Bucknell University Athletics
Men's Basketball Tries to Lock Down No. 1 Seed Wednesday at Lehigh
2/24/2015 7:22:00 PM | Men's Basketball
What: Bucknell (17-12, 12-4 PL) at Lehigh (15-12, 9-7 PL)
Where: Stabler Arena, Bethlehem, Pa.
When: Wednesday, Feb. 25, 2015, 7 p.m.
TV: Service Electic (Lehigh Valley)
Webcast: Patriot League Network
Radio: Eagle 107 (WEGH 107.3 FM)
Internet Radio: BucknellBison.com
Live Statistics: LehighSports.com
With a Win over Lehigh, Bucknell Would ...
• ... clinch the outright Patriot League regular-season championship and the No. 1 seed for the Patriot League Tournament.
• ... guarantee a postseason berth (NIT or NCAA).
• ... improve to 13-4 in the Patriot League and 18-12 overall.
• ... win its sixth game in a row and 11th in the last 13 and move six games over .500 for the first time this season.
• ... improve to 236-107 all-time in Patriot League games.
• ... sweep the season series from the Mountain Hawks.
• ... improve to 6-9 on the road this season.
Headlines
• Bucknell has a two-game lead over second-place Colgate with two games remaining and has clinched at least a share of the Patriot League regular-season title. Now the Bison need just one more win or one Raiders loss to lock up the outright title for the fourth time in the last five years.
• Bucknell has won five straight games and 10 of its last 12 after beating Boston University 78-69 at home on Senior Day on Sunday. Through Monday's games, the Bison were one of 27 Division I teams with an active winning streak of at least five.
• 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 (30.1) is the only player on the team averaging more than 23.9 minutes per game. But 11 Bison play at least 12.5 minutes per game, and it is not uncommon for Paulsen to use as many as 12 players in a game. The Bison are closing in on the outright league title despite having three freshmen in the starting lineup and four in the rotation.
• 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 the 52-51 win at Navy on Feb. 11, Frazier has averaged 9.0 ppg while shooting 17-for-32 (.531) from the field in the last seven games. 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 seven games.
• Bucknell scoring leader Chris Hass (16.0 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.
• Freshman center Nana Foulland has been the Lids Team Sports Patriot League Rookie of the Week four times this season, including each of the last two weeks. Foulland has scored as many as 17 points in a game three times this season, including Sunday against Boston University. In Patriot League play, Foulland is averaging 11.8 ppg, 5.9 rpg and shooting 58.1% in 16 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 at home.
• 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 13 contests, Kaspar has recorded 92 points and 63 assists with only 19 turnovers. He ranks third in the league in assist-turnover ratio (3.4) in PL games, and he recently moved past Abe Badmus into sixth place on Bucknell's all-time assists list with 391. Azzinaro is 20-for-39 from 3-point range in his last 12 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.
• Lehigh still holds down sole possession of third place in the Patriot League at 9-7, but after suffering a 63-61 loss to Lafayette on Sunday, the Mountain Hawks have the Leopards and Boston University just a game behind at 8-8. Lehigh is also just a game behind second-place Colgate, and the Mountain Hawks will finish the regular season in Hamilton on Saturday. Tim Kempton leads the team in scoring (15.2 ppg) and is No. 1 in the Patriot League in rebounding (8.6 rpg). Austin Price (11.2 ppg) and Kahron Ross (10.3 ppg) also score in double figures, and Ross leads the league in assists at 5.8 per game.
How to Get the Game
• The Bucknell-Lehigh game will be televised locally in the Lehigh Valley on Service Electric cable systems, and a live webstream will air 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 LehighSports.com.
Last Time Out
• Bucknell celebrated Senior Day with a 78-69 victory over Boston University at Sojka Pavilion. The Bison built a 38-28 halftime lead and stretched the margin to as many as 21 in the second half before ultimately winning by nine.
• Bucknell had good inside-outside balance. Chris Hass hit four first-half 3-pointers and scored 20 points, while center Nana Foulland added 17 points. A dozen Bison saw action in the game, and six players scored at least seven points.
• A major key to the game was Bucknell's defensive rebounding. The Terriers shot a solid 46.7%, but the Bison held them to one offensive rebound all day, that coming at the 11:57 mark of the second half. The Terriers came into the game averaging 9.2 offensive boards per game.
• Bucknell shot 46.2% from the floor and went 23-for-32 from the foul line. The Terriers also left some points at the free-throw stripe, finishing 19-for-31.
• The Bison bench outscored Boston University's reserves 29-7. J.C. Show finished with nine points on 3-for-4 shooting from the 3-point arc, Steven Kaspar and Dom Hoffman had seven each, and Ben Oberfeld went 4-for-4 from the foul line in 1-and-1 situations in a solid 14-minute stint.
• Bucknell scored 170 points in the two victories over the Terriers this season. The Bison scored a season-high 92 in a 15-point win in Boston on Jan. 24.
Bucknell vs. Lehigh
• Bucknell has played more games (163) and won more games (100) against Lehigh than any other school. The Bison have a 100-63 lead in a series that originated in 1902.
• Since the start of Patriot League play in 1990-91, Bucknell holds a 40-17 advantage, including a 22-6 mark at home.
• The road team had captured five straight Bucknell-Lehigh meetings until both teams held serve at home last year.
• Lehigh owns the most wins of any team over Bucknell in Sojka Pavilion (5).
• Lehigh is responsible for snapping Bucknell's 35-game home winning streak against Patriot League foes. The Bison had not lost to a conference opponent at Sojka Pavilion in nearly five years, until the Mountain Hawks won 56-54 in Lewisburg on Jan. 30, 2008.
• Lehigh also won the first game ever played in Sojka Pavilion, a 60-56 decision on Jan. 15, 2003. Including that game, Bucknell is 10-5 against the Mountain Hawks in Sojka.
• Last season, Lehigh won 66-63 in Bethlehem, and then the Bison prevailed 65-61 in Lewisburg. Stefan Cvrkalj hit four second-half 3-pointers and Lehigh went 7-for-8 from the arc in the second half of a see-saw game at Stabler Arena. Corey Schaefer tallied 15 points and Cvrkalj had 14 to lead the Mountain Hawks, while Cameron Ayers posted 23 for the Bison. In the rematch at Sojka, Ayers finished with 17 points, including the game-clinching free throw with eight seconds to play. Jesse Chuku led Lehigh with 18 points.
• Bucknell's 100th all-time win over Lehigh came back on Jan. 28 at Sojka Pavilion, and it was a memorable one. The Bison trailed 50-34 after Miles Simelton's layup for Lehigh with 9:07 to play. But in the final 8:51 the Bison doubled their point total, outscoring Lehigh 34-12 the rest of the way, and won 68-62. Zach Thomas scored 15 of his game-high 19 points in the final 6:27 of the contest. Chris Hass added 13 points and Nana Foulland grabbed a career-high 10 rebounds for the Bison. Kahron Ross paced Lehigh with 18 points, while frontcourt players Justin Goldsborough (14) and Tim Kempton (11) also hit double figures despite foul trouble.
Patriot League Success
• Bucknell is 235-107 (.687) 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 67 of its last 85 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 12-3 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 42.6% 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 71.5 points at home, where it is 11-3 this season, and 65.2 on the road, where it is 5-9.
• Zach Thomas is 15-for-25 from 3-point range this season — 10-for-13 at home and 5-for-12 on the road.
• Bench scoring has been a major positive for Bucknell this season. Bison reserves are averaging 25.8 points per game, compared to 15.7 for their opponents. In the last 17 games, Bucknell has piled up a 465-243 edge in bench scoring.
• Four of Bucknell's top six leaders in individual +/- (scoring differential while that player was on the floor) are freshmen: J.C. Show leads at +68. Nana Foulland is next at +44, followed by senior Steven Kaspar at +36, Thomas at +17, senior Cory Starkey at +16 and Stephen Brown at +13.
• Bucknell has a 240-133 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 43-55 (.782) in Patriot League play. The latter figure is ninth-best in the conference.
Who's Got Next?
• Bucknell closes out the 2014-15 regular season at American on Saturday at noon on the Patriot League Network. That contest will be followed by the Bison women taking on the Eagles at 4 p.m.
• Bucknell and American last met all the way back on New Year's Eve in the Patriot League opener. The Bison won that one 57-47.
