Game Notes: St. Bonaventure (pdf) | Cleveland State (pdf)
SBU, Last Time Out
St. Bonaventure is coming off of a pair of rousing road wins last weekend to begin its three-game road trip. On Friday, the Bonnies overcame an 11-point deficit in the second half to defeat Cornell 56-54 – marking just the second home loss for the Big Red in its last 27 games. SBU followed that outing with a 69-44 drubbing of Binghamton on Sunday that featured a 20-0 run over an 8:57 span of the second half to pull away.
Next Up
The Bonnies return to the Reilly Center for the first time since Nov. 4 when Buffalo visits the Reilly Center Dec. 4. The Big 4 Rivals have not met on the hardwood since Jan. 19, 1999. The Bulls are currently 3-1 and travel to Indiana State (Nov. 27) and Army (Dec. 1) before matching up with the Bonnies in their fourth of four consecutive road contests.
Matching Up
Cleveland State hosts St. Bonaventure – the Vikings fifth home game of the young 2010-11 season – Nov. 27 at the Wolstein Center. The Bonnies are riding a three-game win streak that featured a pair of road wins last weekend. The Vikings are off to their best start in program history under fifth-year coach Gary Waters and are coming off a 64-51 win over Akron Wednesday night.
About the Vikings
Horizon League preseason first team pick Norris Cole –a guard - leads his team this season with an average 21.2 points and 5.7 rebounds per game. Apart from Coles, G Trevon Harmon ranks second (13.2points, 5.3 rebounds) but paces the squad from beyond the arc at 35.3 percent (12-of-34). Juniors Jeremy Montgomery (G, 10.2 points, 3.2 rebounds), big man Aaron Pogue (C, 7.7 points, 5.7 rebounds) and F Tim Kamczyc (5.2 points, 5.0 rebounds) round out the Vikings projected starters.
CSU vs. Akron
Cole scored 19 points and had seven assists as Cleveland State defeated Akron 64-51 on Wednesday night for its best start in school history. After leading 28-25 at halftime, the Vikings outscored Akron 36-26. Cole, who was 10-for-11 from the free-throw line, had 16 points in the second half. Akron (2-2) tied it at 35 on Zeke Marshall's layup with 11:39 to go, but Cleveland State responded with a 14-4 run. Trevon Harmon's 3 capped it for a 49-39 lead with 6:17 left. Harmon finished with 18 points, Jeremy Montgomery added 12 and Tim Kamczyc 10 for the Vikings. Nikola Cvetinovic led the Zips with 14 points.
Cleveland State 2010-11
The Vikings played four games in four days to open the season and have since beaten Louisiana-Lafayette and Akron to improve to 6-0 for the first time in 80 years of program history. CSU is predicted to finish third in the Horizon League this season behind RV/23 Butler and Detroit.
Head Coach: Gary Waters
Waters is in his fifth season at Cleveland State, where he owns a 79-62 record. He guided the Vikings to the 2008-09 Horizon League Tournament title and advanced to the second round of the NCAA Championship after earning an NIT berth in 2007-08. In his previous coaching stops, Waters guided Rutgers (NIT – 2006, 04, 02) and Kent State (NCAA – 2001, 99; NIT 2000) to postseason appearances. He collected his 250th head coaching victory in the recent win over Akron.
SBU vs. the Horizon League
The Bonnies are 25-23 opposite current members of the Horizon League: Cleveland State (5-1), Detroit Mercy (8-16), Loyola-Chicago (1-2), Wisconsin-Milwaukee (2-0), Wisconsin-Green Bay (1-1), Wright State (2-2) and Youngstown State (6-1).
Series Snapshot
In six meeting between the two schools, St. Bonaventure holds a 6-0 advantage on the hardwood but was forced to forfeit its 81-67 victory in 2003 due to its use of an ineligible player. Last season the Bonnies led by 18 at the half – after shooting 77 percent from the floor – and cruised to a 72-62 season-opening win over the defending Horizon League Tournament champ Nov. 13, 2009.
Stepping Up
Entering the season, coach Mark Schmidt commented that players other than Andrew Nicholson would have to step up for the Bonnies to find success. True to form, each of the other four starters have netted career highs through the team's 3-1 start to the year in Michael Davenport (19 pts vs. Canisius), Ogo Adegboye (17 vs. Ark.-Little Rock), Demitrius Conger (22 pts. 14 rebs. vs. Cornell) and Da'Quan Cook (21 pts. 13 rebs. vs. Binghamton).
Nine Straight For Nicholson
Andrew Nicholson has scored in double figures in nine straight games dating back to Feb. 27, 2010 against Rhode Island. Over that span, he is averaging 19.3 points and 6.5 boards and has not scored fewer that 16 points.
They Did What?!
The wins over Cornell and Binghamton were highlighted by two noteworthy stats. Against the Big Red, the Bonnies managed a 56-54 win despite the combined 1-for-23 shooting performance outside of leading scorers Conger (8-of-11) and Nicholson (8-of-15). Two days later against Binghamton, SBU used a 20-0 run in which the Bearcats were 0-for-9 from the field to pull away.
Struggles from Deep
Through the first four games of the season, St. Bonaventure is converting its 3-pointers at a 25.4 percent clip (15-of-59). Outside of Adegboye (6-of-18, 33.3) and Conger (5-of-10, 50.0), the Bonnies are shooting just 12.9 percent (4-for-31). According to Statsheet.com, the Bonnies have shot under 26 percent from deep in the month of November just once since 1996-97 (20.2%, 1998-99), and the 25.4 percent for a season would be the lowest since the 2005-06 campaign (26.4).
Climbing the Charts
Nicholson is climbing the St. Bonaventure career records list in his third season. The Mississauga, Ont. native is the school's leader in FG% (.582), ranks third in blocks (144), and passed Nick Urzetta and Patrick Lottin to move into 44th place on the all time scoring list (950 points).
Block Party
After not recording a blocked shot in the season-opener versus Canisius – his first time in five games without a rejection – Nicholson has increased his output in each of the last three outings (1 vs. UALR, 3 vs. Cornell, 4 vs. Binghamton). He rejected 9 shots as a freshman at Bucknell Dec. 30, 2008 to post SBU's single-game record and ranks third on the career blocks ledger (144).
Riding the Pine
Despite its current three-game win streak, the Bonnies are on the short side of the bench scoring matchup by a 74-20 margin. Canisius reserves Alshwan Hymes (13) and Greg Logins (10) combined to power the Griffs to a 23-6 bench advantage, while Chretien Lukasa (12) and Kyrie Sutton (6) helped Binghamton to a 22-5 edge. SBU booked a 10-point deficit in that category against Ark.-Little Rock (19-9) while being held scoreless off the bench at Cornell (10-0).
Dialing Long Distance
In an ironic twist, players who hail from outside the U.S. have made the majority of the Bonnies' shots from distance, led by six threes from London native Adegboye and one each from Nicolson (Mississauga, Ont.), Wright (Toronto, Ont.) and de Haas (Den Bosch, Netherlands).
Possession is Nine-Tenths
Only one player on the roster has a positive assist to turnover ratio so far, and he's a freshman. Wright has dished out eight assists and only one turnover, by far the best ratio on the squad. Adegboye leads the team with 11 helpers and has 11 turnovers, as does Conger (10 asst.). Nicholson has turned the ball over 12 times while collecting just one assist.
NLI Signees
SBU added a pair of guards in the early signing period. Schenectady native Derrick Millinghaus, who currently attends Queen City Prep in Marshville, N.C., is a 1-2 combo guard with an open-court style. Millinghaus will have four years of eligibility, while fellow signee Eric Mosely will have two years remaining. Mosely currently attends Cincinnati State Technical and Community College and spent his freshman season at Austin Peay in 2008-09.
APR Improvement
Mark Schmidt ranks 13th in the nation in NCAA Academic Progress Rate (APR) improvement, as calculated by Fox Sports. Schmidt is among the top coaches nationally in cumulative improvement of his team APR, a metric used by NCAA officials to track the academic achievement of Division I teams during each academic term. Each student-athlete earns one point for staying in school and one point for being academically eligible. A team's total points are divided by points possible and multiplied by 1,000 to equal the team's APR score. As calculated by Fox Sports, Schmidt has increased the Bonnies' team APR by a combined 126 points over the last three academic years for which data are available (2006-2009).
Nostradamus on Nicholson
Should he record two more seasons similar to those already in the books, Nicholson will notch: 1,849 points (would rank sixth at SBU), 819 rebounds (fifth) and 272 blocks (second). It is also likely that he will become the 22nd player in school history with 1,000 points and 500 rebounds (needs 110 points and 100 rebounds).
Ahead of Schedule?
Now in his fourth season at the helm of the Bonnies, head coach Mark Schmidt is ahead of schedule with respect to his previous head coaching stint at Robert Morris. During his third and fourth season at RMU, Schmidt posted back-to-back seasons with the same number of wins (14) before guiding the team to a record over .500 (15-14). At St. Bonaventure, Schmidt has guided the team to 15 wins in each of the last two campaigns in his second and third seasons with the program. St. Bonaventure has not finished a season over .500 since 2001-02 (17-13).
Out of Our League
All but four of the 12 teams on the Bonnies' non-conference docket ended last season with winning records. In total, the Bonnies' opponents racked up a 232-163 record in 2009-10 for a .587 win percentage. That number includes 20-game winners Cornell (29-5), Siena (27-7), Virginia Tech. (25-9), Marshall (24-10) and Ohio (22-15).
In the Record Book
Following two standout seasons, junior F Andrew Nicholson already ranks third in career blocks (136) and projects to be one of the greatest statistical players in St. Bonaventure history. He entered the year as Bonnies' all-time field goal percentage leader (.580) ahead of Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer and St. Bonaventure great Bob Lanier.
#100 for Schmidt
Now entering his fourth season at St. Bonaventure, head coach Mark Schmidt will coach his 100th game at St. Bonaventure Dec. 18, nine games into the season, when the Bonnies host Ohio University in a non-conference tilt at the RC. Schmidt's .419 (39-54) win percentage at SBU is the highest by a Bonnies' mentor since current Rhode Island coach Jim Baron's .502 (132-131) mark compiled from 1992-01. Schmidt and Baron are the only two coaches to post a win-loss percentage over .400 since the start of the 1987 season.
Home Sweet Home
The Bonnies defeated Arkansas Little Rock in their home-opener this season. In 15 games at Bob Lanier Court at the Reilly Center last year, St. Bonaventure earned a 10-5 record - the most since the 2002-03 season (9-3). Through 44 years as the home court, St. Bonaventure is 391-180 (.684) all-time in the venerable RC.
A Look Back: 2009-10
The St. Bonaventure University men's basketball team ended the 2009-10 season with a 15-16 overall mark that included a 7-9 record in Atlantic 10 conference play. Third-year head coach Mark Schmidt guided the Bonnies to a No. 8 seed in the A-10 Championship. The Bonnies earned its first postseason win since 2002 by eliminating No. 9 Duquesne, 83-71, in an opening-round game on Bob Lanier Court at the Reilly Center. The Bonnies have now won 15 games in consecutive seasons after an 8-22 (2-14) showing in Schmidt's first season.
Chasing .500
After recording a 15-15 mark in 2008-09, SBU fell one game short of .500 last season by booking a 15-16 record. St. Bonaventure enjoyed a streak of 28 consecutive seasons of .500-or-better basketball from 1956-57 to 1983-84, but has just eight such seasons in the last 25. SBU has 63 seasons at or above .500 in 89 years.
International Men of Mystery
Four players on the 2010-11 roster hail from outside of the United States. Andrew Nicholson (Mississauga) and freshman Matt Wright (Toronto) both came to St. Bonaventure from Ontario, Canada, while Ogo Adegboye (London, England) and Sam de Haas (Den Bosch, Netherlands) have European roots.
Ogo in the Olympics?
Senior G Ogo Adegboye spent his summer playing for Great Britain in the Eurobasket qualifying tournament. In contrast with other sports which receive an automatic Olympics berth as host nation, GB basketball must qualify for the London 2012 games and took a big step toward that goal by advancing to its fourth-straight Eurobasket championship that will take place in Lithuania in 2011. Adegboye was playing on the U23 team but received a call-up to the senior men's team after injuries to several players, including Chicago Bulls' star Luol Deng, short changed GB head coach Chris Finch's options. Adegboye earned the starting point guard spot in all eight games and averaged 4.8 points and 21.1 minutes per contest with a 1.3 assist/turnover ratio.
