Men's Basketball Visits Penn State Saturday at 1 p.m.

11/25/2015 2:17:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: TBD

What: Bucknell (3-2) at Penn State (2-2)
Where: Bryce Jordan Center, University Park, Pa.
When: Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015, 1 p.m.
Webcast: BTN Plus ($)
Radio: Eagle 107 (107.3 FM WEGH)
Internet Radio: BucknellBison.com
Live Statistics: GoPSUSports.com
• COMPLETE GAME NOTES

Bucknell Probable Starters
G: Stephen Brown (5.4 ppg, 2.6 rpg, 5.2 apg)
G: Ryan Frazier (7.6 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 2.6 apg)
G: Chris Hass (18.8 ppg, 5.6 rpg)
F: Zach Thomas (15.0 ppg, 6.0 rpg)
C: Nana Foulland (12.8 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 1.4 bpg)

With a Win over Penn State, Bucknell Would ...
• ... improve to 4-2 overall and 3-0 on the road this season.
• ... win its first three true road games in a season for the first time since 2005-06 (Rider, Syracuse, Niagara).
• ... win for the second straight time at Bryce Jordan Center after starting 0-10 there.

Headlines
• Bucknell could not keep the momentum going after last week's road victories at Robert Morris and Manhattan, falling 83-81 in overtime to Siena on Tuesday night at Sojka Pavilion. The Bison were +25 on the glass in those two wins, and they led the Patriot League in rebounding margin (+7.8 per game) coming in, but the Saints outrebounded Bucknell 49-26.
• Bucknell has piled up plenty of offense so far. The Bison are averaging 86.2 points per game while shooting 49.8% from the field. The 107-point showing against Shenandoah in the season opener was the team's first 100-point game since 1994. The Bison have scored 80 or more points in the first five games of a season for the first time in program history, and they have tallied 80+ in any five consecutive games for the first time since 1992-93.
• Preseason All-Patriot League selection Chris Hass is off to a quick start with 94 points in five games (18.8 ppg). Hass had 26 against Wake Forest on Nov. 15. He is now on 1,000-point watch as well. Hass has 979 career points, leaving him 21 shy of becoming Bucknell's 39th 1,000-point scorer.
• After being held to three points on opening night against Shenandoah, sophomore forward Zach Thomas has averaged 18.0 points and 6.0 rebounds per game since then. He has been the team's scoring leader in each of the last three games, including a season-high 20 against Siena on Tuesday.
• The Bison were picked to finish second (behind Lehigh) in the Patriot League in a preseason poll of the league's head coaches and sports information directors.
• A year ago, the Bison captured the outright Patriot League regular-season title for the fourth time in the last five years before being upset by Lafayette in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals.
• Bucknell lost four players from last year's squad: point guard Steven Kaspar (graduation), forward Joshea Singleton (graduation), forward Cory Starkey (graduation) and guard J.C. Show (transfer to Binghamton).
• The Bison return all five starters and five of the top six scorers from last season. In 2015-16 Bucknell brings back 77.6% of its scoring and 74.6% of its rebounding. Heading the list of returnees are 2014-15 First Team All-Patriot League guard Chris Hass, and 2014-15 Patriot League All-Rookie Team center Nana Foulland.
• Penn State is out to a 2-2 start in 2015-16. The Nittany Lions won their first two games over VMI (62-50) and DePaul (68-62), but then dropped their next two to Duquesne (78-52) and Radford (86-74). Brandon Taylor leads Penn State in scoring at 16.0 points per game, followed by Shep Garner (13.5) and Payton Banks (11.0). Julian Moore scored a team-high 16 points in Tuesday's loss to Radford, whose head coach Mike Jones is the father of Bison freshman Nate Jones.

How to Get the Game
• The Bucknell-Penn State game will not be televised, however a live webcast will be available on Big Ten Network Plus. Subscription rates apply.
• 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, and for a small charge through the official Bison Athletics mobile app available in the Apple and Android marketplaces.
• Live statistics can be viewed at goPSUsports.com.

Last Time Out
• Two evenly matched teams squared off at Sojka Pavilion on Tuesday night, and Siena topped Bucknell 83-81 in overtime thanks in large part to a whopping 49-26 rebounding advantage.
• Bucknell never led in the first half, but the deficit was just 37-36 at halftime. The lead would change hands 12 times in the second half and overtime, and the game was played within a one-possession margin for all but 99 seconds in the final 25 minutes.
• Chris Hass tied the game at 81 with 13 seconds remaining with an acrobatic scoop shot in the lane, but Javion Ogunyemi finished a layup with 2.2 seconds left to win it for the Saints. Bucknell nearly pulled off the Valparaiso/Bryce Drew play for a game-tying shot at the buzzer, but Hass' attempt from just inside the arc rimmed out.
• Zach Thomas led four Bison in double figures with a season-high 20 points. Hass added 18 points, although 10 came from the free-throw line as he was blanketed on the perimeter for most of the night. Nana Foulland scored seven of his 13 points in overtime, and Stephen Brown chipped in 12 points and five assists.
• Ogunyemi, Brett Bisping and Marquis Wright all had impressive stat lines for Siena. Ogunyemi had 24 points and eight rebounds; Bisping had 16 points and 16 rebounds before fouling out in overtime; and Wright had 15 points, eight rebounds, nine assists and four steals.
• The Bison were just 3-for-13 from the 3-point arc, but they outscored Siena 24-11 from the foul line.
• This was the second straight year that Siena defeated Bucknell by two points. The Saints won 73-71 last season in Albany.

Series Notes
• This is the 103rd 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 (164), Lafayette (159), Gettysburg (126) and Colgate (104).
• Exactly one year ago, Penn State made its first trip to Lewisburg since the 1975-76 season, and the Nittany Lions won 88-80 at Sojka Pavilion behind 28 points from D.J. Newbill. John Azzinaro scored a career-high 18 points to pace the Bison, who tied the game with 6:19 to play after trailing by as many as 12. But Penn State responded with a 10-1 run to take control. The fifth-largest crowd in Sojka Pavilion history (4,257) watched as both teams wore throwback uniforms.
• In the last meeting in State College in 2013, Bucknell snapped a 12-game series losing streak with a 90-80 victory behind a career-high 25 points from Steven Kaspar. Its previous 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.

Bucknell vs. The Big Ten
• The Bison are 34-113 (.231) against current members of the Big Ten (25-77 vs. Penn State, 8-22 vs. Rutgers, 1-0 vs. Purdue, 0-7 vs. Maryland, 0-1 vs. Michigan, 0-1 vs. Michigan State, 0-1 vs. Ohio State, 0-1 vs. Iowa, 0-1 vs. Northwestern, 0-1 vs. Wisconsin, 0-1 vs. Minnesota), however many of the games vs. Penn State and all of the games against Maryland and Rutgers came before those teams joined the Big Ten.
• The Bison are 2-20 against teams who were Big Ten members at the time of the game (1-13 vs. Penn State, 1-0 vs. Purdue, 0-1 vs. Purdue, 0-1 vs. Michigan State, 0-1 vs. Ohio State, 0-1 vs. Iowa, 0-1 vs. Northwestern, 0-1 vs. Wisconsin, 0-1 vs. Minnesota), with the victories coming back-to-back seasons at Purdue (70-65 in 2012-13) and Penn State (90-80 in 2013-14).
• Bucknell has faced one Big Ten team in the NCAA Tournament, a 71-62 loss to Wisconsin in the second round in 2005.

Numbers Worth Noting
• Through five games the Bison have recorded some impressive offensive numbers. They are averaging a league-high 86.2 points per game while shooting 49.8 FG% and 37.9 3FG%. Bucknell ranks 36th nationally in scoring offense and 40th in field-goal percentage.
• Whether it is a result of a more up-tempo offense or the reduction to the 30-second shot clock, Bucknell is playing at a much faster pace early this season. Bucknell's first five games have seen an average of 77.5 possessions per game, compared to 65.1 for the full season in 2014-15. The Bison are averaging an efficient 1.11 points per possession so far.
• Bucknell has a 1.3:1 assist-to-turnover ratio with 95 assists and 72 turnovers. The Bison have recorded assists on 66.0% of their field goals so far (95 of 144), and they rank No. 23 nationally in assists per game at 19.0.
• All 13 Bison who have suited up so far have a positive scoring plus-minus. Nate Jones leads the squad at +43, followed by Nana Foulland at +42 and Chris Hass at +34.
• Bucknell's minutes at the power forward position have been divided between Zach Thomas and Dom Hoffman. That combo is averaging 21.4 points and 8.8 rebounds per game while shooting 53.2% from the field.

Who's Got Next?
• Bucknell returns home on Wednesday to face Columbia, one of the preseason favorites in the Ivy League. The Lions are 3-2 on the season, with the losses coming to Kansas State and Northwestern and the wins coming against Kean, Lehigh and Wofford.
• The Bison will be looking to avenge a 62-39 loss at the hands of Columbia in New York City last season.
• Wednesday's game will be the nightcap of a doubleheader, as the Bison women's team faces Youngstown State at 4:30 p.m.