No. 23/24 ST. BONAVENTURE (1-0) vs CANISIUS (0-2)
Sunday, Nov. 14 - 5:00 p.m.
Reilly Center
TV: ESPN+

BONNIES RENEW RIVALRY WITH LITTLE THREE FOE CANISIUS

• St. Bonaventure has the interesting prospect of opening its schedule with back-to-back rivalry games. The Bonnies got past Franciscan sister school Siena in the opener Tuesday to reclaim the Br. Ed Coughlin Franciscan Cup and Sunday welcome Little Three rival Canisius, continuing a century-old rivalry between the Western New York schools. 
• The Bonnies played their first game as a nationally ranked squad in 50 years with their win over Siena in the season-opener Tuesday night, 75-47. St. Bonaventure placed at No. 23 in the preseason Associated Press poll while ranking No. 24 in the first USA Today Coaches' Poll of the year. 
• After a back-and-forth first half that saw the Bonnies erase a 10-point early deficit and take a 36-32 lead to halftime, the Bonnies outscored Siena 39-15 during the second half to run away for the win. Bona held Siena to just 24 percent shooting during the second half. 

NATIONAL SPOTLIGHT
St. Bonaventure placed at No. 23 in the preseason Associated Press poll while ranking No. 24 in the first USA Today Coaches' Poll of the year. 

The Bonnies are a trendy preseason favorite among many national college basketball writers. A few other St. Bonaventure rankings to begin the year: Sporting News ranked SBU at No. 20 in its preseason poll (and No. 2 in its mid-major poll) while the Bonnies check in at No. 19 on Matt Norlander's CBS Sports preseason rankings. St. Bonaventure slots at No. 24 in the ESPN 'way-too-early' rankings. Seth Davis placed the Bonnies at No. 23 in his preseason ballot for The Athletic, an outlet which ranked the Bonnies No. 1 in their preseason mid-major poll. Blue Ribbon Yearbook placed SBU at No. 24 in its preseason Top 25. The Athletic's college basketball staff also selected St. Bonaventure as their pick to be the "next NCAA Tournament Cinderella" while NCAA.com's Andy Wittry boasted the Bonnies to be one of eight "dark horse" selections for a Final Four run.

SERIES HISTORY
St. Bonaventure and Canisius renew their century-old rivalry after the series was put on hold due to the pandemic last year when the Bonnies played just two non-conference games and the Griffs played a MAAC-only slate condensed to just 13 games due to virus concerns. The Little Three rivals met for the first time in 1920 when the Bonnies defeated the Griffs, 31-14, in Butler Gym. Since, the teams have met 168 times with the Bonnies scoring 100 victories including seven of the last 11 meetings. Canisius won the last game though, 61-57, at KeyBank Center Nov. 23, 2019.

The Bonnies won the last meeting at the Reilly Center, 70-55, on Nov. 27, 2018. St. Bonaventure has earned wins in seven of the past eight meetings vs. Canisius at The RC dating back to 2005 with the lone outlier being an overtime heartbreaker, 106-101, Dec. 22, 2016. 

Bona's loss to Canisius in 2019 could be seen as a turning point of sorts for this year's senior class. A still young squad fell to Canisius in Buffalo that day to fall to 1-4 on the season (Osun Osunniyi and Jaren Holmes missed the game due to injury). From that point, the Bonnies are 35-13 for a winning percentage of .729.

ABOUT CANISIUS
The Griffs finish a busy first week of the season with their third game already. Canisius played tough at ACC opponent Miami Tuesday night before falling, 77-67. Malek Green poured in 21 points on 7-for-11 shooting. Canisius dropped an 83-71 final at East Carolina Friday night, paced by Armon Harried who scored 22 points and drained four 3-pointers.

Canisius concluded the pandemic shortened 2020-21 season with a 7-6 overall record, going on to finish sixth in the MAAC. They were ousted in first round of the MAAC Basketball Championship by Rider, 78-76.

The Golden Griffins return All-MAAC Third Team selection and leading scorer/rebounder senior forward Malek Green. Green averaged 13.2 ppg and 7.2 rbg. Junior forward Jacco Fritz led the team in assists per game with 2.8.

Canisius was selected to finish 11th in the MAAC Coaches' Poll, receiving 26 points. Green notched a spot on the Preseason All-MAAC Third Team.

Reggie Witherspoon is entering his sixth season at the helm of the men's basketball program. Witherspoon has totaled 73 wins since being named the head coach in May of 2016. Witherspoon is perhaps best known for his time at the University at Buffalo where he was a two-time Mid-American Conference Coach of the Year (2004, 2012), which featured a MAC regular-season crown, two trips to the MAC Tournament title game, an NIT berth, a bid to the College Basketball Invitational (CBI) and a pair of trips to the CollegeInsider.com Postseason Tournament. Witherspoon has led Canisius to a pair of national postseason appearances (CIT in 2016-17, CBI in 2017-18).

TRENDING NUMBERS
1 – Osun Osunniyi took over first place among all active NCAA Division I players in career blocks per game following his seven swats vs. Siena. He now has a career average of 2.73 blocks per game. Only Manny Bates of NC State (2.72 bpg) also averages at least 2.7 blocks per game for a career out of all active NCAA players.
15 – St. Bonaventure allowed just 15 second half points during the season-opening win over Siena Nov. 9 - the lowest total allowed by the Bonnies in any half since limiting VCU to 14 points in the second half of a victory Jan. 20, 2021. St. Bonaventure outscored Siena 39-15 during the second half of the win.
44% – Jaren Holmes led the A-10 in 3-point percentage at nearly 44% for the regular season last season (35-80).
50 – St. Bonaventure was ranked No. 23 in the preseason AP Top 25, and No. 24 in the USA Today Coaches Poll, its first national ranking in 50 years. The Bonnies were ranked in 82 weeks previously, getting as high as No. 2 in 1960-61. Bona was the "first team out" following the final regular season poll in 2018. 
60.4 – St. Bonaventure entered the NCAA Tournament last year ranking fifth nationally in points allowed per game (60.4).
89% – St. Bonaventure returns 89 percent of its scoring from last year as well as 87 percent of its minutes played. Only 19 schools return a higher percentage of scoring and just two (UCLA, Purdue) also reached the NCAA Tournament.
168 – Dominick Welch has 168 career 3-pointers, third-most among active Atlantic 10 players.
+170 – Despite being outsized in most of its games, the Bonnies were +170 in points in the paint last year. The Bonnies were outscored in the paint just five times during 2020-21. The Bonnies were +30 in paint scoring Nov. 9 vs. Siena.
329 – Entering this season, St. Bonaventure's returning starting five boast a combined 329 career starts (all averaged over 32 minutes in '20-21).
800 – Dominick Welch surpassed 800 career points in Tuesday's win over Siena.

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