Men's Basketball Wraps up Long Road Stretch Saturday at Boston U.

What: Bucknell (7-6, 1-0 PL) at Boston University (7-7, 0-1 PL)
Where: Case Gym, Boston, Mass.
When: Saturday, Jan. 5, 2019, 1 p.m. ET
TV: Stadium (How to Watch | Channel Guide)
Webcast: Patriot League Network
Local Radio: Eagle 107 (107.3 FM WEGH)
Listen Live: BucknellBison.com and Eagle107.com
Live Stats: GoTerriers.com

• COMPLETE GAME NOTES

Bucknell Probable Starters
G: Kimbal Mackenzie (15.1 ppg, 2.3 rpg, 3.6 apg)
G: Jimmy Sotos (9.9 ppg, 4.8 rpg, 6.0 apg)
G: Avi Toomer (9.5 ppg, 3.7 rpg, 1.6 apg)
F: Bruce Moore (9.5 ppg, 3.3 rpg, 0.6 apg)
C: Nate Sestina (15.3 ppg, 8.4 rpg, 0.8 apg)

With a Win over Boston University, Bucknell Would ...

Win its third straight game and improve to 8-6 overall and 2-0 in the Patriot League.
Start 2-0 in league play for the third time in the last four years.
Improve to 5-0 all-time at Case Gym and 13-4 in the all-time series with the Terriers.
Improve to 5-2 in true road games this season.
Finish this stretch of eight straight road/neutral contests with a 5-3 record.
Improve to 283-117 all-time in Patriot League play and 108-26 in the PL over the last nine seasons.

Headlines

Coming off an improbable comeback from 26 points down to win at Army on Wednesday, the Bison are back on the road again Saturday afternoon to meet up with Boston University. While Bucknell is gunning for a 2-0 Patriot League start, the Terriers are looking to even their mark at 1-1 after dropping their PL opener at American on Wednesday.
This is Bucknell's 400th Patriot League game since the league was formed in 1990-91. Bucknell is 282-117 (.707) all-time in Patriot League regular-season games, the best record of any league team.
January is typically when Bucknell begins to make its move. The Bison are 26-3 in the month of January under head coach Nathan Davis.
This is Bucknell's eighth game in a stretch of eight straight contests away from home. This is the first time that Bucknell has played eight or more consecutive games at road/neutral sites since 1931-32. Included in this run is the team's longest-ever trip in terms of mileage, as the Bison faced Saint Mary's in California before continuing west to play in the state of Hawai'i for the first time at the Diamond Head Classic Dec. 22-25.
Bucknell turned in a strong performance in Hawai'i, finishing in third place in the eight-team field. The Bison opened with a come-from-behind 84-82 win over Rhode Island. After an 82-65 semifinal loss to a TCU team that was ranked just outside the top-25, the Bison routed UNLV 97-72 in the bronze-medal game.
The Bison have had balanced scoring thus far, with seven players averaging at least 5.7 ppg. Bucknell had a different leading scorer in five straight games during one recent stretch, and eight players have produced at least one double-digit scoring game this season. The Bison had six double-digit scorers two games ago against UNLV.
Senior center Nate Sestina has lived up to his Preseason All-Patriot League billing thus far. The Bison are 7-4 this season with Sestina in the lineup — he missed the Fairfield and Canisius games with an injury — and he is averaging a team-best 15.3 points and 8.4 rebounds per game. Sestina, who served as the backup center behind former Patriot League Player of the Year Nana Foulland for the last three seasons, was named to the All-Tournament Team at the Diamond Head Classic. He is coming off a 22-point, 12-rebound game at Army, with 17 of those points coming in a five-minute stretch in the second half to spark Bucknell's comeback.
Bucknell is looking to continue its run of success following the graduation of one of its all-time great senior classes. The trio of point guard Stephen Brown, forward Zach Thomas and center Nana Foulland were all First Team All-Patriot League selections last year, and they accounted for 4,801 career points. Despite the heavy graduation hit, four of Bucknell's five opening-night starters managed to start at least 10 games last season. And the only one that didn't — Nate Sestina — was a Preseason All-Patriot League selection.
Bucknell's non-conference schedule was ranked as the 77th-hardest in the nation, according to statistical analyst Ken Pomeroy. Bucknell's 12 non-league foes combined for a 260-141 (.648) overall record and a 144-70 (.673) mark within their respective leagues last year. Nine of the 12 teams won at least 20 games, and 10 of the 12 had winning records.
Bucknell went 3-0 against the Atlantic 10 this season. The Bison averaged 88 points per game in wins over St. Bonaventure, La Salle and Rhode Island.
Last season, Bucknell finished 25-10 overall and 16-2 in the Patriot League. The Bison swept Loyola, Boston University and Colgate — with the latter two wins coming by a combined 60 points — to win the Patriot League Tournament crown. Bucknell's eighth NCAA Tournament appearance resulted in a narrow 82-78 first-round loss to third-seeded Michigan State in Detroit.
Bucknell will have to contend with the Patriot League's most-accurate shooting team in Boston University. The Terriers lead the conference in field-goal percentage (.478) and have shot 50% or better six times this season, including Wednesday's 86-74 loss at American (.574). Boston University went 7-6 in non-conference play and shared two common opponents with the Bison, both with differing results. The Terriers defeated Northeastern, while Bucknell lost to the Huskies. On the other hand, Bucknell bested Vermont, while the Terriers fell to the Catamounts. Max Mahoney leads Boston University in both scoring (16.1) and rebounding (5.6) while shooting 68.7% from the floor.

How to Get the Game

The Bucknell-Boston U. game will be televised by Stadium, with Matt Martucci (pxp) and Craig Esherick (analyst) on the call. The game will also stream live on the Patriot League Network via 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 available online free of charge via BucknellBison.com.
Live statistics can be accessed at GoTerriers.com.
Follow @Bucknell_MBB for in-game updates on Twitter.

Last Time Out

It was one for the ages at West Point on Wednesday night. The Bison endured a horrific first half, hitting 4 of 27 shots from the floor and 1 of 16 from 3-point range. They trailed by 24 (37-13) at the half and then by 26 (39-13) in the opening minute of the second half before storming back to win 64-63.
The rally happened quickly. After Jacob Kessler's put-back gave Army the 39-13 lead, Bucknell went on a 27-4 run in a span of just 6:56. By the 12:34 mark of the second half, the Bison found themselves down just 43-40.
Bucknell needed only 3:38 to double its first-half point total and just 3:03 to double its first-half field-goal total.
Nate Sestina was one of the catalysts in the comeback. Embedded in that 27-4 run were 17 points from Sestina on 7-for-7 shooting, all coming in a span of just 5:17. Sestina finished the night with 22 points and 12 rebounds.
After Army regained a couple of eight-point leads, Bucknell tied the game for the first time at 57-57 on a Jimmy Sotos 3-pointer, and their first lead of the night on a Kimbal Mackenzie layup with 4:54 to play.
In the closing sequence, Army had the ball and a 63-62 lead with a seven-second differential between the shot clock and game clock. Avi Toomer contested Tommy Funk's 3-point attempt from the top of the arc, and it came up short. Sestina grabbed the rebound, outletted to Sotos, who quickly passed ahead to Mackenzie. The senior took a dribble and then threaded a bounce pass ahead to Toomer, just past the outstretched fingertips of an Army defender. Toomer gathered and laid the ball in with 1.6 seconds remaining. Army could not get off a shot as time expired.
Sotos was sensational again in the second half. He finished the game with nine points, seven rebounds and 11 assists. All of his points and rebounds, and nine of his 11 assists, came in the second period.
After shooting 14.8% overall (1-16 3FG) in the first half, the Bison flipped the script and shot 60.0% (7-12 3FG) in the second. Meanwhile, Army shot 46.9% in the first and 30.3% in the second, including a 2-for-17 showing from long distance.
According to the NCAA record book, the 26-point comeback is tied for the 10th-largest in Division I college basketball history. It is also tied for the seventh-biggest second-half deficit overcome in a win, and the 24-point halftime margin is tied for the sixth-largest deficit overcome.

Bison Are Kings of the Comeback

Bucknell's epic 26-point rally in the win at Army marked the fourth time this season the Bison have erased a double-digit deficit to win a game, all of them coming on the road.

Opponent Deficit Result
at St. Bonaventure 13 (52-39 with 12:13 left 2nd half) won 88-85 (OT)
at Vermont 13 (36-23 with 18:06 left 2nd half) won 69-61
vs. Rhode Island 11 (38-27 with 2:38 left 1st half) won 84-82
at Army 26 (39-13 with 19:42 left 2nd half) won 64-63

And then there were these near-misses:

Opponent Deficit Result
Fairfield 15 (36-21 with 1:30 left 1st half) Bison tied game with 0:09 left, lost 58-56 on shot with 0:03 left
at Ohio State 11 (69-58 with 4:28 left 2nd half) Bison had shot in air to win game but lost 73-71

Sotos Lends a Helping Hand

Sophomore guard Jimmy Sotos has made a little history for the Bison with his assist totals over the last two games. He dished out 12 assists in Bucknell's Christmas Day win over UNLV at the Diamond Head Classic, and then he followed it up with an 11-assist performance against Army in the conference opener on Wednesday.
Sotos is the first Bison ever to produce 11 or more assists in back-to-back games, and he is the first to record double-figure assist totals in consecutive games since Chris Seneca in 1986-87. Seneca had 10 helpers against Loyola on Jan. 7, 1987, then handed out 12 three days later against Drexel.
Sotos' 12 assists against UNLV were the most by a Bucknell player since the 1991-92 season opener, when Russell Peyton set the school record with 16 against UMBC.
Sotos is now averaging 6.0 assists per game, which ranks 27th nationally and second in the Patriot League behind Army's Tommy Funk.

Bucknell vs. Boston University

Bucknell and Boston University have met 16 times previously in men's basketball, and the Bison have a 12-4 lead in the series, including a 4-0 mark at Case Gym.
Bucknell had won seven straight from the Terriers until Boston University won 84-79 at Sojka Pavilion in the second game of last year's conference schedule. That was Bucknell's only home loss of the season, as the Bison went 15-1 at Sojka in 2017-18. Bucknell avenged the setback with two more wins later in the year, the last a 90-59 verdict in the Patriot League Tournament semifinals.
Bucknell is 5-3 at home in the series, 6-1 on the road and 1-0 at neutral sites. In games played in Boston, Bucknell is 2-1 at Agganis Arena and 4-0 at Case Gym.
The two teams met for the first time at the 2005 Cable Car Classic at Santa Clara. The Bison won that one 63-57.
In last season's first meeting, Boston University ended Bucknell's 15-game home winning streak behind 21 points from Cedric Hankerson. Bucknell committed 19 turnovers, including 14 in the first half, leading to 24 points by the Terriers. The Bison were led by 25 points, 13 rebounds and three steals by Zach Thomas.
In the rematch in Boston on Jan. 28, Bucknell won 91-79 as Stephen Brown had 21 points to go with five rebounds, five assists, and four steals. Thomas tallied 18 points, five rebounds and four assists, and Nana Foulland had 15 points in just 15 minutes while battling foul trouble. Walter Whyte had a double-double for the Terriers with 14 points and 10 rebounds. Bucknell shot 57.4% from the field and posted its highest point total in a road game all season.
In the rubber match back at Sojka Pavilion in the Patriot League Tournament, the Bison soared into the championship game with a 31-point runaway. Brown scored 19 of his 26 points in the first half to help Bucknell go up 46-23 at the break. Tyler Scanlon led the Terriers with 14 points.

Numbers Worth Noting

Senior Kimbal Mackenzie has a knack for taking charges. He drew four offensive fouls in the La Salle game on Dec. 4, and he has a team-high 11 drawn charges this season.
Mackenzie's streak of hitting a 3-pointer in 26 straight games came to an end on Wednesday at Army.
Over the last 10 games Bruce Moore is 14-for-27 (.519) from long distance.
Sophomore Jimmy Sotos struggled in the turnover category early in the season, but over the last six games against tough competition, he has 42 assists with only 13 turnovers.
As a team, the Bison rank 37th nationally in assists per made field goal (.588).
Sophomore Paul Newman has played well in the first extended action of his career, and he has emerged as one of the Patriot League's top shot-blockers. Newman ranks second in the league with 1.5 blocks per game, even though he plays just 16.7 minutes per game.
Sophomore John Meeks has provided a big lift since returning from injury at Ohio State on Dec. 15. In six games since coming back, Meeks has totaled 34 points (13-22 FG) and 16 rebounds in 63 minutes.
Bucknell's shot chart from the La Salle game was a statistical analyst's dream. In a game in which the Bison scored 92 points, all 29 made field goals were either dunks (6), layups (12), or 3-pointers (11). In fact, Bucknell did not attempt a 2-point shot outside the paint all night.

Who's Got Next?

Bucknell plays its first home game in 40 days next Wednesday (Jan. 9) when Colgate visits Sojka Pavilion for a rematch of last year's Patriot League championship game. Tip-off is 7 p.m. on the Patriot League Network.

Men's Basketball Wraps up Long Road Stretch Saturday at Boston U.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Stephen Brown

Nana Foulland

Kimbal Mackenzie

John Meeks

Bruce Moore

Paul Newman

Nate Sestina

Jimmy Sotos

Zach Thomas

Avi Toomer

Men's Basketball Wraps up Long Road Stretch Saturday at Boston U.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Stephen Brown

Nana Foulland

Kimbal Mackenzie

John Meeks

Bruce Moore

Paul Newman

Nate Sestina

Jimmy Sotos

Zach Thomas

Avi Toomer

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