Wednesday, November 16, 2011

Bisons on the Air

Television: Big Ten Network (Eric Collins, play-by-play; Shon Morris, color analyst)

Radio: WQZQ-FM 102.1 The Light (Steve Selby, play-by-play)

Internet: LipscombSports.com

The Game

The Lipscomb Bisons begin a four-game road trip as part of the Cancun Challenge Thursday evening at Illinois.  The game is set to tip at 8 p.m. and will be televised on the Big Ten Network.  The matchup is the first road game for Lipscomb’s seven freshmen.  

The Bisons fell 74-71 at home Sunday to former Atlantic Sun Conference opponent Gardner-Webb.  Lipscomb was led by freshman Zavion Williams with 22 points and six steals.  The Bisons missed eight straight free throws in the second half and were 17-of-28 (60.7 percent) from the charity line.  

This is the first meeting between the schools.  Lipscomb is 1-3 against Big Ten  schools.  The Bisons defeated Indiana 74-69 on Dec. 28, 2008.
    
Quick Hits

• Jacob Arnett tied his career-high with 13 points Sunday against Gardner-Webb as he hit a career-best three 3-pointers.
• Lipscomb is 9-26 over the past seven seasons in non-conference road games.
• In the first two games the Bisons dished out 35 assists but committed 47 turnovers.
• The A-Sun coaches selected Jordan Burgason to the preseason All-Atlantic Sun Team.
• Allen Arena’s court will be named after long-time coach Don Meyer in a ceremony on Dec. 3.
• Last season, Burgason sank an average of 2.8 three-pointers per contest, which led the A-Sun. His 84 total three-point field goals ranked second only to North Florida's Parker Smith (90). His .418 three-point percentage was fifth-best in the league.
• The Bisons have posted a winning record in A-Sun play in seven-straight seasons, which dates back to the 2004-05 season. Over that time, Lipscomb has only once failed to reach double-digit conference wins (2007-08) when they posted a 9-7 league mark.
• Lipscomb must replace several key players from last season's squad with the departure of Adnan Hodzic, Josh Slater, Brandon Brown and Brandon Barnes. The quartet accounted for 63.1 percent of the team's points last season and 58.2 percent of the rebounding.
• Head Coach Scott Sanderson is the second-longest tenured coach in the A-Sun as he enters his 13th season as Bisons Head Coach.  He’s two wins shy of 200 at Lipscomb.
• Burgason hit seven three pointers in three contest last year becoming the first A-Sun player to perform the feat since Troy’s Bobby Dixon in the 2004-05 season.

Poll Action

Lipscomb was selected by the A-Sun coaches and media to finish sixth in the conference preseason poll. The Bisons were one vote shy of Mercer in the coaches’ poll for fifth place.  Belmont was picked to win the league in both polls.