The Starting Five Notes
1. St. Bonaventure visits VCU for the only regular season meeting between the teams. The Bonnies look to bounce back after a loss to Dayton while VCU has won nine in a row and is the lone team still unbeaten in A-10 play. The game will be televised nationally on NBC Sports Network.
2. Winter storm Jonas caused this game to be moved from Saturday to Sunday. St. Bonaventure flew to Richmond Friday afternoon as previously scheduled. The Bonnies will have their one bye in the A-10 schedule next week.
3. The "big three" of senior forward Dion Wright, senior guard Marcus Posley and sophomore guard Jaylen Adams is the second-highest scoring trio in the A-10 (Davidson is first). The three combine to average 52.5 points per game. They all rank in the top 16 scorers in the Atlantic 10 with Posley (18.5) fifth, Adams (18.2) sixth and Wright (15.8) 16th.
4. Quietly, Dion Wright continues to be one of the most effective players in the A-10. He leads all A-10 players with seven double-doubles and is the second-leading rebounder (8.6) in the conference. He recently became just the 24th player in the program's history to reach 1,000 points and 500 rebounds in his career.
5. Junior forward Denzel Gregg has come on strong in Atlantic 10 play. He has scored in double figures five out of six A-10 games, most notably a career high 22 in the win over Rhode Island and 19 at Duquesne. Gregg is averaging 10.1 points per game for the season – 13.0 ppg in A-10 games. He averaged 3.7 points per game last season.
St. Bonaventure vs. VCU: The Last Meeting
Feb. 7, 2015 at the Reilly Center: St. Bonaventure 73, #18 VCU 71
• St. Bonaventure upset the Rams when Marcus Posley scored on an off-balance drive just before the final horn sounded.
• The Rams had tied the game on a jumper by Jordan Burgess with 17 seconds left, setting the stage for a final shot by the Bonnies.
• St. Bonaventure led from start to finish and went ahead by 10 points early in the second half. Still, it took Posley's heroics to secure the Bonnies' third straight win over a ranked opponent.
• St. Bonaventure handled the VCU defense extremely well, finishing with just nine turnovers on the day. Jaylen Adams had seven assists and only two turnovers and scored nine points. Junior forward Dion Wright had one of the best games of his career, leading the Bonnies with 19 points and eight rebounds.
Series History:
This will be the only the sixth meeting between the schools and the fourth since VCU joined the Atlantic 10 in 2013. St. Bonaventure is 1-2 against the Rams in their meetings as A-10 rivals, but leads the all-time series 3-2.
National Leader In Free Throw Shooting
Traditionally a strength of Mark Schmidt's teams, St. Bonaventure has taken its free throw shooting to a new level this season. As of Jan. 21, the Bonnies lead the nation in free throw percentage at 78 percent. Guards Jaylen Adams and Marcus Posley both shoot better than 84 percent at the line and are in the top 10 in the A-10 in free throw percentage.
Spurtability
St. Bonaventure has shown the ability to score in bunches, evidenced most clearly by its 61 points in the second half Jan. 19 against Dayton. That was the fifth time this season the Bonnies have scored 50 or more points in a half. The others: 54 against Davidson (2nd half), 51 against Duquesne (2nd) and 50 against Loyola (1st).
Taking Care of The Rock
Led by veteran guards Jaylen Adams and Marcus Posley and bolstered by freshman guard Nelson Kaputo, the Bonnies have a team assist-to-turnover ratio of +1.2, which ranks fifth in the Atlantic 10. All three guards rank among the top 12 players in the A-10 in this category.
Gregg Seizing His Opportunity
Even now in mid-January it may be time to consider junior forward Denzel Gregg in the discussion for most improved player in the Atlantic 10. Gregg's reverse, no-look dunk at George Mason Jan. 6 landed him on ESPN SportsCenter's Top 10 Plays of the Day, but his value to the Bonnies is far more than highlight reel dunks. Gregg came on strong at the end of last year, earning starts in the last five games. The lanky, 6-7 forward opened the season with his first career double-double, 15 points and 11 rebounds in a win over Binghamton, and he has continued to be an impact player almost every game. Jan. 13, Gregg scored a career high 22 points in the win over Rhode Island, then he added 19 points at Duquesne. Ten of his 11 career games in double figures have been this year, including five of Bona's six A-10 games. Gregg's presence on the defensive end is also critical; he ranks seventh in the A-10 in blocks (1.5) and is second on the team in defensive rebounds with 63. Like teammate Dion Wright, Gregg is a player who has developed from a little-known recruit into a potential star. He averaged 3.7 points per game last season.
Wright Reaches 1,000 Point, 500 Rebound Milestone
With an early second half basket at Duquense on Jan. 16, Dion Wright reached exactly 1,000 points for his career (he enters the VCU game with 1,012). He is the 41st player in the program's storied history to score 1,000 points. The Carson, Calif., native is also the 24th St. Bonaventure player to score 1,000 points and grab 500 rebounds (he now has 548 boards). The last Bonnies player to join that exclusive club was Demitrius Conger '13.
Adams Stays Hot At the Point
Over his last 10 games, Jaylen Adams made 36 of 69 three-point shots (.521) and averaged 21.3 points per game. Adams is second in the A-10 in three-point percentage (.459) and ranks sixth in scoring (18.2), second in assists (5.0 per game), sixth in three-pointers per game (2.8) and third in free throw percentage (.880).
Posley's All-Around Game
A preseason All-Conference selection after he averaged 16.7 points per game last season, senior guard Marcus Posley continues to show how how valuable he is to this Bonnies team. While he is most well-known for his scoring, Posley brings leadership on and off the court.
• Scoring: he has 10 games this season of 17 points or more including three 30-point games. He ranks fifth in the Atlantic 10 in scoring, averaging 18.5 points per game.
• More scoring: Posley is on pace for 536 points this season, assuming he plays in all of the remaining 12 A-10 games. That would give him back to back 500-point seasons and make him only the fifth St. Bonaventure player ever to score 1,000 points in his first two seasons. The others: Bob Lanier, Tom Stith, Fred Crawford and Glenn Price.
• Intangibles: Posley leads the Bonnies in steals (23) and is second in assists (59) and, despite standing just 6-feet, is fourth in rebounding (3.6).
• Durability: He is fourth among A-10 players in minutes played (36.7 per game). Also, he has gotten to the free throw line 86 times - second-most on the team to Jay Adams.
