Tuesday, November 15
Jersey City, N.J.
7 p.m.
Bucknell University
2-1,0-0Patriot
71
at
82
Saint Peter's
2-1,0-0MAAC
1
2
F
Bucknell
35
36
71
Saint Peter's
40
42
82
Photo by: Lianne Garrahan
Men’s Basketball Falls on Road, 82-71 at Saint Peter’s
11/15/2022 9:31:00 PM | Men's Basketball
JERSEY CITY, N.J. – Jaylen Murray, one of the holdovers from the Saint Peter's team that made a run to the Elite Eight last March, recorded 22 points and seven assists to lead the Peacocks to an 82-71 win over visiting Bucknell on Tuesday night at the Yanicelli Center. Xander Rice paced the Bison with 19 points and six assists, and the frontcourt pair of Andre Screen (18) and Alex Timmerman (14) also scored in double figures.
A decided rebounding margin played a big role in Bucknell's first loss of the season. Saint Peter's (2-1) parlayed 14 offensive rebounds into an 18-4 edge in second-chance points. The Bison (2-1) outshot the Peacocks 54.1 percent to 51.6 percent, but Saint Peter's got 20 more looks at the basket. A handful of those offensive boards led to 3-pointers, as the Peacocks hit 11 of 23 from the arc.
There were eight lead changes in a frenetic first half. Nine points from the bench, including four from Josh Bascoe and a trey from Ruot Bijiek, helped the Bison take their largest lead of the half at 23-15. Saint Peter's answered with an 11-1 run, with Murray's 3-pointer giving the Peacocks a 26-24 lead.
That was the first of six straight buckets that resulted in a lead change and the teams traded blows throughout the half. Screen's alley-oop dunk off a lob from Rice tied the game at 35 with 1:15 left, but the Peacocks scored the last five on a Thomas Tut dunk and a late-shot-clock 3-pointer by Murray to go up 40-35 at the break.
The Bison made a concerted effort to find Screen and Timmerman in the low post to start the second half. Three straight buckets by Screen, including a pair of dunks off feeds from Rice, cut Saint Peter's lead to 42-41, but the Bison never could jump in front.
After a spinning bucket in the lane by Mouhamad Sow, the Bison turned the ball over on the inbounds and Corey Washington followed with a layup. Later in the half, the Peacocks used a 14-4 run, capped by a Murray 3-pointer to beat the shot-clock horn, to open up a 65-49 advantage.
The Bison cut the deficit to nine at 78-69 on an off-balance 3-pointer by Rice with 1:23 to go, but they could not get any closer.
Bucknell shot 59.1 percent in the second half and hit the 50-percent mark overall for the third straight game to start the season. The Bison had 14 assists against 11 turnovers and went 6-for-14 from 3-point distance. Bucknell was whistled for only eight fouls in the game and outscored Saint Peter's 17-5 at the free-throw stripe.
The Bison are now 6-10 all-time against teams that advanced at least to the Elite Eight the previous season. Murray, a MAAC All-Rookie selection who scored eight points in Saint Peter's first-round upset of Kentucky, hit four of his six 3-point attempts and also had four rebounds and two steals. Kyle Cardaci added 16 for the Peacocks, hitting 3-for-6 from long range.
The Bison will head south for their next three games, all part of the Greenlight Sunshine Slam. Bucknell will play a campus-site game at Georgia on Friday before playing a pair of games in Daytona Beach, Fla., on Monday and Tuesday.
A decided rebounding margin played a big role in Bucknell's first loss of the season. Saint Peter's (2-1) parlayed 14 offensive rebounds into an 18-4 edge in second-chance points. The Bison (2-1) outshot the Peacocks 54.1 percent to 51.6 percent, but Saint Peter's got 20 more looks at the basket. A handful of those offensive boards led to 3-pointers, as the Peacocks hit 11 of 23 from the arc.
There were eight lead changes in a frenetic first half. Nine points from the bench, including four from Josh Bascoe and a trey from Ruot Bijiek, helped the Bison take their largest lead of the half at 23-15. Saint Peter's answered with an 11-1 run, with Murray's 3-pointer giving the Peacocks a 26-24 lead.
That was the first of six straight buckets that resulted in a lead change and the teams traded blows throughout the half. Screen's alley-oop dunk off a lob from Rice tied the game at 35 with 1:15 left, but the Peacocks scored the last five on a Thomas Tut dunk and a late-shot-clock 3-pointer by Murray to go up 40-35 at the break.
The Bison made a concerted effort to find Screen and Timmerman in the low post to start the second half. Three straight buckets by Screen, including a pair of dunks off feeds from Rice, cut Saint Peter's lead to 42-41, but the Bison never could jump in front.
After a spinning bucket in the lane by Mouhamad Sow, the Bison turned the ball over on the inbounds and Corey Washington followed with a layup. Later in the half, the Peacocks used a 14-4 run, capped by a Murray 3-pointer to beat the shot-clock horn, to open up a 65-49 advantage.
The Bison cut the deficit to nine at 78-69 on an off-balance 3-pointer by Rice with 1:23 to go, but they could not get any closer.
Bucknell shot 59.1 percent in the second half and hit the 50-percent mark overall for the third straight game to start the season. The Bison had 14 assists against 11 turnovers and went 6-for-14 from 3-point distance. Bucknell was whistled for only eight fouls in the game and outscored Saint Peter's 17-5 at the free-throw stripe.
The Bison are now 6-10 all-time against teams that advanced at least to the Elite Eight the previous season. Murray, a MAAC All-Rookie selection who scored eight points in Saint Peter's first-round upset of Kentucky, hit four of his six 3-point attempts and also had four rebounds and two steals. Kyle Cardaci added 16 for the Peacocks, hitting 3-for-6 from long range.
The Bison will head south for their next three games, all part of the Greenlight Sunshine Slam. Bucknell will play a campus-site game at Georgia on Friday before playing a pair of games in Daytona Beach, Fla., on Monday and Tuesday.
Team Stats
Buck
SP
FG%
.545
.516
3FG%
.429
.478
FT%
.680
.625
RB
23
32
TO
11
9
STL
1
8
Game Leaders
Pts
19
FGM
6
3FGM
2
FTM
5
Pts
18
FGM
8
3FGM
0
FTM
2
Pts
14
FGM
3
3FGM
1
FTM
7
Players Mentioned
G
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