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Tuesday, January 23, 2007
The two teams currently tied for second in the league standings meet tonight in Lewisburg while the team they are chasing tries to avoid a trap in snowy Hamilton.
Most fans around the league, at least those who don't bleed Brown and Yellow, would probably tell you Bucknell is the favorite tonight against Lehigh (matchup) -- especially at home in Sojka Pavilion, where the Bison have won 29 straight league games.
Those Lehigh fans would ask, with good reason, why? Take a look at the league's team statistics. You'll have a tough time finding categories where Bucknell ranks ahead of the Mountain Hawks. Lehigh tops the league in scoring offense, field goal percentage and rebounding margin and ranks second in field goal percentage defense.
Bucknell is fourth in scoring defense, seventh in scoring offense, seventh in field goal percentage defense, seventh at both ends of the floor in three-point shooting.
So what makes the Bison the favorite? Bucknell fans might say those stats are skewed by the Bison's tough out of conference schedule. But guess what -- while it did not look as strong on paper prior to the start of the season, the strength of Lehigh's non-conference schedule ranks second in the league (No. 147 nationally), just behind Holy Cross (142). Bucknell (189) is third in the league in that category.
Still, until Lehigh beats Bucknell or Holy Cross on the road, it just is not going to get the respect of the rest of the league's followers. That has been the Mountain Hawks downfall in recent years. The Hawks have not won at Holy Cross since 1998. Their recent history at Bucknell is a little better. Lehigh spoiled the opening of Sojka Pavilion in 2003 with a 60-56 win. But that was the year before Bucknell began offering scholarships.
For Lehigh to move beyond the esoteric world of number crunchers and stats freak and gain mainstream respect as a legitimate contender, it needs to establish superiority of the floor, not the stats sheet. And it needs to win some games on the road.
Thus far that has been tough for the Mountain Hawks. While Lehigh is within a few seconds and a disputed call of being perfect in Stabler Arena, it is also just a win at Navy away from being winless outside of its own concrete shed.
They keys here are the usual ones for both teams. Bucknell needs to exploit what should be a big advantage close to the basket, especially with Lehigh's Jason Mgebroff still sidelined by a stress fracture in his leg. Mgebroff is expected to miss another two to three weeks.
In his stead, sophomore Phil Anderson has been a capable fill-in, but he has yet to face a frontline the quality of Bucknell's. If Chris McNaughton stays out of foul trouble -- anything but a given this season -- the trio of McNaughton, Donald Brown and Darren Mastropaolo give Bucknell a huge edge up front.
Lehigh needs to get Jose Olivero going. The Mountain Hawks leading scorer has been held to single digits three times this season, including two of Lehigh's last three road games. The Mountain Hawks are 0-3 when Olivero does not reach double figures.
Looking for a key matchup -- try the point, where Lehigh's super frosh Marquis Hall meets Bucknell senior Abe Badmus. Hall is averaging 10 ppg and comes in off a 24-point showing against Lafayette. Badmus is one of the league's top defenders when he stays out of foul trouble (like McNaughton, that has been a challenge). Badmus has never been a big offensive threat, but two of the three games in which he has scored 15 or more in his career have come against Lehigh.
Holy Cross at Colgate (matchup) -- Forget how bad Colgate has been shooting the ball. Forget the Raiders are last in the league and Holy Cross first. The temperature outside Cotterell Court will be in the mid-teens. The attendance inside won't be a whole lot higher. Neither will be the mathematical odds of Colgate winning this game, but therein lies the makings of a classic trap game.
The challenge for Holy Cross, which has had trouble staying focused through entire games, is more mental than physical. Coming off an OT win in front of a packed Bender Arena, heading into a big ESPNU matchup Friday with Lehigh, the Crusaders need to find a way to get themselves up for this one if they want to stay alone atop the standings.
Most fans around the league, at least those who don't bleed Brown and Yellow, would probably tell you Bucknell is the favorite tonight against Lehigh (matchup) -- especially at home in Sojka Pavilion, where the Bison have won 29 straight league games.
Those Lehigh fans would ask, with good reason, why? Take a look at the league's team statistics. You'll have a tough time finding categories where Bucknell ranks ahead of the Mountain Hawks. Lehigh tops the league in scoring offense, field goal percentage and rebounding margin and ranks second in field goal percentage defense.
Bucknell is fourth in scoring defense, seventh in scoring offense, seventh in field goal percentage defense, seventh at both ends of the floor in three-point shooting.
So what makes the Bison the favorite? Bucknell fans might say those stats are skewed by the Bison's tough out of conference schedule. But guess what -- while it did not look as strong on paper prior to the start of the season, the strength of Lehigh's non-conference schedule ranks second in the league (No. 147 nationally), just behind Holy Cross (142). Bucknell (189) is third in the league in that category.
Still, until Lehigh beats Bucknell or Holy Cross on the road, it just is not going to get the respect of the rest of the league's followers. That has been the Mountain Hawks downfall in recent years. The Hawks have not won at Holy Cross since 1998. Their recent history at Bucknell is a little better. Lehigh spoiled the opening of Sojka Pavilion in 2003 with a 60-56 win. But that was the year before Bucknell began offering scholarships.
For Lehigh to move beyond the esoteric world of number crunchers and stats freak and gain mainstream respect as a legitimate contender, it needs to establish superiority of the floor, not the stats sheet. And it needs to win some games on the road.
Thus far that has been tough for the Mountain Hawks. While Lehigh is within a few seconds and a disputed call of being perfect in Stabler Arena, it is also just a win at Navy away from being winless outside of its own concrete shed.
They keys here are the usual ones for both teams. Bucknell needs to exploit what should be a big advantage close to the basket, especially with Lehigh's Jason Mgebroff still sidelined by a stress fracture in his leg. Mgebroff is expected to miss another two to three weeks.
In his stead, sophomore Phil Anderson has been a capable fill-in, but he has yet to face a frontline the quality of Bucknell's. If Chris McNaughton stays out of foul trouble -- anything but a given this season -- the trio of McNaughton, Donald Brown and Darren Mastropaolo give Bucknell a huge edge up front.
Lehigh needs to get Jose Olivero going. The Mountain Hawks leading scorer has been held to single digits three times this season, including two of Lehigh's last three road games. The Mountain Hawks are 0-3 when Olivero does not reach double figures.
Looking for a key matchup -- try the point, where Lehigh's super frosh Marquis Hall meets Bucknell senior Abe Badmus. Hall is averaging 10 ppg and comes in off a 24-point showing against Lafayette. Badmus is one of the league's top defenders when he stays out of foul trouble (like McNaughton, that has been a challenge). Badmus has never been a big offensive threat, but two of the three games in which he has scored 15 or more in his career have come against Lehigh.
Holy Cross at Colgate (matchup) -- Forget how bad Colgate has been shooting the ball. Forget the Raiders are last in the league and Holy Cross first. The temperature outside Cotterell Court will be in the mid-teens. The attendance inside won't be a whole lot higher. Neither will be the mathematical odds of Colgate winning this game, but therein lies the makings of a classic trap game.
The challenge for Holy Cross, which has had trouble staying focused through entire games, is more mental than physical. Coming off an OT win in front of a packed Bender Arena, heading into a big ESPNU matchup Friday with Lehigh, the Crusaders need to find a way to get themselves up for this one if they want to stay alone atop the standings.
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