March 13, 2011
Selection Show Photo Gallery
NCAA Tournament Bracket
BisonGoDancing Twitter Page
Verizon Center Information
LEWISBURG, Pa. - Patriot League champion Bucknell will face Connecticut in its opening game of the NCAA Tournament on Thursday in Washington, D.C., at the Verizon Center. The Bison are the No. 14 seed in the West Region, while the Huskies are the No. 3 seed. Game times will be announced.
Bucknell (25-8, 13-1 PL), which is coming off its third Patriot League title since 2005, will be making its fifth NCAA Tournament appearance. The Bison also earned berths into the NCAA Tournament in 1987, 1989, 2005 and 2006. Bucknell posted opening-round wins in 2005 vs. Kansas as a No. 14 seed and 2006 vs. Arkansas as a No. 9 seed and is 2-4 all-time in NCAA Tournament play.
The Bison earned an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament by virtue of winning the Patriot League Tournament over Lafayette this past Friday evening in a sold-out Sojka Pavilion. Bucknell enters the NCAA Tournament on a 10-game winning streak and has posted a 23-2 mark since Dec. 1.
This will be the third meeting between Bucknell and Connecticut. The two teams previously met in 1952 and 1953. The Huskies captured the first meeting Feb. 8, 1952 by an 85-59 score and won the second game two years later, Dec. 12, 1953, 80-64 in Lewisburg.
Connecticut, one of 11 Big East Teams in the 68-team field, captured the Big East Tournament title after winning five straight games. The Huskies, who own a 26-9 record, finished in ninth place in the 16-team conference. Big East Tournament MVP Kemba Walker is UConn's top player. He scored a Big East Tournament-record 130 points in the Huskies' five postseason games and is averaging 23.5 points, 5.3 rebounds and 4.3 assists overall this year.
This is the third time the Bison will face a Big East team in the NCAA Tournament, having played Georgetown in 1987 and Syracuse in 1989.
The winner of Thursday's Bucknell-Connecticut contest will meet the winner of the Cincinnati-Missouri matchup in Saturday's third round.
Other games that will be contested in Washington, D.C., include Pittsburgh vs. UNC Asheville/Arkansas-Little Rock and Butler vs. Old Dominion.