Men's Hoops Heads to Saint Peter's for Tuesday Tilt

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Bucknell men's basketball squad has burst out of the gates with two dominant victories, outscoring Lebanon Valley and Niagara by an average score of 90.5 to 51.0. Now the Bison head out on the road for the first time in 2022-23 for a date with a Saint Peter's team that made an incredible run to the NCAA Tournament Elite Eight as a No. 15 seed last March.

The headline in the season-opener against Lebanon Valley was all about the school-record-tying 21 3-pointers in the 113-52 victory, which was also the largest win margin in modern team history. Saturday's 68-50 win over Niagara had a much different feel, as the Bison pounded the ball inside and played stifling defense. The 50 points allowed were Bucknell's fewest since a 69-48 win at Holy Cross in February of 2020. The Bison held only one opponent under 60 points all of last season, but now they have done it twice in two games to start 2022-23.

Bucknell is shooting 55.6% from the field and 51.9% from the 3-point arc through two games, while holding opponents to 33.0% and 25.0%. The Bison bring those gaudy numbers to Jersey City to face a 1-1 Saint Peter's team that has a new look this season. The Peacocks lost eight players and their head coach after last year's Cinderella run. They routed NJIT 73-59 on opening night and then fell to former coach Shahen Holloway and Seton Hall on Saturday, 80-44.

GAME DIGEST
What: Bucknell (2-0) at Saint Peter's (1-1)
Where: Yanitelli Center, Jersey City, N.J.
When: Tuesday, Nov. 15, 7 p.m.
Streaming: ESPN+
Local Radio: The Valley (WVLY 100.9)
Internet Audio: BucknellBison.com
Live Stats: SaintPetersPeacocks.com
COMPLETE GAME NOTES

Bucknell Tentative Starters
G: Elvin Edmonds IV (15.0 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 6.0 apg)
G: Xander Rice (14.0 ppg, 1.5 rpg, 4.0 apg)
F: Ian Motta (6.5 ppg, 3.0 rpg, 1.0 apg)
F: Alex Timmerman (8.5 ppg, 7.5 rpg, 1.5 apg)
C: Andre Screen (13.5 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 1.5 bpg)

With a Win over Saint Peter's, Bucknell Would ...

... improve to 3-0 for the first time since 2012-13, when the Bison defeated Purdue, George Mason and Niagara on the way to a 5-0 start.
... improve to 2-0 all-time against the Peacocks.
... improve to 2-0 this season against teams from the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference.
... improve to 7-9 all-time against teams that played in the Elite Eight the previous season.

Headlines

Bucknell hits the road for the first time in 2022-23 with a Tuesday night tilt at Saint Peter's. The Bison will be making their very first trip to the Saint Peter's campus.
Bucknell is off to a strong start, winning its first two games by a combined 79 points. After setting a school record with a 61-point win (113-52) over Division III Lebanon Valley last Monday, the Bison came back on Saturday and used a big second half to pull away from Niagara, 68-50.
After tying the team mark with 21 made 3-pointers against Lebanon Valley, the Bison leaned on their inside game against Niagara. Bucknell outscored the Purple Eagles 40-20 in the paint, and bigs Andre Screen (15 points) and Alex Timmerman (11 points, 10 rebounds) both had strong games.
The Bison attempted only four 3-pointers in the first half, making one, but then went 6-for-11 from the arc in the second stanza as the frontcourt play started to open things up on the perimeter. Bucknell is now 28-for-54 (.519) as a team from downtown, the fifth-best percentage in the nation.
No shooter has been hotter to start the season than Elvin Edmonds IV, who is 8-for-10 from the 3-point arc. That is the sixth-best mark in Division I.

NCAA Team Leaders, 3-Point FG Percentage
1. Western Kentucky   29-46   .630
2. Villanova 15-27   .556
3. Jacksonville State  17-31   .548
4. James Madison 32-60   .533
5. Bucknell 28-54   .519

NCAA Individual Leaders, 3-Point FG Percentage
1. Garrett Hicks, Alabama A&M   4-4   1.000
2. Will Pruitt, Lipscomb    3-3   1.000
3. Micah Thomas, Nicholls 8-9 .889
4. Luke Frampton, Western Kentucky  11-13   .846
5. Mike Mitchell Jr., Pepperdine 5-6    .833
6. Elvin Edmonds IV, Bucknell 8-10   .800
Trey Wertz, Notre Dame    4-5   .800

Saint Peter's made a magical run to the Elite Eight in the 2022 NCAA Tournament, becoming the first No. 15 seed to advance all the way to the national quarterfinals after upsets of Kentucky, Murray State, and Purdue. This will be the 16th time that Bucknell has played a team that reached the NCAA Elite Eight the previous season. The Bison are 6-9 in the first 15 such games, with the last win coming against Arizona in the 2012 NIT. The Wildcats were an Elite Eight team in 2011.

Bucknell vs. Opponents Who Advanced to at Least Elite Eight in Previous Season (6-9)
11/15/22   at Saint Peter's 2022 Elite Eight   —
11/15/17   at North Carolina   2017 National Champion   Lost, 93-81
11/17/14   at Michigan   2014 Elite Eight Lost, 77-53
3/14/12    at Arizona    2011 Elite Eight    Won, 65-54 (NIT)
12/3/06 vs. George Mason 2006 Final Four Won, 60-57 (BB&T Classic)
3/18/05 vs. Kansas    2004 Elite Eight   Won, 64-63 (NCAA)
12/28/04   at Saint Joseph's   2004 Elite Eight Won, 69-62
11/21/03   at Michigan State   2003 Elite Eight    Lost, 64-52
12/30/81   at Saint Joseph's   1981 Elite Eight Lost, 71-58
1/11/75 Pittsburgh    1974 Elite Eight Won, 72-66
2/12/64 at Saint Joseph's   1963 Elite Eight Lost, 71-63 (OT)
12/2/61 at Saint Joseph's   1961 Final Four Lost, 79-49
2/5/59   Temple    1958 Final Four Won, 79-72
1/5/55   at Penn State    1954 Final Four Lost, 94-45
1/31/48 at Navy 1947 Elite Eight Lost, 51-36
12/12/42   at Penn State    1942 Elite Eight Lost, 36-22

This is a new-look Peacocks squad, as Saint Peter's not only lost eight players from last year's MAAC championship squad, but head coach Shaheen Holloway departed for Seton Hall in the offseason. Former Wagner head coach and Drexel standout Bashir Mason is now in charge.
Saint Peter's opened the season with a 73-59 home win over NJIT. The Peacocks raised their championship banners and then raced out to a 17-0 lead on the Highlanders. Saint Peter's followed that up with an 80-44 loss to Holloway's Seton Hall squad on Saturday.
Jaylen Murray (13.5) and Corey Washington (11.0) are both scoring in double figures. Murray is one of the few hold-overs from last year's team. He was a MAAC All-Rookie selection and scored eight points in the NCAA win over Kentucky.
The Bison were picked eighth in the Patriot League preseason coaches' poll, ahead of Holy Cross and Lafayette. Defending-champion Colgate was the preseason No. 1 pick.
Bucknell is looking to bounce back from a 9-23 season a year ago. The Bison were playing well at the end of the season, however, with an overtime win at Lafayette in the Patriot League Tournament first round capping a 3-1 stretch. Bucknell was eliminated by Colgate in the quarterfinal round.
Bucknell won eight Patriot League regular-season titles in a nine-year span from 2011-19, and the Bison went to the NCAA Tournament in 2011, 2013, 2017 and 2018 during that stretch. Now Bucknell is trying to rebound from a rare run of three straight sub-.500 seasons, something that has not happened since 2007-08 to 2009-10, although the Bison did win conference tournament games in each of the last three years.
This year's squad is led by a trio of senior co-captains in Xander Rice, Alex Timmerman, and Jake van der Heijden. Rice is in his second season as a captain.

How to Get the Game

Tuesday's game will stream live on ESPN+. Former Bucknell radio and television voice Joe Vasile will be on the call for the Saint Peter's production.
Veteran play-by-play man Doug Birdsong will have the radio call on The Valley (WVLY 100.9 FM) in the Susquehanna Valley.
The audio feed is also available online free of charge via BucknellBison.com.
Live statistics can be accessed via SaintPetersPeacocks.com.
Follow @Bucknell_MBB for in-game updates on Twitter.

Bucknell vs. Saint Peter's Series Notes

Bucknell and Saint Peter's are meeting for just the second time.
The only clash came on Jan. 3, 1973 in the consolation game of the Stetson Hatter Tournament in Deland, Fla. Led by first-year head coach Jim Valvano, Bucknell won 92-75.
Harvey Carter paced the Bison with 21 points on 10-for-14 shooting in that game. James Donovan logged a double-double with 13 points and 12 rebounds.

Last Time Out

Alex Timmerman recorded his third career double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds, and Andre Screen led four Bison in double figures with 15 points on 7-for-10 shooting to pace the Bison in a 68-50 victory over Niagara Saturday evening at Sojka Pavilion. The Bison shot 57.1% from the field in a big second half and improved to 2-0 on the season.
Bucknell led 27-23 at halftime and outscored the Purple Eagles 41-27 in the second half. The Bison led by as many as 19 points and finished the game shooting 50% (27 of 54) from the floor.
After matching a school record with 21 made 3-pointers in a 113-52 win over Lebanon Valley, Bucknell pounded the ball inside in this one to the tune of a 40-20 edge in points in the paint. The Bison did hit seven threes in 15 attempts, including 6-for-11 in the second half as the inside game opened things up on the perimeter a bit more as the game progressed.
Bucknell turned 12 Niagara turnovers into 17 points, and the Bison finished with a 34-26 rebounding advantage.

Notable Numbers

Bucknell's 21 made 3-pointers against Lebanon Valley are the second-most by any Division I team so far this season.

3FG Made in a Game, 2022-23 Season
   Team No. Opponent
1.  Cornell      22   SUNY-Delhi, 11/10/22
2.  Bucknell 21   Lebanon Valley, 11/7/22
3.  Bryant 19   Thomas, 11/7/22
   Eastern Kentucky   19   Miami Middletown, 11/7/22
   Western Kentucky   19   Kentucky State, 11/12/22

Even though four starters are returning, Bucknell's shot distribution will look different this season. The graduated Andrew Funk accounted for 27.5% of the team's field-goal attempts and 24.8% of the team's points a year ago.
Bucknell struggled defensively last season, and a big reason was an inability to create turnovers. Opponents committed only 9.6 miscues per game in 2021-22. That coupled with some rebounding troubles meant that opponents attempted 248 more field goals and 107 more 3-pointers.
Bucknell was excellent at the free-throw line last season, hitting at a 76.5% clip. That was the best mark in the Patriot League and 23rd-best in all of Division I basketball.
Xander Rice led the free-throw parade, hitting 88.4% (122-138) to rank first in the Patriot League and 20th in the nation. That was also the third-best mark in team history. Josh Adoh (20-22) and Elvin Edmonds IV (36-40) both hit the 90% mark at the stripe but did not have enough attempts to qualify for the league leaders.
Rice also shot 42.4% from the 3-point arc to rank fifth in the Patriot League.
Alex Timmerman ranked second in the league in field-goal percentage at 59.9%, which was the eighth-best figure in team history.
Bucknell currently ranks fourth in the nation in effective field-goal percentage, which is an adjusted field-goal percentage that accounts for the added worth of a 3-pointer.

NCAA Team Leaders, Effective Field-Goal Percentage (FG + 0.5 * 3P) / FGA)
1. Penn State .709
2. Coastal Carolina .700
3. Bryant .676
4. Bucknell .669
5. James Madison .665

While the Bison have put up some gaudy offensive numbers thus far, they have also limited their first two opponents to 51.0 ppg on 33.0% shooting. The 102 points allowed is the fewest in the first two games of a season since 1948-49, when Bucknell opened with a 46-44 win over Susquehanna and a 66-44 win over Franklin & Marshall.

Who's Got Next?

The Bison will head south following the Saint Peter's game. Up next are three games in the Greenlight Sunshine Slam, starting with a campus-site game on Friday at Georgia. That game will be televised on the SEC Network at 7 p.m.
After the Georgia game, the team will bus to Savannah for an overnight stay and a Saturday practice at Savannah State. The Bison will then continue on down to Daytona Beach, where they will play games on Monday and Tuesday at the Ocean Center.
Bucknell's first opponent in Daytona Beach is Presbyterian on Monday at 2 p.m. Austin Peay and UAlbany are the other two teams in the Ocean Bracket. On Tuesday, the Bison will either play in the championship at noon or the consolation game at 8:30 p.m. Both games in Daytona will be streamed on FloSports.

Men's Hoops Heads to Saint Peter's for Tuesday Tilt

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Players Mentioned

Josh Adoh

Elvin Edmonds IV

Ian Motta

Xander Rice

Andre Screen

Alex Timmerman

Jake van der Heijden

Men's Hoops Heads to Saint Peter's for Tuesday Tilt

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Next Event

Players Mentioned

Josh Adoh

Elvin Edmonds IV

Ian Motta

Xander Rice

Andre Screen

Alex Timmerman

Jake van der Heijden

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