Bucknell University Athletics
Men's Basketball Goes for Season Sweep of Lafayette Wednesday in Easton
2/3/2015 5:32:00 PM | Men's Basketball
What: Bucknell (12-11, 7-3 PL) at Lafayette (13-8, 5-5 PL)
Where: Kirby Sports Center, Easton, Pa.
When: Wednesday, Feb. 4, 2015, 7 p.m.
TV: Lafayette Sports Network
Webcast: Patriot League Network
Radio: Eagle 107 (WEGH 107.3 FM)
Internet Radio: BucknellBison.com
Live Statistics: GoLeopards.com
With a Win over Lafayette, Bucknell Would ...
• ... improve to 8-3 in the Patriot League and 13-11 overall.
• ... move a half-game in front of Colgate for the Patriot League lead (Colgate plays Thursday at Holy Cross).
• ... improve to 232-105 all-time in Patriot League games.
• ... sweep the season series from the Leopards.
• ... win its third consecutive road game and improve to 4-8 on the road this season.
Headlines
• Bucknell had its five-game winning streak snapped in a 71-69 loss to Colgate on Saturday night, and now the Bison look to bounce back against Lafayette on Wednesday in Easton. Bucknell begins the night in a tie for first place with Colgate, two games clear of a pack of five teams knotted up in third place. Lafayette is one of those five squads sitting at 5-5 in conference play, and the Leopards will be looking to gain a split of the season series and move within one game of the Bison with a victory on Wednesday.
• The Bison have been rolling offensively in recent games. They set season highs for points (92), field-goal percentage (.561), 3-point percentage (.650) and free-throw percentage (.938) in a win at Boston University on Jan. 24, and in their most recent outing against Colgate they set a Sojka Pavilion record for 3-point percentage after making 10 of 14 attempts (.714). Bucknell is shooting a league-best 46.4% from 3-point distance against Patriot League competition.
• Head coach Dave Paulsen, who will be participating in his 600th game as a collegiate head coach, 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 (30.7) is the only player on the team averaging more than 23.7 minutes per game. But 10 Bison play at least 13.6 minutes per game.
• Hass is Bucknell's leading scorer at 16.7 ppg, and he has been shooting very well in recent weeks. Hass has hit at least four 3-pointers in four of his last five games and is 20-for-34 (.588) from the arc in that span. He was 5-for-6 from downtown against Colgate last time out.
• Hass 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 in two of the last five weeks. 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 against Army. Dating back to the Penn State game on Nov. 28, Foulland is averaging 10.4 ppg, 5.9 rpg and shooting 55.0% in 17 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 last Wednesday.
• 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 seven contests, Kaspar has recorded 60 points and 39 assists with only 10 turnovers. He ranks second in the league in assist-turnover ratio (4.1) in PL games. Azzinaro is 15-for-25 from 3-point range in his last six 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.
• Lafayette is the No. 2 scoring team in the Patriot League at 74.6 ppg, but the Leopards also allow the most points (72.2). Lafayette features two of the top nine scorers in the league in Dan Trist (second at 17.8 ppg) and Seth Hinrichs (ninth at 13.8 ppg). Trist is this week's Patriot League Player of the Week after totaling 47 points in wins over Colgate and Navy. Joey Ptasinski (10.3 ppg) is shooting a league-best 50.0% from 3-point distance. The Leopards have won their last two games on the heels of a three-game losing streak.
How to Get the Game
• The Bucknell-Lafayette game will be televised locally on the Lafayette Sports Network, and a free live webcast will be available on the Patriot League Network. Log on to PatriotLeague.TV to access the 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 GoLeopards.com.
Last Time Out
• Colgate guard Austin Tillotson hit a tiebreaking jumper with 0:01 remaining to cap off a dramatic and controversial finish on Saturday night at jam-packed Sojka Pavilion. Tillotson scored the game's final seven points as part of a 24-point night, as Colgate prevailed 71-69 to rejoin Bucknell in a tie for first place in the Patriot League.
• After Tillotson tied the game with a 3-pointer with 30 seconds remaining, Bucknell had a possession to regain the lead. As the Bison were draining the clock in order to play for the final shot of regulation, Steven Kaspar sent a routine bounce pass to Ryan Frazier well beyond the 3-point arc on the right wing. But the play was whistled dead, and it was ruled that Frazier stepped on the baseline several seconds earlier as he cut from the left side to the right side of the floor. The Raiders were awarded possession with 12 seconds left, and Tillotson hit the game-winning shot moments later.
• Chris Hass led the Bison with 18 points. He hit his first five 3-point attempts before finishing 5-for-6.
• Nana Foulland tallied 14 points and six rebounds, and Frazier added a season-high 11 points.
• Bucknell hit 10 of 14 3-point attempts and set a Sojka Pavilion record for 3-point accuracy (.714).
• The Bison shot 71.4% from 3FG, but just 41.2% from 2FG and 64.7% from the foul line.
• Colgate shot 59.6% overall, including 69.2% (18-26) in the second half.
Bucknell vs. Lafayette
• Bucknell and Lafayette have met 157 times previously, making the Leopards Bucknell's second most-played opponent (the Bison have played Lehigh 163 times). Since the series began in 1915, Lafayette leads 87-70.
• Since the start of Patriot League play in 1990-91, however, Bucknell has won 41 of 56 meetings.
• Lafayette won 33 of the first 37 meetings and led the series 60-14 at one point.
• Jan. 26 was the 100th anniversary of the first game played between Bucknell and Lafayette. On Jan. 26, 1915, Bucknell won what must have been a thriller, 33-32 in overtime in Lewisburg.
• Bucknell had been 15-0 all-time against Lafayette in Sojka Pavilion until the Leopards posted their first win there last season. The Bison are now 16-1 against Lafayette in Sojka Pavilion and 25-4 against the Leopards in Lewisburg going back to the Patriot League's first season.
• The Bison and Leopards have met in a conference championship game four times, with Bucknell winning three of those. The Bison defeated Lafayette 71-65 in the 1989 East Coast Conference final in Towson, Md., and they also won Patriot League championship games in Sojka Pavilion in 2011 (72-57) and 2013 (64-56). Lafayette claimed the 1999 Patriot League title with a 67-63 win over the Bison in Easton.
• In the first meeting between the two teams this season, Bucknell won 79-69 at Sojka Pavilion on Jan. 7. Freshman Zach Thomas had his breakout performance that night, producing 21 points and eight rebounds. Thomas was 4-for-4 from 3-point range and 7-for-11 overall. Chris Hass added his first career double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds. Dan Trist led four Leopards in double figures with 20 points.
• Bucknell and Lafayette split two meetings last season, with the road team winning both contests. At Kirby Sports Center, the Bison won a 96-86 shootout behind a career-high 25 points from Ben Brackney and 21 from Hass. Bucknell made 12 of 15 3-point attempts in that game, with Brackney hitting six of them. Trist scored 21 points for Lafayette, which was 10-for-17 from the arc. The 96 points were Bucknell's most ever in a Patriot League road game. In the rematch at Sojka Pavilion later in the year, Lafayette prevailed 66-58 as the Bison went just 2-for-16 from 3-point distance this time. Seth Henrichs had 18 points and 10 rebounds, and Lafayette received strong play off the bench from Trist (14 points) and Monty Boykins (13 points). Cameron Ayers led the Bison with 22 points.
Patriot League Success
• Bucknell is 230-106 (.685) all-time in Patriot League regular-season games, the best record of any league team. The Bison have finished at least .500 in PL play in 20 of the 24 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 62 of its last 79 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
• Bucknell led the nation in defensive rebounding percentage in both 2011-12 and 2012-13 and ranked in the top 10 last season, but the Bison struggled a bit on the defensive glass in non-league play this season. They have turned that around in league play, however, allowing only 76 offensive boards in 10 Patriot League games.
• Rebounding has been a key for the Bison. They are 10-3 this season when outrebounding their opponent but 2-8 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 46.0% from the field and 45.1% from 3-point distance. In road games those numbers drop to 42.7% from the field and 35.6% from the arc. Bucknell is averaging 72.0 points at home, where it is 8-3 this season, and 64.5 on the road, where it is 3-8.
• Bench scoring has been a major positive for Bucknell this season. Bison reserves are averaging 26.4 points per game, compared to 16.3 for their opponents. In the last 11 games, Bucknell has piled up a 325-163 edge in bench scoring.
• Bucknell's leader in individual +/- (scoring differential while that player was on the floor) is J.C. Show at +59. Steven Kaspar is next at +30, followed by Nana Foulland at +15 and Cory Starkey at +9.
• Bucknell has a 184-125 assist-turnover ratio in its victories this season and a 128-142 ratio in its losses.
• Nana Foulland has made 24 of his last 35 free throws after starting the season 13-for-33. Steven Kaspar was a career 49.4% free-throw shooter entering the season, but he is 70.7% this season, including 25-34 (.735) in Patriot League play.
Who's Got Next?
• Bucknell returns home on Sunday to face Holy Cross a 2 p.m. in a game that will be televised live on CBS Sports Network.
• Holy Cross hosts Colgate on Thursday before traveling to Lewisburg.
• The Crusaders defeated Bucknell 65-62 in overtime back on Jan. 10 in Worcester, Mass.
