Men's Basketball Opens Three-Game Homestand Friday vs. Columbia

GAME DIGEST
What: Columbia (2-1) at Bucknell (0-3)
When: Friday, Nov. 13, 7 p.m.
Where: Sojka Pavilion, Lewisburg, Pa.
Watch: ESPN+
Listen: Eagle 107 and BucknellBison.com
Live Stats: BucknellBison.com
Tickets:Single-game and season tickets on sale!
COMPLETE GAME NOTES

Happenings

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LEWISBURG, Pa. -- Bucknell opens a three-game homestand when Columbia visits Sojka Pavilion on Friday evening. The game will stream live on ESPN+, with local radio coverage on Eagle 107. The Bison and Lions both have storied histories dating back well over a century, but they have met only eight times on the hardwood and not since 2015. While Columbia comes to town with a two-game winning streak, the Bison are searching for their first win after facing Maryland, Old Dominion, and No. 6 Virginia over the season's first eight days.

The Bison on Tuesday night ran into a Virginia team that appears to be an early title contender. The Cavaliers were coming off a blowout win over No. 12 Arkansas, and then they jumped out to a quick 11-0 lead against Bucknell and never looked back en route to a 95-61 win. Bucknell was in the game for most of the first half against Maryland and well into the second half against Old Dominion, but big runs by the opponent changed the complexion. At Maryland, the Bison led 25-23 with seven minutes left in the half, but the Terrapins closed the half on a 21-5 run and then outscored Bucknell 52-37 in the second. Against ODU, the game was tied at 43 with 12 minutes to go before the Monarchs went on a long-range shooting barrage and finished the game on a 39-19 run.

Aleksander Pachucki has scored in double figures in all three games thus far and brings a team-best 15.3 ppg scoring average into the Columbia game. Pachucki went 7-for-11 from the 3-point arc on the way to a career-high 23 points against Maryland, and he leads the Patriot League and ranks 26th nationally with 4.0 made threes per game. Luca Soroa Schaller and Rocco Lamuno are also averaging in double figures at 10.0 ppg. Soroa Schaller led the way with a career-high 17 points against Old Dominion, while Lamuno recorded 12 points against both Maryland and Virginia.

Luke Soden, who like Lamuno came to Bucknell this season from the Divison II ranks, notched a season-best 12 points at Virginia thanks to 4-for-5 shooting from long range. Freshman Mert Kocagozoglu scored the first five points of his career in Charlottesville. The Bison have 44 assists on 61 made field goals this season. That 72.1% rate ranks 17th nationally. Bucknell ranks 26th nationally in percentage of field goal attempts taken from beyond the 3-point arc. Of their 161 attempts, 88 (54.7%) have come from long range.

Meanwhile, the Lions are playing on the road for the first time this season after going 2-1 on their opening homestand. Columbia bounced back from an 84-71 loss to Elon with wins over SUNY Old Westbury (120-58) and Stonehill (75-55). In their most recent game against Stonehill on Monday, Columbia trailed 36-34 at the half before outscoring the Skyhawks 41-19 over the final 20 minutes. Gerard O'Keefe paced the Lions with 22 points, while Hampton Sanders scored 14 off the bench. Connor Igoe, the reigning Ivy League Rookie of the Year, tallied nine points and 12 rebounds. Four Lions average double-digit points through three games, led by O'Keefe at 16.0 ppg. Josiah Cunningham comes in at 11.0 ppg, followed by Igoe (10.7) and Josh Pratt (10.3).

Columbia is shooting 48.5% from the field, 36.4% from 3-point range, and 73.8% from the foul line. Kevin Hovde debuted as head coach of the Lions last season and led the team to 16 wins and its first winning record in 10 years. This year's team was picked to finish sixth in the Ivy League preseason poll.

Bucknell's all-time series with Columbia is knotted at 4-4. The first two meetings were neutral-site games as part of in-season tournaments. On Nov. 26, 1994, Columbia defeated Bucknell 63-58 in the consolation game of the Pepsi/Marist Classic. That was the second game of Hall-of-Fame coach Pat Flannery's tenure at Bucknell. On Nov. 29, 2002, the Bison beat the Lions 61-47 in the first round of the Red Auerbach Colonial Classic in Washington, D.C. The Bison went on to drop a three-point game to host George Washington in the championship the following day. The 2012 clash at Levien Gymnasium in New York City was a memorable one for the Bison, who rallied from 17 points down to defeat Columbia 65-57. Mike Muscala turned in one of the best games of his career with 29 points and 19 rebounds. Brian Barbour scored 19 to lead the Lions, who went on a 21-0 run in the first half.

Columbia has won the last two clashes, with the most recent a 72-61 decision at Sojka Pavilion in 2015-16. Maodo Lo paced Columbia with 23 points. Nana Foulland scored 13 points and Zach Thomas recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Both teams shot under 40% from the field in the defensive struggle, but the difference came at the 3-point arc. Columbia hit 11 of 26 attempts from long distance, with Lo (4-6) and reserve forward Luke Petrasek (4-5) combining to go 8-for-11, while the Bison were just 3-for-24. Bucknell's last win was also a defensive struggle, 57-52 at home in 2013-14. Brian Fitzpatrick tallied a game-high 16 points, Chris Hass hit the tying and go-ahead free throws as part of a 14-point night, and Cameron Ayers registered a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds to lead Bucknell. Cory Osetkowski had 12 points for the Lions.

Bucknell's 2013 win over Columbia was also the last time the Bison defeated a team from the Ivy League. They have dropped 12 straight to the Ancient Eight since then. Bucknell is 49-58 all-time against the Ivy League, even though it has even or winning records against six of the eight. The Bison are 4-18 against Princeton and 3-6 against Penn, but on the other side of the ledger are 26-24 against Cornell, 4-1 against Dartmouth, 4-3 against Yale, 4-4 against Columbia, 3-1 against Brown, and 1-1 against Harvard.

Bucknell's homestand continues on Tuesday when Akron visits Sojka Pavilion for a 7 p.m. tip. The Zips are 2-0 heading into Saturday's home game with Tulane. They opened with a 75-61 win over Louisiana as part of the MAC-Sun Belt Challenge, and then Akron crushed Muskingum 112-64 on Monday.

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Players Mentioned

Mert Kocagozoglu

Rocco Lamuno

Aleksander Pachucki

Luke Soden

Luca Soroa Schaller

Bucknell University Athletics