TV: NBC Sports Network with Paul Burmeister (pxp) and Ben Howland
Radio: WPIG 95.7 FM, ESPN Radio 1450 AM (Olean, NY) with Gary Nease (pxp)
Twitter: @BonniesMBB
The Starting Five Notes (+ ONE):
1. St. Bonaventure, fresh off Wednesday's last-second win at Davidson, hosts 18th-ranked VCU in a nationally-televised Saturday matinee. A near-capacity crowd is expected to see the Bonnies' first game against a ranked team this season.
2. Junior guard Marcus Posley, who landed on SportsCenter when he made the game-winning, buzzer-beater at Davidson, is the second-leading scorer in the Atlantic 10 at 17.2 points per game. His nine 20-point games – capped by a 36-point outburst at Duquesne – are the second-most in the A-10.
3. Dion Wright has scored in double figures five games in a row with a pair of 20-point games mixed in, topped by a career high 22 at Rhode Island. Wright ranks 12th in the A-10 in scoring and 11th in rebounding, and he has a .509 field goal percentage.
4. St. Bonaventure's anchor in the middle, 7-foot senior center Youssou Ndoye, is second in the A-10 in both rebounding (10.8) 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' nine Atlantic 10 games, he has 52 assists and only 12 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.
6. St. Bonaventure's win at Davidson was the 200th in the career of head coach Mark Schmidt.
Series Notes:
This will be the only the fifth meeting between the schools and the third since VCU joined the Atlantic 10 in 2013. VCU is 2-0 against the Bonnies in their meetings as A-10 rivals, winning 72-65 at the Reilly Center in 2013 and 86-67 in Richmond, Va., last season. The all-time series is tied, 2-2.
VCU Notes:
• VCU is ranked 18th in both the Associated Press and the USA Today Coaches Top 25 polls this week.
• The preseason pick to win the Atlantic 10, the Rams have lived up to that billing so far with eight wins in their nine conference games. The Rams' only loss came last Saturday at home to Richmond, 64-55. VCU had won 12 straight games prior to that.
• In the Richmond game, senior point guard Briante Weber – the 2013-14 Atlantic 10 Defensive Player of the Year – suffered a season-ending knee injury. Weber was the catalyst of VCU's well-known "Havoc" style of pressure defense. Senior Treveon Graham, a first team all-conference selection a year ago, suffered a reoccurance of an ankle injury in Wednesday's win at George Mason; his status for Saturday's game is uncertain.
• Graham leads the Rams in scoring (16 ppg) and rebounding (6.5) and shoots 41 percent from three-point range.
• Johnson is the only other Ram averaging in double figures at 13.1 points per game. He has made a team-high 53 three-pointers and shoots 35 percent from long range.
• A deep team who uses its bench to try and wear down opponents, VCU has seven other players who average better than 4.5 points per game. Mo Alie-Cox is a bruising small forward who averages 5.0 rebounds and 6.3 points.
St. Bonaventure's Last Game: Bonnies 62, Davidson 61
Wednesday in Davidson, N.C., Marcus Posley drove the length of the court and scored on a floater from just inside the free throw line as time expired to give St. Bonaventure a 62-61 win over Davidson. Posley's play was featured on ESPN's SportsCenter.
The Wildcats, who had been 9-0 on their home court, had taken the lead on a Peyton Aldridge three-pointer with 4.8 seconds left. There were eight lead changes and five ties in the game. Davidson led 33-29 at halftime and never gave up the lead until a Posley thre-pointer with 6:41 remaining put St. Bonaventure ahead 49-46. Posley's heroics capped a superb defensive night for the Bonnies, who held the Wildcats to 39 percent shooting and their lowest point total of the season.
Posley led the Bonnies with 19 points. He also had seven rebounds and two assists and played strong defense against Davidson's leading scorer, Tyler Kalinoski. Youssou Ndoye totaled 16 points, 12 rebounds and four blocks while Dion Wright added 14 points. Jay Adams had another solid all-around game with nine points, six assists, seven rebounds and a steal in 40 minutes. The win was the 200th in the career of head coach Mark Schmidt.
