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By Joel Welser
jwelser@collegehoops.net
2006 NCAA Tournament Capsule:
Bucknell
Bucknell Bison (26-4)
Patriot
League: 1st, 14-0
RPI: 44
AP: na
Big Wins:
at Syracuse (74-69), at DePaul (57-52), St. Joseph’s (63-51)
Bad Losses:
at Santa Clara (68-77), at Duke (50-84), at UNI (61-65)
Last NCAA
Appearance: 2005, Second Round
 Top Players:
Chris
McNaughton, Jr, C, 12.9 ppg, 4.7 rpg
Charles Lee, Sr,
G, 12.8 ppg, 2.9 apg, 6.1 rpg
Kevin
Bettencourt, Sr, G, 12.2 ppg, 2.9 apg
Abe Badmus, Jr,
G, 7.0 ppg, 3.9 apg, 2.1 spg
When Duke makes
the list of bad losses, you know you have a team that knows how to win.
Great defense won Bucknell the Patriot League. The Bison are second in the nation
in scoring defense, giving up just 55 points per game and fourth in
field-goal percentage defense, allowing the opposition to shoot just 38%.
On the other side of the ball, Bucknell shoots a healthy 47% from the
floor. Senior Charles Lee can do a bit of everything and tends to come up
with the big rebound, pass, steal or bucket. The Bison’s top five players,
in terms of minutes, are all experienced upperclassmen. While the bench
isn’t deep, the Bison do have some talented underclassmen ready and willing
to fill in some minutes. Keep an eye on freshman Jason Vegotsky. He
averages under ten minutes per game, but he will step in and hit a
three-pointer or two before heading back to the bench.
Likely
Finish: Second Round
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