Game Notes: St. Bonaventure | Xavier | Atlantic 10
St. Bonaventure (12-6, 2-1 A-10) | Xavier (14-2, 3-0 A-10)
Wed., Jan. 19, 2011 | 7 p.m. | Cintas Center
CINCINNATI, Ohio - Xavier enters Wednesday night's game as the No. 7 team in the country, and this will be St. Bonaventure's third nationally ranked opponent of the year, and second top-10 opponent. After winning the Atlantic 10 last season, Xavier was picked to repeat again this year. St. Bonaventure will be looking for its first win over the Musketeers since Jan. 25, 2002. The Bonnies will also be looking for their first-ever win in Cincinnati as they are 0-7 in the Cintas Center/Cincinnati Gardens. This will be St. Bonaventure's second-consecutive game at a location it has never before won at. The Bonnies will be looking for a duplication of last Saturday when they broke a 0-16 spell at the Charles E. Smith Center with their first-ever win at George Washington.
Last Time Out
Trailing 25-20 with 7:47 left in the first half Saturday night, St. Bonaventure closed the half on a 20-4 run and never looked back en route to a 72-48 win over the George Washington Colonials (5-11, 0-2 A-10).
Number Crunching
After scoring 70 or more points just twice this year before last week, St. Bonaventure has eclipsed the 70-point threshold in each of its last two games – a 74-54 win over La Salle and a 72-48 defeat of George Washington. After shooting just 3-20 (15 percent) from the 3-point line in their A-10 opener, the Bonnies have connected at a 51.2-percent clip from beyond the arc in each of their last two games (20-39), including a season-best 11 made 3's against GW. The Bonnies have also gotten the job done on the defensive end, particularly in the second halves of those games as they held both the Explorers and Colonials each to just 19 second-half points. The Bonnies enter tonight's game as the 13th-best defense in the entire country, and best in the A-10, holding their opponents to just 52.7 points per game. Xavier will be the sixth opponent of the year that enters a matchup with the Bonnies averaging more than 70 points per game. In each of the previous five games, St. Bonaventure has not allowed its opponent to reach its scoring average. The team to get closest to its average was No. 6/7 West Virginia, which came into its Dec. 30 meeting with the Bonnies averaging 70.1 per game, and could only muster 62 – 47 of which came in the second half. The team that was furthest from its average was Marist, which came into its meeting with St. Bonaventure averaging 71.2 per game and netted just 40.
Scouting Xavier
-- Xavier has either won the regular-season A-10 title or A-10 Championship each of the last four years
-- The Musketeers only two losses have been on the road against No. 3 Duke and No. 9/8 Stanford
-- Senior Ta'Shia Phillips leads the A-10 and ranks second nationally with 13.2 rebounds per game
-- Phillips also tops the league in field goal percentage (.564), and classmate Amber Harris leads the conference in blocks (2.3)
-- Xavier in ranked in the top-40 nationally in 12 different statistical categories
-- Xavier has won 30 of its last 31 regular-season A-10 games
-- Three times this year already Amber Harris has been named A-10 Player of the Week
-- Head coach Kevin McGuff will be looking for his 200th career win (199-72)
St. Bonaventure vs. Xavier
Series Quick Facts
Overall: Xavier Leads, 16-3
At St. Bonaventure: Xavier Leads, 6-3
At Xavier: Xavier Leads, 7-0
At Neutral Site: Xavier Leads, 3-0
Most St. Bonaventure Points: 84 (Jan. 23, 1997: 84-65)
Most Xavier Points: 96 (Jan. 5, 1999: 96-64)
Fewest St. Bonaventure Points: 43 (Feb. 27, 2005: 75-43)
Fewest Xavier Points: 57 (Mar. 4, 2000: 76-57)
Largest St. Bonaventure Margin: 19 (Mar. 4, 2000: 76-57)
Largest Xavier Margin: 32 (Feb. 27, 2005: 75-43)
Kevin McGuff, the winningest coach in Xavier history, completed his eighth season in charge of the Xavier University women's basketball program. McGuff led the Musketeers to a 30-4 record, their second-straight Atlantic 10 Regular Season Championship and third Atlantic 10 Tournament title in the last four years. McGuff guided XU to the Elite Eight of the NCAA Tournament for the second time in school history. XU posted a spotless 14-0 mark in A-10 play and recorded its sixth straight 20-win season in 2009-10.
McGuff has led XU to national postseason play in each of his first eight years in Cincinnati, including five NCAA Tournament berths. He enters the 2010-11 season with a 185-70 (.725) record, which marks XU records for wins and winning percentage.
The 2009-10 campaign was one to remember as XU reached a program-best No. 5 national ranking in both the Associated Press and USA Today/ESPN Coaches Poll. The Musketeers put together a program record-tying 21-game winning streak, which included a spotless 14-0 record in A-10 play and the fifth A-10 Tournament title in school history. The team earned a record No. 3 seed in the NCAA Tournament and ousted No. 14 East Tennessee State and No. 6 Vanderbilt at Cintas Center to advance to the Sweet 16 for the second time in XU history. The Musketeers then traveled to Sacramento and handled No. 7 Gonzaga, 74-56, in the Regional Semifinal before falling to No. 1 Stanford, 55-53, on a last-second shot.
Rookie of the Week
Doris Ortega was named the A-10 Rookie of the Week this week, the first honor in her young career. Ortega opened the week with her first double-figure scoring outing, netting a career-high 12 points against La Salle, while adding two blocks and one assist. The Harlem, N.Y., native once again served as a key reserve at GW, scoring eight points as part of a season-high 35 SBU bench points. She also corralled four rebounds, collected one steal and distributed one assist against the Colonials. Ortega closed out the week shooting 46 percent (6-13) from the floor and 88 percent (7-8) at the line.
We're Number One
St. Bonaventure is the only school in the nation that has decreased its loss total every single year since the 2004-05 season: 2004-05: 19; 2005-06: 18; 2006-07: 15; 2007-08: 12; 2008-09: 11; 2009-10: 10. Going back even further, the Bonnies have not increased their loss total since the 2002-03 campaign. In that year they lost 22 games, and the following year in 2003-04 finished with 19 losses, a total they tied the next season to start the streak.
Mirror Image
After finishing in the top-10 in the nation in four different statistical categories last year, the Bonnies are looking at repeating those finishes in exactly the same categories again this year. St. Bonaventure is 9th in the nation in free throw shooting (77.2 percent), 10th in the nation in 3-point field goal percentage (38.5), 13th in the nation in scoring defense (52.7 points per game) and 12th in the nation in turnovers per game (14.1).
Finally Got Rid Of That Monkey
Saturday, for the first time in 17 tries, St. Bonaventure defeated George Washington at the Charles E. Smith Center. The Bonnies entered the game 0-16 all-time at the Smith Center, and held the Colonials to 48 points in their win – the lowest scoring output by GW in 36 meetings between the two schools. St. Bonaventure will be looking to duplicate that trick tonight against Xavier as it enters 0-7 all-time in the Queen City.
The Pine Is Fine
The St. Bonaventure bench has been vital in each of the last two games, as nine players have logged double-figure minutes in each game, and for the first time all year all 12 players who dressed saw game action in back-to-back contests. Against La Salle, Doris Ortega came off the bench to score a career-high 12 points en route to earning Rookie of the Week honors this week. Against GW, Cara Gustafson came off the bench to tally a career-high 14 points as part of a season-high 35 St. Bonaventure bench points.
Unfortunately, It Ain't Horseshoes
Close has been the story of the Bonaventure season to this point. Currently at 12-6, five of the six losses have come by fewer than 10 points, with the lone double-digit loss being by 11 points to nationally ranked St. John's.
Deadly From Distance
Jessica Jenkins is rapidly moving up the St. Bonaventure career 3-point list. She currently sits in fourth place on the all-time list with 179 made 3's, and if she continues at the pace she has the last two seasons, will head into her senior year in sole possession of third place. The junior sharpshooter has already tallied five games this year in which she has made five 3-pointers, including most recently against GW on Saturday went she went 5-7 from long range.
Turnover Duplication
After finishing 2009-10 as the 7th-best ball-protecting team in the country with just 13.6 turnovers per game, the Bonnies are nearly equaling that total so far this year as they are giving the ball away just 14.1 times per contest. However, the more symbolic figure from that statistic is that in five of its losses St. Bonaventure has turned the ball over more times than its opponent, and is 8-1 when it has fewer.
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