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The Starting Five Notes:
1. St. Bonaventure heads south to face first-year Atlantic 10 Conference member Davidson for the only regular season meeting between the schools. The Bonnies hope to get back on track offensively after dropping back-to-back games to two of the A-10's best defensive clubs.
2. Dion Wright (pictured at right) had back-to-back 20-point games last week. At Rhode Island, he tied his career high with 22 points and pulled down 10 rebounds for his fourth double-double of the year. Wright then scored a team-leading 21 points against La Salle.
3. 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). Over the past five games, Ndoye went 24-41 from the field and averaged 17.2 points per game.
4. Freshman point guard Jay Adams has continued his solid play into the conference season. In the Bonnies' eight Atlantic 10 games, he has 46 assists and only 10 turnovers. Adams tied the school record with 14 assists at Duquesne, and he also made the game-winning jumper with 20 seconds left in overtime. He was then named A-10 Rookie of the Week for the third time this year.
5. Junior guard Marcus Posley is the third-leading scorer in the Atlantic 10 at 17.1 points per game. His nine 20-point games – capped by a 36-point outburst at Duquesne – are the second-most of any A-10 player.
6. St. Bonaventure's next win will be the 200th in Mark Schmidt's career as a head coach.
Series Notes:
This will be the fifth meeting all-time between the schools and their first as Atlantic 10 Conference opponents. The series is tied at 2-2. Davidson is in its first season in the A-10 after a long history in the Southern Conference. The last game between the schools was in 2002, a 77-72 Wildcats win at Belk Arena. The first meeting in the series was a first round NCAA Tournament game in 1970 which St. Bonaventure won 85-70.
Davidson Notes:
• Davidson lost at Saint Joseph's on Saturday, 75-70. The Hawks outscored the Wildcats 47-29 in the second half to overcome a 41-28 halftime deficit. Peyton Aldridge led Davidson with 24 points; the Wildcats went 14-33 from three-point range.
• Davidson leads the A-10 in points per game (81.3), scoring margin (+11.3), three-point field goals per game (10.8), three-point percentage (.397) and free throw percentage (.736).
• Tyler Kalinoski leads Davidson and ranks fifth in the A-10 in scoring at 16.7 points per game. Point guard Jack Gibbs, who averages 15.8 ppg, has missed the last three games due to a knee injury. Davidson has three other players who average in double figures - Aldridge (11.2), Brian Sullivan (11.2) and Jordan Barham (10.3).
• At Belk Arena, the Wildcats are 9-0 this season.
St. Bonaventure's Last Game: LaSalle 66, Bonnies 56
St. Bonaventure fell to La Salle, 66-56, on Saturday night at the Reilly Center. The Bonnies jumped out to an 8-0 lead to start the game, but thanks to three-point field goals – the Explorers made five in the first half – La Salle took a 29-27 lead into halftime. La Salle slowly built its lead to a 10-point advantage midway through the second half and maintained that edge throughout the rest of the game. In the second half, La Salle made 11 free throws and went 4-6 from three-point range.
Dion Wright led St. Bonaventure with 21 points, one shy of his career high. Youssou Ndoye contributed 17 points and six rebounds. Marcus Posley, the A-10's leading scorer entering the day, was held to a season-low four points on 2-12 shooting. Posley did not start (coaches decision) but played 32 minutes. Point guard Jaylen Adams went 1-8 from three-point range and finished with five points. St. Bonaventure made just 34 percent of its field goal attempts (20-59) including 2-18 from three-point range. It was the Bonnies' second-lowest field goal percentage of the season.
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 15 times and has back-to-back 20-point games - 22 at Rhode Island (tying his career high) and 21 against LaSalle.
• Wright ranks second on the team and 12th in the A-10 in scoring at 13.1 points per game.
• Wright, who has rarely left the floor this year, is also averaging 7.0 rebounds a game, which ranks ninth among A-10 players.
• He has four-double-doubles this season, most recently 22 points and 10 rebounds at Rhode Island.
• Well-known for his tenacity under the backboard, Wright has snagged 62 offensive rebounds (3.3 pg), which is fifth-best among all A-10 players.
