Wake Forest Athletics
Deacons Will Play At Bucknell In November
7/10/2006 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
July 10, 2006
WINSTON-SALEM -- Wake Forest will become the first Atlantic Coast Conference team to play Bucknell when the Demon Deacons play the Bison in Lewisburg, Pa., Nov. 14 at 7 p.m.
The Demon Deacons will play one home game prior to playing at Bucknell. For the Bison, the Nov. 14 game will be their season opener.
The Bucknell-Wake Forest matchup will feature a family rivalry, as Demon Deacon head coach Skip Prosser will coach against son Mark, who will be in his fourth year as an assistant coach under Pat Flannery on the Bucknell staff.
The remainder of the Wake Forest schedule will be announced in August.
Bucknell and Wake Forest have met twice previously, both times in Winston-Salem. The Demon Deacons won 83-56 on Jan. 2, 1974 and 83-67 on Feb. 6, 1991.
"They (Bucknell) are my second-favorite team, and they'll be my second-favorite team that night," Prosser said. "It's a unique opportunity to play against your son, but what supercedes that is that we are playing a top 25 team on the road, early in the season, with our youth. It will certainly be a great challenge, but I'm hoping that in the long run it will toughen us up and help prepare us for the difficult ACC season."
Wake Forest will be one of college basketball's youngest teams in 2006-07. The Deacons have just two seniors, including just one fourth-year senior, and 11 players who are either freshmen or sophomores. The Demon Deacons graduated their top four scorers from a year ago, but they boast the nation's No. 10-ranked recruiting class, according to Rivals.com. Wake Forest finished 17-17 last year, advanced to the semifinals of the ACC Tournament and earned a postseason bid to the NIT. Wake Forest has averaged 22 wins per season under Prosser.
Bucknell has seen its share of success on the hardwood through the years, particularly over the last two seasons, when the Bison have won a combined 51 games. In 2005-06 Bucknell won a school-record 27 games with only five losses, captured the Patriot League championship after an unprecedented 14-0 conference regular season, and defeated Arkansas 59-55 in the first round of the NCAA Tournament. In 2005 the Bison knocked off Kansas for the first NCAA Tournament win in school and league history.
Bucknell returns three starters in 2006-07, including two-time first-team all-league performer Chris McNaughton and three-year starting point guard Abe Badmus. The Bison will have a 13-game home winning streak on the line when Wake Forest comes to town. The Bison went 14-1 at home last season, with the only loss coming to No. 4 Villanova in early December. Bucknell is 26-2 at home over the last two campaigns and is 38-7 in Sojka Pavilion since the facility opened on Jan. 15, 2003.
This year's contest will mark the beginning of a three-game series between Bucknell and Wake Forest. The Bison will visit Lawrence Joel Coliseum in 2007-08 and 2008-09.
