Bucknell Basketball

After a hiccup last year that resulted in a loss to Lehigh in the Patriot League title game, Bucknell is headed back to the NCAA Tournament.

The Bison beat the Lafayette Leopards 64-56 at their home gym, the Sojka Pavilion.

Bucknell was the best team in the Patriot League during the regular season, going 12-2 in the conference while amassing an impressive 28 victories overall.

The win the conference championship game not only sends the team to the Big Dance for the first time since 2011, but it also avenges the last loss the Bison suffered back on February 16th.

In that game, Lafayette guard Tony Johnson hit a jumper with six seconds left on the clock to beat Bucknell by a score of 63-62.

This time around, Dave Paulsen’s team was ready for Johnson. The Leopards’ second-leading scorer, who was averaging well above his 13.4 points per game average during the Patriot League Tournament, was held to just 11 points on 4 of 12 shooting.

On the offensive end, the Bison relied on their big center Mike Muscala to carry them to victory as he has done much of the season.

The 6’11” senior, who is fourth in the nation in rebounding averaging 11.2 boards per game, came through with his 22nd double-double of the season. Muscala finished the game with 20 points and 11 rebounds.

Now that the Bison have secured their tournament berth, they can relax for a few days before focusing on their next opponent. But chances are Coach Paulsen’s team will have their work cut out for them next week.

Since 2005, Bucknell has made three NCAA Tournament appearances. Two of those times, they were awarded a No. 14 seed.

Somewhat surprisingly, the Bison have done relatively well in the NCAA Tournament despite receiving low seeds. Bucknell shocked Kansas as a No. 14 seed in 2005, and then beat Arkansas as a No. 9 seed the next year.

This year, the Bison may be compensated for their solid overall record and gritty post play. ESPN bracketologist Joe Lunardi currently has Bucknell as a No. 13 seed in his latest projections.

As dominating as Muscala has been, it will be interesting to see how the Bison fare in this year’s tournament, regardless of their seeding.

Early season wins over Purdue and La Salle, as well as a close road loss to Missouri, suggests that the Bucknell could be a very tough out for a higher seed. Plus, the Bison have a decent amount of tournament experience.

In addition to Muscala, two other senior starters (Bryson Johnson and Joe Willman) were with the team when they took on Connecticut in the 2011 NCAA Tournament. Bucknell lost to the eventual national champions 81-52.

With a trio of senior leaders, the team would like to get back to their winning ways in the Big Dance.

Tonight was a step in the right direction, because at the very least Bucknell has assured itself a shot at doing just that.

Around seven o'clock on Sunday evening (although to be fair, I was flying across the country on zero hours of sleep and would have believed it was 3 AM had someone presented the assertion with enough confidence), I watched the beginning of the end of the 2011 Connecticut Huskies' season.

Rece Davis of ESPN asked Kemba Walker on-air (along with Jimmer Fredette and Nolan Smith) if he knew the nickname of the institution his team would be facing in the first game of the NCAA Tournament.

Kemba laughed and looked off-camera, hoping that one of his teammates would provide him with the answer, then quizzically said, "Bucknell...?" as if the school was such an afterthought in the National Player of the Year candidate's mind that the Bison didn't deserve a nickname.

I don't blame him for being caught unaware. Heck, If I were the guy who single-handedly carried Connecticut to the 2011 Big East Tournament championship, I would hardly be able to remember a school like Rutgers' nickname (that would be the Scarlet Knights for those of you scoring at home), let alone a university in Central Pennsylvania with a student body hovering around 4,000.

In any case, for the sake of intriguing parallels, and because the potent scent of March Madness infiltrates even the lungs of those who think basketball involves home runs and touchdowns, let's travel all the way back to 2006.

Gerry McNamara, then a senior at Syracuse University, had just completed the greatest four-day stretch in the history of the Big East Tournament.

Syracuse won the conference title due to McNamara's three game-winning plays (each of which caused yours truly plenty of heartache in the process), thereby changing the postseason fortunes of the 2006 Syracuse Orange from a probable No. 2 seed in the NIT to a No. 5 seed in the NCAA Tournament.

Not only did McNamara change his team's destiny and the narrative of his college career in what seemed like a nanosecond, but his heroics caused many analysts on ESPN and CBS to predict a Final Four run for Syracuse based off of the momentum gained by those wins at Madison Square Garden.

Does this narrative sound vaguely familiar yet?

Once Kemba Walker and the Huskies finished the job on Saturday night by winning five games in five days to capture the Big East Tournament, I became convinced that Connecticut would fall in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament.

Meanwhile, talking heads at those aforementioned networks gushed over UConn with words like "momentum" and phrases such as "team on a mission," confidently predicting a prolonged run in the NCAA's for the Huskies.

For the record, I will start taking these analysts' views more seriously once they stop spending each season informing viewers ad nauseam that the NCAA Tournament will be "wide open," only to then predict four No. 1 seeds to reach the Final Four. But I digress.

I consider myself a student of (recent) history, and the parallels to Gerry McNamara's Syracuse team, upset by Texas A&M 66-58 in the opening round of the 2006 NCAA Tournament, seem too perfect to ignore.

Connecticut in 2011 is a team without depth that relies on a single scorer to make everything happen for its offense. When that one playmaker runs out of gas (after a week-long tournament, for example), the team is in loads of trouble.

Connecticut won the Maui Invitational Tournament way back in November, defeating Kentucky and Michigan State in the process, because Kemba Walker put on a show eerily similar to the masterpiece he orchestrated at Madison Square Garden this past week.

The first game after the tournament in Hawai'i though, UConn survived a rather terrible New Hampshire team 62-55 at home. If you don't believe that UConn sleepwalked through this game, I invite you to read the recap.

Now we arrive at the part of the show when I divulge my allegiances; I am a graduate of Bucknell University who attended the school during the four-year window in which the basketball team did not make the NCAA Tournament (Kansas and Arkansas fans may remember 2005 and 2006, respectively). To say I was bitter about the lack of success between 2006 and 2010 would be putting it mildly.

Nonetheless, Mike Muscala, Bryson Johnson and the rest of the Bucknell Bison convinced me early this season that it was the type of mid-major team (a generous title given the atrocious state of the Patriot League) that could pull off an upset in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.

Bucknell is an experienced group with both the inside and outside presence to give a team that would prefer to coast through its opening game—i.e. a major program coming off of a conference tournament championship—headaches.

Unfortunately for the Bison and its faithful, that is as far as a homer can go as far as putting forth an analytic argument assessing Bucknell's chances of advancing.

But the NCAA Tournament has never been decided by analytic arguments. Upsets happen when talented yet limited teams like Connecticut fold under the pressure of expectations, fatigue built over weeks and months of stellar competition, and a dwindling clock that acts as a catalyst for the underdog's confidence when the game remains close.

If Bucknell upsets the Connecticut Huskies on Thursday night in Washington, D.C., I expect my alma mater to throw me a bone for providing them with the opening moments of the inspirational video chronicling the team's journey to the Round of 32 and beyond (I know I'm pushing it, but what's a team without dreams?).

Can't you just hear the crescendo of the music in the background as Kemba Walker looks around in slow motion, unaware even of Bucknell's nickname?

Lafeyette has already pulled off a pair of upsets to become the lowest seed to ever make the Patriot League Championship Game. With a win, the Leopards would be able to set one more record.

To get to this point, the Leopards won a pair of road games against No. 3 seed Holy Cross and No. 2 seed American. The win over American was won in true Cinderella fashion, with the Leopards winning on a three-pointer with a half-second remaining in double overtime.

They look to go to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2000.

For Bucknell, it has not been the easiest road to the championship game. Although the Bison took care of Army easily in the quarterfinals, they were taken down to the wire by Lehigh, winning 66-64.

Bucknell has not been to the NCAA Tournament since 2006, when the Bison advanced to the round of 32.

In the regular season, Lafayette took Bucknell into overtime when the Leopards hosted. When Bucknell had the home court, the Bison won 75-56. Regardless of the scoring margins, Bucknell swept Lafayette in the 2010-11 season.

Here is a preview for Friday's championship game, breaking down what each team has to do in order to win.

Keys for Lafayette

Defensive focus on the perimeter

Bucknell is the best three-point shooting team in the Patriot League at 45 percent. To the Bison's advantage, Lafayette's opponents shoot 44.7 percent from beyond the arc, ranking second to last in the Patriot League.

If Lafayette does not defend the three-point shot better than its average, it could be a field day for Bucknell.

Share the basketball

For Lafayette, this means two things.

First off, the Leopards average 15 assists per game, a Patriot League best. In their double overtime win over American earlier this week, the Leopards had 16 assists.

Second, Lafayette needs to get multiple players scoring. The Leopards thrive off of having multiple players who can score. They have three players averaging in double digits and four more players averaging five or more points per game.

Make your free throws. 

Lafayette is the second best free throw shooting team in the Patriot League.

In a championship game, free throws always become crucial, especially when you are on the road visiting a superior team. Taking advantage of free throw opportunities will be huge for Lafayette if the Leopards are going to pull off the upset.

Keys for Bucknell

Work it in to Muscala

Mike Muscala is the main part of the Bucknell team. The sophomore can use his size to his advantage against Lafayette, which is not strong in the defensive post. Muscala is coming off a strong performance against Lehigh, and the Bison should look to establish his presence early against the Leopards.

Control the glass

Lafayette is not a great rebounding team, but when the Leopards win the rebounding battle, they tend to play much better and have better results. When Bucknell blew out Lafayette in the first meeting between the two squads, the Bison outrebounded the Leopards 36-22.

If the Bison are not strong on the glass, it will just be a gift to Lafayette that would increase their chances of winning.

Make your free throws

Just as free throws will be huge for Lafayette, they will be huge for Bucknell.

If things play out as expected, Bucknell will most likely have a comfortable but small lead in the second half. If the Bison can make their free throws down the stretch, they should be able to come out as winners in the end.

Players to watch for

For Lafayette, look for Jared Mintz.

Mintz is a 6'9" senior who leads the Leopards in scoring with 15.8 PPG. The big man is a consistent scorer and has reached double digits in all but two games this year. Through the first two games of the Patriot League tournament, Mintz is averaging 15.0 PPG and 6.5 RPG.

Mike Muscala is undoubtedly the player to watch for on Bucknell.

Muscala may be a little goofy looking, but the 6'11" sophomore knows how to play basketball. This season, he is averaging 14.8 PPG and 7.5 RPG. In the quarterfinals he had 11 points and seven rebounds, and in the semifinals he posted a double-double against Lehigh with 17 points and 10 rebounds.

In Sum

Lafayette is a solid team, and it is always hard to root against an underdog. However, Bucknell is simply too good this year for any basically any team in the Patriot League to touch. The Bison are a step above the rest of the conference, and they will not be stopped in the championship game.

On a neutral site, Lafayette would stand a better chance in this game. However, this game is hosted by Bucknell, and the Bison have only lost once at home in the 2010-11 season. That loss came to Wagner back in November, and the Bison have won 12 straight home games since then.

My final pick: Bucknell 69, Lafayette 61

Tip-Off: Friday, Mar. 11, 4:45 PM EST on ESPN2 

Follow Jesse Kramer on Twitter @Jesse_Kramer for more college basketball news and information.