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GAMEDAY CENTRAL
ST. BONAVENTURE (12-14, 5-8) vs. RHODE ISLAND (20-6, 8-5)
DATE: Saturday, February 27, 2010
SITE: Reilly Center (5,780)
COURT: Bob Lanier Court
TIP-OFF: 2:00 p.m. ET
TELEVISION: CBS College Sports
TALENT: Noah Coslov (Play-by-Play)
John Griffin (Analyst)
CHANNELS: Time Warner SportsNet
Buffalo, Olean, Rochester
RADIO: WPIG (95.7 FM) & WHDL (1450 AM) - Olean
TALENT: Tom Ames (Play-by-Play)
Dr. John Watson (Analyst)
AUDIO, VIDEO & STATS: GOBONNIES.com
SERIES: Rhode Island leads, 33-22
LAST MEETING: February 11, 2009
Rhode Island 87, St. Bona 80 (Box Score - Pg. 2)
UP NEXT: vs. Duquesne
Wednesday, March 3 at 7 p.m.

AT A GLANCE
St. Bonaventure will attempt to complete a perfect three-game week on Saturday when it hosts Rhode Island at the Reilly Center. Fresh off road victories at La Salle and Fordham, the Bonnies will look to put together their first three-game A-10 win streak since the end of the 2001-02 campaign. A win would also give the Bonnies four wins in February for the first time since that same 2001-02 season and equal their A-10 win total from last season. Meanwhile, the Rams haven't played since Feb. 20 and sit in sixth place in the A-10 at 8-5. Currently in a tie for ninth place, St. Bonaventure has out-rebounded five of its last eight opponents, grabbing 108 rebounds over that span.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Rhode Island has taken four straight and six of the last seven from the Bonnies in the series. The Rams have a 33-22 all-time edge against the Brown and White, including a 14-12 mark on the Bonnies' home floor. Current URI head coach and former Bona player and coach Jim Baron has been a part of each of the last 29 meetings between the two schools. Baron is 9-3 vs. the Brown and White over his nine years as a Ram and went 8-9 against Rhode Island when guiding the Bonnies. Rhode Island owns the longest win streak in series history at 16 games, dating from 1986-93.

A-10 TOURNAMENT TALK
St. Bonaventure can clinch a spot in the A-10 Tournament for the second straight year with a win over URI and a loss by La Salle against Temple on Sunday. The Bonnies can also clinch a berth with one more Saint Joseph's loss.

SCOUTING THE RAMS
Picked to finish eighth in the A-10 Preseason poll following back-to-back NIT appearances, Rhode Island has already won 20 games for the third straight season. Considered a "bubble team" for the NCAA Tournament, the Rams sit in sole possession of sixth place in the A-10 at 8-5 and have received votes in both national polls this season. Rhode Island leads the A-10 in blocks (5.2), steals (8.5), assists (15.3) and turnover ratio (+4.5). The +4.5 turnover ratio is aided by the exceptional backcourt play of junior Marquis Jones and sophomore Steve Mejia who have a combined for 214 assists and just 77 turnovers. Both have over 100 assists and less than 40 turnovers, while ranking in the top 25 in the nation in assist/turnover ratio. Senior guard Keith Cothran picks up the scoring load in the backcourt, averaging a team-best 15 points per contest. Over Cothran's four seasons, the Rams are 43-12 when the 6-foot-4 guard reaches double figures. An extremely active and efficient starting frontcourt of Lamonte Ulmer, Delroy James and Will Martell combine to average 32.2 points and 17.3 rebounds per game. Freshman Akeem Richmond, a two-time A-10 Rookie of the Week, has already broke Tyson Wheeler's freshman record with 61 three-pointers. Richmond averages 9.2 points and had 20 points in his first career start last game vs. Fordham.

HEAD COACHING MATCHUP
ST. BONAVENTURE HEAD COACH
Mark Schmidt
@ St. Bonaventure: 34-51 (3rd Season)
Overall: 116-105 (9th Season)
Atlantic 10: 12-32 (3rd Season)
vs. Rhode Island: 0-2

RHODE ISLAND HEAD COACH
Jim Baron
@ Rhode Island: 151-124 (9th Season)
Overall: 357-326 (23rd Season)
Atlantic 10: 123-51 (18th Season)
vs. St. Bonaventure: 9-3

HE'S BAAAAACK
After missing three games with an ankle injury midway through January, senior JONATHAN HALL has started to return to form over the past seven games. Hall is averaging 16.6 points, 8.0 rebounds and 3.9 assists over the past seven games - all team-highs over that span. The 6-foot-5 swingman has led the team in rebounding five times and scoring four times, while accumulating three double-doubles and a pair of 20-point games since returning from injury seven games ago. Hall is one of just four players in the A-10 that has two 20-point games and three double-doubles in conference play.

TAKING CARE OF THE ROCK
St. Bonaventure has cut down on its turnovers in a big way over the past six games, averaging 10.8 giveaways over that span. Three of the Brown and White's four single-digit turnover games have come in Atlantic 10 play. All five members (Adegboye, Davenport, Eleby, Hall, Matthews) of the Bona backcourt that average over 20 minutes per game sport a positive assist/turnover ratio. As a team, the Bonnies have five more assists (383) than turnovers (378) compared to a -69 margin last season. Hall has made the biggest jump with 82 assists and 48 turnovers this season compared to 95 assists and 97 turnovers in 2008-09.

FROM DOWNTOWN
The fastest player to 150 three-pointers in school history, senior CHRIS MATTHEWS leads the A-10 and ranks 12th in the country at 3.1 threes per game. Matthews has made three or more treys in a game 13 times this season and at least one in 29 straight games dating back to last season. During his career as a Bonnie, Matthews has made a three in 53 of 56 games, helping him rank seventh on the all-time list with 161 trifectas. Matthews accounts for 64 percent of the team's three-point makes and his 80 treys on the year are the fifth-best single season total in school history.

THE CN TOWER
Sophomore ANDREW NICHOLSON is the center of attention for opposing teams. That hasn't stopped the reigning Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year from avoiding a sophomore slump, as the Canadian big man leads the team in both scoring (16.1) and rebounding (7.5). Nicholson leads the A-10 with a 56.9 percent (163-284) field goal percentage and is one of two players to rank in top 10 in the conference in both scoring (8th) and rebounding (7th). Nicholson has produced six 20-point games: vs. St. John's (26), vs. Norfolk State (29), at Niagara (24), at UMass (26), at Duquesne (29) and at La Salle (24). He also has three double-doubles and five double-digit rebound games. Nicholson has led the team in scoring 13 times, rebounding 11 times, including both in the same game on six occasions.

ON THE OFFENSIVE
St. Bonaventure has done a much-better job attacking the offensive glass as of late. The Bonnies grabbed a combined 108 offensive rebounds over their last eight games. As a team, the Bonnies have gathered 10 or more offensive caroms in a game 17 times, including eight straight. The Bonnies grabbed season-high 20 offensive rebounds against Canisius. Sophomore ANDREW NICHOLSON leads the team with 63 offensive boards, while senior JONATHAN HALL has grabbed an offensive rebound in 45 of 53 career games. The return of Hall has been the catalyst for the aggressiveness on the boards over the last eight games, as the 6-foot-5 senior has grabbed 24 offensive boards over that span.

DO IT ALL HALL
After becoming just the second player in program history to lead the team in points, rebounds and assists in the same year, senior JONATHAN HALL is putting together another solid season. Hall ranks second on the club in nearly every statistical category; points (13.3), rebounds (5.6), assists (3.7), steals (31), blocks (18) and field goal percentage (.544). The Miami, Fla. native has scored in double figures a team-best 19 times, grabbed five or more rebounds 13 times and passed out at least five assists on seven occasions. Hall ranks second in the A-10 in field goal percentage and ninth in assist/turnover ratio (+1.7). Three of Hall's team-best five double-doubles have come on the road.

BOMBS AWAY
With at least three games left to go, senior CHRIS MATTHEWS is just one three-pointer away from equaling his total from last year and just 18 trifectas away from equaling the program single-season record of 98 set by Marques Green in 2003-04. Matthews' 81 threes in 2008-09 ranks fourth all-time, while his current 80 threes are fifth-best. Matthews is just the second player in program history to produced two of the top five three-point seasons totals in school history. The Washington, D.C. product equaled the school record of eight three-pointers against Illinois State, while also tying his own career-best of 28 points - both of which he set at Dayton in 2008-09.

OVER-PROTECTIVE
According to statspass.com, St. Bonaventure's three turnovers against Fordham on Feb. 10 marked the 10th time this season a team has had three or less turnovers in a game this season. The Bonnies passed out 18 assists to go along with their three giveaways, including a combined 15 by junior OGO ADEGBOYE and senior JONATHAN HALL, who didn't commit a turnover. Bucknell committed just one turnover against American on Jan. 13, while Notre Dame had 22 assists and just two giveaways against DePaul on Jan. 23.

MUSICAL CHAIRS
Head coach MARK SCHMIDT has used nine different starting lineups, including six in A-10 play in hopes to find the right combination this season. The Bonnies had rolled out a different starting five in three straight games until the combo of Eleby/Matthews/Hall/Simmons and Nicholson won their second straight at Fordham on Wednesday.