Men's Basketball Entertains Holy Cross Sunday at 2 p.m. on CBS Sports Network

2/6/2015 8:43:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: TBD

What: Holy Cross (9-12, 4-7 PL) at Bucknell (12-12, 7-4 PL)
Where: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
When: Sunday, Feb. 8, 2015, 2 p.m.
TV: CBS Sports 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 Holy Cross, Bucknell Would ...
• ... improve to 8-4 in the Patriot League and 13-12 overall.
• ... maintain at least a share of the Patriot League lead.
• ... improve to 233-105 all-time in Patriot League games.
• ... gain a split of the season series with Holy Cross.
• ... improve to 9-3 at home this season and 90-20 all-time against Patriot League foes at Sojka Pavilion.

Headlines
• On the heels of a five-game winning streak, Bucknell has suddenly dropped back-to-back games against Colgate and Lafayette. Still, the Bison enter play on Wednesday tied for the Patriot League lead with Colgate, although the Raiders own the tiebreaker after sweeping the season series.
• While Bucknell and Colgate sit atop the Patriot League standings at 7-4, three teams (Lafayette, American, Lehigh) are one game behind, and the entire 10-team league is separated by just three games.
• In a span of seven days, Bucknell rallied from 16 down with nine minutes to play to beat Lehigh, and then lost at Lafayette when leading by 17 with 16:00 left. In three of its four Patriot League losses, Bucknell has led by eight or more points. On the other hand, the Bison staged remarkable late-game comebacks to swipe wins over Lehigh and Navy.
• Head coach Dave Paulsen, who participated in his 600th game as a collegiate head coach on Wednesday at Lafayette, 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 (30.6) is the only player on the team averaging more than 24.0 minutes per game. But 10 Bison play at least 13.5 minutes per game.
• Hass is Bucknell's leading scorer at 16.6 ppg, and he has been shooting very well in recent weeks, despite an off night at Lafayette on Wednesday. Hass has hit at least four 3-pointers in four of his last six games.
• 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 10.5 ppg, 5.7 rpg and shooting 55.5% in 18 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 eight contests, Kaspar has recorded 69 points and 42 assists with only 11 turnovers. He ranks second in the league in assist-turnover ratio (4.0) in PL games. Azzinaro is 15-for-26 from 3-point range in his last seven 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.
• Holy Cross helped out the Bison by defeating Colgate 70-60 on Thursday night, dropping the Raiders back into a first-place tie with Bucknell. The Crusaders got out to a 4-1 start this year, including a 58-57 win over No. 25 Harvard in the season-opener. They started 0-3 in Patriot League play, however, before beating Bucknell 65-62 in overtime at the Hart Center on Jan. 10. Malcolm Miller leads the team in scoring at 13.0 ppg (14.0 in PL games).

How to Get the Game
• The Bucknell-Holy Cross game will be televised nationally on CBS Sports Network. Jason Knapp and former Army star Chris Spatola will have the call.
• 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.

Last Time Out
• Sparked by a flurry of five 3-pointers in span of just 5:20 by J.C. Show late in the first half, Bucknell built a 15-point halftime cushion and led by as many as 17 early in the second half at Lafayette on Wednesday. But the potent Leopards offense came alive, and they rallied to beat the Bison 84-74 in overtime. Steven Kaspar's 3-point play gave Bucknell a 67-65 lead with 20 seconds left, but Lafayette quickly tied it on a Nick Lindner layup. Chris Hass missed a 3-point attempt at the buzzer, and after Bucknell opened the overtime scoring, the Leopards went ahead for good with a 6-0 run.
• Bucknell held Lafayette to 23 points on 40.9% shooting in the first half, but the Leopards made 20 of 31 (.645) shots in the second half and overtime. Dan Trist (29) and Nick Lindner (26) combined for 55 of the Leopards' 84 points.
• Show led the Bison with 17 points. He finished 5-for-9 from 3-point range, including the streak of five straight makes in the first half.
• Hass was held to 13 points on 5-for-16 shooting, while Nana Foulland and Cory Starkey tallied 12 points each. That was a new career high for Starkey, who also had nine rebounds.
• Bucknell attempted a season-high 30 shots from behind the arc, making nine.

Bucknell vs. Holy Cross
The Bucknell-Holy Cross rivalry has been one of the league's best through the years. Some of the highlights:
• The Bison and Crusaders have combined to win eight of the last 14 Patriot League titles.
• These two teams have met in 13 of the 24 Patriot League Tournaments, including four times in the championship game. Bucknell defeated Holy Cross in the 2005 and 2006 title tilts, while the Crusaders topped the Bison in the final in 1993 and 2007.
• The Bison and Crusaders had never met until the formation of the Patriot League in 1990-91, but this will be the 63rd meeting in 25 years.
• Bucknell leads the series 34-28. The road team has won six of the last 17, including Holy Cross' upset of the Bison in the 2010 Patriot League Tournament quarterfinals at Sojka Pavilion.
• Bucknell is 17-10 against Holy Cross in Lewisburg and 10-4 at Sojka Pavilion. Bucknell is 13-15 vs. Holy Cross at the Hart Center, with one of the wins coming in the 2005 Patriot League championship game.
• Bucknell head coach Dave Paulsen is 9-7 against Holy Cross, including his Williams College team's 78-71 upset of the Crusaders at the Hart Center on Dec. 4, 2003.
• The home teams were victorious in last year's season series. Bucknell overcame an early 13-point deficit and defeated Holy Cross 61-57 at Sojka Pavilion. Ben Brackney led the way with 13 points, and Steven Kaspar had six assists for the Bison. Malcolm Miller had 19 for Holy Cross. In the rematch at the Hart Center later in the year, the Crusaders overwhelmed Bucknell with their defensive pressure and rolled to a 66-50 victory. Cameron Ayers led Bucknell with 15 points and Chris Hass had 14, while Justin Burrell scored 19 for Holy Cross. That February loss was the impetus for Paulsen to switch back to a bigger lineup, and the Bison responded by winning their next six games to close out the regular season.
• Back on Jan. 10 at the Hart Center, Bucknell battled back from a 15-point deficit to force overtime, but Holy Cross scored all 11 of its points in the extra session at the free-throw line and held off the Bison 65-62. Nana Foulland led four Bison in double figures with 12 points, while Miller led the Crusaders with 14, half of them coming at the free-throw line in overtime.

Patriot League Success
• Bucknell is 230-107 (.682) 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 80 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 84 offensive boards in 11 Patriot League games.
• Rebounding has been a key for the Bison. They are 10-3 this season when outrebounding their opponent but 2-9 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 46.0% from the field and 45.1% from 3-point distance. In road games those numbers drop to 42.6% from the field and 34.8% from the arc. Bucknell is averaging 72.0 points at home, where it is 8-3 this season, and 65.2 on the road, where it is 3-9.
• Zach Thomas is 9-for-14 from 3-point range this season — 9-for-9 at home and 0-for-5 on the road.
• Bench scoring has been a major positive for Bucknell this season. Bison reserves are averaging 26.4 points per game, compared to 16.1 for their opponents. In the last 12 games, Bucknell has piled up a 351-174 edge in bench scoring.
• Bucknell's leader in individual +/- (scoring differential while that player was on the floor) is J.C. Show at +60. Steven Kaspar is next at +14, followed by Nana Foulland at +12 and Cory Starkey at +9.
• Bucknell has a 184-125 assist-turnover ratio in its victories this season and a 140-151 ratio in its losses.
• Nana Foulland has made 26 of his last 38 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 71.4% this season, including 29-39 (.744) in Patriot League play.

Who's Got Next?
• Bucknell travels to Navy for a 7 p.m. game on Wednesday on the Patriot League Network.
• The Bison will be going for a series sweep of the Midshipmen after rallying for a 65-63 win on Jan. 14 at Sojka Pavilion. John Azzinaro hit three late 3-pointers to help Bucknell pull that one out.