Game of the Week
Bucknell at Texas Tech – Saturday, December 23, 4:30 pm
Not a ton of games to choose from during Christmas week, but this one is arguably the biggest game in the entire Patriot League non-conference schedule. All eyes will be on the home team, with Bob Knight looking to tie Dean Smith’s record for Division 1 wins. But Bucknell comes in on a three-game win streak, having just completed a big comeback win vs. Cornell and winning a nail-biter at Xavier. In the Patriot League’s first two appearances on ESPN2 this season, Lafayette and Holy Cross put up good fights in losing to Indiana and Duke, and made the league look good. Could this be the game where the league breaks through with a win over a major-conference team?

Line of the Week

12.20.06 vs. King’s TOT-FG 3-PT REBOUNDS FG-FGA FG-FGA FT-FTA OF DE TOT TP A TO BLK S MIN Brown, Andrew………… 7-12 6-8 0-1 0 2 2 20 2 2 0 0 34
Impressing – Lafayette grabs two wins. Okay, it was a D-3 school and Mount St. Mary’s, but Lafayette can only beat the teams it plays, and it beat two teams this week. On this level, it’s important for a team to feel comfortable winning close games of all sorts. The winning experience is something the Leopards can try to build on heading into league play. – The Bison are back. Hide the women and children, Flannery’s boys are up to their old tricks. First a furious comeback at Cornell, then a tough win at Atlantic 10 school Xavier. – Colgate bounces back. The Raiders showed resiliency out on the West Coast this week. After being held to just 36 points by Arizona State, they went to UC-Riverside and won a close one. It showed character.		Distressing – Holy Cross’s loss to George Mason. So much for the Crusaders running away with the league. Dropping a home game to a team that Bucknell beat on the road bodes poorly for Ralph Willard’s team. – Colgate loses 52-36 to Arizona State. Yes, they got a thumbs up for bouncing back, but that doesn’t make up for scoring just 36 points. For all the strides the Patriot League has made the last three years, games like this give the national sports media a chance to poke fun at mid-major basketball. – Army’s wake-up call. No one thought the Black Knights’ run of wins would last, but Army should not have looked as bad as they did in losing by 41 to Notre Dame. Let’s see if they can put up a better fight this week at Michigan.

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