The Starting Five Notes: 

1.  St. Bonaventure takes its five-game winning streak back on the road for what is undoubtedly its biggest test of the year so far against Pittsburgh. The Panthers own a 25-game win streak at home against non-conference opponents.

2. St. Bonaventure's 6-1 start is the program's best since the 2000-01 Bonnies team opened with eight wins in its first nine games. The Bonnies' five-game win streak is the longest since the 2001-02 Bona team also won five in a row.

3. Bonnies freshman point guard Jay Adams has been named the Atlantic 10's Rookie of the Week two weeks in a row. Over his last four games, Adams averaged 14.5 points, 2.5 assists, 2.5 rebounds and 2.0 steals; he shot 8-17 (.470) from three-point range over that span. Adams comes off a career high 26-point effort in a win at Ohio Dec. 6.

4. The Bonnies have played strong defense so far this season. They have allowed only two of their seven opponents to shoot over 40 percent from the field, and none have shot better than 41 percent. While it is early, St. Bonaventure ranks second in the A-10 in defensive field goal percentage (.377), seventh in points allowed (63.7) and first in blocked shots (5.4 per game).

5. After a slow start to the season in the scoring department, senior center Youssou Ndoye averaged 16 points per game over the last three games. He scored a career-high 23 points against Niagara and followed that with 17 points against Buffalo. The 7-footer has been a force on defense; he leads the A-10 and ranks 12th nationally with 20 blocked shots (3.3 bpg) and ranks eighth nationally in rebounding (11 per game).

Series Notes:
• The Bonnies have not played Pittsburgh since 2001, when they met in the NIT at Fitzgerald Fieldhouse. Pitt prevailed 84-75.
• The Panthers lead the series 5-2, althought St. Bonaventure won the last regular season meeting between the schools in 1997.

Pittsburgh Notes:
• Pitt's last game was last Friday (Dec. 5) against A-10 member Duquesne at Consol Energy Center; the Panthers won 76-62 behind 23 points from James Robinson. Josh Newkirk scored 16 points and Chris Jones added 12 for Pitt.
• Like the Bonnies, the Panthers were off this week for final exams.
• Pitt has played without two of its most experienced returners, senior shooting guard Cameron Wright and junior forward Durand Johnson. Wright broke a bone in his right foot and was out until the Duquesne game, when he returned to play one minute. Johnson is suspended for the season.
• Sophomore forward Michael Young leads Pitt in both scoring (12.8) and rebounding (7.8). He was an ACC All-Rookie team selection last year. Robinson is right behind Young at 12.6 points per game. 

Strong Starters
St. Bonaventure's 6-1 start is their best since the 2000-01 Bonnies team opened with eight wins in its first nine games.

St. Bonaventure Vs. The ACC
•  All-time, St. Bonaventure is 20-56 against the current Atlantic Coast Conference members.
•  This is the fifth season in a row that the Bonnies have faced an ACC team. Last season, St. Bonaventure lost at Wake Forest 77-62 on Dec. 17. The Bonnies fell 92-73 to NC State in Raleigh, N.C., on Dec. 22, 2012. They faced both NC State and Virginia Tech in 2011 and Virginia Tech in 2010. 

Ndoye Regains Scoring Stride
As a preseason all-conference third team selection and the Big 4 preseason Player of the Year, expectations for Youssou Ndoye were very high entering the season. Forced to sit out the opener against Dartmouth after the NCAA ruled he played in one impermissible summer league game, Ndoye got off to a slow start on the offensive end, taking only 10 shots through his first three games as teams played primarly zone defenses designed to stop the 7-footer. But over the past three games, Ndoye has broken out, scoring 23, 17 and eight points to average 16 points per game over that stretch. 

Rebounds & Blocks A Constant
What have remained constant are Ndoye's defense and rebounding. Always a force on defense, he leads the A-10 and ranks 12th nationally with 20 blocked shots (3.3 bpg). In rebounding, Ndoye ranks eighth nationally at 11.0 per game. He leads all Atlantic 10 Players in blocks and stands second in rebounding. Ndoye has grabbed 10 or more rebounds in five consecutive games with a high of 13 against Buffalo. 

New Backcourt Productive
Entering the year, the major question mark about this Bona team was how it would replace the production and leadership of its 2013-14 senior backcourt of point guard Charlon Kloof and shooting guard Matthew Wright, who both had outstanding senior seasons. So far, the new starters have been just what the Bonnies hoped they would be. Jay Adams is the first freshman point guard to start for Bona since coach Mark Schmidt's first season of 2007-08 (Andrew Nicholson, a power forward, did start as a freshman in 2008-09; Malcolm Eleby was the freshman guard who started in 2007).  Marcus Posley, who is far more experienced than Adams with a year at Ball State and a year of junior college under his belt, has four double-digit scoring games and leads the Bonnies in scoring at 15.7 points per game. Between them, Adams (16) and Posley (18) have made 34 three-pointers and are shooting .414 from long range.