GAME NOTES | CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL | PREGAME CHAT | LIVE AUDIO | LIVE STATS | LIVE VIDEO

GAMEDAY CENTRAL
NO. 8 ST. BONAVENTURE (15-15) vs. NO. 1 TEMPLE (26-5)
DATE: Friday, March 12, 2010
SITE: Boardwalk Hall (10,000)
TIP-OFF: 12:00 p.m. ET
TELEVISION: CBS College Sports Regional
TALENT: Eric Frede (Play-by-Play)
John Griffin (Analyst)
CHANNELS: Time Warner SportsNet
Buffalo, Olean and Rochester
RADIO: WPIG (95.7 FM) & WHDL (1450 AM) - Olean
TALENT: Gary Nease (Play-by-Play)
Dr. John Watson (Analyst)
LIVE AUDIO: GOBONNIES.com | LIVE VIDEO & STATS: www.ATLANTIC10.com
SERIES: Temple leads, 50-6
A-10 TOURNAMENT SERIES: Temple leads, 2-0
LAST MEETING: February 17, 2010
#21 Temple 73, St. Bona 55 (Box Score - Pg. 2)
WITH A WIN: Saturday, March 13 @ 1 P.M. ET
vs. St. Louis/Rhode Island Winner - A-10 Semifinals

AT A GLANCE
With wins in five of its last six games, St. Bonaventure heads to Atlantic City for the Atlantic 10 Championship and a quarterfinal matchup against top-seeded and two-time defending tournament champion Temple on Friday at noon. The eighth-seeded Bonnies picked up their first A-10 postseason win since 2002 on Wednesday at Reilly Center, defeating ninth-seeded Duquesne 83-72 in the first round. The win snapped a four-game A-10 postseason losing streak for the Bonnies, while they will now attempt to break a 16-game losing streak against ranked opponents and a 12-game skid against Temple. Oddly, St. Bonaventure's last win against a ranked foe came against the Owls in 2000, a 57-56 victory at the RC.

A-10 TOURNEY HISTORY
St. Bonaventure's berth into the A-10 quarterfinals is its first since 2002 and 17th out of 27 appearances in the conference tournament. The Bonnies are 4-12 in the quarterfinals and will be looking to advance to the semifinals for the first time since 2008. The No. 8 seed has yet to advance to the semfinals since the league expanded to 14 teams and has done so just three times (SJU - 2001/DUQ -1985/WVU - 1978) out of the 23 years the tournament has had an eighth-seed since 1977. The other nine years, teams were seeded by division (East & West). St. Bonaventure is 13-26 all-time at the A-10 Tournament with a pair of second place finishes to its credit in 1984 and 2000, respectively. The Brown and White's No. 8 seed is its best since 2001.

SCOUTING THE OWLS
After dropping its first A-10 postseason game under head coach Fran Dunphy three years, Temple has responded by winning six straight in the conference tournament en route to back-to-back titles. The Owls came in at #17 in both the Associated Press and ESPN/USA Today Top 25 polls this week thanks to a 25-6 record and recent seven-game win streak. Temple's success can be directly attributed to its top ranking in the A-10 in scoring defense (56.8), field goal percentage defense (.381) and turnovers per game (10.7) - figures rank fourth, sixth and 12th in the nation, respectively. Highlighted by Dunphy winning the A-10 Coach of the Year honor, the Owls landed three players on the All-Conference teams, while Ramone Moore was named the Sixth Man of the Year.

ALL-TIME SERIES
The Owls hold a commanding 50-6 advantage in the all-time series and have won 12 straight meetings between the two teams. Every win the Bonnies have in the series has come at the Reilly Center where they are 6-17 against the Owls. The two teams have met twice in A-10 postseason play with Temple taking both games. The Owls defeated the Bonnies in the quarterfinals in 1985 and in the championship in 2000.

HEAD COACHING MATCHUP
ST. BONAVENTURE HEAD COACH
Mark Schmidt
@ St. Bonaventure: 38-52 (3rd Season)
Overall: 120-142 (9th Season)
Atlantic 10: 16-33 (3rd Season)
Atlantic 10 Tournament: 1-1 (2nd Appearance)
vs. Temple: 0-3

TEMPLE HEAD COACH
Fran Dunphy
@ Temple: 81-48 (4th Season)
Overall: 391-211 (21st Season)
Atlantic 10: 42-22 (4th Season)
Atlantic 10 Tournament: 6-1 (4th Appearance)
vs. St. Bonaventure: 4-0

A-10 POSTSEASON RECORDS
Not only did the Bonnies pick up their first A-10 postseason win since 2002 on Wednesday, they also did a number on the individual record books. Senior CHRIS MATTHEWS equaled a 30 year-old A-10 Tournament program record with 28 points and hit a record six three-pointers. Sophomore ANDREW NICHOLSON'S 25 points is the seven-best total in an A-10 Tournament game. It marked just the third time that two players have reached the 20-point plateau in the same game; while their 53 combined points are the most by two players in an A-10 postseason contest.

LIVING UP TO THE HYPE
After being named to the Atlantic 10 All-Conference Preseason second team at the start of the year, sophomore ANDREW NICHOLSON made good on the prediction en route to being named to the All-Conference second team on Sunday. Eight players in program history have been named to an A-10 Preseason team a total of nine times and on seven occasions they have found their way onto a postseason team as well. Nicholson's All-Conference status comes on the heels of winning the A-10 Rookie of the Year award in 2009. He is the first Bonnie to be named to an All-Conference team since 2006.

FROM DOWNTOWN
The fastest player to 100 and 150 three-pointers in school history, senior CHRIS MATTHEWS is currently tied for the program single-season record with 98 trifectas. Matthews leads the A-10 and ranks 13th in the country at 3.3 threes per game. Matthews has made three or more treys in a game 16 times this season and at least one in 33 straight games dating back to last season. During his career as a Bonnie, Matthews has made a three in 57 of 60 games, helping him rank sixth on the all-time list with 179 trifectas. Matthews accounts for 63 percent of the team's three-point makes and his 179 threes over the last two seasons are the second-best back-to-back total in school history.

THE CN TOWER
Sophomore ANDREW NICHOLSON is the center of attention for opposing teams. That hasn't stopped the reigning A-10 Rookie of the Year, as the Canadian big man leads the team in both scoring (16.5) and rebounding (7.1). Nicholson leads the A-10 with a 58 percent (193-333) field goal percentage and is one of two players to rank in top 10 in the conference in both scoring (6th) and rebounding (10th). Nicholson has produced a team-high nine 20-point games, including five in league play: at UMass (26), at Duquesne (29), at La Salle (24), vs. Duquesne (21) and at Xavier (21). Nicholson has led the team in scoring 15 times, rebounding 13 times, including both in the same game on seven occasions.

INSIDE-OUT
Hot shooting from senior CHRIS MATTHEWS and the inside presence of sophomore ANDREW NICHOLSON have been the key components to the team's five wins in the last six games. Matthews is averaging a team-best 18 points over that span while shooting 50 percent (26-52) from deep. Nicholson 17.3 points per game average is bolstered by three consecutive 20-point games, while Matthews has three 20-point outings of his own.

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 11 games. Hall is averaging 15.1 points, 7.7 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.5 steals over the past 11 games. The 6-foot-5 swingman has led the team in rebounding seven times and scoring five times, while accumulating four double-doubles, 11 double figure outings and a pair of 20-point games since returning from injury. Hall is one of just three players in the A-10 that had two 20-point games and four double-doubles in conference play.

LICENSE TO STEAL
With 10 steals over his last four games, including a season-high four at No. 25 Xavier, senior JONATHAN HALL has taken over the team lead with 41 thefts on the season. Hall has a steal in six straight games - the longest streak of his career. Hall has a theft in 20 games, including 14 multi-steal contests.

DOUBLING UP
Senior JONATHAN HALL'S A-10 Co-Player of the Week honor on March 1 was the first of his career as he joined sophomore ANDREW NICHOLSON in winning the weekly award this season. Hall and Nicholson are just the eighth duo in program history to win the A-10 Player of the Week award in the same season.

20-20 VISION
With a combined 19 20-point games between them, seniors JONATHAN HALL and CHRIS MATTHEWS along with sophomore ANDREW NICHOLSON give St. Bonaventure the only trio in the A-10 that each have four or more 20-point outings. Nicholson leads the way with nine, including three straight, while Matthews has four of his six over the last nine contests and Hall has four. Matthews and Nicholson have reached the 20-point plateau in same game four times this season, including three times in the last six games.

EASY DOES IT
Thanks to solid interior play, easy buckets in transition and points off turnovers, St. Bonaventure has shot an impressive 46 percent from the field to rank second in the A-10. The Bonnies have shot over 50 percent in 11 games and 23 periods, while finishing with a better shooting percentage than 19 of their 30 opponents. 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. Sophomore ANDREW NICHOLSON (.580) and senior JONATHAN HALL (.524) rank first and second in the A-10, respectively, in field goal percentage. St. Bonaventure finished 50 percent or better just eight times over the two previous seasons.

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 (13.1), rebounds (5.9), blocks (19) and field goal percentage (.524), while leading in assists (3.7) and steals (41). The Miami, Fla. native has scored in double figures a team-best 23 times, grabbed five or more rebounds 16 times and passed out at least five assists on nine occasions. Hall ranks second in the A-10 in field goal percentage and has four of his team-best six double-doubles on the year in A-10 play.

ON THE OFFENSIVE
St. Bonaventure has done a much-better job attacking the offensive glass as of late. The Bonnies have grabbed a combined 139 offensive rebounds over their last 11 games. As a team, the Bonnies have gathered 10 or more offensive caroms in a game 19 times, including 11 of 16 conference games. The Bonnies grabbed season-high 20 offensive rebounds against Canisius. Sophomore ANDREW NICHOLSON leads the team with 70 offensive boards, while senior JONATHAN HALL has grabbed an offensive rebound in 49 of 57 career games. The return of Hall has been the catalyst for the aggressiveness on the boards, as he's helped the Bonnies out-rebound eight of their last 11 opponents.

WE'RE GOING STREAKING!
St. Bonaventure's four-game A-10 win streak to end February and begin March was its longest since the 1999-2000 season. The Bonnies produced their top four A-10 scoring games over the win streak, averaging 80.2 points per game. St. Bonaventure also shot 49.6 percent (113-218) while holding its opponents to 40 percent (102-252). Seven of the nine players in the rotation over the four games scored in double figures at least once.

TAKING CARE OF THE ROCK
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 nine more assists (448) than turnovers (439) compared to a -69 margin last season. Hall has made the biggest jump with 100 assists and 62 turnovers this season compared to 95 assists and 97 turnovers in 2008-09.

LENDING A HELPING HAND
Partial credit for St. Bonaventure's sensational shooting percentage is its improvement in passing the ball. The Bonnies currently rank second in the A-10 in assists per game at 14.9. As a team, St. Bonaventure has passed out an assist on 57 percent of its field goals, including a season-best 26 against Norfolk State. As a team, the Bonnies have had 15 or more assists in 17 games and four contests with 20 or more helpers.