Who's Playing

Bucknell Bison @ Lehigh Mountain Hawks

Current Records: Bucknell 4-9, Lehigh 5-6

How To Watch

What to Know

Lehigh is preparing for their first Patriot League matchup of the season on Thursday. They and the Bucknell Bison will face off at 7:00 p.m. ET at Stabler Arena. The timing is sure in the Mountain Hawks' favor as the team sits on four straight wins at home while the Bison have been banged up by five consecutive losses on the road.

If Bucknell heads into halftime all tied up, they better play a good second half: that's when Lehigh took over last week. Everything went Lehigh's way against Neumann on Sunday as Lehigh made off with an 87-67 win.

Among those leading the charge was Keith Higgins Jr., who went 9 for 16 en route to 22 points plus eight rebounds. Another player making a difference was Ben Knostman, who almost dropped a double-double on ten rebounds and nine assists.

Lehigh was working as a unit and finished the game with 18 assists. They easily outclassed their opponents in that department as Neumann only posted five.

Meanwhile, Bucknell came up short against Syracuse on Saturday and fell 75-63.

Josh Bascoe put forth a good effort for the losing side as he went 6 for 11 from beyond the arc en route to 22 points plus three steals. The dominant performance gave him a new career-high in threes.

Lehigh has been performing well recently as they've won four of their last five matchups, which provided a nice bump to their 5-6 record this season. As for Bucknell, their loss dropped their record down to 4-9.

Keep an eye on the arc in Thursday's game: Lehigh has been dynamite from deep this season, having made 38.1% of their threes per game. It's a different story for Bucknell, though, as they've only made 30.5% of their threes this season. Given Lehigh's sizable advantage in that area, Bucknell will need to find a way to close that gap.

Going forward, Lehigh is expected to win a tight contest, barring any buzzer beaters. For those looking to play the spread, take note: they are a solid 2-0 against the spread when playing at home.

Odds

Lehigh is a slight 2.5-point favorite against Bucknell, according to the latest college basketball odds.

The oddsmakers had a good feel for the line for this one, as the game opened with the Mountain Hawks as a 3-point favorite.


The over/under is 138.5 points.

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Series History

Lehigh and Bucknell both have 5 wins in their last 10 games.

  • Feb 12, 2024 - Lehigh 71 vs. Bucknell 63
  • Jan 10, 2024 - Bucknell 86 vs. Lehigh 80
  • Feb 22, 2023 - Lehigh 78 vs. Bucknell 62
  • Jan 05, 2023 - Lehigh 72 vs. Bucknell 64
  • Feb 14, 2022 - Lehigh 86 vs. Bucknell 77
  • Jan 13, 2022 - Lehigh 97 vs. Bucknell 64
  • Jan 31, 2021 - Bucknell 92 vs. Lehigh 68
  • Jan 30, 2021 - Bucknell 84 vs. Lehigh 70
  • Jan 17, 2021 - Bucknell 77 vs. Lehigh 61
  • Jan 16, 2021 - Bucknell 75 vs. Lehigh 70