Men's Basketball Back Home Wednesday vs. Loyola

2/16/2016 6:49:00 PM | Men's Basketball

By: TBD

What: Loyola (8-17, 7-7 PL) at Bucknell (13-12, 10-4 PL)
Where: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
When: Wednesday, Feb. 17, 2016, 7 p.m.
Webcast: Patriot League Network
Radio: Eagle 107 (107.3 FM WEGH)
Internet Radio: BucknellBison.com
Satellite Radio: XM 205
Live Statistics: BucknellBison.com
Promotions: Junior Bison Club Appreciation Night; Giant Foods gift card giveaways
Tickets: 570-577-1000 or purchase online
• COMPLETE GAME NOTES

Bucknell Probable Starters
G: Stephen Brown (9.2 ppg, 2.9 rpg, 5.1 apg)
G: Ryan Frazier (7.7 ppg, 1.8 rpg, 1.8 apg)
G: Chris Hass (17.1 ppg, 3.7 rpg)
F: Dom Hoffman (5.8 ppg, 4.2 rpg)
C: Nana Foulland (12.1 ppg, 6.6 rpg)

With a Win over Loyola, Bucknell Would ...
• ... improve to 14-12 overall and 11-4 in Patriot League play.
• ... maintain a one-game lead in the Patriot League.
• ... snap a two-game losing streak.
• ... win its seventh straight game against the Greyhounds and improve to 12-2 in the series.
• ... improve to 7-6 at home this season and 99-23 all-time against Patriot League opponents at Sojka Pavilion.

Headlines
• After going up by as many as three games atop the Patriot League standings, Bucknell has hit a bit of a rough spell, dropping two straight and three of its last four. The Bison still have sole possession of first place with four games remaining, but the lead is now just one game over fast-charging Boston University, Lehigh and Navy. Colgate, which defeated the Bison 91-81 on Saturday afternoon, is in fifth place just two games out at 8-6.
• Bucknell had been making major strides defensively in Patriot League play, but in the last two games the Bison have given up 171 points in losses to Lehigh and Colgate. After the Mountain Hawks shot 52.6% against them, Colgate hit at a 60.0% clip on Saturday. Bucknell has allowed an opponent to shoot 50% only five times all season, but three of those are all in losses in the last four games.
• Bucknell is still an impressive 10-4 after 14 Patriot League games. That comes on the heels of a seven-game losing streak to close out the non-league slate. The Bison have never had a winning season in which it endured a downturn of that length. Prior to this season, Bucknell had 14 losing streaks of seven or more games — 12 coming prior to 1971 — and finished below .500 in each of those seasons.
• At this time last season, Bucknell was also 10-4 in the Patriot League and held a one-game lead over Colgate. The Bison went on to win three of their last four regular-season games, which was good enough to claim the title.
• The Bison have scored 80 or more points 13 times and 90 or more four times, and they rank second in the Patriot League in scoring at 78.6 points per game. Back on Jan. 9 they had a 98-point showing against Holy Cross — their most points in a league game in 22 years — in which they knocked down 16 3-pointers. Bucknell made 40 field goals and tossed in 94 points against Army West Point on Jan. 30. The Bison rank 55th nationally in points per game.
• Including his 40-point game at Army West Point on Jan. 2, senior Chris Hass is averaging a team-best 17.1 points per game. That is the second-best mark in the Patriot League behind Army's Tanner Plomb. Hass canned a career-high seven 3-pointers in a 29-point performance against N.C. State on Dec. 5. Hass also had 26 against Wake Forest on Nov. 15 and has had at least 18 points in all but six games so far. Hass became Bucknell's 39th all-time 1,000-point scorer in the game against Columbia, and he now ranks 16th on Bucknell's career scoring list (1,295).
• Sophomore point guard Stephen Brown has been sensational in Patriot League play, averaging 11.4 points per game on 59.1% shooting with 73 assists, 20 steals and just 22 turnovers and 23 fouls. After scoring a career-high 21 points on 8-for-10 shooting in the win at Boston University on Jan. 23, Brown was named the Lids Team Sports Patriot League Player of the Week for the first time in his career.
• A year ago, the Bison captured the outright Patriot League regular-season title for the fourth time in the last five years before being upset by Lafayette in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals. Bucknell lost four players from last year's squad: point guard Steven Kaspar (graduation), forward Joshea Singleton (graduation), forward Cory Starkey (graduation) and guard J.C. Show (transfer to Binghamton).
• After starting the year 1-10 in non-conference play, Loyola has been in the thick of the Patriot League race ever since starting conference play 3-0. The Greyhounds are now in sixth place at 7-7, having dropped two straight to Navy and Boston University since their thrilling 100-99 double-overtime win at Army West Point on Feb. 6. Jarred Jones leads the team in scoring (13.7) and rebounding (7.3), while Andre Walker (13.6) and Tyler Hubbard (10.0) also score in double figures.

How to Get the Game
• The Bucknell-Loyola game will not be televised, however a free web stream will be available on the Patriot League Network at PatriotLeague.TV.
• 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, and for a small charge through the official Bison Athletics mobile app available in the Apple and Android marketplaces.
• Satellite radio listeners can tune in on Sirius/XM. Mike Corey and Glenn Frazer will have the call for the Heritage Sports Radio Network. Channel assignments are still TBA.
• Live statistics can be viewed at BucknellBison.com.

Bucknell vs. Loyola
• The Bison and Greyhounds have met 13 times previously, with Bucknell leading 11-2 in the series, including a 7-0 mark at Reitz Arena. Bucknell is 5-0 against Loyola as Patriot League rivals.
• The first series meeting came on Jan. 7, 1987 in Lewisburg. The Bison prevailed that day 72-70. A year later Bucknell won 80-60 on Loyola's home floor.
• Bucknell and Loyola played twice within the 1992-93 season. The Bison won 75-59 in Baltimore, and in late February at Davis Gym the Bison rolled to a 116-85 victory. In the latter game the Bison produced their second-highest point total in program history, led by an incredible 9-for-10 3-point shooting performance by Hall-of-Famer Mike Bright.
• Bucknell swept the Greyhounds last season, winning 75-61 in Baltimore and 61-50 in Lewisburg. In the game at Reitz Arena, Chris Hass scored 26 points and the Bison never trailed in a 14-point victory. Andre Walker paced the Greyhounds with 17. In the rematch at Sojka Pavilion, Nana Foulland tallied 15 points, six rebounds and four blocked shots, while Zach Thomas added 13 points and nine rebounds in Bucknell's victory. Tyler Hubbard led Loyola with 16 points.
• On Jan. 20 in Baltimore, Bucknell won the first meeting of this season against Loyola 67-58 at Reitz Arena. The Bison were stellar defensively, holding the Greyhounds to 1-for-15 shooting from 3-point range and 37.9% overall. Bucknell also forced 16 turnovers. Nana Foulland led the Bison with 15 points, while Jarred Jones and Franz Rassman scored 14 apiece for Loyola.

Patriot League Success
• Bucknell is 246-112 (.687) all-time in Patriot League regular-season games, the best record of any league team. The Bison are guaranteed a .500 or better league record this season, and they have now finished at least .500 in PL play in 22 of the 26 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 78 of its last 101 league games.
• Bucknell won Patriot League Tournament titles in 2005, 2006, 2011 and 2013. The Bison have made it to the semifinals 19 times and to the championship game 10 times in the 25-year history of the league.
• The Bison are the only team to go unbeaten in league play in a season (14-0 ten years ago in 2006).

Last Time Out
• Tom Rivard scored 24 points on 10-for-12 accuracy, and Colgate shot 60% from the field in a 91-81 victory over Bucknell on Saturday afternoon at Cotterell Court.
• Chris Hass tallied 17 points for the Bison, who have now lost consecutive games for the first time since December and saw their lead in the Patriot League reduced to one game. Zach Thomas recorded his fourth double-double of the season with 15 points and 10 rebounds, and freshman Nate Jones set a career high with 10 points off the bench for the Bison.
• Bucknell went 10-for-21 from the 3-point arc — including a Kimbal Mackenzie halfcourt buzzer-beater at the end of the first half — and shot a respectable 49.0% on the road. But the Bison just could not get enough stops, as Colgate went 33-for-55 from the field and 7-for-18 from the 3-point arc. Bucknell also left quite a few points at the foul line, finishing 21-for-33 compared to Colgate's 18-for-19.
• Dom Hoffman hit a 3-pointer on Bucknell's first possession of the second half for the first of six lead changes in the first six minutes of the period. It was 56-all after Jones hit 1 of 2 at the foul line, then Colgate took control with a 9-0 run..

Team Numbers Worth Noting
• Bucknell ranks 37th nationally (out of 346 teams) in field-goal percentage (.475) and 55th in scoring offense (78.6). The Bison recently dropped from 31st to 64th in 3-point percentage after the 0-for-15 showing at American, and they now rank 58th at .373.
• Bucknell is attempting to average 80 points in a season for the seventh time in program history. The last time the Bison finished a season with a scoring average better than 80 was 1993-94 (83.1). The team record is 83.3 in 1987-88.
• Bucknell has done an excellent job getting to the foul line. The Bison rank 35th nationally in free throws made (451) and 44th in free-throw attempts (641).
• Whether it is a result of a more up-tempo offense or the reduction to the 30-second shot clock, Bucknell is playing at a much faster pace this season. Bucknell's first 25 games have seen an average of 72.9 possessions per game, compared to 65.1 for the full season in 2014-15. The Bison are averaging an efficient 1.07 points per possession so far.
• Bucknell last season averaged 4.1 steals per game to rank last (10th) in the Patriot League in that category. This season the Bison rank second in the league in steals at 6.8 per game.
• Only five teams have shot 50% or better from the field against Bucknell this season — North Carolina State (.544), Princeton (.545), American (.550), Lehigh (.526) and Colgate (.600) — but three of those have come in the last four games.
• Bucknell has had 11 different players score 10 or more points and six different players score 20 or more in a game this season. Eight different players have led the team in scoring this year.

Individual Numbers Worth Noting
• Bucknell plus-minus leaders: D.J. MacLeay +91, Chris Hass +91, Stephen Brown +68, John Azzinaro +63, Nana Foulland +57. Every player on the roster has a positive +/- for the season.
• Dom Hoffman entered the season with one career made 3-pointer in five attempts. He has tried 43 shots from beyond the arc this season, making 15.
• Point guard Stephen Brown has five or more assists in 13 of the 25 contests this season. Brown has assisted on 33.5% of the field goals made while he is on the floor. In Patriot League games he is averaging 11.4 ppg on 55-for-93 (.591) shooting from the field, 6-for-15 (.400) from the 3-point arc, 43-for-53 (.811) from the foul line, and he has 73 assists and 20 steals while committing just 22 turnovers and 23 fouls.
• Brown now has enough field-goal attempts to qualify for the Patriot League full-season FG% leaders, and he is currently sixth at 52.7%. He is the only guard ranked in the top 13 in the league in FG%. In league-only games, his 59.1 FG% ranks No. 3.
• Brown has improved his free-throw shooting considerably thus far. Last year he shot just 47.5% from the line, but this year he ranks third in the Patriot League at 81.7%.
• MacLeay leads the team in rebounds per 40 minutes (11.5), and he is now shooting 63.3% from the field this season. He is 32-for-45 (.711) from the field in his last 11 games, and he produced his career scoring high with 15 against Lafayette on Jan. 25.
• Ryan Frazier is now shooting 36.4% from 3-point range this season. He was a career 28.9% long-range shooter entering the year, although he has improved his percentage every season so far.

Who's Got Next?
• Bucknell plays its final regular-season home game on Sunday, hosting Boston University at noon at Sojka Pavilion.
• The game will be televised on CBS Sports Network.
• Prior to the game, the team will honor seniors Matt Banas, Ryan Frazier, Chris Hass and Dom Hoffman.
• Bucknell will be shooting for a season sweep of the Terriers. The Bison rallied from 17 points down to win 74-71 in Boston on Jan. 23.