Men's Basketball Visits N.C. State Saturday

12/3/2015 4:13:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: TBD

What: Bucknell (3-4) at North Carolina State (4-3)
Where: PNC Arena, Raleigh, N.C.
When: Saturday, Dec. 5, 2015, 12 p.m.
TV: Fox Sports South, ROOT Sports Pittsburgh and other Regional Sports Networks
Webcast: ESPN3
Radio: Eagle 107 (107.3 FM WEGH)
Internet Radio: BucknellBison.com
Live Statistics: GoPack.com
• COMPLETE GAME NOTES

Bucknell Probable Starters
G: Stephen Brown (5.4 ppg, 2.7 rpg, 4.9 apg)
G: Ryan Frazier (6.9 ppg, 1.7 rpg, 2.1 apg)
G: Chris Hass (17.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg)
F: Zach Thomas (14.3 ppg, 6.3 rpg)
C: Nana Foulland (12.1 ppg, 7.4 rpg, 1.1 bpg)

With a Win over North Carolina State, Bucknell Would ...
• ... snap a three-game losing streak.
• ... improve to 4-4 overall and 3-1 on the road this season.
• ... defeat an ACC team for the first time since the 1960-61 season (Virginia 99-81), and for only the third time ever.
• ... win a game in the state of North Carolina for the first time since 1958-59 (Bucknell went 2-1 at the Carrousel Tournament in Charlotte, defeating South Carolina and Pittsburgh and losing to St. Francis (Pa.)).

Headlines
• Bucknell has dropped three straight games after a 3-1 start, and now heads to North Carolina State for its second game of the season against an ACC opponent. The Bison fell to Wake Forest 90-82 at home on Nov. 15.
• 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 have struggled offensively their last two outings against Penn State and Columbia. Bucknell was held to 29.8% shooting and a season-low 58 points at Penn State, and the Bison went 3-for-24 from 3-point range and shot 38.5% in Wednesday's 72-61 loss to Columbia. Still, the Bison rank No. 2 in the Patriot League in scoring at 78.6 points per game.
• Preseason All-Patriot League selection Chris Hass is Bucknell's leading scorer at 17.3 points per game, although he is looking to snap out of a 3-for-21 slump from 3-point range after a hot start. Hass had 26 against Wake Forest on Nov. 15 and has had at least 18 points in all but two games so far. Hass became Bucknell's 39th all-time 1,000-point scorer in Wednesday's game against Columbia.
• After being held to three points on opening night against Shenandoah, sophomore forward Zach Thomas has averaged 16.2 points and 6.3 rebounds per game since then. He has been the team's scoring leader in three of the last five games, including a season-high 20 against Siena.
• 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.
• N.C. State is 4-3 on the season following a 66-59 home loss to Michigan on Tuesday as part of the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Cat Barber, this week's ACC Player of the Week, leads the team in scoring at 20.3 ppg. Barber, who had 37 points against Winthrop last week, ranks second nationally in free throws made (70) and attempted (79). Caleb Martin (16.1), Maverick Rowan (13.1) and Abdul-Malik Abu (10.6) also score in double figures for the Wolfpack, who average 77.1 ppg.

How to Get the Game
• The Bucknell-North Carolina State game will be televised on Fox Sports South and many other regional sports networks, including ROOT Sports Pittsburgh and YES Network in the local area. The game will also be streamed online on ESPN3.
• 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 GoPack.com.

Bucknell vs. N.C. State (and The Valvano Connection)
• Bucknell and North Carolina State will be meeting for the very first time on Saturday, however the teams do have one significant common link.
• Jim Valvano served as head coach at both schools. He was head coach at Bucknell for three seasons from 1972-75. He then spent five years at Iona before going to N.C. State in 1980. Three years later he led the Wolfpack to the 1983 national championship, and he later became a noted television personality on ESPN.
• This will be the first time Bucknell has faced a team coached by Mark Gottfried.

Bucknell vs. The ACC
• Bucknell has an 11-50 (.180) record against the 15 teams that now make up the Atlantic Coast Conference. The Bison are 9-18 against Pittsburgh, 1-2 vs. Virginia, 1-9 vs. Syracuse, 0-7 vs. Wake Forest, 0-3 vs. Notre Dame, 0-3 vs. Duke, 0-2 vs. Boston College, 0-2 vs. Clemson, 0-2 vs. Miami, 0-1 vs. Virginia Tech and 0-1 vs. Florida State.
• Bucknell has two all-time victories against teams that were in the ACC at the time of the game. The Bison defeated Virginia 99-81 on Jan. 27, 1961 and South Carolina 67-65 on Dec. 30, 1958.

Last Time Out
• Bucknell had a tough shooting night and fell 72-61 to Columbia on Wednesday night at Sojka Pavilion. The Bison shot 38.5% overall and hit just 3 of 24 from 3-point range. The Lions were also held under 40% (37.0), but they hit 11 of 26 from 3-point distance and outscored the Bison 33-9 from the arc.
• The Bison had balanced scoring, with six players scoring at least seven points each. Nana Foulland led the way with 13 points, while Zach Thomas recorded his second double-double of the season with 11 points and 10 rebounds.
• Chris Hass was held to a season-low nine points (4-10 FG, 0-4 3FG), but he did score his 1,000th career point on a layup late in the first half.
• Stephen Brown was a career-best 7-for-7 from the free-throw line.
• Bucknell committed 17 turnovers, which led to 22 Columbia points.

Numbers Worth Noting
• 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 seven games have seen an average of 74.2 possessions per game, compared to 65.1 for the full season in 2014-15. The Bison are averaging an efficient 1.06 points per possession so far.
• The Bison have recorded assists on 63.0% of their field goals so far (114 of 181).
• All 13 Bison who have suited up so far have a positive scoring plus-minus. Nate Jones leads the squad at +37, followed by Nana Foulland at +30, Chris Hass at +29 and Zach Thomas at +27.
• Bucknell's minutes at the power forward position have been divided between Thomas and Dom Hoffman. That combo is averaging 20.9 points and 9.7 rebounds per game while shooting 49.5% from the field.
• Hoffman entered the season with one career made 3-pointer in five attempts. He has already tried 13 shots from beyond the arc this season, making four.
• Point guard Stephen Brown has five or more assists in five of the seven contests this season. Brown has assisted on 33.5% of the field goals made while he is on the floor.
• Bucknell averaged 4.1 steals per game to rank last (10th) in the Patriot League in that category. This season the Bison are tied for the league lead in steals at 6.7 per game.

Who's Got Next?
• Bucknell has just one more game — Tuesday at Northeast Conference preseason favorite Mount St. Mary's — before breaking for final exams.
• The Mount, coached by former Bison manager of basketball operations Jamion Christian, is off to a 1-6 start against a very difficult schedule. They picked up their first win of the season on Tuesday, an 81-56 rout of American.