St. Bonaventure Game Notes (PDF)

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The Starting Five Notes
1.  St. Bonaventure returns to Rochester to host Saint Joseph's in a matchup of two teams in contention for the top spot in the Atlantic 10 Conference.  Both teams received votes in the top 25 polls this week.
2.  This is the first time since 1976-77 that St. Bonaventure has won 20 games in the regular season.  Overall, it is the 14th season of 20 wins or more in school history. St. Bonaventure also has set a program record for Atlantic 10 Conference wins.
3.  As of Feb. 29, St. Bonaventure is 35th in the Ratings Percentage Index list on NCAA.com. The Bonnies are 2-2 against top 50 teams and 3-3 against teams 51-100.
4.  Jaylen Adams continues to make a case for himself to be included in discussions of the most improved players in the A-10. His three-point shooting percentage has improved from .324 last year to .455 this season, contributing to his 8.7 points-per game jump in scoring. He ranks fourth in the A-10 in scoring, second in assists and second in three-point percentage.
5.  The "big three" of senior forward Dion Wright, senior guard Marcus Posley and Adams is the second-highest scoring trio in the A-10 (Davidson is first). The three combine to average 53.0 points per game. They all rank in the top 15 scorers in the Atlantic 10 with Adams (18.5) fourth, Posley (18.3) sixth and Wright (16.2) 15th.
6.  Sophomore Idris Taqqee scored a career high 19 points in last Saturday's win over UMass.  He made five of his seven three-pointers. 

St. Bonaventure vs. Saint Joseph's: The Last Meeting
Feb. 3, 2016 at Hagan Arena: St. Bonaventure 83, SJU 73
St. Bonaventure got its most impressive win of the season in Philadelphia, topping Saint Joseph's 83-73 behind a career high 31 points from sophomore point guard Jaylen Adams.  On the home court of the Atlantic 10's best defensive team, the Bonnies opened a 78-60 lead with 3:57 left on the strength of a 17-4 run. Adams drained three three-pointers in the decisive surge.  St. Bonaventure made a season high 13 three-pointers (of 34) and was 14-15 at the free throw line. Dion Wright recorded his 10th double-double of the season with 18 points and 11 rebounds, while Idris Taqqee scored a career best 13 points.  The Bonnies, who had only two turnovers on the night, improved to 14-6 overall and 6-3 in the A-10.

The Series
This will be the 70th meeting all-time between these long time Atlantic 10 rivals.  It is also the second meeting this season in the home-and-home series. The first-ever meeting between the schools was in 1958. 

20 Regular Season Wins For Sixth Time
This is only the sixth St. Bonaventure team to reach 20 wins in regular season play -- and the first since 1976-77.
20 Win Regular Seasons, St. Bonaventure Basketball History (95 seasons)
Wins       Season                   Postseason

22           1969-70                 NCAA
22           1967-68                 NCAA
22           1960-61                 NCAA
20           2015-16                
20           1976-77                 NIT
20           1958-59                 NIT 

Record For Atlantic 10 Wins
St. Bonaventure 12 Atlantic 10 Conference wins this season are tied for the most ever in the 37 years the Bonnies have been members of the A-10. The top A-10 win totals and winning percentages in the program's history:
Wins       Season                   W-L  (Pct.)
12           2015-16                 12-4  (.750)
11           1999-00                 11-5  (.687)
10           2014-15                 10-8  (.555)
               2011-12                 10-6  (.625)
               1985-86                 10-8  (.555)
               1982-83                 10-4  (.714)

Quality Wins
St. Bonaventure has two wins over top 50 RPI teams: Dayton (currently #25) and Saint Joseph's (26) and three more over top 100 teams, GW (61), Davidson (62) and Ohio (78). In all, the Bonnies are 5-5 against Top 100 teams. The Bonnies have also beaten Buffalo (102), Rhode Island (108) and Richmond (116). Five of the Bonnies' seven losses came to top 100 teams including two inside the top 50, Dayton and VCU (49).

Adams Playing At All-Conference Level
Last season, a broken finger ended point guard Jaylen Adams' superb freshman season prematurely. The injury likely kept the A-10's coaches from putting Adams on the All-Rookie team – a spot that seemed a sure thing considering he was averaging 10 points and 4.5 assists per game and led the A-10 in assist-to-turnover ratio at the time. This year, he has played at an All-Conference level.
• Adams is second in the A-10 in three-point percentage (.451) and ranks third in scoring (18.5), second in assists (5.0 per game), sixth in three-pointers per game (2.8) and first in free throw percentage (.888). Adams' .451 three-point percentage ranks 14th nationally.
• Adams has a chance at the school record for three-point field goal percentage in a season of .456 set by Rich McCormick in 1986-87.
• He's proven to be as clutch as possible, scoring 31 points in road wins at Dayton and Saint Joseph's, and draining a buzzer-beater to top Saint Louis.
• Adams has been named the A-10 Player of the Week twice this season, most recently for the week ending Feb. 7. 

Posley Reaches 1,000 Points
A preseason All-Conference selection, senior guard Marcus Posley continues to show how how valuable he is to this team. While he is deservedly well-known for his scoring, Posley brings leadership on and off the court. Some of the Rockford, Ill. native's highlights:
• Scoring: he has 15 games this season of 17 points or more including four 30-point games. He ranks sixth in the Atlantic 10 in scoring, averaging 18.3 points per game.
• Milestone Scoring: Posley's 22 points against UMass put him over 1,000 for his career -- in less than two seasons. He is 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. He is also six points shy of 500 for the season. That would give him back-to-back 500-point seasons.
• Complete game: Posley is tied for first on the team in steals (34) and is second in assists (100).
• Durability: He is third among A-10 players in minutes played (36.9 per game).
• Clutch: Posley has one game winner this season (Buffalo) after two buzzer-beaters last season (VCU and Davidson); he also set up Jaylen Adams' game winning shot Feb. 7 against Saint Louis with a perfect assist and scored the go-ahead basket against UMass on Feb. 27 with 13 seconds left.

Taqqee Sets Career Bests In Win
Sophomore Idris Taqqee brings a hard-nosed, selfless approach to the court. In the preseason, he was named one of the team's co-captains. Taqqee has started every game this season and is averaging 4.8 points and 3.9 rebounds per game. He's had some of his best games when they counted the most. He opened many eyes when he scored a then career high 13 points, making three of four shots from long range, to help spark the win at Saint Joseph's Feb.3. Taqqee was critical in the Feb. 27 win over UMass as he went 5-7 from three-point range and scored a career high 19 points altogether.

The Bonnies At Blue Cross Arena (8-11)
The Lightower Conference Classic will be St. Bonaventure's 19th game at Blue Cross Arena (previously known as the War Memorial) and just the second time the Bonnies have hosted an Atlantic 10 Conference game there.