Men's Basketball Entertains Lehigh Thursday Night

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Bucknell and Lehigh square off Thursday night at Sojka Pavilion, with both teams searching for their first Patriot League victory. The Bison have fallen on the road at Holy Cross and at home against Boston University, while Lehigh's conference losses have come on the road at Army and at home to Colgate.

After Bucknell defeated Lehigh all four times in the COVID-modified 2020-21 season, the Mountain Hawks flipped the script and averaged 91.5 points in two wins over the Bison last season. Lehigh hit 32 3-pointers in those two contests, including 18 in 34 attempts in the game at Sojka Pavilion. Bucknell has been much better defensively this season, however, and is giving up about 13 fewer points per game as compared to a year ago. Bucknell's recent issues have come at the offensive end of the floor. After ranking among the national leaders in field goal and 3-point percentage throughout the first six weeks of the season, the Bison have shot only 36.6 percent overall and 22.1 percent from the arc in the last three games.

Xander Rice continues to pace the Bison in scoring at 15.1 points per game, which is the third-best mark in the Patriot League. Rice is also fifth in assists at 4.0 per game, and his 2-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio is second-best in the league. Alex Timmerman averages 11.3 ppg after scoring a team-high 14 against Boston University on Monday.

Keith Higgins Jr., who scored 26 points in Lehigh's win in Sojka Pavilion last season, paces the Mountain Hawks this year at 14.0 ppg. Evan Taylor (13.5) and Tyler Whitney-Sidney (12.2) also score in double figures for a guard-oriented Lehigh offense.

GAME DIGEST
What: Lehigh (5-8, 0-2 PL) at Bucknell (7-8, 0-2 PL)
Where: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
When: Thursday, Jan. 5, 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 Lehigh, Bucknell Would ...
u... snap a four-game losing streak and improve to 8-8 overall and 1-2 in the Patriot League.
u... improve to 5-2 at home this season.
u... improve to 147-38 against Patriot League opponents at Sojka Pavilion.
u... snap a two-game series losing streak to the Mountain Hawks.

Headlines

Two teams looking to shake recent slides square off on Thursday night when Lehigh visits Bucknell at Sojka Pavilion. The Bison have dropped four straight and five of their last six after a 7-4 start, while the Mountain Hawks have lost three in a row and six of their last seven on the heels of a four-game winning streak.
Both teams started Patriot League in play in similar fashion last Friday. Bucknell erased an 18-point deficit at Holy Cross only to fall 60-58. Lehigh came from 21 down to take a late lead at Army, only to fall 80-78. Both teams then lost home games to Boston University and Colgate, respectively, on Monday.
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 five contests, however, the Bison have struggled at the offensive end.

Bucknell Offense
   PPG    FG%   3FG%
First 9 Games    75.6   .509   .399
Last 5 Games    60.2   .404   .295
Last 3 Games 56.3   .366   .221

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 15.1 ppg. Rice has scored in double figures in every game this season and 16 straight dating back to last year.

2022-23 Patriot League Scoring Leaders
1. Gerrale Gates, Holy Cross    17.1
2. Tucker Richardson, Colgate   15.5
3. Xander Rice, Bucknell 15.1
4. Walter Whyte, Boston U.   14.5
5. Jalen Rucker, Army 14.4
6. Keith Higgins Jr., Lehigh 14.0

After starting the season with losses at Syracuse and Virginia Tech, Lehigh won four straight games to improve to 4-2 on the season. Dating back to an 80-76 win over Monmouth on Nov. 27, however, Lehigh is 1-6 with the lone win coming against Division III St. Elizabeth.
The Mountain Hawks feature a guard-oriented lineup featuring senior Evan Taylor (13.5 ppg), who posted a team-high 19 points against Colgate on Monday, and a pair of talented sophomores in Keith Higgins Jr. (14.0 ppg) and Tyler Whitney-Sidney (12.2 ppg). Higgins scored a career-high 28 points at Army last week. That trio has accounted for 56.1% of Lehigh's scoring on the season.
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.

How to Get the Game

Thursday's game will stream live on ESPN+, with "Voice of the Bison" Doug Birdsong and former Bucknell assistant coach Joe Meehan describing the action.
Kevin Foedinger will have the local radio call on The Valley 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 BucknellBison.com.
Follow @Bucknell_MBB for in-game updates on Twitter.

Bucknell vs. Lehigh Series Notes

Bucknell has played more games (182) and won more games (111) against Lehigh than any other school. The Bison have a 111-71 lead in a series that originated in 1902.
Since the start of Patriot League play in 1990-91, Bucknell holds a 51-25 advantage, including a 29-9 mark at home.
Lehigh is responsible for snapping Bucknell's 35-game home winning streak against Patriot League foes. The Bison had not lost to a conference opponent at Sojka Pavilion in nearly five years, until the Mountain Hawks won 56-54 in Lewisburg on Jan. 30, 2008.
Lehigh also won the first game ever played in Sojka Pavilion, a 60-56 decision on Jan. 15, 2003. Including that game, Bucknell is 15-8 against the Mountain Hawks in Sojka.
Bucknell is 7-3 against Lehigh in Patriot League Tournament action, including an 81-65 win in the 2017 championship game.
The Bison went 4-0 against Lehigh during the COVID-modified 2020-21 season, as the two teams played four times in the same campaign for the first time.
Lehigh returned the favor by sweeping both games last season. Bucknell could not slow down a Lehigh offense that was clicking at the time, as the Mountain Hawks hit 32 of 58 3-point shots and tallied 183 points in the two contests.
In last year's first meeting, Lehigh handed the Bison their most one-sided loss ever in Sojka Pavilion with a 97-64 verdict. The Mountain Hawks made 18 3-pointers — the most ever by a visiting team in Sojka — with Keith Higgins Jr. and Evan Taylor accounting for 11 of them. Higgins had a huge night for Lehigh with 26 points, nine assists and five rebounds. Andre Screen led the Bison with 17 points.
In the rematch at Stabler Arena, the Bison built a five-point halftime lead, but Lehigh went 9-for-13 from the arc in the second half and pulled away late for an 86-77 win. Center Nic Lynch, who hit three dagger 3-pointers late in the game, tallied 19 points and 11 rebounds for Lehigh. Andrew Funk had 24 points and Screen logged 16 with eight rebounds for the Bison.

Notable Numbers

Through 15 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 third in 3-point defense.

   Scoring Defense   Opp. FG%    Opp 3FG%
2021-22     79.4     .466 .373
2022-23    66.6 .402 .327

Bucknell has held nine of its 15 opponents under 40% from the field this season. Saint Peter's (.516), La Salle (.500), Richmond (.500), Rutgers (.493), Holy Cross (.433), and Boston University (.436) are the only teams to hit better than 40% against the Bison this season, and Bucknell is 0-6 in those games.
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 27 Division I players — and the only one from the Patriot League — 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

Alex Timmerman scored eight of his team-high 14 points in the first half as Bucknell built a 38-30 halftime advantage, but Boston University used a 30-12 run to open the second half to defeat the Bison 69-61 Monday afternoon at Sojka Pavilion.
Xander Rice joined Timmerman in double figures with 10 points, notching his 16th consecutive game with at least 10 points.
Jonas Harper led the Terriers with 17 points, while Walter Whyte added 13 points, eight rebounds, and four assists.
It was a tale of two halves for the Bison, who shot 51.9% from the field in the opening 20 minutes. Back-to-back 3-pointers by Jake van der Heijden and Jack Forrest capped a 17-4 run and gave Bucknell a 21-11 lead. The Bison led by as many as 13 at 38-25 after two Andre Screen free throws with 1:44 left, but the Terriers scored the last five points of the half to pull within eight and then dominated the first 13 minutes of the second half.

Who's Got Next?

Bucknell has another quick turnaround with a Sunday afternoon road contest coming up on Sunday at Lafayette.
Like Bucknell and Lehigh, the Leopards are off to an 0-2 start in Patriot League play and travel to Boston University on Thursday night before hosting the Bison.
Remarkably, all three of last season's Bucknell-Lafayette games went to overtime. The teams split the two regular-season meetings, and then the Bison won 82-81 in Easton in the Patriot League Tournament first round.
Bucknell will see an old friend on Sunday, as former Bison standout Cameron Ayers '14 is now a member of the Lafayette coaching staff. Ayers was the 2014 Patriot League Player of the Year and was a key member of Bucknell's 2011 and 2013 PL championship squads.

Men's Basketball Entertains Lehigh Thursday Night

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jack Forrest

Andrew Funk

Xander Rice

Andre Screen

Alex Timmerman

Jake van der Heijden

Men's Basketball Entertains Lehigh Thursday Night

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jack Forrest

Andrew Funk

Xander Rice

Andre Screen

Alex Timmerman

Jake van der Heijden

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