St. Bonaventure Men's Basketball Game Preview: Buffalo
Opponent: Buffalo Bulls
Date: Saturday, Dec. 7
Time: 2:00 p.m.
Location: Alumni Arena, Buffalo, NY
St. Bonaventure Record: 6-2 | UB Record: 3-2
Bonnies Season Statistics | UB Season Statistics
Complete Game Notes Pack
TV: Time Warner Sports Net
Listen (WPIG 95.7 FM, Olean, NY)
Twitter: @BonniesMBB
Instagram: GoBonnies
Opening Tip: St. Bonaventure makes the short trip north to play its second Big 4 game of the season when it visits the University at Buffalo. It will be the fourth meeting between the schools since the series was resumed in 2010. This will be the Bonnies' second true road contest this year. St. Bonaventure, which comes off a 67-58 win over UMass-Lowell on Tuesday, is led by guards Matthew Wright and Charlon Kloof, who both are off strong starts to their senior seasons.
The St. Bonaventure – Buffalo Series: St. Bonaventure leads, 6-1, and has won all three meetings since the series resumed in 2010.
Buffalo Scouting Report
• The Bulls have been idle since a 65-55 home win over Delaware State last Saturday, Nov. 30. This is their fourth straight home game. UB opened the year with road losses at Texas A&M and Niagara but then came home to top West Virginia Wesleyan, Robert Morris and Delaware State.
• Former Duke point guard Bobby Hurley is in his first season as a head coach. He was an assistant at Rhode Island last year under his brother Danny, and prior to that in the same role at Wagner.
• Senior forward Javon McCrea is the Bulls' leading scorer (18.2 ppg) and rebounder (10.6 rpg). He also has 13 blocked shots and is shooting 55 percent from the field.
• Complementing McCrea, the Bulls have balanced scoring with guard Josh Freelove (12.0 ppg), guard Jarod Oldham (9.8), forward Will Regan (8.2), guard Jarryn Skeete (7.4) and forward Xavier Ford (6.2).
Coaches Comparison:
St. Bonaventure Coach Mark Schmidt
At SBU: 94-97 (7th season) | Overall: 176-187 (13th season)
UB Coach Bobby Hurley
At UB: 3-2 (first season) | Overall: same
6-2 Start: St. Bonaventure's 6-2 start is the best by a Bonnies team since the 2001-02 club opened the year 8-2.
Bonnies vs. The Big 4: Since Mark Schmidt took over as head coach, the Bonnies' record vs. the Big 4 teams is a combined 9-7. The series vs. each school: Buffalo: 3-0 | Canisius: 4-3 | Niagara: 2-4
Road Swing: After playing its first three games at home, the Bonnies are now in a stretch of the schedule where they play eight out of nine games on the road or at a neutral site (the Gulf Coast Showcase). UMass-Lowell was the Bonnies' only home game in a span of 45 days (Nov. 16-Dec. 30).
Television Games: With the recent addition of the Buffalo game, a total of 11 St. Bonaventure games will be televised this season. Siena, UB (Dec. 7) and Niagara (Dec. 21) will air on Time Warner Sports, with four more games on SNY (Duquesne home/away, Fordham, and VCU), three on NBC Sports Network (Cornell, at UMass and St. Joseph's) and one on CBS College Sports Network (home vs. LaSalle).
Quick Hitters on The Bonnies:
- St. Bonaventure leads the Atlantic 10 in rebounding margin at +8.2 and ranks second in scoring defense (62.6 ppg).
- Charlon Kloof has increased his scoring average by 7 points per game over last season (5.3 to 12.3).
- Kloof has scored in double figures six times this season - the same number of times he did it all of last season.
- Matthew Wright is third in the Atlantic 10 in scoring (18.4).
- Youssou Ndoye ranks fourth in the A-10 in blocks (1.8) and 10th in rebounding (7.3).
- Marquise Simmons is the elder statesman of this team; he turned 24 on Nov. 16. He received a medical waiver for the 2011-12 season after rupturing his Achilles.
- Mark Schmidt continues to lead the a program that has become a consistent winner under his watch; he is six wins away from 100 for his St. Bonaventure tenure.
- Only 14 percent (29) of the Bonnies' 206 field goals are three-pointers.