Men's Basketball Visits Princeton Tuesday Evening

GAME DIGEST
What: Bucknell (2-0) at Princeton (0-1)
Where: Jadwin Gymnasium
When: Tuesday, Nov. 11, 7 p.m.
Watch: ESPN+
Listen: Eagle 107 and BucknellBison.com
Live Stats: GoPrincetonTigers.com
TICKETS
COMPLETE GAME NOTES

LEWISBURG, Pa. -- After a strong opening week of the season, the Bison look to keep it going on Tuesday night with a road game at Ivy League power Princeton. Bucknell is gunning for its first 3-0 start since 2012-13, when the team started 5-0, and also its fifth straight road win dating back to last season. To do so, the Bison will have to defeat a Princeton team that has been a tough solve through the years. The Tigers have won 17 of the 21 all-time meetings between the two teams, including the last seven in a row.

The Bison debuted last week with wins over Delaware (78-70) at home and Mount St. Mary's (73-62) away. The victory over the Mountaineers came in front of a raucous sellout crowd, as they unveiled their 2025 MAAC championship banner before the game. This will be Bucknell's second straight game against a team playing its home opener. Princeton debuted on the road on Saturday and fell 104-69 at Akron, the reigning MAC champion. Bison fans took note, as Bucknell will play at Akron on Dec. 3.

Sophomore point guard Jayden Williams and freshman center Amon Dörries have been two of the catalysts of Bucknell's strong start, and both earned Patriot League weekly honors on Monday. Williams was selected as the Patriot League Player of the Week, while Dörries was named PL Rookie of the Week. He is Bucknell's first rookie honoree since Deuce Turner on Feb. 2, 2021.

Dörries had an impressive opening week, leading the team in scoring in both wins over Delaware and Mount St. Mary's. In the win over Blue Hens, the 6'11" center from Germany made his first seven field-goal attempts and finished with 20 points and five rebounds in 23 minutes. The 20 points were tied for second-most in team history by a freshman on opening night. On Friday in Emmitsburg, he tallied 15 points on 7-for-14 shooting, and in a critical time in the second half he scored five straight points after the Mount had sliced a 10-point deficit down to one.

Williams has tallied  25 points, 10 rebounds, 11 assists, and only two turnovers in the two Bison wins, and he is 5-for-11 from 3-point range. In the Mount St. Mary's game, he beat the halftime buzzer with a three, and later he drilled a dagger pull-up jumper to give the Bison an eight-point lead with 1:15 to go.

Playing on the road in front of a sellout crowd against a 2025 NCAA Tournament team, Bucknell remained composed down the stretch and pulled away late. The Bison had five double-digit scorers and finished the game on a 13-4 run after the Mountaineers had cut a 12-point deficit to two. Dörries scored 15 points to lead the Bison in scoring for the second straight game, and Ruot Bijiek matched him with 15 points and six rebounds. Williams had a sensational game with 12 points, six rebounds, five assists, and no turnovers. Achile Spadone (11) and Pat Curtin (10) also scored in double figures to help the Bison get out to a 2-0 start for the second straight year.

This game followed a similar script as the season-opening 78-70 win over Delaware. Bucknell led for the majority of the game (31:57) and never relinquished the lead after the opponent cut a double-digit margin down to two. Bucknell shot 43.1% from the field and went 8-for-22 from the 3-point line and 15-for-23 from the charity stripe. Mount St. Mary's finished at 39.2% overall, 4-for-25 from deep, and 18-for-25 from the foul line. A big key to the game was turnovers, as the Bison finished with a +11 margin. Bucknell committed only four miscues all night — all in the second half — against a high-pressure defense.

Bijiek, who played in his 100th career game on Friday at Mount St. Mary's, is off to a strong start with 29 points and a team-high 13 rebounds in two games. Bijiek is 5-for-11 from 3-point range and 6-for-6 from the foul line. He also led the team in scoring with 15 points in the exhibition game at Louisville.

Princeton finished 19-11 overall and 8-6 in the Ivy League last season. The Tigers dropped a close 59-57 decision to eventual-champion Yale in the Ivy semifinals. Junior guard Dalen Davis is the team's top returning scorer after the Tigers lost their top three point-producers from last season. Davis averaged 9.2 ppg last season. Princeton had a tough day at Akron in its season opener on Saturday, but Jackson Hicke led the team with 15 points, while Davis had 11.

The last meeting between the two teams came on Nov. 29, 2023, when Princeton rallied for an 85-71 win at Sojka Pavilion. The Bison played very well for 30 minutes, but the Tigers hit 12 straight shots over a 10-minute stretch and ended the game on a 28-6 run. Jack Forrest scored 21 points to lead Bucknell, which led by as many as 11 in the second half. Matt Allocco and Caden Pierce scored 22 each for the Tigers. It was a well-played game throughout, with the teams combining to shoot better than 50 percent from the field, 40 percent from 3-point range, and 80 percent from the free-throw line. There were just 14 combined turnovers and 32 total assists. Princeton had 20 assists with only four turnovers, and Bucknell logged 12 assists with 10 turnovers, but eight of those miscues came in the second half as the Tigers held the Bison to only two field goals in the game's final 9:40.

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. Bucknell led 15-13 at the half but was held to just three free throws in the second half. That was one of only two losses in a 12-2 season for Bucknell.

Bucknell next hosts Hofstra on Friday night. The Pride will bring a 1-2 record into Sojka Pavilion. After starting the year with road losses to UCF (82-78) and Iona (81-73), they routed Molloy 95-61 in their home opener on Monday.

The 2025-26 Bucknell men's basketball season is presented by Aspire Wealth Group.

Men's Basketball Visits Princeton Tuesday Evening

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Players Mentioned

Ruot Bijiek

Pat Curtin

Achile Spadone

Jayden Williams