Bucknell University Athletics
Bucknell Draws Temple in First Round of NIT
3/15/2015 9:06:00 PM | Men's Basketball
Fan Bus: Bucknell will be sponsoring a fan bus to Wednesday's NIT game at Temple. The $32 bus fee includes a game ticket. Reservations can be made on a first-come, first-served basis by calling Todd Newcomb at 570-577-1771 or e-mailing tnewcomb@bucknell.edu.
Tickets: Fans wishing to purchase tickets in the Bucknell section may do so beginning at noon on Monday through the Campus Box Office. Tickets may be purchased over the phone at 570-577-1000 or in person at the Weis Center Box Office.
LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Bucknell men's basketball team will face top-seeded Temple in the first round of the National Invitation Tournament (NIT) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. on ESPN3. The Bison, 19-14 and the Patriot League regular-season champion, will face a 23-10 Temple team that fell to SMU in the semifinals of the American Athletic Conference Tournament.
Bucknell finished 13-5 in the Patriot League this season and captured the outright regular-season title for the fourth time in the last five years. The top-seeded Bison fell to fourth-seeded and eventual champion Lafayette 80-74 in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals, but by virtue of its first-place finish in the regular-season, Bucknell was an automatic qualifier for the 32-team NIT field.
This will be Bucknell's second NIT appearance. The other came in 2012, and that year the Bison knocked off No. 1 seed Arizona 65-54 in Tucson before falling 75-67 at Nevada in the second round.
The Bucknell-Temple winner will face either No. 4 Pittsburgh or No. 5 George Washington in the second round. The Panthers and Colonials play on Tuesday at 7 p.m. on ESPN.
Temple is a top seed in the NIT after just missing out on an at-large berth to the NCAA Tournament. Coach Fran Dunphy's Owls routed Kansas 77-52 on Dec. 22 and then went 13-5 in the AAC. After winning 10 of its last 12 games of the regular season, Temple defeated Memphis 80-75 in the AAC Tournament quarterfinals before losing to eventual champion SMU 69-56 in the semis on Saturday.
The Owls are led by senior guard Will Cummings, who was a first team all-conference selection this season. Cummings leads the team and ranks fifth in The American in scoring with a 14.2 ppg average while ranking fourth in assists (4.3 apg) and first in steals (2.0 spg).
Bucknell and Temple faced two common opponents this season. The Owls opened the campaign with a 40-37 victory over American, while the Bison swept a pair of games (57-47 and 71-69) with the Eagles in Patriot League play. Bucknell and Temple both lost to Villanova -- the Bison by a 72-65 count and the Owls 85-62 in a Big 5 clash.
Bucknell and Temple were once conference mates in the Middle Atlantic Conference and in the East Coast Conference. The Owls hold a 29-5 lead in an all-time series that dates back to 1920, but the two teams have not met since Temple's 80-54 victory in an ECC clash on Jan. 6, 1982. This will be Bucknell's first appearance at the Liacouras Center, which opened in 1997.
All but five games in the series were played prior to 1965. Bucknell's last victory over Temple was a 79-72 decision in Lewisburg on Feb. 5, 1959, and its last win over the Owls in Philadelphia was a 34-33 verdict on March 9, 1927.
Wednesday's game will come on the 10-year anniversary of Bucknell's most famous postseason victory. March 18, 2005 was the date of Bucknell's NCAA Tourament upset of Kansas, which was the first NCAA win in school and league history.
