-10 overall and 3-3 in the Patriot League. On Wednesday they will host American in a rematch of last year's league championship game.