St. Bonaventure (20-12) vs. Bethune-Cookman (18-17)
Friday, Nov. 9 | 7 PM | Reilly Center (5,480)
Game Notes: St. Bonaventure | Bethune-Cookman
Twitter Updates: @BonniesMBB | #Bonnies
Gameday Information
The 2012 Atlantic 10 Championship and NCAA Tournament banners will be unveiled approximately 15 minutes before the start of the game. Fans are encouraged to be in their seats by 6:45 p.m.
Additionally, the completely refurbished Rathskeller on campus will be hosting a two-hour pregame and two-hour postgame grand re-opening in conjuction with the season starting. Food and drink specials will be served throughout the night, and doors open at 5 p.m. The public is welcome.
For more gameday information, please visit our new Gameday Central page at GoBonnies.com/Gameday for a complete breakdown of gameday information for this contest and all home games throughout the season.
OPENING TIP
St. Bonaventure tips off its 2012-13 season at home against Bethune-Cookman Friday evening. Based in Daytona Beach, Fla., the Wildcats play in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference and have never faced the Bonnies before.
BANNER SEASON HONORED
St. Bonaventure's unprecedented 2011-12 season will be celebrated during a ceremony approximately 15 minutes prior to tip-off tonight, when banners honoring the team's Atlantic 10 Conference Championship and NCAA Tournament Second Round appearance from last season will be unveiled to the public for the first time.
SIZZLING HOME COOKIN'
Over the last 45 years – since 1967 when the Reilly Center hosted its first complete season – St. Bonaventure is a dominant 43-2 in home openers, 42-3 including a win which was later forfeited during the 2002-03 season. SBU won its first 27 home openers in the RC until a 76-74 loss to Canisius on Dec. 3, 1994. Bona's has won seven straight home openers, dating back to Nov. 23, 2004, when it suffered a 74-58 setback to Marist.
Even more impressive, in games which have served as both home and season openers (like today), the Bonnies have NEVER lost in the Reilly Center, going an emphatic 32-0 in such contests.
Teams With The Best Records In Home Openers (Last 45 Years)
TEAM ARENA RECORD
St. Bonaventure Reilly Center 43-2*
Virginia Tech Cassell Coliseum 43-2
Dayton UD Arena 41-4
Duquesne A.J. Palumbo Center 40-5
*Does not include forfeited win in 2002-03
Overall, the Bonnies are 77-15 all-time in season-opening games and 80-12 in home openers. Under head coach Mark Schmidt, St. Bonaventure is 3-2 in season openers and 5-0 in home openers.
BONNIES CRUISE IN EXHIBITION
St. Bonaventure raced out to a 19-4 lead not even seven minutes in, led by as many as 45 and received a game-high 25 points from senior Demitrius Conger to cruise to a 104-61 victory over Division II Mansfield in an exhibition tilt this past Saturday. The well-balanced SBU offensive attack received 14 points from sophomore center Youssou Ndoye, 11 from guard Eric Mosley and 10 each from Charlon Kloof and Michael Davenport as SBU scored 100 in a regulation 40 minutes for the first time since Dec. 31, 2002, against Ohio.
SCOUTING BETHUNE-COOKMAN
Coming off a fourth-straight winning season, Bethune-Cookman is projected to finish 6th in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference. The Wildcats finished 18-17 last season and earned a berth in the MEAC Tournament championship game, where they lost to Norfolk State – which went on to upset Missouri in the NCAA Tournament.
Senior point guard Kevin Dukes returns as the team's leading scorer. The Preseason Second Team All-MEAC selection averaged 11.7 points per game and also led the Wildcats in 3-pointers, assists and minutes played last season. B-CU also returns forward Adrian Coleman, who averaged 11.5 ppg last year. The junior also led the team with 48 steals.
CAN'T TEACH EXPERIENCE
Bonaventure's opening night starting lineup will have 245 combined games of Division I experience. Furthermore, SBU's bench (excluding freshmen) will have 234 games of experience combined, giving the top nine players in Mark Schmidt's rotation a total of 479 games of D-I experience.
'GATHER'ING GAME ACTION
Sophomore Jordan Gathers saw a drastic increase in both minutes played and subsequently production beginning midway through his freshman season in 2011-12. After playing just double-digit minutes in one of the first 14 games last year (74 minutes total) and scoring five points, the California native logged double-digit action in 16 of the final 17 contests (288 minutes total) and netted 49 points. That's an average of 5.2 minutes per game and .3 points per game over the first 14 games of the season, and 16.9 minutes and 2.8 points encompassing the last 17 outings, including making starts in each of the last nine games of the campaign.
Season Opener Trends
Largest margin of victory: 70 (126-56 over Steubenville, Nov. 29, 1978)
Largest margin of defeat: 36 (79-43 to Colgate, 1947)
Smallest margin of victory: 2, twice (38-36 over Assumption, 1937; 78-76 over Robert Morris, Nov. 21, 2003)
Smallest margin of defeat: 3, twice (39-36 to Akron, 1942; 98-95 to Chicago State, Nov. 9, 2006)
Most points scored: 134 (vs. Concordia, Nov. 24, 1990)
Fewest points scored: 15 (vs. Alumni, 1925)
Most points allowed: 109 (vs. Concordia, Nov. 24, 1990)
Fewest points allowed: 1 (vs. Rochester Business Institute, 1927)
Quick Facts:
# SBU has scored 100 points or more in nine season openers, including six straight openers from 1965 to 1970
# SBU won 25 consecutive season openers from 1963 to 1987
# SBU has never lost more than two consecutive season openers
# SBU has lost season openers in consecutive years just once (1994, 1995)
# SBU is 6-4 in its last 10 season openers
# SBU is 0-2 all time in season openers on Nov. 9
SBU: 2011-12
St. Bonaventure won its first Atlantic 10 Championship in 2012 and advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2000 where it narrowly lost to 3rd-seeded ACC Champion Florida State in the Second Round, 66-63.
WHAT'S GONE & WHAT'S BACK
The Bonnies will look to replace 2012 A-10 Player of the Year, Associated Press Honorable Mention All-American and First Round NBA Draft Pick Andrew Nicholson, who led St. Bonaventure in scoring (18.5) and rebounding (8.4). SBU also lost Da'Quan Cook (7.6 points / 4.6 rebounds) to graduation. While Nicholson has moved on to the Orlando Magic, Cook has taken his game oversees where he signed a professional contract with BC Yambol in Bulgaria's National Basketball League.
Bona returns 10 letterwinners and three starters, including 2012 A-10 All-Championship Team member Demitrius Conger, who averaged 12.1 points and 6.2 rebounds – both second on the team to Nicholson. Conger has been named to the 2012-13 Preseason All-Big 4 First Team. Bonaventure had 10 players average at least 10 minutes per game in 2011-12, tied for the most by any team in the A-10. Mark Schmidt was named the Sporting News Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year, and also claimed the Basketball Coaches Association of New York Men's Division I Coach of the Year.
FIVE-YEAR RESURGENCE
By going 10-6 and finishing tied for 3rd in the A-10 in 2012, St. Bonaventure increased its conference win total and bettered its league finish for the fifth straight year since head coach Mark Schmidt took over the Bonnies in 2007-08. Additionally, St. Bonaventure is one of only seven Division I schools in the nation to have improved its RPI in each of the last five seasons.
Charleston Southern, Detroit, Long Beach State, South Dakota State, Tennessee Tech and Wichita State are the other six schools which have improved their RPI each of the last five years. Of the seven teams, SBU is the only one to hail from a conference that has been rated among the top-10 in the country in RPI in each of the last five years.
YEAR RPI A-10 Wins A-10 Finish
2007-08 264 2 (2-14) 14th
2008-09 192 6 (6-10) 11th
2009-10 156 7 (7-9) T-8th
2010-11 128 8 (8-8) 7th
2011-12 76 10 (10-6) T-3rd
COINCIDENCE? PROBABLY NOT
St. Bonaventure held 22 opponents to 69 points or fewer in 2011-12, one of the main reasons it advanced to the Second Round of the NCAA Tournament. The last time SBU held that many teams to 69 points or fewer was in 1999-2000 when it also occurred 22 times. Prior to last year, the 1999-2000 season was the last time the Bonnies advanced to the NCAA Tournament.
NATIONAL EXPOSURE
St. Bonaventure has picked up another TV game this season, as the Bonnies will be showcased nationally on the NBC Sports Network when they travel to Cornell on Nov. 14.
This will be the 10th televised game that the defending Atlantic 10 Champions have this season. Furthermore, the Bonnies will appear on ESPN3 – an online streaming channel – when they face ACC favorite NC State.
NON-CONFERENCE DOCKET
St. Bonaventure's non-conference schedule features contests against six teams which went to postseason tournaments last year, including four versus NCAA Tournament squads. The Bonnies will play 13 non-league contests in total – six at home, six on the road and one at a neutral site. Six of the 13 teams won 20 or more games last year, and two advanced to the Sweet 16. Bonaventure will conclude its non-conference docket with three straight games against 2012 NCAA Tournament teams.
NCAA: Ohio (Sweet 16) | NC State (Sweet 16) | Iona: (1st Round) | Colorado State: (2nd Round)
NIT: Cleveland State | CIT: Buffalo
AMONG THE BEST
SBU finished in the top-5 in the A-10 in nine different statistical categories in 2011-12, and closed the season at 16th in the nation in free-throw percentage (76.1) and 25th in the country in rebounding margin (+5.5).
For more news, please click on the preseason guide embedded within this release.
