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GAMEDAY CENTRAL
ST. BONAVENTURE (14-14, 7-8) at #25 XAVIER (22-7, 13-2)
DATE: Saturday, March 6, 2010
SITE: Cintas Center (10,250)
TIP-OFF: 4:00 p.m. ET
TELEVISION: Fox Sports Ohio
TALENT: Brad Johansen (Play-by-Play)
Steve Wolf (Analyst)
CHANNEL: DirecTV (660)
RADIO: WPIG (95.7 FM) & WHDL (1450 AM) - Olean
TALENT: Gary Nease (Play-by-Play)
LIVE AUDIO: www.GOBONNIES.com
LIVE VIDEO & STATS: www.GOXAVIER.com
SERIES: Xavier leads, 21-15
LAST MEETING: January 21, 2009
#15 Xavier 84, St. Bona 64 (Box Score - Pg. 2)
UP NEXT: A-10 Tournament First Round
Tuesday, March 9 at TBA


AT A GLANCE
Currently in the midst of its first four-game A-10 win streak in 10 years, St. Bonaventure heads to nationally-ranked Xavier to closeout regular season action on Saturday at the Cintas Center. The Bonnies longest win streak since 1999-00 has helped them move into sole possession of eighth place in the A-10 standings. On the flipside, Xavier can clinch a share of the A-10 regular season crown with a win. The top two teams in the A-10 in field goal percentage, the Bonnies (4) and Musketeers (6) have won a combined 10 games in a row. St. Bonaventure will also look to rid itself of a 15-game losing streak against ranked opponents while picking up its first five-game A-10 win streak and three-game conference road win streak since 1998-99.

ALL-TIME SERIES
Xavier has claimed the last eight meetings to take a 21-15 edge in the all-time series. Four of those wins have come at the Cintas Center where the Bonnies are 0-5 since the building opened in 2000. St. Bonaventure's last win in the series came in 2002 when they upset a Xavier club, 80-79, that entered on a 12-game win streak under first-year head coach Thad Matta. The Musketeers have dominated the series since joining the A-10 in 1996, holding a 13-4 lead in the 17 meetings. The two teams have met five times when XU has been nationally ranked, including three straight, with the Musketeers holding a 4-1 edge in those meetings.

A-10 CHAMPIONSHIP TALK
With a win at Xavier, the Bonnies can clinch the No. 8 seed and a home game on Tuesday. The Brown and White can also earn the eighth seed with a GW loss and Duquesne loss. All other combinations of wins and losses by the Bonnies, Dukes and GW will result in tie-breakers to decide seeds 8-10.

SCOUTING THE MUSKETEERS
With its fifth consecutive 20-win season already in hand, Xavier hasn't missed a beat under first-year head coach Chris Mack. With a win, the Musketeers can secure a share of the A-10 Regular Season championship for the fourth straight year. Xavier has been nearly unbeatable at the Cintas Center in league play, posting a 69-10 record against A-10 opponents at home since 2000-01, including 31 straight home wins in conference action. As a team, Xavier leads the A-10 in five different categories, highlighted by scoring offense (79.5), field goal percentage (.468) and scoring margin (+11.3). Aiding the XU's league-best 79.5 points per game average in sophomore Jordan Crawford, who has an A-10-best 14 20-point games. The conference's leading scorer at 19.5 points per game, Crawford has reached double figures in 28 of 29 games, including 25 straight. Senior big man Jason Love's continued improvement has allowed the 6-foot-9 center to average career-highs of 11.8 points and 8.6 rebounds. Sophomore Terrell Holloway has taken firm grip of the point guard position en route to 11.4 points per game, while passing out 110 assists to just 56 turnovers.

HEAD COACHING MATCHUP
ST. BONAVENTURE HEAD COACH
Mark Schmidt
@ St. Bonaventure: 37-51 (3rd Season)
Overall: 119-141 (9th Season)
Atlantic 10: 15-32 (3rd Season)
vs. Xavier: 0-2

XAVIER HEAD COACH
Chris Mack
@ Xavier: 22-7 (1st Season)
Overall: Same
Atlantic 10: 13-2 (1st Season)
vs. St. Bonaventure: First Meeting

CINCINNATI CONNECTIONS
Saturday's game will be a bit of a homecoming for several current Bonnies that have ties back to Cincinnati and Xavier University. Head coach MARK SCHMIDT spent seven seasons as an assistant for the late Skip Prosser. Assistant coach JEFF MASSEY played two seasons at Xavier from 1993-95 where he helped the Musketeers reach the NCAA Tournament as a senior captain. Assistant coach DAVE MOORE was born and raised on the Westside of the "Queen City" and is a graduate of Oak Hills High School. Sophomore MICHAEL DAVENPORT was also born in Cincinnati and played for head coach Carl Kremer at Moeller.

WE'RE GOING STREAKING!
St. Bonaventure's current four-game A-10 win streak is its longest since the 1999-2000 season. The Bonnies have produced their top four A-10 scoring games over the win streak, averaging 80.2 points per game. St. Bonaventure is also shooting 49.6 percent (113-218) while holding its opponents to 40 percent (102-252) and has out-rebounded all four teams. Seven of the nine players in the rotation over the four games have scored in double figures at least once, while all nine are averaging at least 12 minutes per game. Four players are averaging 11.5 points or better during the run, led by senior CHRIS MATTHEWS who has sank 18-of-38 from three-point land to average 16.6 points. At least four players have reached double figures in the last three games.

20-20 VISION
With a combined 16 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 seven, while Matthews has three of his five over the last seven contests and Hall has four. Matthews and Nicholson have reached the 20-point plateau in same game three times this season, including twice during the four-game win streak.

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 nine games. Hall is averaging 16.1 points, 7.8 rebounds and 3.7 assists over the past nine games - all team-highs over that span. The 6-foot-5 swingman has led the team in rebounding six times and scoring five times, while accumulating four double-doubles and a pair of 20-point games since returning from injury eight games ago. Hall is one of just three players in the A-10 that has two 20-point games and four double-doubles in conference play and is the reigning A-10 Co-Player of the Week alongside Xavier's Jordan Crawford.

FROM DOWNTOWN
The fastest player to 100 and 150 three-pointers in school history, senior CHRIS MATTHEWS leads the A-10 and ranks 16th in the country at 3.1 threes per game. Matthews has made three or more treys in a game 15 times this season and at least one in 31 straight games dating back to last season. During his career as a Bonnie, Matthews has made a three in 55 of 58 games, helping him rank sixth on the all-time list with 171 trifectas. Matthews accounts for 64 percent of the team's three-point makes and his 90 treys on the year are the third-best single-season total in school history. He is just eight three away from tying the school record of 98.

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 (16.0) and rebounding (7.3). Nicholson leads the A-10 with a 57.7 percent (176-305) field goal percentage and is one of two players to rank in top 10 in the conference in both scoring (8th) and rebounding (10th). Nicholson has produced a team-high 20-point games: vs. St. John's (26), vs. Norfolk State (29), at Niagara (24), at UMass (26), at Duquesne (29), at La Salle (24) and vs. Duquesne (21). He also has three double-doubles and five double-digit rebound games. Nicholson has led the team in scoring 14 times, rebounding 12 times, including both in the same game on seven occasions.

DOUBLING UP
Senior JONATHAN HALL'S recent A-10 Co-Player of the Week honor 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.

ON THE OFFENSIVE
St. Bonaventure has done a much-better job attacking the offensive glass as of late. The Bonnies have grabbed a combined 129 offensive rebounds over their last 10 games. As a team, the Bonnies have gathered 10 or more offensive caroms in a game 18 times, including 11 of 15 conference games. The Bonnies grabbed season-high 20 offensive rebounds against Canisius. Sophomore ANDREW NICHOLSON leads the team with 67 offensive boards, while senior JONATHAN HALL has grabbed an offensive rebound in 47 of 55 career games. The return of Hall has been the catalyst for the aggressiveness on the boards over the last 10 games, as he's helped the Bonnies out-rebound seven of their last nine opponents.

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 (13.4), rebounds (5.7), assists (3.5), blocks (18) and field goal percentage (.541), while leading in steals (36). The Miami, Fla. native has scored in double figures a team-best 21 times, grabbed five or more rebounds 14 times and passed out at least five assists on seven 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 over the past eight games.

BOMBS AWAY
With at least two games left to go, senior CHRIS MATTHEWS is just eight three-pointers away from tying the program single-season record of 98 set by Marques Green in 2003-04. Last game against Duquesne, Matthews moved into third-place in the single-season charts with 90 threes. 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.