Under the Radar Game of the Day – Wednesday, February 3: Bucknell at American

Under the Radar Game of the Day: Bucknell at American, 7:30 PM Eastern, patriotleague.tv

The UTR Game of the Day returns to the Patriot League tonight as the first place Bucknell Bison head to DC to take on the American Eagles.  Bucknell has been close to dominant since starting league play, sitting at 9-1 in conference despite only being 12-9 overall.  In fact the only conference loss for the Bison so far was a somewhat surprising 11 point home loss to Colgate on January 16.  The Bison are led by Chris Hass and Nana Foulland.  Hass has been a consistent double-digit scorer almost every game this season, highlighted by a 40 point effort at Army.  Foulland is capable of a double-double any night and is coming off a 19 point, 9 rebound, and 3 block effort last time out.  If the Bison can win tonight, they will maintain if not extend their two game lead over Navy, and place themselves in prime position to win home court advantage throughout the Patriot League tournament.

Standing between Bucknell and their 10th conference win of the season is one of the more interesting stories in the Patriot League or any Under the Radar conference over the last two weeks.  American began the season 2-15, with their wins coming on November 28 at New Hampshire and on December 4 at Youngstown State, after which they lost 10 straight.  Their losses included games at St. Francis (PA) and at home to Maryland-Eastern Shore.  The 2-15 start also included an 0-6 Patriot League start.  Then something must have clicked.  Since January 20, the Eagles have won four straight, winning at Lafayette, at Navy, at Colgate and at home against Holy Cross.  To show just how shocking those wins were, KenPom rated the win at Navy as the #2 upset for the week, having only given the Eagles a 5% chance to win that game.  Delante Jones led the way in the three road wins, scoring 23, 23 and 15 points respectively; however, Jesse Reed took over for the home win with 16 points as Jones was held to only half a dozen.  Although defeating Bucknell tonight would be an upset, the way AU has been playing the past couple of weeks, we simply cannot overlook them.  This may be the most dangerous 6-15 team in the entire country right now.  We will see tonight if they can make it 7-15 and pull to within one game of .500 in Patriot League play.