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GAMEDAY CENTRAL
ST. BONAVENTURE (4-2) at MISSISSIPPI STATE (4-2)
DATE: Saturday, December 5, 2009
SITE: Humphrey Coliseum (10,500)
LOCATION: Starkville, Miss.
TIP-OFF: 2:00 p.m. ET
RADIO: WPIG (95.7 FM) & WHDL (1450 AM) - Olean
TALENT: Gary Nease (Play-by-Play)
WEB AUDIO: www.GOBONNIES.com
WEB VIDEO: www.MSTATEATHLETICS.com
SERIES: Mississippi State leads, 1-0
LAST MEETING: November 25, 2008
Mississippi State 76, St. Bona 71(Box Score - Pg. 2)
UP NEXT: vs. Le Moyne
Thursday, Dec. 10 @ 7 p.m.

AT A GLANCE
With a pair of home victories and two neutral site wins to its credit, St. Bonaventure will head to Mississippi State and Humphrey Coliseum in search of its first true road win of the season. Both teams enter Saturday's contest with a 4-2 record, while each of their four wins have come by at least 10 points. Led by sophomore ANDREW NICHOLSON'S A-10-leading 71 percent clip, the Bonnies debuted as the #1 team in the nation in field goal percentage in the initial NCAA rankings this past Tuesday.

SERIES HISTORY
After hosting the Bulldogs prior to Thanksgiving last season, the Bonnies make the return trip to SEC country for the second-ever meeting between the two clubs. Trailing by 15 in the second half, St. Bonaventure rallied to tie the game at 71-71, but Mississippi State scored the final five points for the 76-71 victory. The big men were the stories for both squads, as Jarvis Varnado led the Bulldogs with 19 points, 12 boards and six blocks, while ANDREW NICHOLSON had 13 points, nine rebounds a pair of rejections.

THIS DAY IN BONA BASKETBALL
St. Bonaventure is 7-4 all-time when playing on December 5, dating back to the 1975-76 season in the Bona record books - the final season that has actual dates recorded. Three of the wins have come against Big 4 rival Niagara, but it was an 80-74 loss at Oklahoma that helped the Bonnies make the program's last postseason appearance. Led by a game-high 23 points from J.R. BREMER in the six-point loss in Norman, Okla., St. Bonaventure went on to win its next six games, including a win at Connecticut, en route to advancing to the NIT.

SCOUTING THE BULLDOGS
Led by head coach Rick Stansbury, Mississippi State became the fourth team in SEC history to win four games in four days in the conference tournament in 2008-09. The momentum from the program's 10th NCAA Tournament appearance and the play of All-American Candidate Jarvis Varnado has the Bulldogs off to a 4-2 start. Varnado enters the game averaging a double-double with team-highs of 14.5 points and 10 rebounds per game. The rangy 6-foot-9 forward currently leads the country in blocked shots (33) and earlier in the year he broke Shaquille O'Neals SEC all-time blocks record (412). Sophomore point guard Dee Bost is coming off a 25-point performance against Old Dominion and ranks second on the team in scoring (12.8). All five starters average double figures for the Bulldogs, while just one of their six opponents has reached the 70-point plateau.

VS. THE SEC
One of the premiere league's in the country, the Southeastern Conference (SEC) enters its 76th year of existence. The SEC currently has three teams in the top 25 of the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Coaches Polls and another three that are receiving votes. St. Bonaventure is just 1-8 all-time against the SEC, The Bonnies last trip to SEC country came in 2002, when they dropped a 77-68 decision at Alabama.

HEAD COACHING MATCHUP
ST. BONAVENTURE HEAD COACH
Mark Schmidt
@ St. Bonaventure: 26-39 (3rd Season)
Overall: 108-129 (9th Season)
Atlantic 10: 8-24 (3rd Season)
vs. Mississippi State: 0-1

MISSISSIPPI STATE HEAD COACH
Rick Stansbury
@ Mississippi State: 235-130 (12th Season)
Overall: Same
vs. St. Bonaventure: 1-0

EASY DOES IT
Thanks to solid interior play, easy buckets in transition and some recent hot shooting from beyond the arc, St. Bonaventure's impressive 55 percent field goal percentage through the first six games leads the nation. The Bonnies have shot over 50 percent in five of six games and eight of 12 periods. The Brown and White's best shooting performance of the season came against Norfolk State when it finished 37-of-55 from the field for a 67 percent clip. The team's top percentage in a half came over the opening 20 minutes of the season against Cleveland State when it sank 77 percent (17-22) of its shots.

BOMBS AWAY
After going through the worst three-game scoring-stretch of his career at St. Bonaventure to open the season, senior CHRIS MATTHEWS has found the shooting stroke that helped him sink 81 three-pointers a year ago. Matthews enjoyed a breakout tournament last weekend at the BTI Classic, averaging 21 points and six trifectas per game over three games. Matthews equaled the school record of eight three-pointers in the final game against Illinois State, while also tying his own career-best of 28 points. The Washington, D.C. product's 3.8 three-pointers per game currently leads the A-10 and ranks eighth in the country.

GET READY, GET SET, GO!
Simultaneous with its solid 4-2 start to the season has been St. Bonaventure's ability to get off to great starts in the first half. The Bonnies have taken the lead into the locker room in five of six games, including four leads of 13 points. The Brown and White have out-scored their opponents 224-160 (+10.7) in the first stanza, while shooting 57 percent (84-147). Sophomore ANDREW NICHOLSON is averaging 10.7 points and 5.7 rebounds over the opening 20 minutes.

AGAINST THE BIG BOYS
In three career games against BCS Conference foes, sophomore ANDREW NICHOLSON has more than stood his ground. Most recently, Nicholson registered his fourth career 20-point game against St. John's. The Mississauga, Ontario product is averaging 18 points and eight rebounds while shooting 59 percent (23-39) from the floor over three games against Rutgers, Mississippi State and St. John's.

BLOCK PARTY
With the arrival of St. Bonaventure sophomore forward ANDREW NICHOLSON to the Humphrey Coliseum to take on SEC all-time blocks leader Jarvis Varnado, Saturday's contest should feature plenty of blocked shots as the two have combined for 47 on the young season. The majority of the blocks come from Varnado, as he enters the showdown averaging a nation-high 5.5 rejections per game. A native of Canada, Nicholson has Bona fans reminiscing about former Bonnie CASWELL CYRUS, also from Canada. Nicholson ranks fourth in the Atlantic 10 with 14 blocks - good for a 2.3 average. The 6-foot-9 forward finished second in the A-10 and 11th in the country in blocks in 2008-09 with 81 rejections.

THE CN TOWER
Standing 6-foot-9 with a 7-foot-4 wingspan, sophomore ANDREW NICHOLSON is the center of attention for opposing teams. That hasn't stopped the reigning Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year from getting off to a great start to his second season, as the Canadian big man leads the team in both scoring (16.3) and rebounding (8.5). Nicholson is shooting an impressive 71 percent (39-55) from the field and has shot below 50 percent just nine times in 36 career games. Nicholson poured in a game-high 26 points on 11-of-15 from the field against St. John's and then equaled a career-high with 29 points and a career-best 14 boards against Norfolk State.

RACE TO 100
After producing the third-best blocked shot total in school history as a freshman, ANDREW NICHOLSON is now trying to become just the third player in program history to reach 100 career blocks. Nicholson currently stands at 95 rejections through 36 career games. All-time shot block leader CASWELL CYRUS accomplished the feat in 36 games. Cyrus' 100th career block came in the 12th game of his sophomore year when he set the then-school record with eight blocks vs. Siena. Nicholson tied the record last year vs. Princeton and then broke it three games later at Bucknell with nine blocks. Nicholson is currently tied for fourth in the Atlantic 10 at 2.3 blocks per game.

PAINTING THE TOWN BROWN
St. Bonaventure has been extremely efficient on offense. The Bonnies have shot 50 percent or better in five of the six games this season and are shooting at an impressive 55 percent clip (168-305) - the best in the nation. The easy buckets around the rim have led to a commanding 222-162 edge in points in the paint. The 222 points in the paint account for 49 percent of the team's offense this season.

MR. NOVEMBER
Senior JONATHAN HALL has made an immediate impact during his short time in the Brown and White, especially in the opening month of the season. Last season, Hall scored in double figures in the opening nine games, including all six games in November. Hall has continued his early season success with six more double figure games, including a game-high 20 points in the season opener, to bring his career 12-game November scoring average to 15 points. Hall is second on the team in scoring at 13.8 points per contest and third in rebounding (3.7) and assists (3.2). The Miami, Fla. product is also fourth in the A-10 in field goal percentage (.627).

THE CINCINNATI KID
Head coach MARK SCHMIDT has used a common theme to describe his freshmen at St. Bonaventure: "The best thing about freshmen is they become sophomores." After a freshman season in which he averaged 3.3 points and played sparingly, MICHAEL DAVENPORT shown the truth to Schmidt's statement early on this season. After scoring in double figures one time as a freshman, the Cincinnati, Ohio product has already produced three double-digit efforts off the bench this season. Davenport began his second season in style, scoring a career-high 19 points on 7-of-10 from the field. Davenport is fourth on the team in scoring (9.8), second in assists (20) and tied for ninth in the A-10 in field goal percentage (.556).

IN OUR DEFENSE
After failing to hold an opponent to less than 50 points over the previous 275 games, St. Bonaventure held back-to-back opponents to 41 and 44 points, respectively, in the month of November. It marked the first time since 1982, that the Brown and White have held two consecutive opponents under 50 points. St. Bonaventure held Binghamton to just 40 points - the best defensive effort since 1995 when it held Appalachian State to 32 points - and then followed with a 66-44 win over Southeast Missouri State. Through six games, the Bonnies have scored 113 points (18.8 per game) off opponents' turnovers and have held four opponents to 40 percent or less from the field.

LENDING A HELPING HAND
Partial credit for St. Bonaventure's sensational shooting percentage is its improvement in passing the ball. The Bonnies currently lead the A-10 in assists per game at 17.3. As a team, St. Bonaventure has passed out an assist on 62 percent of its field goals, including 26 against Norfolk State. Junior point guard MALCOLM ELEBY ranks third in the A-10 at 4.3 per game and has led the team in assists three of the last four games. Sophomore MICHAEL DAVENPORT passed out a team season-high and career-best eight assists in the win over Norfolk State.

20/20 VISION
During the team's 98-71 blowout win over Norfolk State at the BTI Classic, sophomore ANDREW NICHOLSON and senior CHRIS MATTHEWS became the first duo since 2007-08 to score 20 points in the same game. Nicholson equaled a career-high with 29 points, while Matthews drilled six three-pointers en route to 21 points. The last duo to score 20 points in the same game was MICHAEL LEE and TYLER RELPH on senior day against Dayton in 2008. Lee and senior ZARRYON FERETI also scored 20 points in the same game three times that season.

BOARD WORK
St. Bonaventure has out-rebounded each of its six opponents this year for a +8.5 margin. The Bonnies currently rank fourth in the conference and 33rd in the nation in rebounding, while 10 of the 14 A-10 teams sport a positive margin. Sophomore ANDREW NICHOLSON leads the way at 8.5 caroms per game, while eight other players are averaging over 2.2 boards. A total of 11 players have grabbed at least one offensive rebound, highlighted by a team-high 12 from Nicholson.

LICENSE TO STEAL
Junior Malcolm Eleby's ability to play multiple guard positions is thanks in large to ability to play defense. The Philadelphia, Pa. native led the Brown and White in steals last season with 42 and is off to another good start on the defensive end. Eleby has registered four multi-steal games bringing his career total to 18. Eleby has a steal in five of six games this year and in 28 of his last 36 contests dating back to last season.