Opening Tip
St. Bonaventure begins a weeklong roadtrip Wednesday night with its first-ever meeting with league newcomer and No. 14/14 Butler at Hinkle Fieldhouse. The Bonnies – who started A-10 play 0-3 but have won three of their last four – will be looking to level their conference record at .500 and pick up their third road league victory of the year already. Bonaventure will also be looking to start the month of February with consecutive wins for the first time since the 1998-99 season. The contest with the Bulldogs with be the third time this year SBU has faced an opponent for the first time, with the other two (Bethune-Cookman and The Citadel) being Bona victories.

Last Time Out
Led by the sharp perimeter shooting of Eric Mosley and Jordan Gathers, St. Bonaventure topped longtime conference rival Duquesne, 68-60, on Saturday afternoon at the Reilly Center. Mosley and Gathers combined for seven of the Bonnies' season-high 12 3-pointers as SBU connected on 12-22 from beyond the arc – good for 54.5 percent. Mosley was 4-7 on 3-pointers and scored 14 points, while Gathers was 3-3 from deep and netted a career-best 13 points. Starting in place of the injured Matthew Wright, Gathers scored 10 points in the first half (then his season high) and canned each of his five field goal attempts for the game as he played 30 minutes in his second start of the year – tied for the most action by the sophomore against an A-10 team in his career. Gathers' 3-pointer at the first-half buzzer staked the Bonnies to a 39-28 lead, and the Brown and White never allowed Duquesne to get closer than four points the rest of the afternoon.

Bonnies All-Time vs. Ranked Opponents
This will be St. Bonaventure's second meeting of the year against a ranked team, with the other coming against No. 25/RV NC State on Dec. 22. All-time, Bonaventure is 9-57 against ranked teams (records date back to the 1975-76 season), and has never won a game on the road over a ranked team (0-28). The Bonnies are 0-5 in neutral-site contests against ranked foes and 9-24 at home in the Reilly Center against them. Bonaventure has lost 21 games in a row against nationally-ranked teams, dating back to a 57-56 last-second win over No. 20 Temple on Jan. 15, 2000.

Long Range Strengths & Weaknesses
St. Bonaventure enters Wednesday's game as the A-10's third-best 3-point shooting team, connecting at a 37.7-percent clip from long range. The Bonnies also boast two of the league's top-7 3-point shooters in Eric Mosley (3rd, 44.5 percent) and Chris Johnson (7th, 42.6 percent). Additionally, Matthew Wright – who did not play against Duquesne and is probable versus Butler – is connecting at a 57.1-percent rate from 3-point range in his six A-10 games (12-21), including a two-game stretch in which he went 8-10.

In their 10 wins, the Bonnies are shooting 42.5 percent from 3-point range (79-186). However, in their 10 losses, the Bonnies are shooting 33.3 percent from 3-point range (69-207). In two of those 10 victories, SBU shot poorly from deep (2-14 at Cornell; 2-20 vs. Siena), but still claimed wins. In its eight other wins, Bonaventure has shot a lethal 49 percent (75-152) from the 3-point arc.

Hoping He's All Wright
Matthew Wright suffered a left foot injury during Bonaventure's game against Saint Louis on Jan. 26 and is probable against Butler after missing SBU's game against Duquesne Wednesday. The junior was the main catalyst behind SBU's two huge road wins against Temple and Saint Joseph's as he scored a game- and career-high 22 points versus the Owls and posted 18 opposite the Hawks. If he can't go against the Bulldogs, the Bonnies will be missing a key offensive threat from distance.

After struggling to just a 17.6-percent clip (6-34) from 3-point range during the non-conference schedule, Wright is a scorching 12-21 (57.1 percent) through his first six A-10 games, including 8-10 during those two games against Temple and Saint Joseph's.

That trend is similar to what Wright did during his freshman campaign as he started his non-league docket by shooting just 3-28 (10.7 percent) from beyond the arc. However, he turned it around in A-10 action as he hit 42.5 percent of his 3-point attempts (23-54) during conference play.

Wright's 57.1 percent from 3 in conference action ranks second in the A-10 in league games only. The Toronto native is also a red-hot 60.5 percent (23-38) from the floor in conference games, second-best in A-10 and the only guard in the top-10.

The Only One
Senior Demitrius Conger is the only player in the Atlantic 10 to lead his team in points, rebounds and assists. Conger – who finished second on the Bonnies in scoring and rebounding last year, and third in assists – is averaging 14.2 points, 7.0 rebounds and 2.8 assists per game. Additionally, the Brooklyn native also paces SBU in minutes (694), field goals made and attempted (92-201) and free throws made and attempted (77-93).

Quick Hitters
# For the first time in a game this year, Bonaventure did not have a fastbreak point against Duquesne on Saturday; the Dukes only had two of their own.
# Head coach Mark Schmidt chose to go with just an eight-man rotation versus Duquesne, marking the second time that has occurred this season (Xavier).
# In the win over the Dukes, senior Chris Johnson scored nine points, breaking a stretch of seven straight games with double-figure points.
# Demitrius Conger finished with 11 points against Duquesne, and 10 of those came in the second half.
# St. Bonaventure committed 15 turnovers compared with Duquesne's 11 on Saturday, marking the first time this year that the Bonnies have won a game when giving the ball away more than their opponent (1-6).
# The win over Duquesne was Bona's first in the Reilly Center in five tries, dating back to a 97-57 decision against The Citadel on Dec. 19.
# Bonaventure is 0-7 when trailing with 5 minutes to play this year.

Scouting Butler
^ Butler is 11-0 at home this season and 80-11 at Hinkle Fieldhouse under Brad Stevens.
^ The Bulldogs own victories over then-No.1 Indiana, No. 8 Gonzaga, No. 9 North Carolina and Marquette; their four losses have come against Illinois, Xavier, La Salle and Saint Louis.
^ Among Butler's individual conference leaders, Rotnei Clarke is third in scoring (17.1 ppg) fourth in 3-point percentage (44.3 percent, 70-158), second in 3-pointers made (70) and sixth in free-throw percentage (84.6 percent, 44-52); Kellen Dunham is first in free-throw percentage (92.1 percent, 58-63); Khyle Marshall is third (55.5 percent, 96-173) and Andrew Smith is eighth (54.9 percent, 90-164) in field-goal percentage; and Roosevelt Jones is 10th in assists per game (3.6).
^ Dunham's 92.1 free throw percentage ranks four nationally, and, despite missing three games, Clarke's 70 made 3-pointers ranks 11th nationally.
^ The Bulldogs have had three different A-10 Players of the Week this season: Jones (twice), Clarke and Smith.
^ Freshman Kellen Dunham has earned four A-10 Rookie of the Week honors this season.
^ Butler is 12-0 when Marshall scores in double figures.
^ Five Bulldogs are scoring in double figures: Clarke (17.1), Smith (11.5), Dunham (10.6), Jones (10.6) and Marshall (10.2).
^ Butler leads the A-10 in rebounding margin (+7.9), but does not have any player in the top-18 individually in rebounding.
^ Both SBU and Butler average exactly 71.1 points per game.

CJ & Team Returning To Form
Senior Chris Johnson turned in the fifth-best single-season free-throw shooting performance in program history last year, but got off to a poor – for him – start to the season this campaign. Johnson made just 68.3 percent (28-41) of his attempts from the free-throw line through the first 11 games of the year. However, over the last nine outings, the Canadian has missed just one shot (26-27), a 96.2-percent clip. Additionally, he's made 21 straight free throws and 30 of his last 31, dating back to Dec. 19 against The Citadel. Johnson is leading the A-10 in free-throw percentage in conference games only, connecting at 95.7 percent (22-23).

His return to form has coincided with Bona's overall return to form from the charity stripe as over the past nine games the team is shooting 82.6 percent from the free-throw line (119-144) after going just 70.2 percent (186-265) through the first 11 contests. In conference games only, SBU leads the A-10 with an 80.4 percentage from the free-throw line. The next closest team is La Salle, and the Explorers connect at a 75.2-percent clip.

Historic Long-Range Shooting
St. Bonaventure is third in the A-10 in 3-pointers per game (7.4), but made a season-high 12 in its last game against Duquesne Saturday. It marked the sixth time this season that SBU has made 10 or more 3's in a game, including four of the last six outings (11 vs. VCU; 11 at Temple; 10 at Saint Joseph's; 12 vs. Duquesne). The 12 3-pointers versus the Dukes are the most in a single game by the Bonnies since Jan. 26, 2008, when they also hit 12 against Rhode Island.

Matchup: Key Stats
Butler enters Wednesday's game ranked second in the A-10 in field-goal percentage at 46.5, while the Bonnies come into the contest ranked last in the A-10 in field-goal percentage defense, allowing opponents to shoot 45.1 percent.

In conference games only, Butler leads the league in field-goal percentage defense (40.1), while SBU is last at 47.1 percent.

St. Bonaventure and Butler are two of only three A-10 teams shooting 40 percent or better from the 3-point line in conference action. The Bonnies are connecting at a 40.7-percent clip, while the Bulldogs are at 40 percent. Dayton leads the league at 44.3 percent.

Carrying A Heavy Weight
Senior Demitrius Conger has played 694 minutes this year, which is 113 minutes more than anyone else on the Bona roster. The next closest is Chris Johnson, who has logged 581 minutes, and after him is Matthew Wright at 471 minutes. Nine SBU players average double-figure minutes per game, but Conger is on pace for his third straight season of 1,000 or more minutes. He logged a career-high 1,088 as a sophomore and 1,073 last year as a junior.

Conger played all 40 minutes against Duquesne on Saturday, marking the second straight game the swingman has played all 40 minutes. It also represented the seventh time this year he's played all 40 minutes in a game, the most by any player in the Atlantic 10. It's the second time in Conger's career that he's played a full 40 minutes in consecutive games, with the other coming during his sophomore campaign.

Kloof (There It Is)
After not scoring at all in St. Bonaventure's wins over Saint Joseph's and Temple, junior Charlon Kloof tallied 11 points against Saint Louis last Saturday and added five more against Duquesne on Wednesday. The junior guard also stuffed the stat sheet with four rebounds and four assists. More impressive, he did not turn the ball over once against the Dukes, representing his second-best assist-to-turnover ratio of his career. Kloof's career best came when he issued six assists against no giveaways last year against St. Francis (Pa.).

Next Up
St. Bonaventure's weeklong roadtrip continues on Saturday at Rhode Island. Tipoff is set for 2 p.m. from the Ryan Center.