NO. 22/24 ST. BONAVENTURE (2-0) vs. BOISE STATE (1-1)
Thursday, Nov. 18 - 2:00 p.m.
Charleston, S.C. - TD Arena
TV: ESPN2

THREE GAMES AWAIT AT PRESTIGIOUS SHRINERS CHILDREN'S CHARLESTON CLASSIC

• The St. Bonaventure men's basketball team is one of the headliners of this year's Charleston Classic and will draw Boise State in the tournament's opening round Thursday, Nov. 18.
• Tournament action is set for Nov. 18, 19 and 21 at TD Arena in Charleston, S.C. The Bonnies will face Boise State in the first game of the tournament, set to be broadcast live on ESPN2 at 2 p.m. ET. The winner of that game will advance to a semifinal contest against the winner of the contest between Clemson and Temple which will immediately follow in the second game of the day. The bottom half of the bracket will see Marquette and Ole Miss battle before West Virginia takes on Elon in the finale of the opening day.
• The eight-team tournament will feature 12 games across three days, with winners advancing through the bracket. The championship game is set for Sunday, Nov. 21 at 7:30 p.m. on ESPN. Every game of the tournament will be broadcast live on the ESPN family of networks. Each team will play three games regardless of outcome. 

OPENING TIP NOTES

• St. Bonaventure opened the season with two wins over traditional rivals last week. The Bonnies defeated Siena, their Franciscan sister school, in the renewal of the annual Br. Ed Coughlin Franciscan Cup last Tuesday, 75-47. 
• Sunday night, the Bonnies held off an upset-minded Canisius squad in the 169th meeting all-time between Western New York foes, erasing an 11-point second half deficit to win, 69-60.
• The Bonnies played their first game as a nationally ranked squad in 50 years with their win over Siena in the 
  season-opener Nov. 9. 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 moved up a spot to No. 22 in this week's AP poll

SERIES HISTORY
Boise State leads, 1-0
St. Bonaventure has met Boise State just one time, and that also came in a mid-season tournament back in 2018. An injury-riddled Bona squad lost its finale in the Cayman Islands Classic, 72-52. The now-senior trio of Kyle Lofton, Osun Osunniyi and Dominick Welch were in just their fifth collegiate game back then, though Welch missed the game due to an injury suffered in practice earlier that week. Lofton had one of the best games of his early career, showing a glimpse of what was to come with 20 points. Osunniyi, meanwhile, came off the bench and scored three points.

Only one Boise State player remains from that team: redshirt junior guard Max Rice.

ABOUT BOISE STATE

• Boise State finished the pandemic shortened season with an overall record of 19-9 and a conference record of 14-6. They lost 89-82 in the first round of the Mountain West Championship to Nevada. Their record earned them an invite to the NIT where they defeated SMU, 85-84, in the first round, but would then fall to Memphis in the second round, 59-56.
• The Broncos lost their leading scorer from last year and All-Mountain West First team selection Derrick Alston, Jr. to graduation. The team returns their second leading scorer and All-Mountain West Second Team selection in fifth year forward Abu Kigab (11.8 ppg). Also, they return their leading rebounder in redshirt senior forward Mladen Armus (7.8 rpg).
• Entering his 12^th season as head coach is Leon Rice. Rice has accumulated an overall record of 218-137, since joining the program in 2010. He has led the team to six postseason tournaments, including the first two at-large bids to the NCAA Tournament in (2012-13 and 2014-15). Also, in 2014-15 Boise State won their first Mountain West Conference Regular Season Championship.
• The Mountain West Conference preseason coaches' poll selected Boise State to finish fourth with 147 points.

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 with 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.
14 – The Bonnies have won 14 straight games when winning the battle of the boards dating back to last season.
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.
17.5 – Bonnies head coach Mark Schmidt has averaged 17.5 wins per season over his 14 years in charge of the program.
23 - St. Bonaventure went 12-4 against Quadrant 1-3 opponents last season to rise to No. 23 in the NCAA NET heading into the NCAA Tournament.
28% – Bonnies opponents are shooting 28 percent from the floor during the second half of games through the first two contests of the year (16-for-56).
60 – The Bonnies have held opponents to 60 points or less in 12 of the past 23 games including all of 2020-21 and the first two games of this season. 
60.4 – St. Bonaventure entered the NCAA Tournament last     year ranking fifth nationally in points allowed per game (60.4).
69.2% – Abdoul Karim Coulibaly has posted the best field goal percentage on the team through the first two games at 69.2 percent (9-13). 
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.
100 – Jaren Holmes became the fourth active member of the roster to join St. Bonaventure's all-time top-100 scorers. Kyle Lofton is 26th (1,264 points); Dominick Welch 68th (811), Osun Osunniyi 76th (753) and Holmes 94th (609).
169 – Dominick Welch has 169 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 boasted a combined 329 career starts (all averaged over 32 minutes in '20-21).
800 – Dominick Welch surpassed 800 career points in last Tuesday's win over Siena.

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