Men's Basketball Closes Out First Semester Tuesday at Princeton

Photo by: Jon Lambert

Men's Basketball Closes Out First Semester Tuesday at Princeton

12/6/2021 1:11:00 PM | Men's Basketball

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Bucknell wraps up a three-game road trip as well as an action-packed first semester on Tuesday night at Princeton. The 7 p.m. contest can be seen on ESPN+, while Doug Birdsong will have the radio call on The Valley, WVLY 100.9 FM.

Bucknell comes in at 2-7 after back-to-back road losses to Saint Francis (Pa.) and Hofstra. The Pride, which beat Princeton earlier in the week, made 12 of their final 19 3-point attempts after a 1-for-13 start. The Bison will be looking for improved defensive play after yielding 93 and 88 points in the last two games.

Andrew Funk was a major bright spot for the Bison despite those two losses. Funk scored 17 points at Saint Francis and 28 at Hofstra, and he hit 9 of 16 attempts from the 3-point arc. Funk ranks 11th nationally in made threes per game (3.8), and he is the only Division I player in the nation to hit six or more treys in a game three times (7 vs. Penn and Illinois State, 6 vs. Hofstra).

The Bison face another tough road test on Tuesday against a Princeton squad that is a perfect 4-0 at home. The Tigers boast power-five wins over South Carolina and Oregon State, along with a double-overtime loss to Minnesota. Princeton defeated Drexel in overtime at home on Saturday. The Ivy League did not participate in athletics last year due to COVID-19, but Princeton brought back an experienced squad in 2021-22. The Tigers' top six scorers are all seniors or juniors.

• Complete Game Notes
• 2021-22 Media Guide

GAME DIGEST
What: Bucknell (2-7, 0-0 PL) at Princeton (6-3, 0-0 Ivy)
Where: Jadwin Gym, Princeton, N.J.
When: Tuesday, Dec. 7, 7 p.m.
Internet Stream: ESPN+
Local Radio: The Valley 100.9 FM WVLY
Internet Audio: BucknellBison.com
Live Stats: GoPrincetonTigers.com

Bucknell Tentative Starters
G: Xander Rice (12.6 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 4.0 apg)
G: Andrew Funk (19.2 ppg, 4.2 rpg, 2.6 apg)
F: Ian Motta (2.2 ppg, 2.1 rpg, 0.7 apg)
F: Jake van der Heijden (7.2 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 1.1 apg)
C: Alex Timmerman (10.2 ppg, 7.3 rpg, 0.9 apg)

With a Win over Princeton, Bucknell Would ...

... win its first game away from home in seven tries this season.
... snap a five-game series losing streak to the Tigers.
... win in Jadwin Gym for the first time since 1996.
... give head coach Nathan Davis his 111th victory as Bucknell's head coach, moving him into sole possession of fourth place on the program's all-time wins list.

Headlines

Bucknell wraps up a busy first semester at Princeton on Tuesday night. After playing seven of their first 10 games away from home, the Bison will take an 11-day break for final exams before hosting La Salle on Dec. 18.
After beating Siena 65-56 in overtime on Nov. 28, the Bison have struggled defensively in the first two games of this current road trip. Bucknell had not allowed an opponent to shoot 50% from the field this season, but that has now happened twice in a row at Saint Francis (.514) and Hofstra (.515) as those two teams averaged 90.5 ppg.
Senior guard Andrew Funk is the Patriot League's leading scorer at 19.2 ppg, and he has been one of the nation's most prolific 3-point shooters this season. Funk has topped the 30-point mark twice this season, including a career-high 38 at Illinois State on Nov. 20, and he is coming off a 28-point performance at Hofstra on Saturday. Funk ranks 11th nationally with 3.8 made 3-pointers per game, and he is the only Division I player in the nation to hit six or more 3-pointers in a game three times this season. Funk's 34 total threes are third-most in the nation and are more than 10 Division I teams' totals.
Princeton is 6-3 overall and 4-0 at home after beating Drexel 81-79 in overtime on Saturday. Prior to that game, the Tigers lost at Hofstra, 81-77, rallying late after trailing by as many as 19. Princeton also has wins over SOuth Carolina and Oregon State and a double-overtime loss to Minnesota.
The Tigers avergage 79.9 ppg and have four players scoring in double figures, led by Jaelin Llwellyn at 15.4 ppg. Like most Princeton teams, this is a good 3-point shooting squad at 36.2%. Ryan Langborg has a team-high 27 treys and shoots 46.6% from the arc. Tosan Evbuomwan is coming off a 27-point game against Drexel.

How to Get the Game

The Bucknell-Princeton game will be streamed on ESPN+. Derek Jones (play-by-play) and Noah Savage (analyst) will call the action.
Doug Birdsong has the radio call on The Valley, WVLY 100.9 FM.
The audio feed is also available online free of charge via BucknellBison.com.
Live in-game statistics can be accessed at GoPrincetonTigers.com.
Follow @Bucknell_MBB for in-game updates on Twitter.

Last Time Out

Andrew Funk scored 28 points and Josh Adoh finished with a career-high 15, but Bucknell couldn't match hot-shooting Hofstra and fell 88-69 on Saturday afternoon at David S. Mack Sports and Exhibition Complex.
Hofstra started the game 1-for-13 from the 3-point arc but went 12-for-19 after that, and the hosts shot 58.1% overall to win its fourth game in a row. Oregon transfer Aaron Estrada led the Pride with 24 points and six assists, while NJIT transfer Zach Cooks had 19 points. Rhode Island transfer Omar Silverio came off the bench to hit four treys and score 16 points.
Jake van der Heijden also reached double figures for Bucknell with 10 points, and Andre Screen came off the bench to tally seven points, six rebounds and a career-high six assists. The Bison shot 48.1% overall, including 12-for-27 from the arc, and had 19 assists on 24 made field goals.
The first half consisted of 20 minutes of wild momentum swings. The Bison missed their first six shots and fell behind 8-0, but then exploded for an 18-2 run. They went up 27-17 on a four-point play and then two more free throws by Funk, but then a four-minute drought led to the first of two 11-0 runs in the half by Hofstra.

Bucknell vs. Princeton Series Notes

The Bison are 4-14 all-time against Princeton, with the Tigers claiming the last five series clashes.
The Bison and Tigers last met two seasons ago at Sojka Pavilion, and Princeton rode some hot 3-point shooting and a big second-half run to an 87-77 victory. The Bison led by six early in the second half, but Princeton scored 17 points in a row as part of a 25-3 run to take control. Princeton went 9-for-15 from the arc in the second half and 13-for-25 for the game. Avi Toomer had 19 points and seven rebounds for Bucknell, while Jaelin Llewellyn and Ryan Schwieger tallied 17 apiece for the Tigers.
Bucknell's most recent series win came in 2010-11 at Sojka Pavilion as part of the TicketCity Legends Classic. Bucknell triumphed 62-56 behind 25 points and 12 rebounds from Mike Muscala. That snapped a five-game series losing streak and was Bucknell's first win over Princeton since a 74-62 overtime decision at Jadwin Gym in December 1996, a game in which the Bison rallied from 19 points down. That loss was one of only four all season for the Tigers (the others were Indiana, North Carolina and California).
These two teams first met on Feb. 12, 1902. Princeton won a 19-18 thriller on its home floor. That was one of only two losses in a 12-2 season for Bucknell.

Who's Got Next?

Bucknell will take a break for final exams before hosting La Salle on Dec. 18. That will be Community Day and the return of Dirk Sojka's Slam Dunk with Bison Basketball, featuring a silent auction and raffle to benefit SUNCOM Industries. It will also be a doubleheader with the Bison women's basketball team, which hosts George Mason at 5 p.m. Fans holding a ticket to the men's game are encouraged to stick around for the women's game at no extra charge.