St. Bonaventure Men's Basketball Game Preview: Wake Forest
Opponent: Wake Forest Demon Deacons
Date: Tuesday, Dec. 17
Time: 7:00 p.m.
Location: Lawrence Joel Memorial Coliseum, Winston-Salem, NC
St. Bonaventure Record: 7-3 | Wake Forest Record: 8-2
Bonnies Statistics | Wake Forest Statistics
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Twitter: @BonniesMBB
Opening Tip: St. Bonaventure's road trip continues when the Bonnies make their first-ever regular season visit to Winston-Salem to face the Demon Deacons of the ACC. The Bonnies come off a 102-89 win at Iona on Saturday, while Wake Forest has been idle since a Dec. 7 overtime win over Richmond. This is St. Bonaventure's second ACC road game in as many seasons; the Bonnies faced NC State in Raleigh last December.
The St. Bonaventure–Wake Forest Series: This is just the second meeting between the schools. The only other meeting came in the 1961 NCAA Tournament, a regional semifinal game in Charlotte, N.C., in which the Demon Deacons ended St. Bonaventure's magical season with a 78-73 win. Tom Stith scored a game-high 29 points but St. Bonaventure's year ended with a record of 24-4.
Coaches Comparison:
St. Bonaventure Coach Mark Schmidt
At SBU: 95-98 (7th season)
Overall: 177-188 (13th season)
Wake Forest Coach Jeff Bzdelik
At Wake Forest: 42-62 (fourth season)
Overall College Record: 153-167 (11th season)
Wake Forest Scouting Report
• This will be Wake Forest's first action since an overtime win against Richmond on Dec. 7. The Demon Deacons are 7-0 at Lawrence Joel Coliseum and have yet to play a true road game, their other three games came at the Battle For Atlantis where they suffered their two losses, to Kansas and Tennessee.
• Wake Forest features a deep rotation with four players averaging in double figures and 10 players who see significant minutes. Guard Codi McIntye-Miller leads Wake in scoring at 17.9 points per game; he also averages 4.4 assists per contest. Coron Williams (11.6), Devin Thomas (11.1) and Travis McKie (10.5) join McIntrye-Miller in double figures, while Tyler Cavanaugh is at 9.0 ppg. Thomas is nearly averaging a double-double at 9.8 rebounds per game. The Deacons are averaging 79 points per game. McKie, a senior, is a two-time All-ACC selection and has scored over 1,400 career points.
Quick Hitters on The Bonnies:
- St. Bonaventure leads the Atlantic 10 in rebounding margin at +8.0 and ranks fifth in scoring defense (66.8 ppg).
- Charlon Kloof has increased his scoring average by almost eight points per game over last season (5.3 to 13.2).
- Kloof has scored in double figures eight times this season - two more than he did all of last season.
- Matthew Wright ranks fifth in the Atlantic 10 in scoring (17.3); he has increased his scoring average 10 points per game from last season.
- Andell Cumberbatch is hot, averaging 18 points and 9.3 rebounds his last three games with two double-doubles.
- Over the past four games, Marquise Simmons averaged 15 points and 8.5 rebounds.
- Mark Schmidt, now in his seventh year as head coach, leads a program that has become a consistent winner; he is five wins away from 100 for his SBU tenure. Schmidt led St. Bonaventure to the A-10 Championship and NCAA Tournament in 2012.
- Only 14 percent (38) of the Bonnies' 266 field goals are 3-pointers.
Kloof Leading The Pack: To say that senior point guard Charlon Kloof's role has increased this season is a vast understatement. He is a leader on and off the court, and the Bonnies rely heavily on his production. Start with playing time - he's on the court almost 35 minutes per game and really only been out when he's had foul trouble, playing 36 minutes or more six times. His offensive production is up this season by almost eight points and nearly two assists per game. Kloof also helps key the Bonnies' improved defense, averaging 1.5 steals per outing.
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 times, highlighted by a career-high 32 points in the win over Southern Illinois and 27 points in the win over Canisius. He is averaging a team-high 17.3 points per game - fifth best in the Atlantic 10 Conference. The Toronto native also recorded his first career double-double with 15 points and 10 rebounds in the win over Abilene Christian.
Bonnies Versus ACC Opponents
• All-time, St. Bonaventure is 20-56 against the current Atlantic Coast Conference members.
• The Bonnies' last game against an ACC opponent was last season, a 92-73 loss to NC State in Raleigh, N.C., on Dec. 22.
• Mark Schmidt is 0-5 vs. ACC teams as Bonnies head coach.
• St. Bonaventure's last win over a current ACC team came against Virginia Tech on Nov. 22, 2002 in the Paradise Jam when the Hokies were part of the Big East (that win was later vacated).
• St. Bonaventure's last victory over an ACC opponent when that team was a member of the ACC came against Duke in a 1971 NIT consolation game.
Lift From Batch: The addition of junior guard Andell Cumberbatch has given St. Bonaventure another scoring threat. Cumberbatch, who was forced to sit out the first two games this year because he played in a non-certified summer league, has started the past six games. His last three games, the 6'4" Cumberbatch averaged 18 points and 9.3 rebounds with a pair of double-doubles: 16 points and 10 rebounds vs. Buffalo, and 13 points and 11 rebounds vs. UMass-Lowell. He continued his hot streak with a career high 25 points in the win at Iona. The surge pushed Cumberbatch up to third on the team in scoring at 12.1 points per game, and he is also third in rebounding at 5.8 per game. The East Orange, N.J., native played for highly-regarded Barton (Kansas) Community College the past two seasons, averaging 14.2 points and 8.2 rebounds there last year.
