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2013-14 Bucknell Men's Basketball Media Guide - Bucknell Athletics

2013-14 Bucknell Men's Basketball Media Guide - Bucknell Athletics

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A year earlier, <strong>Bucknell</strong> was the “darling of the dance.” The prestigious<br />

private school with an enrollment of about 3,400 that stunned perennial<br />

power Kansas in the first round of the NCAA Tournament.<br />

The victory made national headlines as the first-ever NCAA triumph for<br />

the Bison, or any Patriot League school for that matter. The team earned an<br />

ESPY award in the “Best Upset” category and spent the summer reliving the<br />

biggest win in the history of the program.<br />

As the 2005-06 campaign started, with virtually the entire roster returning<br />

intact, everyone wanted to know what <strong>Bucknell</strong> could do for an encore.<br />

And despite heaping expectations, both internal and external, all the Bison<br />

did was fashion their finest season yet.<br />

Even with a large “bulls-eye” on its back every night, <strong>Bucknell</strong> shattered<br />

the school victory record with a fancy 27-5 ledger, repeated as Patriot League<br />

champion and made a return trip to the second round of the NCAA Tournament<br />

after a thrilling 59-55 win over Arkansas.<br />

The Bison carried the sixth-best record in the nation — and the highest<br />

graduation rate (100%) — entering the NCAA Tournament. Among its<br />

impressive non-conference victories were road wins at then-No. 17 and<br />

eventual Big East champion Syracuse and DePaul, as well as a home victory<br />

over Atlantic-10 finalist Saint Joseph’s.<br />

The Bison really made their mark in Patriot League play, becoming the<br />

first team in the 16-year history of the conference to run the table, going a<br />

perfect <strong>14</strong>-0. Three more double-digit wins in the Patriot League Tournament<br />

— capped by an impressive 74-59 win over Holy Cross — brought<br />

them a second straight league title. Then they earned a No. 9 seed in<br />

the NCAA Tournament, by far the highest in school and league history.<br />

Once in the field of 65, the Bison made sure their weekend in Dallas<br />

would be a long one. With co-captains Charles Lee and Kevin Bettencourt<br />

combining for nine 3-pointers and 42 points, <strong>Bucknell</strong> knocked off<br />

Southeastern Conference power Arkansas in the first round, validating<br />

the Kansas victory.<br />

In the round of 32, <strong>Bucknell</strong> ran into top-seeded Memphis, and the<br />

Conference USA champ wore down the Bison with its speed, strength<br />

and depth. <strong>Bucknell</strong> whittled a 19-point deficit down to nine in the<br />

second half, but the Tigers just had too much down the stretch, and<br />

the magical season that nobody wanted to end did just that on a rainy<br />

Sunday in Dallas.<br />

Of <strong>Bucknell</strong>’s five losses in 2005-06, three came at the hands of<br />

No. 1 seeds in the NCAA Tournament — Memphis, Duke and Villanova.<br />

Northern Iowa, which topped <strong>Bucknell</strong> in double overtime in an ESPN<br />

BracketBusters classic, earned an at-large bid out of the highly respected<br />

Missouri Valley Conference and was also nationally ranked at times<br />

during the season.<br />

Speaking of national rankings, in 2005-06 <strong>Bucknell</strong> also achieved its<br />

first-ever listing in a national poll. On Feb. 13 the Bison were ranked 24th<br />

in both the Associated Press Poll and the ESPN/USA TODAY Coaches’ Poll.<br />

<strong>Bucknell</strong> was also ranked 25th in the final Coaches’ Poll of the season.<br />

While not without star power, <strong>Bucknell</strong>’s greatest asset was its depth<br />

and its unselfish team play, particularly on defense. Armed with a tricky<br />

matchup zone defense, the Bison entered the NCAA Tournament ranked<br />

second nationally in scoring defense (55.3). In 32 games in 2005-06 they<br />

allowed 60 or more points only nine times and 70 or more only five<br />

times, while on nine occasions they kept teams under 50.

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