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@BonniesMBB To Open Atlantic 10 Schedule At Home Wednesday Against Richmond

St. Bonaventure Men's Basketball Game Preview: Richmond

Opponent: Richmond Spiders
Date: Wednesday, January 8
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Bob Lanier Court at the Reilly Center

St. Bonaventure Record: 10-4 (0-0)   |   Richmond Record: 10-5 (0-0)
Bonnies Statistics   |   Richmond Statistics 

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Opening Tip: Wednesday night, St. Bonaventure opens Atlantic 10 Conference play at home against Richmond. The Bonnies, who have won four of their last five games and are 6-0 at home, look to disprove the A-10 preseason poll, which selected them to finish 12th in the conference. Richmond, which is one of the top defensive teams in the A-10, was chosen to finish sixth. Last season in Richmond, these teams battled into overtime before the Spiders prevailed.
The Bona women play the first game of a Bonnies-Spiders doubleheader at the RC on Wednesday; the women's game will tip at 4:30.

The Series: Richmond leads, 12-4, and has won four of the last five games.
The Last Meeting: Feb. 16, 2013 at UR: Richmond 83, St. Bona 80 (OT)   
At Reilly Center: Richmond has won 5 of the 7 meetings

Coaches Comparison:

St. Bonaventure Coach Mark Schmidt
  At SBU: 98-99 (7th season)
  Overall: 180-189 (13th season)
  Vs. Richmond: 2-6

Richmond Head Coach Chris Mooney
  At UR: 157-123 (9th season) / Overall: 175-135 (10th season)

Richmond Scouting Report:

  • The Spiders come off a 67-58 loss at #12 Florida on Saturday. Senior guard Cedrick Lindsay led Richmond with 19 points against the Gators. Two of Richmond's five losses have been to ranked teams (Florida and #19 North Carolina), with two more coming in overtime (Wake Forest, Ohio).
  • Defense is Richmond's calling card as the Spiders rank second in the A-10 in both scoring defense (63.7 points per game) and field goal percentage defense (.399). Richmond has held its opponents to 61 points or less in 10 of 15 games.
  • The Spiders are last in the A-10 in rebound margin at -5.1.
  • Two players, Lindsay and backcourt mate Kendall Anthony, average in double figures in coach Chris Mooney's Princeton-style offense. Lindsay is the second-leading scorer in the Atlantic 10 at 18.6 points per game, while Anthony averages 13 points per game and shoots 38 percent from three-point range. Lindsay also hands out 4.5 assists per contest.  Sophomore forward Terry Allen averages 8.9 points and 5.5 rebounds, while 6-9 sophomore forward Alonzo Nelson-Ododa is at 7.3 ppg and a team-leading 5.7 rebounds to go with 35 blocked shots.

Quick Hitters on The Bonnies:

  • St. Bonaventure is 6-0 at home this season.
  • Seven Bonnies average at least 8.0 points per game.
  • St. Bonaventure ranks second in the A-10 in rebounding margin (+6.0), fifth in field goal percentage defense (.425) and seventh in scoring defense (67.6 ppg).
  • Charlon Kloof has increased his scoring average 7.5 points per game over last season (5.3 to 12.8).
  • Matthew Wright ranks 6th in the Atlantic 10 in scoring (16.2);  he has increased his scoring average 9.0 ppg from last season.
  • Mark Schmidt, now in his seventh year as head coach, leads a program that has become a consistent winner; he is two wins away from 100 for his SBU tenure. Schmidt led St. Bonaventure to the A-10 Championship and NCAA Tournament in 2012.
  • Only 17% (65) of the Bonnies' 383 field goals are 3-pointers, but the Bonnies did tie their season high with 10 three-pointers (of 22) in the win over Cornell.

Bonnies in A-10 Openers: St. Bonaventure is 18-16 all-time in Atlantic 10 Conference season openers (17-17 when factoring in a 2002-03 victory which was later vacated). The Bonnies are 12-3 in A-10 openers at the Reilly Center, but are just 5-14 in conference lid-lifters of the road. In its first 10 years in the A-10 (1979-80-1989-90), Bona's was 8-2 in league openers. Under head coach Mark Schmidt, the Brown and White is 3-3 in A-10 openers.

Six of Nine at Home: The Richmond game is the final contest of a three-game homestand. St. Bonaventure is now in a stretch where it plays six out of nine games at home, where it is 6-0 to date. Prior to Christmas, St. Bonaventure played eight out of nine games on the road or at a neutral site. UMass-Lowell was the Bonnies' only home game in a span of 45 days (Nov. 16-Dec. 30). The Bonnies went 4-4 over the eight-game road/neutral stretch.

Last Time Out: Bonnies Cruise by Cornell: Saturday afternoon at the Reilly Center, St. Bonaventure capped its non-conference schedule with an 81-57 win over Cornell. The Bonnies led 38-28 at halftime and pulled away in the second half to keep their home record unblemished at 6-0. Led by the tandem of Matthew Wright (4-8) and Jordan Gathers (5-7), the Bonnies tied their season high with 10 (of 22) three-pointers. Gathers led all scorers with a career high 20 points while Wright finished with 16. Dion Wright added 14 points and six rebounds, while Charlon Kloof finished with 12 points, four rebounds and four assists.

Most Non-Conference Wins Since 1997: The Bonnies victory over Cornell gave them the most non-conference wins in a season (10) by a St. Bonaventure team since 1997. Prior to this year, the Bonnies' best non-conference win total under head coach Mark Schmidt was 9-4 in 2008. The 1997 team was 10-3 in non-conference games and 17-15 overall and wound up making the NIT.

Scoring Options Increase: With the emergence of Dion Wright, Marquise Simmons and Jordan Gathers as capable scorers this season, St. Bonaventure has more offensive options than it did last year, when Demitrius Conger, Chris Johnson and Eric Mosely accounted for nearly half of the team's scoring. The Bonnies now have seven players averaging  more than 8.0 points: Matthew Wright (16.2), Charlon Kloof (12.8), Andell Cumberbatch (11.3), Dion Wright (9.4), Simmons (8.9), Gathers (8.9) and Youssou Ndoye (8.3). Every one of those players except Dion Wright have led the Bonnies in scoring at least once.

The "Other Wright": After a year spent in a role typical for most freshmen, Dion Wright has emerged as a key player for the Bonnies as a sophomore. The 6'7" swingman from Carson, Calif., played in only 13 games last year, but this season he has become the Bonnies' most reliable player off the bench. He has played in every game and is averaging 9.4 points, which ranks fourth on the team. Wright, who is not related to teammate Matthew Wright, has six games of 14 points or more capped by a career-high 22 in the win at Iona. He keyed the win at Niagara with first double-double of his career, 14 points and 11 rebounds. Known for his ability to rebound and score in traffic, Wright also averages 4.7 rebounds, which ranks fourth on the team.

Kloof Leads 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 35 minutes per game and really only been out when he's had foul trouble, playing 36 minutes or more eight times with three games playing all 40 minutes. His offensive production is up this season by almost eight points and two assists per game; 10 of his 23 career games scoring in double figures have been this season. Kloof also helps key the Bonnies' improved defense, averaging 1.5 steals. He also has proven to be a clutch player, scoring the winning basket on a buzzer-beating, length of the court drive at Niagara Dec. 21.

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 leads the Bonnies in scoring at 16.2 points per game, which ranks sixth in the Atlantic 10 Conference. The Toronto native suffered a sprained ankle at Buffalo which forced him to miss half that game as well as the Iona game, and really only returned to form after Christmas, when he scored a game-high 23 points in the win over Delaware. In all, Wright has scored in double figures nine times topped by a 32-point outburst against S. Illinois.

 

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