Indiana (2-5) @ St. Bonaventure (6-1)
Wednesday, Dec. 7 | 7 PM | Reilly Center (5,480)
Game Notes: Indiana | St. Bonaventure | Atlantic 10
Follow & Interact: @Go_Bonnies | #Bonnies
St. Bonaventure opens a four-game homestand Wednesday night against the Big Ten's Indiana Hoosiers looking to avenge a loss in last season's meeting.
Head coach Jim Crowley enters the matchup with the Hoosiers one win shy of 200 victories for his career. Crowley, who at one point had a record of 57-119 at Bonaventure following a loss to nationally ranked Bowling Green on Dec. 9, 2006, changed everything about his program after that game (learn more here). Since that defeat to Bowling Green – which featured now assistant coach Kate Achter – Crowley is 103-56 at Bonaventure. Crowley won 39 games at Keuka College from 1993-96 before taking the head job at Bona's prior to the 2000-01 season where he has since accumulated 160 victories.
Last year, the Bonnies turned the ball over a season-high 25 times in the 50-44 defeat to Indiana. That's the most turnovers
Bonaventure has had in a game since Dec. 18, 2006, when it gave the ball away 26 times at Fairleigh Dickinson. Bona finished seventh in the entire nation last year in turnovers, committing just 13.8 per game, and currently is fourth in the country this year in that category at 12.6 per outing.
With a win over Indiana, St. Bonaventure would earn a program-record third regular-season victory over a BCS team, having already claimed wins at St. John's and West Virginia. The Bonnies defeated three BCS schools in the 2008-09 season (Michigan State, West Virginia, Wisconsin), but only the Michigan State win came during the regular season.
St. Bonaventure began this week with an official RPI (Ratings Percentage Index) of 19, which is the highest in the Atlantic 10 Conference. The Bonnies are the only team in the nation with five road wins, and just six other schools in the country have four road victories.
The Bonnies have committed just 88 turnovers on the year – fourth-best in the nation – but they are even stingier with the ball when the game is on the line. Of those 88 giveaways, 52 have come in the first half while 36 have come in the final 20 minutes. Additionally, in the final five minutes the Bonnies have committed just three turnovers, and in their five road in the final five minutes, they have given the ball away just one time.
Much like the late-game possession, Bonaventure connects from the free throw line in pressure moments. Currently 18th in the nation at 77.1 percent as a team from the free throw line, the Bonnies are 23-30 (76.7 percent) in the final five minutes of games while their opponents are just 15-25 (60 percent). Even more impressive, the Bonnies are 18-24 (75 percent) from the line in the last five minutes of their road games, while those home teams are just 12-21 (57.1 percent).
Scouting Indiana
~ The Hoosiers enter with a 2-5 record and are losers of their last four games
~ IU is coming off an 83-72 home loss to Oklahoma State on Sunday
~ Indiana returns two starters and nine letterwinners from a team which finished 9-20 last year
~ Senior Georgie Jones has already recorded three double-doubles this year
~ Junior Aulani Sinclair leads the team in scoring at 13.3 points per game
Next Up
St. Bonaventure continues its homestand with a game against Big 4 rival University at Buffalo on Saturday at 4:30. The game is part of doubleheader with the men's team as it will face Little Three rival Canisius in the nightcap.
