Wednesday night previews
(Originally posted: Tuesday, 6:54 p.m.)
Patriot League scoreboards
ESPN | CBS Sportsline | PennLive.com | Yahoo!
Bucknell at Holy Cross, 7 p.m.: It is hard to remember a game this big meaning this little. With Holy Cross' magic number at 1 to clinch the regular season title and homecourt throughout the tournament, and Army coming to Worcester Saturday, there is little chance this game will have any impact on the regular season standings.
A Bucknell win would give them a season sweep over the Crusaders, and would also likely hurt Holy Cross' chances of gaining an at large bid to the NCAA Tournament if it does not win the Patriot League title. A lopsided win might give the Bison a psychological edge in the tournament, but that is about it.
A Holy Cross win would do even less. Yes it would give the Crusaders revenge against the last team to beat them. But that is about it.
Back when these two met for the first time this season, we did an extensive breakdown of the matchup. Rather than rehash that analysis here, we'll just give you the link. Not much has changed. We still expect nothing to be settled between these two until March 11.
Bucknell notes | HC notes | USA Today matchup | Bucknell radio | HC radio
Lafayette at Navy, 7 p.m.: This game will determine who finishes seventh and faces Bucknell on the Bison's homecourt in the first round and who gets sixth place and a neutral court meeting in Lewisburg with the No. 3 seed (either Lehigh, American or Colgate). Both teams are playing better down the stretch. Both come in sky-high after upset wins Saturday.
Lafayette won the first meeting, 90-80 in Easton. Don't expect that kind of a score this time, though. Since Billy Lange put in that matchup zone the Mids unveiled at midseason, they have not allowed more than the 75 points Lehigh scored Saturday. The Mids were 4-14 overall, 0-5 in the league at the time. Since then they have gone 4-3, including 3-1 at home.
Lafayette notes | Navy Notes | USA Today matchup | Navy Radio | Livestats
American at Lehigh, 7 p.m.:Two teams that were expected to be contenders find themselves badly in need of a couple wins in the last two games of the regular season to generate some momentum heading into the tournament.
Lehigh, losers of two straight, holds a 1 game lead on AU and Colgate for the third seed in the tournament. A win here would mean the Mountain Hawks could clinch that spot with a win Saturday at Lafayette or a Colgate loss at Army Wed. or at Bucknell on Sat.
An AU win would bring into play more tiebreaker scenarios than we care to deal with unless it becomes necessary prior to Saturday's final games.
Lehigh won the first meeting of the two, 56-53 at Bender, and has a 32-7 record at home under Billy Taylor. AU has not won at Stabler since their first season in the league and has lost three straight there, including last season's league final. But four of those seven Lehigh home losses under Taylor came this season, two of them in the Hawks' last three home games.
American notes | Lehigh notes | USA Today matchup
Colgate at Army, 7 p.m.: Tied with American for fourth, Colgate could still finish as high as third in the league. Not if they lose at West Point, though. With three of the league's top 10 scorers, and a foe who has won just one game against a Division I opponent all season, that should not happen.
But it could. Colgate is not very big. Only 6-8 Andrew Zidar is a scoring threat in the post and none of Colgate's big men are intimidating shot blockers on defense. That allows the height-challenged Cadets to match up better with the Raiders than they do with most teams in the league.
Also keep in mind two other factors: Army only lost to Colgate by four earlier this season in Hamilton and the Cadets were a tough out in two of their last three at home, losing to Lehigh by just 5 and Lafayette by 3 before being handled Saturday by Bucknell.
Army notes | Colgate notes | USA Today matchup | Gametracker | 'Gate radio
ESPN | CBS Sportsline | PennLive.com | Yahoo!
Bucknell at Holy Cross, 7 p.m.: It is hard to remember a game this big meaning this little. With Holy Cross' magic number at 1 to clinch the regular season title and homecourt throughout the tournament, and Army coming to Worcester Saturday, there is little chance this game will have any impact on the regular season standings.
A Bucknell win would give them a season sweep over the Crusaders, and would also likely hurt Holy Cross' chances of gaining an at large bid to the NCAA Tournament if it does not win the Patriot League title. A lopsided win might give the Bison a psychological edge in the tournament, but that is about it.
A Holy Cross win would do even less. Yes it would give the Crusaders revenge against the last team to beat them. But that is about it.
Back when these two met for the first time this season, we did an extensive breakdown of the matchup. Rather than rehash that analysis here, we'll just give you the link. Not much has changed. We still expect nothing to be settled between these two until March 11.
Bucknell notes | HC notes | USA Today matchup | Bucknell radio | HC radio
Lafayette at Navy, 7 p.m.: This game will determine who finishes seventh and faces Bucknell on the Bison's homecourt in the first round and who gets sixth place and a neutral court meeting in Lewisburg with the No. 3 seed (either Lehigh, American or Colgate). Both teams are playing better down the stretch. Both come in sky-high after upset wins Saturday.
Lafayette won the first meeting, 90-80 in Easton. Don't expect that kind of a score this time, though. Since Billy Lange put in that matchup zone the Mids unveiled at midseason, they have not allowed more than the 75 points Lehigh scored Saturday. The Mids were 4-14 overall, 0-5 in the league at the time. Since then they have gone 4-3, including 3-1 at home.
Lafayette notes | Navy Notes | USA Today matchup | Navy Radio | Livestats
American at Lehigh, 7 p.m.:Two teams that were expected to be contenders find themselves badly in need of a couple wins in the last two games of the regular season to generate some momentum heading into the tournament.
Lehigh, losers of two straight, holds a 1 game lead on AU and Colgate for the third seed in the tournament. A win here would mean the Mountain Hawks could clinch that spot with a win Saturday at Lafayette or a Colgate loss at Army Wed. or at Bucknell on Sat.
An AU win would bring into play more tiebreaker scenarios than we care to deal with unless it becomes necessary prior to Saturday's final games.
Lehigh won the first meeting of the two, 56-53 at Bender, and has a 32-7 record at home under Billy Taylor. AU has not won at Stabler since their first season in the league and has lost three straight there, including last season's league final. But four of those seven Lehigh home losses under Taylor came this season, two of them in the Hawks' last three home games.
American notes | Lehigh notes | USA Today matchup
Colgate at Army, 7 p.m.: Tied with American for fourth, Colgate could still finish as high as third in the league. Not if they lose at West Point, though. With three of the league's top 10 scorers, and a foe who has won just one game against a Division I opponent all season, that should not happen.
But it could. Colgate is not very big. Only 6-8 Andrew Zidar is a scoring threat in the post and none of Colgate's big men are intimidating shot blockers on defense. That allows the height-challenged Cadets to match up better with the Raiders than they do with most teams in the league.
Also keep in mind two other factors: Army only lost to Colgate by four earlier this season in Hamilton and the Cadets were a tough out in two of their last three at home, losing to Lehigh by just 5 and Lafayette by 3 before being handled Saturday by Bucknell.
Army notes | Colgate notes | USA Today matchup | Gametracker | 'Gate radio
