Bucknell University Athletics
Men's Basketball Celebrates Senior Day Sunday at Noon vs. Boston University
2/20/2015 6:45:00 PM | Men's Basketball
NOTE: Bucknell has clinched a home game for the Patriot League Tournament quarterfinal round on Thursday, March 5. Bucknell will begin selling quarterfinal tickets on Wednesday, Feb. 25 at 10 a.m. via online, phone (570-577-1000), and walk-up sales. All ticket orders will be available for pick-up starting Feb. 27 at 10 a.m. at the Weis Center Box Office.
What: Boston University (12-14, 8-7 PL) at Bucknell (16-12, 11-4 PL)
Where: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
When: Sunday, Feb. 22, 2015, 12 p.m.
Webcast: Patriot League Network
Radio: Eagle 107 (107.3 WEGH)
Internet Radio: BucknellBison.com
Live Statistics: BucknellBison.com
Tickets: 570-577-1000 or buy online
With a Win over Boston University, Bucknell Would ...
• ... improve to 12-4 in the Patriot League and 17-12 overall.
• ... win its fifth game in a row and 10th in the last 12 and move five games over .500 for the first time this season.
• ... maintain sole possession of the Patriot League lead. If Lehigh loses to Lafayette, the Bison would clinch a top-2 seed with a victory.
• ... improve to 235-107 all-time in Patriot League games.
• ... sweep the season series from the Terriers.
• ... improve to 11-3 at home this season and 92-20 all-time against Patriot League opponents in Sojka Pavilion.
Headlines
• Bucknell has won four straight games and continues to hang on to a precarious one-game lead over Colgate atop the Patriot League standings. After Wednesday's 61-50 win over Loyola, the Bison have clinched a top-4 seed and are assured of hosting a Patriot League Tournament quarterfinal game on March 5. Third-place Lehigh sits two games out, and the Bison must visit the Mountain Hawks on Wednesday in Bethlehem.
• Bucknell will be looking to replicate its best offensive performance of the year in last month's matchup with Boston University. The Bison scored a season-high 92 points in a 15-point road win over the Terriers, and their 56.1% shooting from the field remains their best of the season. Bucknell also hit 13 of 20 shots from 3-point distance and 15 of 16 from the foul line in that game.
• Sunday's game against Boston University is the final regular-season home game for the Bison. Prior to the contest, Bucknell will honor its three seniors: Steven Kaspar, Joshea Singleton and Cory Starkey.
• Head coach Dave Paulsen has used his depth this season. The Bison do not have a player in the top 10 in the league in minutes played, and Chris Hass (30.0) is the only player on the team averaging more than 23.9 minutes per game. But 11 Bison play at least 12.8 minutes per game.
• Junior co-captain Ryan Frazier, known primarily for his work on the defensive end of the floor, has stepped up his offensive game in recent weeks. Including his career-best 19-point performance in last Wednesday's 52-51 win at Navy, Frazier has averaged 9.8 ppg while shooting 15-for-28 (.536) from the field. Frazier had gone 25 straight games dating back to last season without scoring in double figures, but now he has done it in three of his last six games.
• Bucknell scoring leader Chris Hass (15.9 ppg) 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.
• After going back-to-back games without a 3-pointer for the first time since the first two games of last season at Stanford and Penn State, Hass broke out in a big way at Army last Sunday. He hit 5 of 7 from the arc and 9 of 13 overall while scoring a game-high 26 points. Hass was then held to a season-low four points against Loyola on Sunday.
• Freshman center Nana Foulland has been the Lids Team Sports Patriot League Rookie of the Week three times this season, including this week after averaging 13.0 ppg and 6.0 rpg in the wins over Navy and Army. 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 in the home win over Army on Jan. 17. In Patriot League play, Foulland is averaging 11.4 ppg, 6.1 rpg and shooting 57.5% in 15 contests. Foulland set a career high with six blocked shots in the first meeting with Lafayette, the most by a Bucknell freshman since Mike Muscala had seven against Navy in 2009-10, and he had his first 10-rebound game against Lehigh.
• Guards Steven Kaspar and John Azzinaro, both coming off the bench now after starting earlier in the year, have been terrific in reserve roles in recent games. In his last 12 contests, Kaspar has recorded 85 points and 59 assists with only 17 turnovers. He ranks third in the league in assist-turnover ratio (3.6) in PL games, and he recently moved past Abe Badmus into sixth place on Bucknell's all-time assists list with 387. Azzinaro is 20-for-37 from 3-point range in his last 11 games.
• 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.
• Boston University has won two straight and four of its last five games, including a 61-53 win at American last Sunday. The Terriers enter play this weekend alone in fourth place at 8-7 in the Patriot League. Cedric Hankerson ranks third in the Patriot League in scoring at 15.9 ppg, just percentage points ahead of Bucknell's Hass. Eric Fanning also scores in double digits at 12.3 ppg, and the Terriers have six players scoring at least 7.7 ppg.
How to Get the Game
• The Bucknell-Boston University game will not be televised, however a live webstream will air on Bison Vision on the Patriot League Network. Log on to PatriotLeague.TV to access the free 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 BucknellBison.com.
Last Time Out
• Bucknell methodically turned a one-point halftime lead into a 61-50 victory over Loyola on Wednesday at Sojka Pavilion. The top two scorers and rebounders were freshmen, as Nana Foulland tallied 15 points and six rebounds, while Zach Thomas added 13 points and nine boards.
• Defense was the key to victory for the Bison. They held Loyola to 34.0% shooting from the field and yielded a season-low 50 points. Bucknell also limited a very good rebounding team to only eight offensive boards and just five second-chance points.
• Bucknell won even though leading scorer Chris Hass had a rare quiet night. Hass scored a season-low four points on 1-for-5 shooting, with all of the attempts coming from beyond the 3-point arc.
• Bucknell was aggressive in getting to the foul line 30 times, but made just 19 of 30. The Bison were better in the second half (11-14) after hitting 8 of 16 in the opening 20 minutes.
• Bucknell blocked a season-high seven shots, including four by Foulland and two by guard Steven Kaspar.
• The Bison committed only eight turnovers against a Loyola team that pressed full-court for most of the night.
• Bucknell improved to 10-2 all-time against the Greyhounds.
Bucknell vs. Boston University
• Bucknell and Boston University have met eight times previously on the hardwood, and the Bison have a 5-3 lead in the series.
• In games played in Boston, Bucknell is 2-1 at Agganis Arena and 1-0 at Case Gym.
• The two teams met for the first time at the 2005 Cable Car Classic at Santa Clara. The Bison won that one 63-57.
• The Bison and Terriers split their season series last season, with the road team victorious each time. In the first meeting at Sojka Pavilion, Bucknell trailed by 20 points with eight minutes to play, but rallied within three and had a possession to tie it in the final seconds, but Maurice Watson's steal preserved a 64-61 Boston University win. Cameron Ayers led all scorers with 23 points for the Bison, while five Terriers scored between 10-12 points. Bucknell finished off a big rally in the rematch at Agganis Arena, coming from nine points down in the second half to win 63-53. The bench scored 30 of Bucknell's final 32 points, and the Bison benefitted from a 46-27 rebounding advantage.
• Back on Jan. 24 in Boston, the Bison shot a season-best 56.1% from the floor, including a 69.6% clip (16-23) in the second half, and stormed to a 92-77 win over the Terriers. Chris Hass hit his first six 3-point attempts before finishing 6-for-7 and scored a game-high 28 points. Freshman point guard Stephen Brown added a career-high 15 points for the Bison, who also hit 15 of 16 from the foul line and 13 of 20 from 3-point distance. John Papale scored a career-high 22 to lead Boston University.
Patriot League Success
• Bucknell is 234-107 (.686) all-time in Patriot League regular-season games, the best record of any league team. The Bison are guaranteed a winning league record this season, and they have now finished at least .500 in PL play in 21 of the 25 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 66 of its last 84 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
• Rebounding has been a key for the Bison. They are 11-3 this season when outrebounding their opponent but 5-9 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 45.8% from the field and 42.5% from 3-point distance. In road games those numbers drop to 42.4% from the field and 36.8% from the arc. Bucknell is averaging 71.0 points at home, where it is 10-3 this season, and 65.2 on the road, where it is 5-9.
• Zach Thomas is 15-for-24 from 3-point range this season — 10-for-12 at home and 5-for-12 on the road.
• Bench scoring has been a major positive for Bucknell this season. Bison reserves are averaging 25.7 points per game, compared to 16.0 for their opponents. In the last 16 games, Bucknell has piled up a 436-236 edge in bench scoring.
• Four of Bucknell's top five leaders in individual +/- (scoring differential while that player was on the floor) are freshmen: J.C. Show leads at +55. Nana Foulland is next at +44, followed by senior Steven Kaspar at +29 and Thomas at +26.
• Bucknell has a 227-124 assist-turnover ratio in its victories this season and a 140-151 ratio in its losses.
• Kaspar was a career 49.4% free-throw shooter entering the season, but he is 74.7% this season, including 40-51 (.784) in Patriot League play. The latter figure is ninth-best in the conference.
Who's Got Next?
• Bucknell hits the road for its final two contests of the regular-season, starting Wednesday night at Lehigh at 7 p.m.
• The Bison stormed back from 16 points down in the second half to stun the Mountain Hawks 68-62 at Sojka Pavilion back on Jan. 28.
