TV: Time Warner SportsChannel with Ben Wagner (pxp) and Richard Walsh
Radio: WPIG 95.7 FM, ESPN Radio 1450 AM (Olean, NY) with Gary Nease (pxp) and Don Scholla
The Starting Five Notes:
1. St. Bonaventure hosts UMass in the second meeting of the season between the teams. The Bonnies won the first game on Jan. 3 in Amherst, 69-55. St. Bonaventure comes off a win over #18 VCU last Saturday and has climbed into a tie for third place in the Atlantic 10, one game behind the Minutemen, who have won four in a row.
2. Marcus Posley could not have had a better week than he did last week. The junior guard made two game-winning buzzer-beaters last week and was then named the national and Atlantic 10 Player of the Week. Posley is the third-leading scorer in the Atlantic 10 at 17.1 points per game.
3. Dion Wright has scored in double figures six games in a row. Over the last four games, he is shooting 62.7% from the field while averaging 19 points and 7.2 rebounds. In the win over VCU, Wright played one of the best all-around games of his career with 19 points and eight rebounds. Wright ranks 11th in the A-10 in both scoring and rebounding, and he has a .580 field goal pct. in conference games.
4. St. Bonaventure's anchor in the middle, 7-foot senior center Youssou Ndoye, is second in the A-10 in both rebounding (10.7) and blocked shots (2.8/game). Four of his seven double-doubles this season have been against Atlantic 10 opponents.
5. Freshman point guard Jay Adams has continued his solid play into the conference season. In the Bonnies' 10 Atlantic 10 games, he has 59 assists and only 14 turnovers -- the best assist-to-turnover ratio in the conference. He has been named A-10 Rookie of the Week three times this year.
St. Bonaventure vs. UMass: The First Meeting This Year -- Jan. 3, 2014 at the Mullins Center -- St. Bonaventure 69, UMass 55
The Bonnies played excellent defense in the win, holding the Minutemen to 35 percent shooting (19-54) including 4-22 from three-point range. St. Bonaventure also forced UMass into 15 turnovers and converted those into 25 points. Youssou Ndoye scored 14 points and grabbed 13 rebounds while Marcus Posley scored 16 points to lead St. Bonaventure. Jay Adams finished with 14 points and Andell Cumberbatch chipped in 12 points.
Series Notes:
This will be the 64th meeting between the schools in a series that dates to 1981. UMass leads the series 40-23, but at the Reilly Center the Bonnies have won 14 of the 27 meetings.
UMass Notes:
• On a four-game winning streak, UMass is tied for third place in the A-10 at 7-3. Their win streak started with a 66-64 home win over Dayton with road wins at Saint Louis and Fordham followed by a home win over LaSalle on Sunday.
• Sunday in Amherst, Mass., the Minutemen defeated LaSalle 66-59. Freshman Donte Clark scored 23 points and grabbed a career-high seven rebounds.
• UMass is very similar to St. Bonaventure in that it is a balanced team with five players averaging between nine and 12 points.
• Senior center Cady Lalanne averages 11.9 points and 9.3 rebounds per game. He also paces UMass in blocks with 49.
• Maxie Esho, a lanky forward, leads UMass in scoring at 12.0 points per game. Guard Trey Davis has made 36 three-pointers and shoots 32 percent from long range. He averages 11.3 points per game. Guard Derrick Gordon averages 10 points per game and leads UMass in steals with 35.
Dion Wright Backing Up Sports Illustrated's Breakout Projection
Following a sophomore season that could easily been described as a breakout, St. Bonaventure junior Dion Wright was named to Sport Illustrated's list of the "Projected Breakout Players" for this year. The SI system "forecasts advanced statistics -- such as offensive efficiency, usage rates, and rebound and assist rates."
The 6-7 forward from Carson, Calif., averaged 8.7 points and 4.8 rebounds per game coming off the bench in all 33 games as a sophomore. Wright more than doubled his per-game scoring and rebounding averages from his freshman season.
So far this season, Wright has lived up to the hype. Notes on Wright's season:
• He has scored in double figures 17 times including the last six games in a row.
• Had back-to-back 20-point games against two of the A-10's best defensive teams – 22 at Rhode Island (tying his career high) and 21 against LaSalle.
• Wright ranks second on the team and 11th in the A-10 in scoring at 13.4 points per game.
Ndoye Climbing Single Season Rebound Chart
Youssou Ndoye has 213 rebounds this season. Should he be able to maintain his pace, Ndoye would crack the top 10 single-season rebound totals in school history; George Carter is 10th with 285 in 1965-66.
Posley's Recent Success No Fluke
Replacing 1,000-point scorer Matthew Wright '14 was certainly not what anyone expected of Marcus Posley. The junior guard, who spent a year at Ball State and then transferred to Indian Hills (Iowa) junior college for the 2013-14 season, entered the year somewhat under the radar. But Posley has flourished at St. Bonaventure, where he has become one of the top scorers in the Atlantic 10.
Posley is third in the A-10 in scoring at 17.1 points per game. He has nine 20-point games this season, the second-most of any A-10 player behind Saint Joseph's sophomore forward DeAndre Bembry's 10. Posley is second in the A-10 in three-point field goals per game (2.8). He has scored in double figures in 17 of 21 games.
Three-Time A-10 Rookie of Week
Bonnies point guard Jay Adams has been more than a pleasant surprise; he's been one of the best freshmen in the Atlantic 10 Conference. Remarkably consistent, particularly for a freshman, Adams is the Bonnies' fourth-leading scorer at 10.3 points per game. Some additional points on Adams:
• Over the last seven games, Adams had 51 assists and just eight turnovers. In the Bonnies' 10 conference games, Adams has 59 assists against only 14 turnovers -- by far the best assist-to-turnover ratio (4.2) of any A-10 player in conference games only.
• Overall, factoring in all games played, Adams ranks second in the A-10 in assists per game (4.5), sixth in assist-to-TO ratio and ninth in free throw percentage (.783).
Gregg Coming On Strong
An athletic big man who can play either forward spot, 6-7 sophomore Denzel Gregg has come on strong over the last month. Gregg made his first career start on Jan 31 against LaSalle and had two points and four rebounds in that game. He then helped spark the Bonnies in the second half at Davidson when he had two blocks. Gregg, however, was at his best in the win over VCU when he scored a career high 10 points and blocked three shots in 17 minutes off the bench.
Gregg, like Chris Dees, gives the Bonnies needed depth on the front line. Gregg, who sat out the first six games of the season under a team suspension, is averaging 3.6 points and 2.8 rebounds per game. Last season, the Syracuse native played in 26 games and averaged 2.0 points.
