The ETSU Department of Intercollegiate Athletics would like to ask both the print and broadcast media to honor our request to be called "ETSU" ... East Tennessee State in first reference is acceptable, but subsequent references should be ETSU ... On TV graphics please use ETSU ... Our nickname is the Buccaneers, but Bucs is also acceptable.

Buc bits

The ETSU men's basketball team only added to its rich history of success during the 2009-10 season, capturing its second straight Atlantic Sun Conference Championship and earning the program's ninth trip all-time to the NCAA Tournament ... Posting the program's fourth 20-win season in the past seven years, the Bucs overcame multiple challenges during the season before dropping Mercer in the A-Sun finals ... Only losing senior guard Jocolby Davis off the roster from 2009-10, the Bucs will add Smith back to the mix after receiving a medical redshirt a year ago, and a trio of incoming recruits will also add to the talent pool.

The series versus Lipscomb

The Bucs are 27-10 all-time against the Bisons, in a series that dates back to 1951 when both teams played at the NAIA level ... The two teams split a pair of games last year, with the Bucs winning 71-69 at Lipscomb, while the Bisons handed ETSU a 85-84 overtime loss on the Dome floor.

Last time against Lipscomb

JOHNSON CITY, Tenn. (Jan. 30, 2010) - Lipscomb guard Josh Slater scored a career high 35 points and fellow guard Jordan Burgason hit a jumper with four seconds left in overtime to give the Bisons a hard fought 85-84 overtime victory over the ETSU men's basketball team in Atlantic Sun Conference action Saturday afternoon at the ETSU/MSHA Athletic Center. ... Slater and Burgason, who pitched in 13 points, were joined in double figures by forward Adnan Hodzic, who posted a double-double with 22 points and 12 rebounds. The Bisons' win avenged the Bucs' victory over Lipscomb just over a week ago, when ETSU guard Jarvis Jones (Memphis) hit a last second 3-pointer in regulation to lift the Bucs to a 71-69 win in Nashville. ... Lipscomb's win overshadowed some quality performances for the Bucs, as junior forward Tommy Hubbard (Boston) posted his 10th double-double of the year with 22 points and 13 rebounds, while sophomore forward Isiah Brown (Miami) had his second double-double of the year with 16 points and 10 boards. They were joined in double figures by junior guard Justin Tubbs (Trussville, Ala.), who finished with 16 points, while fellow junior guard Micah Williams (Manchester) had 13. ... In overtime, ETSU jumped ahead by five points at 78-73, but Lipscomb responded to tie it at 80 with a 7-2 run. From there Hubbard hit a pair of free throws followed by a 3-pointer from Burgason that made it 83-82 in favor of Lipscomb with 29 seconds left. Hubbard responded once again with a layup to give the Bucs the lead at 84-83 with 19 seconds left, but then Burgason answered with the game-winning jumper from just inside the arc with four seconds on the clock. ... Hubbard took a 3-pointer at the buzzer but the shot missed the mark.

Last time out

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. (Jan. 15, 2011) - Powered by 21 points from senior guard Micah Williams (Manchester) and 16 points from fellow senior guard Justin Tubbs (Trussville, Ala.), the ETSU men's basketball team won for the eighth straight time, dropping Atlantic Sun Conference rival Jacksonville 74-62 Saturday afternoon inside the Jacksonville Veterans Memorial Arena. ... With the win, the Buccaneers improve to 12-7 overall, 7-1 in A-Sun play, and set up a critical two-game weekend this Friday and Sunday when they will host league rivals Lipscomb (Friday) and Belmont (Sunday). Meanwhile, the Dolphins drop to 11-5, 5-2. ... Along with Williams and Tubbs, the Bucs also got 11 points from both junior forward Isiah Brown (Miami, Fla.) and junior guard Adam Sollazzo (Tampa). As a team, ETSU shot 54 percent from the field, 42 percent from beyond the 3-point arc, and 78 percent from the free throw line, while holding JU to just 33 percent from the field. ... The Bucs got off to a great start in the first half, as Tubbs and Williams both opened with a flurry of 3-pointers and ETSU used a 17-3 run over the first seven minutes to take a 20-6 lead at the 13:29 mark. Unfortunately, the 14-point edge would be the largest lead of the half for ETSU, as Jacksonville managed to slowly cut into the deficit and ultimately trailed 39-33 at the break. ... In the first half, Tubbs led the way with 14 points and a 4-of-5 clip from 3-point range. ETSU shot 56 percent from the floor and 42 percent from beyond the arc, outrebounding the Dolphins 17-15 and holding a 14-4 edge in points off the fast break. ... After the intermission, Jacksonville quickly cut the Bucs lead to four at 41-37, but the Bucs put together a 6-0 spurt of their own to make it 47-37 with 16 minutes left in the game. The two teams basically traded baskets for the next six minutes, until Jacksonville got to within seven at 58-51 on a basket by Delwan Graham with 8:26 left. ... However, from there the Dolphins could not get any closer as the Bucs went on an 8-2 run to push the edge back out to 13 at 66-53. ... Jacksonville was led by 18 points from guard Travis Cohn, while Ayron Hardy and Delwan Graham added 13 and 12 points, respectively.

Bartow gets wins No. 250 overall and 150 at ETSU;

ranks among best coaches in last five years

With his team's win over Florida Gulf Coast on Jan. 8, ETSU head coach Murry Bartow picked up his 250th career victory ... He then collected his 150th win at ETSU when the Bucs downed Jacksonville on Jan. 15 ... When looking at coaches across the country, ETSU head coach Murry Bartow stands among a select group ... Of those coaches that have been at their current school for at least five years, only 24 have averaged better than 20 wins a season ... That list includes coaches such as Dayton's Brian Gregory, Syracuse's Jim Boeheim, UConn's Jim Calhoun, Florida's Billy Donovan, Michigan State's Tom Izzo, Duke's Mike Kryzewski, Louisville's Rick Pitino, Kansas' Bill Self, Maryland's Gary Williams and North Carolina's Roy Williams ... The list also includes Bartow, who is average 20.2 wins a year since 2005-06.

Williams chasing 1,000; Smith moving up scoring list

While senior Mike Smith (Vandalia, Mo.) is already a member of the 1,000-point club, fellow senior Micah Williams has a shot at making it to the group., Meanwhile, Smith continues to climb the all-time scoring chart. Below are numbers for both players:

Name Current Points

Micah Williams 940

With those point totals, Williams would need to average just 5.0 points a game for the Bucs' final 12 regular season games to reach 1,000. Smith stands at 1,460 points, and just recently overtook former Buccaneer great Zakee Wadood (Lonoke, Ark.) for No. 8 on the ETSU all-time scoring list. Here are is the breakdown:

Name Place Points

Troy Lee Mikell No. 7 1,684

Mike Smith No. 8 1,460

Zakee Wadood No. 9 1,382

Harley Swift No. 10 1,367

Smith's 20/20 vision

leads Bucs over FGCU

With his 20-point and 20-rebound effort against Florida Gulf Coast on Jan. 8, 2011, senior guard Mike Smith (Vandalia, Mo.) made history ... According to the statistics available to the ETSU media relations office, Smith was the first Buccaneer since Feb. 14, 1959 to post a 20/20 effort ... The last was Buc great Tom Chilton, who scored 35 points and grabbed 25 rebounds in a win over Wofford during the 1959 season. ... In addition, Smith is only the third player nationally to achieve that mark this season.

Sollazzo rolling in last

nine games for ETSU

Junior guard Adam Sollazzo (Tampa) has really found his rhythm in the last nine games, leading the team with 4.7 assists per game, and ranking third on the team with 13.1 points per game ... in those nine games Sollazzo is shooting an impressive 42-of-66 from the field for a 64 percent clip ... he is also averaging 2.7 rpg in this stretch ... The Bucs are 8-1 during these past nine games.

"Big 3" hitting key to Bucs' success

Coming into this season, the Bucs were counting on quality offensive production from their "Big 3" senior guards in Mike Smith (Vandalia, Mo.), Justin Tubbs (Trussville, Ala.) and Micah Williams (Manchester) ... All three have had double-figure scoring seasons in the past ... However, so far this season, six of the Bucs' seven losses have coincided with poor output from the trio .

Bucs help bolster A-Sun to strong RPI standings

With a pair of signature wins already this season, the ETSU men's basketball team - along with other members of the Atlantic Sun Conference - is doing its part to put the league in some impressive company on the national hoops stage. ... With wins over Atlantic 10 Conference stalwart Dayton and Southeastern Conference West Division favorite Mississippi State, the Buccaneers have helped the A-Sun generate plenty of waves across the board in the national RPI rankings. As a result, one month into the 2010-11 NCAA men's basketball season, the Atlantic Sun Conference is ranked ahead of other mid-major leagues including the Southern, Ohio Valley, Big South, West Coast, Mid-American, WAC and Sun Belt. ... The A-Sun remains among the top half of the conferences in the country. CollegeRPI.com ranks the A-Sun 14th, immediately behind the Horizon, Conference USA and Missouri Valley, and ahead of the conferences mentioned above. Against the Southern, Big South, Sun Belt and Ohio Valley conferences, the A-Sun owns a 15-8 mark. ... The conference has more than held its own against the BCS conferences. With ETSU's win at Mississippi State, the conference grabbed its fifth win against the "Power-6" leagues. No conference eligible for consideration for the CollegeInsider.com Mid-Major Top 25 poll owns as many BCS wins as the A-Sun. The five wins represent the most for the league since 2007-08.

Home Sweet Dome

Since the 1996-97 season, the Buccaneers are an amazing 144-45 inside Memorial Center, good for a winning percentage of 76 percent ... The Bucs had won five straight at Memorial Center during the 2006-07 season before a loss to Belmont (1/2) ... The Bucs then rattled off 10 straight at home to stand at 15-1 on the Memorial Center floor that season ... In 2007-08, the Bucs were 11-2 at Memorial Center ... In 2008-09, the Bucs were again 11-2 at home, and last year the team was 9-5 at the Dome ... This season, the Bucs are 5-0 at home.