Thursday, January 13
Lewisburg, Pa.
7 p.m.
Lehigh University
6-11,4-1Patriot
97
at
64
Bucknell
3-14,0-5Patriot
1
2
F
Lehigh
44
53
97
Bucknell
33
31
64
Photo by: Hannahally Photography
Lehigh Knocks Down Program-Record 18 Threes in Dominant 97-64 Win at Bucknell
1/13/2022 11:11:00 PM | Men's Basketball
LEWISBURG, Pa. – First year Keith Higgins Jr. scored 16 points before the game was seven minutes old to set the tone early, as the Lehigh men's basketball team knocked down a program-record 18 3-pointers on Thursday night at Bucknell in a dominant 97-64 victory. A historic night didn't only see the program 3-point record fall, but also saw Lehigh break the Sojka Pavilion mark for 3-pointers by a Bison opponent and largest margin of victory by an opponent. Higgins finished with career highs in points (26) and assists (9), with zero turnovers.
In the end, Lehigh had only four turnovers, its fewest since also committing just four on Feb. 18, 2013 (at home against Bucknell). Not counting a shot clock violation Lehigh intentionally took with two seconds remaining, the Mountain Hawks went the game's final 31:16 without a turnover. Lehigh also finished with 25 assists on 37 made field goals.
"If you think about where our team was and where we are now and the display we were able to put on, we're starting two first-year guards on a team that didn't take care of the ball [in nonleague play] and those guys collectively had 12 assists and zero turnovers," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "Those are just unbelievable numbers for young guards to be able to play off each other, play defense fairly well, continue to work and get our team the types of shots we're looking for."
Defensively, Lehigh held the Patriot League's second leading scorer Andrew Funk to 6-of-15 shooting and 15 points.
The Mountain Hawks' point total was their most in any game since Jan. 9, 2019 at Holy Cross – a 99-94 overtime win. It was also their most points in a regulation game since scoring 100 against Saint Francis Pa. on Dec. 12, 2016.
Lehigh's 97 points were its most ever scored against Bucknell in regulation (Thursday was the 181st all-time meeting in the all-time series). The Mountain Hawks' 33-point margin of victory was their largest against the Bison since Dec. 10, 1952 (85-49).
The Mountain Hawks continued to lead, but used a 13-2 run to turn a 22-20 lead into a 35-22 advantage following a Lynch jumper with 7:25 on the clock.
Lehigh went on to open a 14-point advantage before the Bison got within eight with 10 seconds left in the first half, but Taylor knocked down a big 3-pointer as the first-half clock expired to put the Mountain Hawks back ahead 44-33 at the half.
"Our guys never quit [this season]," said Reed. "They never had a bad attitude. They were just trying to find their way. Sometimes, it takes a little bit longer. I'm really proud that they stuck with it. You're starting to see them build confidence in all the stuff we were talking about from the beginning, and they see it can really work.
"There is a process to this and if you understand and stick to it, and you do the small things, everything else will fall in line."
The Mountain Hawks return home on Sunday to host Loyola at 2 p.m. Tickets are available by clicking here.
Like Lehigh Men's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
In the end, Lehigh had only four turnovers, its fewest since also committing just four on Feb. 18, 2013 (at home against Bucknell). Not counting a shot clock violation Lehigh intentionally took with two seconds remaining, the Mountain Hawks went the game's final 31:16 without a turnover. Lehigh also finished with 25 assists on 37 made field goals.
"If you think about where our team was and where we are now and the display we were able to put on, we're starting two first-year guards on a team that didn't take care of the ball [in nonleague play] and those guys collectively had 12 assists and zero turnovers," said Lehigh head coach Brett Reed. "Those are just unbelievable numbers for young guards to be able to play off each other, play defense fairly well, continue to work and get our team the types of shots we're looking for."
Junior Evan Taylor scored 14 of his 21 points in the second half, which included 4-of-5 from 3-point range in the second half alone. Senior Nic Lynch posted a season-high 15 points on 6-of-10 shooting, while grabbing eight rebounds as well. First year Tyler Whitney-Sidney finished with career highs in points (11) and rebounds (8), while his three assists tied a career high.🏀 @LehighMBB explodes for 97 points tonight at Bucknell to improve to 4-1 in @PatriotLeague play.@MarchMadnessMBB | @espn pic.twitter.com/uwCeoqbnI5
— Patriot League on ESPN (@PatriotLeagueTV) January 14, 2022
Defensively, Lehigh held the Patriot League's second leading scorer Andrew Funk to 6-of-15 shooting and 15 points.
The Mountain Hawks' point total was their most in any game since Jan. 9, 2019 at Holy Cross – a 99-94 overtime win. It was also their most points in a regulation game since scoring 100 against Saint Francis Pa. on Dec. 12, 2016.
Lehigh's 97 points were its most ever scored against Bucknell in regulation (Thursday was the 181st all-time meeting in the all-time series). The Mountain Hawks' 33-point margin of victory was their largest against the Bison since Dec. 10, 1952 (85-49).
Higgins hit six of his first seven shots, scoring 16 of Lehigh's first 18 points as the Mountain Hawks led 16-12 with 13:09 left in the first half.Tonight, a lot was done that hasn't been done in a long time, if ever 👏👏👏 pic.twitter.com/ZaVXiT5K8V
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) January 14, 2022
"I thought Keith with his offensive explosion at the beginning of the game not only gave him confidence, but also pretty much gave everybody else confidence," said Reed. "Our guys were able to play a high basketball IQ game today by reading and taking what the defense was giving us."Make that 1⃣6⃣ for @keith_higgins15! Lehigh leads Bucknell 20-16 at the under-12 media timeout.
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) January 14, 2022
Watch on ESPN+ https://t.co/KIR2iRH7TQ#GoLehigh | #AllIn pic.twitter.com/7N3nYcz5MQ
The Mountain Hawks continued to lead, but used a 13-2 run to turn a 22-20 lead into a 35-22 advantage following a Lynch jumper with 7:25 on the clock.
Lehigh went on to open a 14-point advantage before the Bison got within eight with 10 seconds left in the first half, but Taylor knocked down a big 3-pointer as the first-half clock expired to put the Mountain Hawks back ahead 44-33 at the half.
Lynch scored on the first possession of the second half, and the Mountain Hawks' margin wasn't less than 13 the rest of the way. In one stretch, Lehigh knocked down six consecutive 3-pointers in the span of 4:42. It began with a Reed Fenton trey with 9:09 remaining to put Lehigh up, 75-52 and included three 3-pointers from Taylor and one from Fenton. When all was said and done, Taylor's fifth 3-pointer of the contest put the Mountain Hawks ahead, 89-58 with 4:27 on the clock.What a response! After Bucknell pulled within eight, @Evant2415 immediately answered on the pass from @keith_higgins15 to put Lehigh up 11 at the half.
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) January 14, 2022
Watch on ESPN+ https://t.co/KIR2iRH7TQ pic.twitter.com/HesdG6Qtzs
The night was capped off by first year Burke Chebuhar hitting his first-career field goal, Lehigh's 18th 3-pointer of the night, on the way to the 97-64 final.23-point lead... Yes please! @Niclynch44 getting into the action from deep. Lehigh 12-of-25 from 3-point range.
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) January 14, 2022
Watch on ESPN+ https://t.co/KIR2iRH7TQ pic.twitter.com/EjgcvNWQ7Z
For the game, the Mountain Hawks shot 52.1 percent from the field (37-of-71), including 52.9 percent from 3-point range (18-of-34). Lehigh was 10-of-16 (62.5 percent) from behind the arc in the second half. Bucknell finished at 36.7 percent (22-of-60) and 29.4 percent from distance (5-of-17). The Mountain Hawks held a 38-35 edge in rebounds.To cap off tonight's victory, Burke Chebuhar knocked down his first-career field goal 🙌 pic.twitter.com/iDQfUtZn6X
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) January 14, 2022
"Our guys never quit [this season]," said Reed. "They never had a bad attitude. They were just trying to find their way. Sometimes, it takes a little bit longer. I'm really proud that they stuck with it. You're starting to see them build confidence in all the stuff we were talking about from the beginning, and they see it can really work.
"There is a process to this and if you understand and stick to it, and you do the small things, everything else will fall in line."
The Mountain Hawks return home on Sunday to host Loyola at 2 p.m. Tickets are available by clicking here.
Like Lehigh Men's Basketball on Facebook, follow on Twitter and Instagram for exclusive content, team updates and more.
Coach @BrettReed following tonight's historic win at Bucknell. pic.twitter.com/trbikfgkA4
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) January 14, 2022
We caught up with Birthday Boy @Niclynch44 following tonight's win at Bucknell! pic.twitter.com/CuXl4i8EEX
— Lehigh M. Basketball (@LehighMBB) January 14, 2022
Team Stats
Lehigh
Buck
FG%
.521
.367
3FG%
.529
.294
FT%
.625
.882
RB
38
35
TO
4
10
STL
7
1
Game Leaders
Pts
26
FGM
10
3FGM
6
FTM
0
Pts
21
FGM
7
3FGM
5
FTM
2
Pts
11
FGM
5
3FGM
0
FTM
1
Players Mentioned
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