Men's Basketball Home Wednesday vs. Loyola

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- The Bucknell men's basketball team looks to put an end to a frustrating start to Patriot League play when Loyola pays a visit to Sojka Pavilion on Wednesday evening. The Bison got out to a 7-4 start before wrapping up the non-league portion of the schedule with road losses to Richmond and Rutgers, two very talented teams. But the first four games of the conference slate have not gone Bucknell's way. The Bison made spirited comebacks against Holy Cross and Lehigh, only to fall just short in the end. Against Boston University and Lafayette, some terrific stretches resulted in double-digit leads, only for the opposition to come from behind and steal the verdicts.

Bucknell will try to break through against a Loyola team that is also seeking a turnaround. The Greyhounds are 0-4 in Patriot League play and have dropped eight of nine since the start of December. Even though Loyola lost standout guard Cam Spencer to the transfer portal -- the Bison recently faced him at Rutgers -- the Greyhounds still feature a talented and experienced backcourt led by graduate students Jaylin Andrews and Kenneth Jones. Loyola is known for its ability to force turnovers, and the last time these two teams met at Sojka Pavilion, Bucknell had to overcome 20 turnovers in an 82-80 overtime win.

Xander Rice continues to lead Bucknell in scoring (15.3) and assists (4.1). Alex Timmerman has been terrific in league play, averaging 18.8 points and 8.0 rebounds, highlighted by a 27-point, 10-rebound effort against Lehigh.

GAME DIGEST
What: Loyola (5-12, 0-4 PL) at Bucknell (7-10, 0-4 PL)
Where: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
When: Wednesday, Jan. 11, 7 p.m.
Streaming: ESPN+
Local Radio: The Valley (100.9 FM)
Internet Audio: BucknellBison.com
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com
TICKETS
COMPLETE GAME NOTES
DIGITAL GAME PROGRAM

With a Win over Loyola, Bucknell Would ...

... snap a six-game losing streak and improve to 8-10 overall and 1-4 in the Patriot League.
... improve to 21-5 all-time against the Greyhounds.
... defeat the Greyhounds at home for the 10th straight time.
... improve to 147-39 against Patriot League opponents at Sojka Pavilion.

Headlines

Bucknell and Loyola are the two remaining teams still searching for their first Patriot League win, and the Bison and Greyhounds square off on Wednesday night at Sojka Pavilion.
Bucknell is looking to bounce back from a frustrating loss at Lafayette on Sunday. The Bison appeared to be in control with an 11-point lead with 11 minutes to play. They were shooting 61% from the field at the time, but then finished 1-for-18, including 0-for-6 in overtime, in a 74-67 setback.
After a strong offensive start to the season, the Bison have slumped in recent games. Bucknell shot 50% or better in seven of the first nine games and ranked in the top 10 nationally in field-goal percentage and 3-point percentage. Over the last eight contests, however, the Bison have struggled at the offensive end.

Bucknell Offense
   PPG    FG%   3FG%
First 9 Games 75.6   .509   .399
Last 8 Games 63.0   .420   .301
Patriot League Games   62.5   .412   .218

Senior Alex Timmerman is coming off an outstanding week. In two games last week against Lehigh and Lafayette, he tallied 43 points and 19 rebounds while shooting 66.7% from the field. Against Lehigh, Timmerman pocketed a career-high 27 points, 21 coming in the second half, to go along with 10 rebounds and three assists. He hit a 3-pointer late in the game and finished 12-for-18 from the field. Timmerman joined some elite company among Bison who have recorded at least 27 points and 10 rebounds in a game. In the last 12 years, the only others to do it were Mike Muscala (seven times), Zach Thomas (five times), and John Meeks (twice).
On the season, Timmerman is now averaging 12.5 points and a team-best 6.8 rebounds per game. He is the Patriot League's second-leading rebounder while ranking 12th in scoring and seventh in field-goal percentage (.537). Timmerman is averaging 18.8 points and 8.0 rebounds per game in league play, both of which rank third in the conference.
Senior Xander Rice has upped his scoring output in his senior season and comes into the game as the Patriot League's third-leading scorer at 15.3 ppg. Rice has scored in double figures in every game this season and 18 straight dating back to last year.

2022-23 Patriot League Scoring Leaders
1. Gerrale Gates, Holy Cross   17.4
2. Jalen Rucker, Army 16.1
3. Xander Rice, Bucknell   15.3
4. Tucker Richardson, Colgate   15.0
5. Walter Whyte, Boston U. 15.0

Loyola is looking to shake a four-game losing streak and an eight-game skid against Division I opponents. The Greyhounds started the season 5-4 but are just 1-8 since the start of December, with the lone win coming against Goucher, 99-58.
Tavaras Hardy's team has featured balanced scoring this season, with eight players averaging between 5.2 and 11.0 points per game. Jaylin Andrews leads the way at 11.0 ppg, and Kenneth Jones also scores in double figures at 10.9 ppg. The Greyhounds are adept at turning teams over, as they rank second in the Patriot League in steals at 7.6 per game, but they also commit a league-high 15.1 turnovers per game of their own.
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 finished 9-23 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.

How to Get the Game

The Bucknell-Loyola game will be streamed on ESPN+. Doug Birdsong, who is in his 23rd season as the "Voice of the Bison", will be joined by former Bison assistant coach Joe Meehan on the call.
Kevin Foedinger will handle the local radio broadcast 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 BucknellBison.com.
Follow @Bucknell_MBB for in-game updates on Twitter.

Bucknell vs. Loyola Series Notes

The Bison and Greyhounds have met 25 times previously. Bucknell leads 20-5 in the series, including a 14-3 mark since Loyola joined the Patriot League in 2013-14.
Bucknell is 9-3 all-time at Loyola's Reitz Arena and 11-2 at home (2-0 in Davis Gym, 9-2 at Sojka Pavilion). Both of the Greyhounds' wins in Sojka Pavilion came before they joined the Patriot League. The Bison have won the last nine in Lewisburg.
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 what was then 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 and Loyola split two meetings last season, with the home team winning both times.
In Baltimore on Jan. 10, Loyola prevailed 71-67 in a game that was not decided until the final seconds. Down 69-67 inside 10 seconds to play, the Bison had an open cutter on the baseline but could not connect on the pass, and Cam Spencer hit two free throws to ice the game. Spencer (26 points) and Andrew Funk (20) — the league's top two scorers — engaged in quite a battle throughout.
In the rematch in Lewisburg, Funk scored 27 of his game-high 34 points after halftime, and Xander Rice went 4-for-4 from the foul line in the final 13 seconds of overtime to lift the Bison to an 82-80 OT win. The game featured 12 ties and 12 lead changes, most of them coming in crunch time. Bucknell shot 53.2% for the game, including a 9-for-21 (.429) showing from the 3-point arc. The Bison were almost done in by turnovers, however, as 20 giveaways led to a remarkable 27-0 edge for Loyola in points off turnovers. Jaylin Andrews led Loyola with 19 points. The Bison limited Spencer to 11 points, but he did have six assists and five steals.

Notable Numbers

Through 16 games in 2022-23, Bucknell has been much-improved defensively over last season, when the Bison struggled to get stops. Bucknell ranks No. 1 in the Patriot League in field-goal percentage defense, second in scoring defense, and fifth in 3-point defense.

   Scoring Defense   Opp. FG%     Opp 3FG%
2021-22     79.4    .466 .373
2022-23 67.4 .411   .336

Bucknell has held nine of its 16 opponents under 40% from the field this season and is 7-2 in those games. Bucknell is 0-8 when the opponent shoots 40% or better.
Xander Rice was named Tournament MVP of the Ocean Bracket at the Sunshine Slam during Thanksgiving Week. On Dec. 18 against Merrimack, he was held to 11 points, but he did hand out nine assists without a turnover. Rice, who ranks third in the Patriot League in assist/TO ratio (2.0), is one of only 34 Division I players — Lafayette's CJ Fulton is the only other Patriot League player to do it — to log nine or more assists with no turnovers in a game this season, and he is only the fourth different Bison to do it in the last 18 years.

Last Time Out

Leo O'Boyle scored 24 points to lead Lafayette to a 74-67 win over Bucknell on Saturday afternoon at Kirby Sports Center. Xander Rice tallied 19 points and Alex Timmerman had 16 and nine rebounds for the Bison, who dropped their sixth straight.
Bucknell and Lafayette went to overtime in all three meetings last season, and the Leopards needed a late rally in this one to make it four in a row. The Bison led 60-49 after a Timmerman layup with 11:29 to play, but then went 1-for-18 from the field the rest of the way, including overtime.
The Leopards received nine points from O'Boyle in a 13-0 run that gave them a 62-60 lead. After an exchange of points, Jack Forrest hit a 3-pointer to end the team's run of 10 straight misses and give them a 65-64 lead with 3:54 to play. Bucknell held Lafayette to just one point over the last five minutes of regulation but couldn't take advantage. Josh Rivera, who had 18 points for Lafayette, split a pair at the line to tie it at 65 with 2:01 left. In the final two minutes, the Bison were called for a charge and had another turnover in the lane, and then Rice, one of the league's top free-throw shooters, had his front end of a 1-and-1 pop out with 26 seconds to play.
Fulton's lefty shot in the lane was off the mark as regulation ended, but Lafayette scored the first six points in overtime to take control. The Bison were 0-for-6 from the field in OT and were outscored 9-2.
The Bison were shooting 60.5% from the field after Timmerman's layup gave them that 11-point lead, but the late drought dropped them to 42.9% for the game. Lafayette also shot 42.9% but went 10-for-28 from the arc to offset a tough day at the foul line (10-21).

Who's Got Next?

After the Loyola game, Bucknell plays its next two on the road against Colgate and Army.
The Bison travel to Hamilton, N.Y., on Saturday afternoon to take on the defending Patriot League champion Raiders. Colgate improved to 4-0 in Patriot League play with a 77-75 win at Army on Monday night.