St. Bonaventure Men's Basketball Game Preview: Louisiana Tech
Opening Tip: St. Bonaventure takes on Louisiana Tech in the championship game of the Gulf Coast Showcase on Wednesday night. The Bonnies own wins over Southern Illinois and Wagner in the Showcase while the Bulldogs defeated UNC-Greensboro and Illinois-Chicago to reach the final.
Opponent: Louisiana Tech Bulldogs
Date: Wednesday, Nov. 27
Time: 8:30 p.m.
Location: Germain Arena, Estero, Fla.
St. Bonaventure Record: 5-1 | La Tech Record: 4-1
Bonnies Season Stats | La Tech Season Statistics
Complete Showcase bracket and schedule
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The St. Bonaventure – LaTech Matchup
Series/This Game: First meeting
Louisiana Tech Scouting Report:
• The Bulldogs, who returned nine lettermen from last season's 27-7 club, lost their season opener at St. Mary's (Calif.) but have won their last four games, scoring at least 90 points in every one of those wins
• La Tech, who plays in Conference USA, is averaging 94 points per game
• Eight Bulldogs average over 20 minutes played per game
• La Tech is averaging 94 points per game, and the Bulldogs force their opponents into an average of nearly 18 turnovers per game
• One-third of La Tech's field goal attempts have been from three-point range; they are making 36.7 percent of their shots from long range
• Raheem Appleby (15.6 ppg) leads four Bulldogs who average better than 10 points per game, along with Chris Henderson (15.4), Alex Hamilton (14.0) and Cordarius Johnson (12.4).
Louisiana Tech Michael White
At La Tech: 45-23 (third season) | Overall Record: same
Noteworthy: White is the brother of UB Athletics Director Danny White.
Bonnies Seek Tournament Title: The Bonnies' last in-season tournament title came in 2000, when they defeated New Mexico State and host Fresno State to win the Sparkletts Invitational. Since then, St. Bonaventure has played in several tournaments but none with a traditional winners bracket and crowned champion.
5-1 Start: St. Bonaventure's 5-1 start is their best start under Coach Mark Schmidt since the 2009-10 team also opened with five wins in its first six games. The last Bonnies team to start 6-1 was the 2000-01 edition which went 8-1.
Bona's Showcase Summary: Monday in the first round of the Showcase, Matthew Wright scored a career high 32 points to lead St. Bonaventure to an 83-71 win over Southern Illinois. The Bonnies led by 10 at halftime and SIU never came any closer than seven points in the second half as Bona used a deadly three-point shooting night (10-21 including 7-11 in the second half to power its win. In addition to Wright's exploits, the Bonnies also got 15 points from Dion Wright and 11 each from Charlon Kloof and Andell Cumberbatch. Tuesday, St. Bonaventure led by as many as 15 points early in the second half and held on for a 70-67 win over Wagner. Wright scored 19 points, Youssou Ndoye had 12 points and eight rebounds, Andell Cumberbatch finished with 11 points, and Charlon Kloof had a strong all-around game with 10 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals.
Leading The Wright Way: Consistency from Matthew Wright has been pointed to as a key to the Bonnies' success this season, and so far the senior shooting guard has delivered. He has led St. Bonaventure in scoring four out of six games, highlighted by his 32-point performance Monday but also including a then-career high 27 points in the win over Canisius. The Toronto native is averaging 25.5 points in the Gulf Coast Showcase, and a team-high 18.7 points per game for the season.
Balanced Bonnies: Four St. Bonaventure players enter Wednesday's game averaging 10 points or better. Matthew Wright leads the way at 18.7 points per game followed by Youssou Ndoye (11.3), Charlon Kloof (11.2), and Andell Cumberbatch (10.3).
