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GAMEDAY CENTRAL
NO. 8 ST. BONAVENTURE (14-15, 7-9) vs. NO. 9 DUQUESNE (16-14, 7-9)
DATE: Tuesday, March 9, 2010
SITE: Reilly Center (5,780)
COURT: Bob Lanier Court
TIP-OFF: 7:00 p.m. ET
RADIO: WPIG (95.7 FM) & WHDL (1450 AM) - Olean
TALENT: Gary Nease (Play-by-Play)
Dr. John Watson (Analyst)
AUDIO, VIDEO & STATS: GOBONNIES.com
SERIES: Duquesne leads, 55-48
A-10 TOURNAMENT SERIES: Tied, 2-2
LAST MEETING: March 3, 2010
St. Bona 92, Duquesne 80 (Box Score - Pg. 2)
UP NEXT WITH A WIN: Friday, March 12 @ noon
vs. No. 1 Temple - A-10 Quarterfinals

AT A GLANCE
For the third time this season and second time in six days at the Reilly Center, No. 8 seed St. Bonaventure will square off against No. 9 seed Duquesne in the First Round of the Atlantic 10 Championship on Tuesday. The two teams split the season-series and tied for eighth place in the A-10 standings, but the Bonnies earned the higher seed due to a tie-breaker. St. Bonaventure's No. 8 seed is its highest ranking in the conference tournament since 2001. The Bonnies won four of their last five over the final three weeks to earn their second-ever conference tournament home game. Oddly enough, the first also came against Duquesne in 1986 when the Dukes beat the Brown and White, 71-67, in the first round on Feb. 25, 1986.

A-10 TOURNEY HISTORY
St. Bonaventure will look to snap a four-game skid in the A-10 postseason. The Bonnies' last win in the A-10 Tournament came against Duquesne in 2002 in the form of an 81-66 first round victory at The Spectrum. St. Bonaventure is 12-26 all-time at the A-10 Tournament with a pair of second place finishes to its credit in 1984 and 2000, respectively. St. Bonaventure will look to improve on its 6-10 record in the opening round and advance to play top-seeded and two-time defending A-10 Tournament Champion Temple on Friday in the quarterfinals.

A-10 ALL-CONFERENCE STATUS
Sophomore ANDREW NICHOLSON was named to the A-10 All-Conference second team on Sunday. Nicholson's All-Conference status comes on the heels of winning the A-10 Rookie of the Year award in 2009. Nicholson is the first Bonnie to be named to an All-Conference team since 2006.

SCOUTING THE DUKES
Like the Bonnies, Duquesne made its run to an eighth place finish with a strong February and by going 6-4 over its final 10 games. The Dukes 16-14 overall record gives them their third straight winning season under coach Ron Everhart. Duquesne is only 3-10 on the road this season and has given up an average of 77 points in A-10 road contests. The only team in the A-10 with five players averaging double figure points, Duquesne is led by A-10 All-Conference first team selection and Defensive Player of the Year Damian Saunders. The 6-foot-7 junior leads the A-10 in five different categories, highlighted by rebounding (11.4) and double-doubles (19). Saunders broke his own single-season record this season with 84 steals and is 18 blocks away from another record. Saunders also leads the team in scoring (14.8) and has finished in double figures in 27 of 30 games.

ALL-TIME SERIES
St. Bonaventure and Duquesne met three times in a season in 1985-86 and 1986-87 with the Dukes winning five of the six games, including both postseason contests. The two teams have split the four meetings in the A-10 Tournament with the last going in the favor of the Bonnies in 2002. Duquesne owns a 55-48 edge in the all-time series and before last Wednesday's loss at the RC had taken nine of its last 12 against the Brown and White. The two teams have squared off 33 times in the RC since it opened in 1966, with the Bonnies holding a 21-12 edge.

HEAD COACHING MATCHUP
ST. BONAVENTURE HEAD COACH
Mark Schmidt
@ St. Bonaventure: 37-52 (3rd Season)
Overall: 119-142 (9th Season)
Atlantic 10: 15-33 (3rd Season)
Atlantic 10 Tournament: 0-1 (2nd Appearance)
vs. Duquesne: 3-6

DUQUESNE HEAD COACH
Ron Everhart
@ Duquesne: 64-59 (4th Season)
Overall: 239-230 (16th Season)
Atlantic 10: 29-34 (18th Season)
Atlantic 10 Tournament: 3-3 (4th Appearance)
vs. St. Bonaventure: 4-3

DUKE KILLER
Sophomore ANDREW NICHOLSON is averaging 24.3 points, 8.5 rebounds and 3.3 blocks per game while shooting 69 percent (38-55) from the field over four career contests against Duquesne. Nicholson has a pair of 29-point outings at the Palumbo Center, equaling his career-best. Despite his monster games, the Bonnies are 1-3 against the Dukes over the four games. A look at each of the Bonnies' averages against Dukes is available on Pages 11-12.

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 10 games. Hall is averaging 15.6 points, 7.8 rebounds, 4.0 assists and 1.6 steals over the past 10 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 had two 20-point games and four double-doubles in conference play.

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.

FROM DOWNTOWN
The fastest player to 100 and 150 three-pointers in school history, senior CHRIS MATTHEWS leads the A-10 and ranks 13th in the country at 3.2 threes per game. Matthews has made three or more treys in a game 15 times this season and at least one in 32 straight games dating back to last season. During his career as a Bonnie, Matthews has made a three in 56 of 59 games, helping him rank sixth on the all-time list with 173 trifectas. Matthews accounts for 63 percent of the team's three-point makes and his 92 treys on the year are the third-best single-season total in school history. He is just six 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 A-10 Rookie of the Year, as the Canadian big man leads the team in both scoring (16.2) and rebounding (7.1). Nicholson leads the A-10 with a 57.8 percent (185-320) 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 eight 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 12 times, including both in the same game on seven occasions.

LICENSE TO STEAL
With nine steals over his last three games, including a season-high four at No. 25 Xavier, senior JONATHAN HALL took over the team lead with 40 thefts on the season. Hall has a steal in five straight games - his second five-game streak of the season. Hall has a theft in 19 games, including 14 multi-steal contests.

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.

20-20 VISION
With a combined 17 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 eight, while Matthews has three of his five over the last eight 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.

ON THE OFFENSIVE
St. Bonaventure has done a much-better job attacking the offensive glass as of late. The Bonnies have grabbed a combined 138 offensive rebounds over their last 11 games. As a team, the Bonnies have gathered 10 or more offensive caroms in a game 18 times, including 11 of 16 conference games. The Bonnies grabbed season-high 20 offensive rebounds against Canisius. Sophomore ANDREW NICHOLSON leads the team with 68 offensive boards, while senior JONATHAN HALL has grabbed an offensive rebound in 48 of 56 career games. The return of Hall has been the catalyst for the aggressiveness on the boards over the last 11 games, as he's helped the Bonnies out-rebound seven of their last 11 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 (13.3), rebounds (5.8), assists (3.7), blocks (18) and field goal percentage (.537), while leading in steals (40). The Miami, Fla. native has scored in double figures a team-best 22 times, grabbed five or more rebounds 15 times and passed out at least five assists on eight 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.

BOMBS AWAY
Senior CHRIS MATTHEWS is just six 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 thanks to his 6-of-10 night from long range. He now has 92 three-pointers. 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.