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College basketball’s Jon Rothstein, king of repetitive tweets and schedule revealing, reported on Tuesday that Penn State will host Bucknell as part of its 2019-2020 non-conference schedule.
Source: Penn State will host Bucknell as part of its 19-20 non-conference schedule.
— Jon Rothstein (@JonRothstein) April 23, 2019
The Nittany Lions and Bison have a long basketball history of playing each other. The first meeting happened in 1897, and the Nittany Lions own a 78-25 record all-time. The last meeting happened in 2015 and ended with a Penn State victory, 62-58.
Bucknell was a solid team in 2018-19. The Bison ended up with a 21-12 overall record and tied for the regular season Patriot League title. They fell to Colgate in the Patriot League tournament championship game and missed out on the NCAA Tournament.
The 2019-20 version of Bucknell will likely take a step back. The Bison lose their top two leading scorers and four seniors overall. According to preliminary projections from T-Rank, Bucknell comes in at 223rd out of 351 Division I teams next season.
Penn State is waiting on NBA Draft news from Lamar Stevens, but I would expect him back. If they get him back, the Nittany Lions could be a solid team next year. A win over Bucknell is expected for a team of their talent level, but with in-state pride on the line, it can get messy. Look for a close one from Happy Valley next season.