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Saturday, December 29, 2007
It is becoming more and more apparent with every game, when the jump shots are not falling, Bucknell is not a very good team. And they were not falling Friday night in the Bison's 68-60 loss to North Dakota State in the opening round of Cal's Golden Bear Classic.
The game was really not as close as the final score. Like the Drexel loss that preceded this one, the game was all but over at the half. Bucknell (4-7) trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half and was down 30-16 at the intermission. It was the second game in a row, and the fourth this season, in which the Bison failed to reach the 20-point mark by intermission.
Like in those other games, the primary reason was an inability to knock down the three-point shots this season's edition of the Bison has come to live and die by. When those long balls are dropping, Bucknell can play with anybody, as seen in the tough early season loss at Villanova. When they are not, like Friday night in Berkley, where Bucknell was 0 for 13 from the arc in the first half (and missed its first four three-point tries of the second half), the results are not very pretty.
John Griffin, Bucknell's leading scorer, finished the game with more fouls (and more turnovers) than points. Griffin played 26 minutes before fouling out with 4 points, 4 assists and 5 turnovers. The senior captain was 2 for 10 from the field, 0 for 7 from three-point range.
As a team, Bucknell finished the night shooting 39.7 percent from the field (23-58), 3 for 21 from the arc.
Add in NDSU's BW-squared attack and you have the makings of a game where Bucknell trailed by as many as 26 points in the second half. The deficit was in double digits until a Justin Castleberry three-point play cut it to 9 with 1:08 remaining.
Brett Winkelman, the forward half of NDSU's high-scoring combo, finished with 21 points and 14 rebounds, going 8 for 13 from the field. The other BW -- guard Ben Woodside, had an even bigger offensive night, going 12 for 17 to finish with 31 points.
The silver lining for the Bison was the continued strong play of junior center Josh Linthicum, who posted his second double-double of the season with a career-high 18 points and 11 rebounds. It was Linthicum's third double-figures scoring effort in four games since returning to the starting lineup Dec. 16 at Wake Forest. Linthicum also had 5 blocked shots.
Patrick Behan (10 points) and Castleberry (14) also reached double figures for the Bison, who will face Long Beach State in today's consolation game.
BISON CHIPS: Freshman center Todd O'Brien played a season-low 8 minutes, finishing with 2 points . . . O'Brien made the only shot he took . . . It was the first time in his college career O'Brien did not block a shot . . . NDSU's 68 points were its fewest in a win this season . . . NDSU had averaged 98.5 points in its other six wins . . . It was the fifth time this season Woodside and Winkelman combined for 50 points or more.
Box score | The (Fargo) Forum
The game was really not as close as the final score. Like the Drexel loss that preceded this one, the game was all but over at the half. Bucknell (4-7) trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half and was down 30-16 at the intermission. It was the second game in a row, and the fourth this season, in which the Bison failed to reach the 20-point mark by intermission.
Like in those other games, the primary reason was an inability to knock down the three-point shots this season's edition of the Bison has come to live and die by. When those long balls are dropping, Bucknell can play with anybody, as seen in the tough early season loss at Villanova. When they are not, like Friday night in Berkley, where Bucknell was 0 for 13 from the arc in the first half (and missed its first four three-point tries of the second half), the results are not very pretty.
John Griffin, Bucknell's leading scorer, finished the game with more fouls (and more turnovers) than points. Griffin played 26 minutes before fouling out with 4 points, 4 assists and 5 turnovers. The senior captain was 2 for 10 from the field, 0 for 7 from three-point range.
As a team, Bucknell finished the night shooting 39.7 percent from the field (23-58), 3 for 21 from the arc.
Add in NDSU's BW-squared attack and you have the makings of a game where Bucknell trailed by as many as 26 points in the second half. The deficit was in double digits until a Justin Castleberry three-point play cut it to 9 with 1:08 remaining.
Brett Winkelman, the forward half of NDSU's high-scoring combo, finished with 21 points and 14 rebounds, going 8 for 13 from the field. The other BW -- guard Ben Woodside, had an even bigger offensive night, going 12 for 17 to finish with 31 points.
The silver lining for the Bison was the continued strong play of junior center Josh Linthicum, who posted his second double-double of the season with a career-high 18 points and 11 rebounds. It was Linthicum's third double-figures scoring effort in four games since returning to the starting lineup Dec. 16 at Wake Forest. Linthicum also had 5 blocked shots.
Patrick Behan (10 points) and Castleberry (14) also reached double figures for the Bison, who will face Long Beach State in today's consolation game.
BISON CHIPS: Freshman center Todd O'Brien played a season-low 8 minutes, finishing with 2 points . . . O'Brien made the only shot he took . . . It was the first time in his college career O'Brien did not block a shot . . . NDSU's 68 points were its fewest in a win this season . . . NDSU had averaged 98.5 points in its other six wins . . . It was the fifth time this season Woodside and Winkelman combined for 50 points or more.
Box score | The (Fargo) Forum
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