St. Bonaventure Men's Basketball Game Preview: Army West Point Black Knights
Date: Monday, Dec. 19
Time: 7 p.m.
Location: Bob Lanier Court at the Reilly Center
Records:
St. Bonaventure 7-3 | Army West Point 5-5
Bonnies Statistics | Army Statistics
TV: Time Warner SportsChannel with Brendan McDaniels and Richard Walsh
Free Streaming Video (except in New York State, where the game will not be streamed per Time Warner regulations)
Radio: WPIG 95.7 FM with Gary Nease and Don Scholla
Twitter: @BonniesMBB
Complete St. Bonaventure Game Notes (PDF)
The Starting Five Notes
1. St. Bonaventure returns home to host Army West Point in the first meeting between the teams since 1970. The Bonnies have won six of their last seven games. It will be Service Night at the Reilly Center with active and retired servicemen and women, fire, police and EMS workers honored during the game.
2. The backcourt of Jaylen Adams and Matt Mobley is the third highest scoring teammate tandem in the country, averaging 42.6 points per game. One of the top 50 candidates for the John Wooden Award, Adams ranks 11th nationally in scoring (22.8) and is second in the Atlantic 10 in both assists (6.1) and three-point field goals. Mobley ranks sixth in the A-10 at 19.8 points per game. He is also the Bonnies' second-leading rebounder at 6.7 per contest and is shooting .429 from three-point range.
3. Adams needs 14 points to reach 1,000 for his career. He will become the 43rd player in school history to reach that milestone.
4. Senior Denzel Gregg has been the leader most people assumed he would be as a senior.
Gregg is averaging 12 points, 7.2 rebounds and nearly two blocks per game with three double-doubles. Gregg ranks third in the A-10 in blocked shots.
5. Senior forward David Andoh was slowed by a foot injury in the summer, but has come on strong the past three weeks. Over the past six games, Andoh averaged 11.5 points and 5.0 rebounds, going 28-53 (.528) from the field. He scored in double figures four of the last five games with a season high 15 against UNC Wilmington.
Series Notes:
This is the third meeting between the teams and the first since 1970. The series is tied 1-1.
Army West Point Notes:
• Army West Point has not played since Dec. 10, when the Black Knights lost 81-71 at Monmouth. Prior to that, Army had won three straight, all at home, over Fairleigh Dickinson, St. Francis (NY) and Air Force.
• New Army coach Jimmy Allen uses a deep roster with nine players seeing more than 10 minutes a game. Over one-third of Army's scoring is via the three-pointer, and the Black Knights shoot .376 from deep as a team.
• Guard Jordan Fox leads Army at 12.4 points per game. He has made 20 three-pointers and shoots 44 percent from long range. Freshman center Matt Wilson averages 10 points and 5.1 rebounds per game.
Adams Closes In On 1,000 Points
Jaylen Adams is 14 points away from becoming the 43rd player in St. Bonaventure men's basketball history to reach 1,000 career points. Adams stands 51st on the Bonnies' all-time scoring list with 986 points.
Kaputo Returns To Lineup
Sophomore Nelson Kaputo returned to the active roster for the Niagara game. He did not compete in the first nine games of the season in order to concentrate on his academic responsibilities. Kaputo, a 6-foot guard from Toronto, played 10 minutes and scored three points in the win over Niagara. His return gives the Bonnies an experienced point guard behind Jaylen Adams. Last season, Kaputo played in 30 games last year, coming off the bench in all but one of those games. He averaged 4.4 points, 1.7 rebounds and 1.8 assists per game.
Griffin Seizes Opportunities
Sophomore LaDarien Griffin has not had the chance to play in every game this season, but when he has played, he usually takes full advantage of the opportunity. The prime example of that came last Saturday, Dec. 17, when he made his first career start in the Bonnies' win over Niagara. Griffin played 28 minutes and set a career high with nine rebounds. His prior career best was four boards. The Jacksonville, Fla., native also scored four points and had two assists, a block and a steal. Earlier this season, the Bonnies turned to Griffin for a spark off the bench against Arkansas Little Rock and he scored a career high 15 points.
Getting On The Glass
Not being the tallest team, nor the most experienced on its front line, has not meant that St. Bonaventure is not an effective rebounding team. In fact, the Bonnies lead the A-10 and rank 29th nationally in offensive rebounds at 13.8 per game. They are also are third in the conference in rebounding margin (+3.5 per game). St. Bonaventure has won the rebounding battle in seven of its 10 games and is 5-2 when outrebounding its opponent.
Offense Stays Hot
The Bonnies averaged 77.9 points per game last season, the best average during coach Mark Schmidt's tenure and the third-highest scoring average in the A-10. Before that, Schmidt's highest-scoring team was in 2013-14 when the Bonnies averaged 73.4 points per game. Early this season, the Bonnies have clicked on offense despite having so many new players. Led by guards Jay Adams and Matt Mobley, St. Bonaventure leads the A-10 and ranks 34th nationally in scoring at 82.5 points per game. The Bonnies have reached the 90-point mark three times including a 102-point showing in the win over Central Michigan.
Three-Point Production
With two high-scoring guards leading its offense, it is not surprising that St. Bonaventure is a strong three-point shooting team. Jaylen Adams and Matt Mobley are in the top five in the Atlantic 10 in three-pointers per game (3.2 and 3.0. respectively) and as a team, the Bonnies are second in the A-10 with a .384 three-point field goal percentage. The past four games, St. Bonaventure went 31-67 (.462) from long range.
Schmidt Nears Satalin For Second Place
Now in his 10th season as head coach at St. Bonaventure, Mark Schmidt ranks third on the program's all-time coaching wins list with 153. He is only three wins behind Jim Satalin (156) for second place. The Nov. 30 win over Siena was Schmidt's 150th at St. Bonaventure.