Jan. 8, 2002
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GAME INFORMATION
Match Up: Lafayette (6-6) vs. Bucknell (4-9)
Tip: 7:30 p.m.
Site: Lewisburg, Pa.
Arena: Davis Gymnaisum (1,800)
Series: Lafayette leads, 80-46
Radio: WEST-AM 1400, www.lafayette.edu
Commentators: Dick Hammer, Phil LaBella
Television: None
THE STORY LINE: Lafayette (6-6) opens Patriot League play at Bucknell.The Leopards have won seven of the last eight vs. the Bison. The Leopards last played Rider on Jan. 2.
NEXT UP: Lafayette returns home to face Patriot League preseason favorite Holy Cross on Jan. 12. The game is Take A Kid To The Game day at Lafayette's Kirby Sports Center. All adults purchasing a ticket for this game will receive free tickets for all accompanying youth ages 13 and under. The Take A Kid To The Game program was created to promote college basketball to the youth of America and is sponsored by the NCAA, Buick Rendezvous and NCAA Basketball.
LOOKING FURTHER AHEAD: The road will be the only thing Lafayette knows after tonight's game. The Leopards play four straight road games, traveling to American on Jan. 16, Army on Jan. 19, Penn on Jan. 21 and Navy on Jan. 23. Lafayette returns home on Jan. 26 to host Colgate and travels to Lehigh on Jan. 30 to finish off the month. The February slate is much kinder for Lafayette, with five out of seven games being held at Kirby Sports Center. The lone exceptions, however, are rough road matchups with Holy Cross and Colgate.
LIVE BY THE THREE...: Lafayette's three-point shooting took quite a swing in the Leopards' last two games. Lafayette made a school-record 18 three-pointers and shot 69 percent from the three-point line in a 93-84 win over Howard. The next game Lafayette made a season-low four three-pointers and shot 15 percent from the arc in a 86-66 loss to Rider.
BUCKNELL: Bucknell enters the game with a 4-9 record in 2001-02, coming off a 66-49 loss to Canisius. Bucknell's wins came against Cornell, UMBC, Hofstra and Mount St. Mary's.
Bucknell posted a 14-15 record in 2000-01 and four starters return from that team. Senior guard Bryan Bailey leads the team in scoring in with 15.3 points per game. The Bison hasve a dominating inside presence in junior forward Boakai Lalugba. Lalugba is averaging 14.5 ppg and leads the conference in rebounding 7.9 rpg. The Bison have been without Bailey and fellow starter Brian Werner for much of the season due to injury. Werner recently returned to the lineup.
Bucknell is coached by Pat Flannery who is in his ninth season as the Bison head coach. Flannery, a 1980 Bucknell graduate, holds a 112-99 record at BU.
PATRIOT LEAGUE OPENERS: The Leopards are 4-7 in Patriot League openers, since beginning play in the conference in 1990-91. Lafayette lost its first six conference openers, but has won four of the last five. Lafayette in Patriot League openers:
1990-91 at Navy L, 78-75 1996-97 at Lehigh W, 90-87 1991-92 Holy Cross L, 92-85 1997-98 Lehigh W, 79-76 1992-93 Colgate L, 76-73 1998-99 at Navy W, 72-66 1993-94 Bucknell L, 90-67 1999-00 Navy W, 80-74 1994-95 Holy Cross L, 91-82 2000-01 Lehigh L, 90-80 1995-96 at Holy Cross L, 85-82
ALL-TIME VS. THE PATRIOT LEAGUE: Lafayette has played 498 games against the six members of the Patriot League, and has a 287-211 record in all games against them. The Leopards have one game remaining vs. Patriot League foes. In Patriot League play, Lafayette is 59-81 in the regular-season and 8-9 in the Patriot League Tournament. Under Fran O'Hanlon, the Leopards are 44-28 in Patriot League regular-season play. Lafayette was 10-2 in 1997-98 and 1998-99 , 11-1 in 1999-00, and 4-8 2000-01.
American 11-9 Colgate 29-33 Lehigh 128-66 Army 23-16 Holy Cross 10-17 Navy 15-32 Bucknell 80-46
BURKE ASCENDING CAREER CHARTS: Brian Burke is steadily ascending Lafayette's career assist and three-pointer charts. With 100 career three-pointers, Burke occupies eighth place all-time and needs eight threes to move into seventh place and 10 three's to slide into sixth. Burke's 236 career assists moved him into 13th place, needing two to move into 12th, 12 to move into 11th and 51 to climb into the top 10.
BALL CONTROL: As the season has progressed, Lafayette has taken more care with ballhandling. Through the first seven games, Lafayette averaged 18.3 turnovers. In its last five games, Lafayette has committed just 10.2 turnovers per game. On Dec. 21 at Princeton, the Leopards turned the ball over a season-low four times. Lafayette has been in single digits in turnovers in three out of the last five games.
LEAGUE STATS: Lafayette is currently at or near the top of the Patriot League in nine statistical categories through Jan. 6 games.
STATS RANK OUTPUT STATS RANK OUTPUT Assists (per game) 1st 16.0 Blocks (per game) 1st 4.08 Assist/Turn. Ratio 1st 1.08 FG % 1st 46.7 Scoring Offense 2nd 73.6 3FG Made 1st 8.08 Scoring Margin 2nd +3.4 3FG % 2nd 37.5 Free Throw % 2nd 73.8
FARRELL CLEANING THE GLASS: Forward Mike Farrell is coming off a career-high rebounding game vs. Rider on Jan. 2. Farrell pulled down eight boards to match his best effort from last season on Nov. 21, 2000 at Rutgers.
SAXTON HELPING WITH THE BOARDS: Sophomore guard Ben Saxton has also been doing his part. Saxton is the Leopards' top rebounding perimeter player with 4.3 rebounds per game and ranks third on the team. He grabbed a career-high nine rebounds at Princeton on Dec. 21.
THE COACH: Head coach Fran O'Hanlon (Villanova '70) is in his seventh season at Lafayette. O'Hanlon has garnered two Patriot League Coach of the Year honors, while restoring the Lafayette program to a championship level. He guided the Leopards to consecutive NCAA Tournament appearances in 1998-99 and 1999-00. O'Hanlon's career record stands at 101-83, including two 20-win seasons.
DOWN TO THE WIRE: Nine of Lafayette's 12 games have been decided by 10 points or less. Two have ended with a four-point margin and one was decided by three points. The Leopards' loss to Rider came by 20 points. LAFAYETTE OUTSHOOTING OPPONENTS: Lafayette has outshot its opponent in 10 of 12 games this season, with Princeton and Rider the only exceptions. The Leopards are shooting 47 percent from the floor compared to their opponents' 41 percent. Lafayette has shot above 50 percent in four games and hit a season-high 61 percent to open the season at Albany. Opponent FG% LC FG% Opponent FG% LC FG% Albany 48.4 61.2 Drexel 36.1 56.4 Penn State 39.7 45.6 Cornell 32.0 42.1 Miami 38.3 39.6 Scranton 32.7 57.4 St. Peter's 45.8 46.3 Princeton 54.0 37.3 Marist 45.2 52.9 Howard 38.8 47.2 Columbia 38.6 39.5 Rider 45.5 34.5
STEPPIN' UP: Senior center Mick Kuberka has seen a significant increase in playing time this season. He went from averaging 10.5 minutes per game last season to 21.3 mpg this season. His numbers have drastically improved and he is posting 8.7 ppg and 4.4 rpg. He has set new career-highs for points (16), rebounds (8), blocks (4) and assists (3) ...AND OUT: Kuberka has the green light to launch an occasional three-pointer. He has taken 28 three's this season (making 12). Kuberka went 4-for-6 from long range against Howard on Dec. 30. A month earlier vs. Marist, Kuberka made 4-of-5 three-pointers.
O'HANLON REACHES 100 VICTORIES: Lafayette head coach Fran O'Hanlon reached the 100-win plateau with the Leopards' victory over Scranton on Dec. 19. O'Hanlon started the season with 95 wins. The seventh-year head coach joined George Davidson (170 wins), Bill Anderson (139), Butch van Breda Kolff (132) and Tom Davis (116) in the 100-win club. O'Hanlon has twice been named Patriot League Coach of the Year and has led Lafayette to two NCAA Tournament appearances.
INJURY REPORT: Assistant athletic trainer Stephanie Conley has been helping to keep Mike Farrell, Winston Davis and Rob Dill healthy. The trio have been suffering various illnesses, but all practiced on Monday. Andrew Pleick and Eric Mugavero have been battling back injuries.
BURKE SERVING UP A TASTY DISH: Senior Brian Burke is leading the team with 4.7 assists per game. Burke dished off for eight assists vs. Howard. On Dec. 5 in front of a hometown crowd at Drexel, Burke recorded a season-high 10 assists. The co-captain led the team in assists last season, despite missing two months of the season.
LETTING IT FLY: Fran O'Hanlon's Lafayette teams have been known to hoist it up from the perimeter. Lafayette has hit 200 or more three-pointers in each of the last four seasons, recording 225 in 2000-01, 249 in 1999-00, 238 in 1998-99 and 207 in 1997-98. This season, Lafayette has made 97 of 259 three-point attempts for a 38 percent clip.
LINE CHANGE: For those seeing Lafayette basketball for the first time, Fran O'Hanlon's substitution patterns may more closely resemble hockey than basketball. O'Hanlon frequently substitutes three or four players at a time, often looking for an advantage in offensive and defensive matchups. The frequent substitutions also force opposing coaches and players to be constantly aware of personnel changes.
FOUR-GUARD SET: Many teams employ a three-guard set, but few rarely play four guards on the floor at a time. Head Coach Fran O'Hanlon has been using combinations of Justin DeBerry, Brian Burke, Winston Davis, Kenny Grant, Ben Saxton and Reggie Guy along with forward Mike Farrell or center Mick Kuberka. With Grant or Guy in the lineup, DeBerry moves to shooting guard, his true position. Defensively, the Leopards cope by having their tallest guards, Davis (6-6), Burke (6-5) and Saxton (6-5), guard post players.
SOPHOMORE STARTERS: Four of the players who have been in the Lafayette starting lineup are members of the sophomore class. Justin DeBerry is holding down the point guard position along with Winston Davis and Ben Saxton who have both started at shooting guard and Mike Farrell who has started every game at power forward. Nine of the 14 players on the Lafayette squad are freshmen or sophomores.
FROM THE LINE: Lafayette shot 73 percent from the free throw line as a team in 2000-01. This season, Lafayette is shooting 73 percent (139-190) from the stripe. Brian Burke, a career 88 percent free throw shooter, leads the Leopards this season with a 85 percent clip. Burke holds the Patriot League record for consecutive free throws with 49, a mark he set in 1999-00.
DEEP INTO THE BENCH: Fran O'Hanlon has always gone fairly deep into his bench in his tenure at Lafayette. This season is no exception, as 10 players have participated in every game.
GEOGRAPHY FOR $300 PLEASE, ALEX: The 14 members of the Lafayette basketball team hail from eight states and three countries. In the Leopards' starting lineup, Justin DeBerry is from Arizona, Winston Davis and Mike Farrell from Florida, Mick Kuberka from New York and Brian Burke is from Pennsylvania. On the remainder of the roster, Minnesota (Rob Worthington), California (Andrew Pleick), New Jersey (Eric Mugavero) and Virginia (Jamie Hughes) are represented. Canada is home to Brad Anderson while Rob Dill resides in Germany.
ON THE RADIO: Today's game can be heard live on WEST-AM 1400, the 66th year of broadcasting Lafayette Athletics. Dick Hammer is in his 35th year of calling the play-by-play for Lafayette men's basketball.
ALL-TIME AT LAFAYETTE: In the 92 seasons of men's basketball at Lafayette College, the Leopards hold an overall record of 1111-958 (.537) that spans back to the first season in 1900-01.
SENIOR C0-CAPTAINS: Seniors Brian Burke and Rob Worthington are serving as the team captains for the 2001-02 season. Burke is the top returning scorer for Lafayette, having averaged 14.0 points per game in 2000-01. Worthington is the team's top returning rebounder and started 32 games in his sophomore and junior seasons. Burke and Worthington were selected co-captains by head coach Fran O'Hanlon. The two have been roommates since their freshman years and are both English majors. LAFAYETTE ON THE WEB: The best source for information on the Lafayette basketball program is on the web. Click on "Sports" at www.lafayette.edu. The site is continuously updated with press releases, game notes, schedules, rosters, statistics, players features, photos and more.
BURKE'S WEEKLY JOURNAL: Brian Burke is chronicling the 2001-02 season through his weekly journal on www.GoLeopards.com. He is in his second season of writing journals and his latest contriutions are posted intermittently on the web.
LAFAYETTE ON TELEVISION: For the fourth-straight season, Lafayette features the most expansive television package in the Patriot League. The Leopards have 14 games televised, with the possible addition of three more television contests in the Patriot League Tournament. The Lafayette Sports Network will air 12 games to more than 5.2 million viewers in the Lehigh Valley, Pocono region and Philadelphia, central New Jersey, New York City and Boston. Locally the telecasts can be seen on RCN Cable channels 4 and 60, Service Electric Cable channel 51, Blue Ridge Cable channel 5 and broadcast channel 60. Lafayette will also be seen on the Patriot League Television Network at Colgate. Locally, that game will be broadcasted on WFMZ-TV 69. The Lafayette at Lehigh game on Feb. 20 can be seen on Service Electric TV-2.
LEADING THE LEAGUE IN ATTENDANCE: The Lafayette men's basketball program has led the Patriot League in home attendance the last four seasons. In 2000-01, Lafayette averaged over 2,500 fans per home game in its 3,500-seat arena. Over 30,000 fans came through the Kirby Sports Center gates to watch Lafayette's 12 home games. Lafayette beat out Navy, which averaged nearly 150 fewer fans per game (2,356), in the regular-season. Lafayette had four home games with over 3,000 people in attendance in 2000-01: Princeton (3,154 on Dec. 6), Lehigh (3,128 on Jan. 10), Army (3,026 on Jan. 27) and Colgate (3,192 on Feb. 24). The Leopards' last regular-season game, vs. Colgate, proved to be the largest home crowd of the season In 1999-2000, Lafayette averaged 2,474 fans per home contest. The highwater mark came vs. Navy in the Patriot League Finals with over 4,000 people in attendance for the 87-61 victory (3/10/00). The Leopards also drew over 16,000 fans for the Patriot League Tournament, the second highest attendance in league history. In 1998-99, six games garnered 3,000 or more fans, as the Leopards drew an average of 2,864 fans per home meeting. The 1997-98 season brought in an average of 2,045 people per home game, the first season ever that Lafayette led the league in attendance. Bucknell drew the biggest crowd of the season on Feb. 7, 1998, with 3,174 fans.
MEDAL OF HONOR: Following the 2000-01 season, Brian Burke was selected as one of four 2000-01 recipients of the Eastern College Athletic Conference Award of Valor. It is awarded annually to ECAC student-athletes whose courage, motivation and relentless determination serve as an inspiration to all. The recipients of the Award of Valor exemplify strength of character, perseverance, and most importantly, accomplishment deserving recognition as being truly triumphant.
Burke led the team in assists and finished third on the team in scoring despite missing 13 games after suffering a punctured lung in a game at Fordham on Dec. 11. Burke was playing the best game of his career, having scored a career-high 24 points, including five three-pointers. With five minutes left in the game, Burke's night came to an end as he was removed from the arena on a stretcher after complaining of chest pain and shortness of breath.
The junior suffered severe internal bleeding and was later diagnosed with a punctured lung, losing one third of his blood supply. After an initial 10-day hospital stay, Burke suffered another setback as he was preparing to return home. On Dec. 21 when the doctors removed the chest tubes, Burke's lung collapsed and prolonged his hospital stay. Burke's recovery was slow but determined and he returned to classes in late January. The coaches and doctors planned on Burke missing the remainder of the season and concerns arose that he may never play competitive basketball again. On February 11, exactly two months after a punctured lung left his career and health in jeopardy, Burke returned to the court, scoring a game-high 23 points, just one point shy of his career-high. His effort helped lead Lafayette to an 87-78 win over Navy. Burke went on to play in Lafayette's six remaining games. He was presented with the award two weeks before the start of the 2001-02 season.
