Men's Basketball Hosts Columbia Wednesday; First Backcourt Club Luncheon Thursday

12/1/2015 2:42:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: TBD

NOTE: The first Backcourt Club Luncheon of the 2015-16 season will be held Thursday at noon at La Primavera Restaurant on Rt. 45 in Lewisburg. Head coach Nathan Davis and select student-athletes will be present. The $10 admission includes a buffet lunch.

What:Columbia (3-4) at Bucknell (3-3)
Where:Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
When:Wednesday, Dec. 2, 2015, 7 p.m.
Webcast:Patriot League Network
Radio:Eagle 107 (107.3 FM WEGH)
Internet Radio:BucknellBison.com
Live Statistics:BucknellBison.com
Tickets:570-577-1000 or buy online
•COMPLETE GAME NOTES

Bucknell Probable Starters
G: Stephen Brown (4.8 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 5.2 apg)
G: Ryan Frazier (6.8 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 2.2 apg)
G: Chris Hass (18.7 ppg, 5.3 rpg)
F: Zach Thomas (14.8 ppg, 5.7 rpg)
C: Nana Foulland (12.0 ppg, 7.8 rpg, 1.2 bpg)

With a Win over Columbia, Bucknell Would ...
• ... snap a two-game losing streak.
• ... improve to 4-3 overall and 2-2 at home this season.
• ... improve to 5-3 all-time against the Lions and 3-0 against them at home.
• ... improve to 134-45 all-time at Sojka Pavilion.

Headlines
• Bucknell and Columbia come into Wednesday's game looking to snap similar two-game losing streaks. Both teams let leads get away on Saturday on the heels of an overtime loss. The Bison fell to Siena 83-81 in overtime last Tuesday, and then saw Penn State rally from eight points down with 5:30 to play in Saturday's 62-58 setback. Columbia lost at Fairfield 82-81 in overtime on Friday, and then a day later could not hold on to a 12-point advantage in a 70-69 home loss to Longwood.
• After scoring 80 or more points in each of the first five games of the season for the first time in school history, the Bison struggled offensively on Saturday at Penn State. Bucknell was held to 29.8% shooting and a season-low 58 points. Still, the Bison rank No. 2 in the Patriot League in scoring at 81.5 points per game.
• Preseason All-Patriot League selection Chris Hass is off to a quick start with 112 points in six games (18.7 ppg). Hass had 26 against Wake Forest on Nov. 15 and has had at least 18 points in all but one game so far. He is now on 1,000-point watch as well. Hass has 997 career points, leaving him just three 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 17.2 points and 5.6 rebounds per game since then. He has been the team's scoring leader in three of the last four 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 returned 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.
• Columbia is now 3-4 after the back-to-back one-point losses over the weekend. The Lions other two setbacks came on the road against Kansas State and Northwestern, and they have double-digit wins over Kean (107-62), Lehigh (88-61) and Wofford (70-59). Columbia, which was picked No. 2 in the Ivy League preseason poll behind Yale, is 3-1 at home and 0-3 on the road so far. Grant Mullins leads the team in scoring at 15.1 points per game. Alex Rosenberg (14.6), Maodo Lo (13.6) and Luke Petrasek (12.0) also score in double figures.

How to Get the Game
• The Bucknell-Columbia game will not be televised, however a live webcast will be available on the Patriot League Network at PatriotLeague.TV.
• 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 BucknellBison.com.

Last Time Out
• Penn State ended the game on a 13-1 run to stun the Bison 62-58 at Bryce Jordan Center on Saturday. Chris Hass scored seven straight points to give Bucknell a 57-49 lead with 5:37 remaining, but the Bison went 0-for-7 from the field the rest of the way. Payton Banks snapped a 58-all tie with a 3-pointer from the right corner with 0:22 remaining, and then Hass had a good look from the right corner at the other end but it would not fall.
• Penn State had been 0-for-9 from 3-point range in the second half until Banks hit the winning shot. Both teams struggled offensively for much of the day. The Bison shot 29.8 FG% (6-20 3FG) and the Nittany Lions 39.6 FG% (5-18 3FG).
• Hass led the Bison with 18 points (5-17 FG, 2-8 3FG, 6-6 FT), while Zach Thomas added 14. Nana Foulland had eight points and nine boards but was held to 2-for-9 shooting from the floor.
• The Bison received good reserve minutes in the frontcourt from Dom Hoffman and D.J. MacLeay. Hoffman hit a 3-pointer and had seven points and four rebounds in 15 minutes. MacLeay also made a trey — his first of the season — and had six points and five rebounds in 13 minutes.
• Brandon Taylor was Penn State's only double-figure scorer. He finished with 19 points and 11 rebounds.

Bucknell vs. Columbia Series Notes
• Bucknell and Columbia have met seven times previously, with Bucknell claiming four of those contests. Columbia won 62-39 last season in New York City to snap Bucknell's three-game series winning streak.
• The first two meetings were neutral-site games as part of in-season tournaments. On Nov. 26, 1994, Columbia defeated Bucknell 63-58 in the consolation game of the Pepsi/Marist Classic. That was the second game of coach Pat Flannery's tenure at Bucknell. On Nov. 29, 2002, the Bison beat the Lions 61-47 in the first round of the Red Auerbach Colonial Classic in Washington, D.C. The Bison went on to drop a three-point game to host George Washington in the championship the following day.
• The 2012 clash at Levien Gymnasium in New York City was a memorable one for the Bison, who rallied from 17 points down to defeat Columbia 65-57. Mike Muscala turned in one of the best games of his career with 29 points and 19 rebounds. Brian Barbour scored 19 to lead the Lions, who went on a 21-0 run in the first half.
• In the last meeting at Sojka Pavilion two seasons ago, Bucknell defeated Columbia 57-52 behind 16 points from Brian Fitzpatrick and 14 from Chris Hass. The Bison trailed 25-22 at the half, but they went to their inside game in the second half with good success. Bucknell trailed 50-48 inside three minutes to play, but two drives to the basket netted Hass four free throws, and he hit the tying and go-ahead charity tosses to give the Bison the lead for good. Cory Osetkowski led Columbia with 12 points.
• It was all Lions last season at Levien Gym. The Bison were held to season lows in points and field goal percentage (.283) in Columbia's 62-39 win. Maodo Lo led all scorers with 20 points, and Cory Osetkowski had 12 points, 12 rebounds and six assists for the Lions. Hass was in foul trouble for much of the night and finished with a team-high nine points. Ben Oberfeld had a good game off the bench with seven points and three rebounds in 10 minutes.

Bucknell vs. The Ivy League
• Bucknell is 48-47 (.505) all-time against the Ivy League. The Bison have played 48 games against Cornell, but only 47 combined against the other seven Ivy teams. In addition to its 25-23 record against Cornell, Bucknell is 4-2 against Yale, 3-1 vs. Brown, 3-4 vs. Penn, 4-1 vs. Dartmouth, 4-3 vs. Columbia, 4-12 vs. Princeton and 1-1 vs. Harvard.
• The Bison are 10-4 against the Ivy League since the start of the 2010-11 season. Bucknell will face Princeton on the road coming up on Dec. 22.

Numbers Worth Noting
• Through six games the Bison have recorded some impressive offensive numbers, despite a rough day at Penn State on Saturday. They are averaging 81.5 points per game while shooting 46.5 FG% and 36.6 3FG%. Bucknell ranks 65th nationally in scoring offense.
• 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 six games have seen an average of 75.3 possessions per game, compared to 65.1 for the full season in 2014-15. The Bison are averaging an efficient 1.08 points per possession so far.
• Bucknell has a 1.2:1 assist-to-turnover ratio with 103 assists and 83 turnovers. The Bison have recorded assists on 64.0% of their field goals so far (103 of 161), and they rank No. 40 nationally in assists per game at 17.2.
• All 13 Bison who have suited up so far have a positive scoring plus-minus. Nate Jones leads the squad at +49, followed by Nana Foulland at +31, John Azzinaro at +29, and Chris Hass at +28.
• Bucknell's minutes at the power forward position have been divided between Zach Thomas and Dom Hoffman. That combo is averaging 21.3 points and 8.7 rebounds per game while shooting 52.7% from the field.
• Point guard Stephen Brown has five or more assists in four straight games and five of the six contests this season. Brown has assisted on 35.8% of the field goals made while he is on the floor.

Who's Got Next?
• Bucknell travels to North Carolina State on Saturday for its first-ever meeting with the Wolfpack. The game will tip at noon, and will be televised by Fox Sports South.
• The Bison will then have just one more game — Dec. 8 at Mount St. Mary's — before breaking for final exams.