Opening Tip
St. Bonaventure returns to the Reilly Center Wednesday to face La Salle, one of the Atlantic 10's top teams. The Bonnies are coming off a come-from-behind victory Saturday at Rhode Island – their third A-10 road triumph already this year. St. Bonaventure, surprisingly, is just 1-3 in conference play at home, with the lone victory coming over Duquesne on Feb. 2. After starting A-10 play 0-3, Bonaventure has won two of its last three and four of its last six overall and will be looking to get to .500 with a win for the first time in league play this season. The Explorers, meanwhile, have won their last two games and are seeking to keep pace with the rest of the league's top contenders. La Salle
is 6-4 on the road overall, including wins in its last two outings away from home – at George Washington and at VCU – and is the only team in the nation this year to defeat both Butler and VCU.
Last Time Out
Trailing 53-46 with less than eight minutes remaining, St. Bonaventure overcame some road adversity and claimed a 67-61 comeback victory over Rhode Island Saturday night at the Ryan Center to split its week-long roadtrip. Senior Eric Mosley knocked down five 3-pointers, including one with 22 seconds remaining that gave the Bonnies a four-point lead. Mosley finished with a career- and game-high 21 points, 17 of which came in the second half. It's the third time in a game this year the Louisville native has hit five or more 3-pointers in a contest.
Bonaventure arrived in Rhode Island early Thursday morning directly from Indianapolis following its game against Butler, and Friday night the power at the team hotel went out due to Winter Storm Nemo. The hotel generators broke, leaving the Bonnies without electricity, heat, hot water and hot food for nearly 20 hours before they left for the game around 4:30 Saturday afternoon. Despite all that, SBU was able to earn its first win of the year when trailing with 5 minutes left (1-8).
Going For History
Only once before since La Salle joined the Atlantic 10 for the 1995-96 year has St. Bonaventure defeated all three A-10 Philadelphia-based schools in the same regular season, and that came during the 1999-2000 season. However, Bonaventure has never defeated all three schools when only playing each once during the regular season. During that '99-'00 campaign, SBU played Temple twice, going 1-1 against the Owls. The Bonnies will accomplish that Wednesday with a win over the Explorers as they already have wins on the road over Temple and Saint Joseph's.
Leader Of The (Wolf) Pack
Through 22 games, senior Demitrius Conger leads the Bonnies in scoring (13.9 ppg), rebounding (6.6 rpg), assists (2.8 apg), free-throw percentage (83.5) and minutes played (35.0 mpg). Conger is the only player in the A-10 who leads his team in scoring, rebounding and assists. Among A-10 players, Conger is 14th in scoring, 11th in rebounding, seventh in free-throw percentage and fifth in minutes played.
Scouting La Salle
^ The La Salle Explorers are riding a two-game winning streak with victories coming against George Washington (Feb. 2) and Fordham (Feb. 9).
^ The Explorers have six conference wins, two of which came in consecutive games against nationally-ranked Butler (Jan. 23, #9) and VCU (Jan. 26, #19); they are the only team in the Atlantic 10 to defeat both.
^ La Salle held Butler, a team which averages 68.7 points per game, to just 53 points; it held VCU, a team which averages 75.8 points per game, to just 61 points.
^ Senior guard Ramon Galloway ranks 3rd in the Atlantic 10 in points per game at 17.1, 9th in 3-point percentage at 41.6, 4th in the A-10 in steals per game at 2.3 and 4th in league in 3 pointers made with 62.
Team Triple Threats
Wednesday's game could very well be decided by long-range shooters. The Bonnies come into the contest third in the Atlantic 10 in 3-point percentage (37.2), while the Explorers are one spot behind at 36.4. While St. Bonaventure has allowed opponents to shoot 36.5 percent from beyond the arc (15th in the conference), La Salle leads the league in 3-point defense, allowing foes to shoot just 30.9 percent. The Explorers are fourth in the A-10 in made 3-pointers (164) while the Bonnies are close behind at sixth (158).
Individual Triple Threats
A combined five players from both clubs rank among the top-15 in the conference in 3-point percentage: SBU's Mosley (44.0) and Chris Johnson (42.3) are third and seventh in the A-10, respectively, while La Salle's Ramon Galloway (41.6), D.J. Peterson (39.0) and Tyreek Duren (38.8) are ninth, 14th and 15th, respectively. Galloway (2.8) and Mosley (2.5) are also among the leaders in made 3-pointers per game. Mosley's 44-percent clip from 3-point range ranks 11th nationally.
CJ's Free Throw Streak
Senior Chris Johnson has hit 29 straight free throws, and 38 of his last 39. The 29 consecutive makes is the longest current streak in the Atlantic 10, and longest by a Bona player since
Tyler Relph ended his senior season in 2007-08 by hitting his final 45 attempts. Johnson is leading the A-10 in free-throw percentage in conference games only (30-31, 96.8 percent).
Quick Hitters
# St. Bonaventure's win over Rhode Island was just the second this year (2-10) when trailing at the half; the other came versus Niagara.
# The Bonnies held URI to 38.8 percent from the floor, and are now 5-0 when holding opponents to under 40-percent shooting.
# Demitrius Conger played all 40 minutes against Rhode Island – the eighth time he has done that this year, more than anyone else in the A-10.
# Bonaventure only had two fastbreak points, but held Rhody to none on Saturday, marking the third straight game either SBU or its opponent has been held without a fastbreak point.
# Marquise Simmons did not grab a rebound in SBU's win at Rhode Island for the first time this year.
# St. Bona overcame a seven-point deficit against Rhode Island, tied for the largest deficit overcome in a win this year.
# SBU's 21 bench points at Rhode Island are the most in game since Jan. 16 against Xavier, and most in a win since it tallied 44 against The Citadel on Dec. 19.
# With a win over La Salle, St. Bonaventure will get its record over .500 for the first time since it was 7-6 entering the George Washington game on Jan. 9.
Uncommon Road Warriors
Excluding Rhode Island's one A-10 win (which came on the road), St. Bonaventure owns the highest percentage of conference wins which have come on the road. Three of Bona's four league victories (75 percent) have come away from the Reilly Center. The next highest percentage belongs to George Washington, as the Colonials have claimed three of their five victories (60 percent) away from the Smith Center.
Additionally, it marks just the third time in St. Bonaventure's A-10 history that it has started a conference season by earning victories in three of its first five road games (1982-83, 1985-86). It also occurred in 2002-03, but those wins were later vacated. The most road wins St. Bonaventure has ever had in an A-10 season is four, something it has accomplished five previous times. SBU still has three road contests remaining this year.
RPI Report
St. Bonaventure enters Wednesday's game with an RPI of 122, while La Salle boasts an RPI of 34. In a testament to both Bonaventure's non-conference schedule and the depth of the Atlantic 10, only four other teams ahead of the Bonnies in the RPI have a .500 record or worse: Nebraska, 12-12 (98); USC, 11-13 (105); South Florida, 10-13 (106); Oakland, 13-13 (115).
Locking Down On D
After allowing Rhode Island to shoot 47.4 percent from the floor and score 32 points in the first half on Saturday, the Bonnies finally locked down on defense in the second half as they only allowed URI to shoot 33.3 percent – a difference of 14.1 percent – and score 29 points. Additionally, it marked just the third time this year in a game decided by less than 10 points – and first time in a win – that Bonaventure has held an opponent to fewer points in the second half than the first (Ohio: 37/32, Arkansas State: 42/31).
Next Up
St. Bonaventure heads back out on the road for another crucial contest Saturday at Richmond. The Bonnies and Spiders are currently tied with Saint Joseph's at 4-5 in the A-10 standings. Bona already owns the tiebreaker over Saint Joe's, and will be looking to earn the tiebreaker over the Spiders as well with a win. Tipoff is set for 6 p.m. from the Robins Center.
