ST. BONAVENTURE (6-0) vs. UTAH STATE (5-0)
Thursday, 5:30 p.m.
Orlando, Fla.
TV: ESPN2
Radio: Bonnies Online Network / 100.1 FM The Hero

OPENING TIP
St. Bonaventure will take on Utah State in a battle of unbeatens Thanksgiving Day in the opening round of the ESPN NIT Tip-Off in Orlando. Both teams bring in spotless records, combing for an 11-0 mark thus far between the two programs. Thursday's game will have a national broadcast on ESPN2. The winner of Thursday's game advances to the Championship Game Friday at 6:30 p.m. against the winner of North Texas/Northern Iowa while the loser will play in the third-place game Friday at 9 p.m.

Bona's defense ranks 39th nationally by allowing 62.5 ppg and will face Utah State's top-ranked offense which has scored over 98 points per game thus far.

Entering Tuesday, 34 Division I teams remained unbeaten and two of them will go head-to-head in the first round of the ESPN NIT Tip-Off. Both teams also are ranked in this week's MidMajorBasketball.com Top 25 with Utah State checking in at No. 5 and St. Bonaventure No. 23. 

TRENDING NUMBERS

6 – St. Bonaventure has its first six-game winning streak since 2022 when the Bonnies won seven consecutive Atlantic 10 games.
8 – Junior point guard Dasonte Bowen handed out a career-high eight assists in last Wednesday's win over Mansfield. Bowen is currently averaging 4.2 assists per game in his first season with the Bonnies. The Iowa transfer owns a 2.8 assist-to-turnover ratio. As a sophomore with the Hawkeyes last year, he recorded a 3-to-1 assist-to-turnover ratio with 49 assists against 16 turnovers in 25 contests. Bowen was fresh off recording a career-best on the boards in the previous game vs. Le Moyne when he hauled in six rebounds.
30 – Melvin Council Jr. posted his 30th career Division I game of double-figure scoring Sunday vs. Bryant when he opened the game 6/6. Council scored 15 or more points in 17 of 27 games played last season at Wagner.
33 – Lajae Jones has been a part of 33 consecutive victories dating back to last season when his Barton College squad won 27 straight on the way to the NJCAA Division I national championship.
57.6% – The Bonnies are shooting 57.6 percent on all 2-point field goal tries this season, ranking 54th nationally. The Bonnies are still looking to find their footing beyond the arc, averaging 32.1 percent from deep, though they had their best day of long range shooting last time out vs. Bryant, hitting on 57% of 3-point attempts (8-14).
+82 – St. Bonaventure has had power in the paint so far: Bona's is +82 in paint scoring though six games and has held a plus paint margin in all six contests. The Bonnies have posted 46 paint points in a game three separate times already.
 

HOT START
St. Bonaventure has its first 6-0 start in 51 years, last doing so in 1973.

A win Thursday would give the Bonnies their first 7-0 start since 1970-71.

The best starts in program history: the 1970-71 team began the campaign 8-0 on the way to a 21-6 record and a spot in the NIT. The 1969-70 Final Four group started the year 12-0. In 1967-68, the Bonnies were undefeated during the regular season, 22-0, and stretched that to 23-0 with a first round NCAA Tournament victory.

GIVEN THE CHANCE
Bonnies senior Chance Moore not only leads the team in rebounding, he's one of the top Atlantic 10 players on the boards thus far. Through the first six games of the season, he's logging 8.0 rebounds per game – that total ranks sixth among all A-10 players and second among all guards in the league.

Already named Atlantic 10 Player of the Week in the opening week of the season, Moore is among the top 10 scorers in the league thus far as well by averaging 16.2 ppg. Against Bryant, he played a full 40 minutes for the first time in his collegiate career.

CAPTAIN EFFICIENCY
Grad captain Noel Brown continues his high efficiency shooting rate with a strong start to this season. Last year, he made good on 71 percent of his field goal attempts (76-107) which was just shy of making Bonnies history. The all-time program record for field goal percentage in a season is held by Osun Osunniyi who connected on 61.5 percent of field goal tries during the 2019-20 season. Brown was a little short of making the minimum field goals per game of 2.5, however, as he recorded just over 2.3 made FGs on average in 2023-24.

Thus far this season, he's making just over 70 percent of his tries from the floor and checks in at nearly 71 percent for his Bonaventure career in 39 games with the Bonnies. Brown has been named to the Atlantic 10 Weekly Honor Roll each of the last two weeks and currently ranks third among all A-10 players in field goal percentage thus far this season. He scored a career-high 22 points and also matched a career-best of seven rebounds in the win this past Sunday vs. Bryant.

According to KenPom, Brown's 73.7% true shooting percentage is 31st nationally.

St. Bonaventure has won three in-season tournaments since 2019, including the 2019 Boca Beach Classic, 2021 Charleston Classic (pictured) and 2022 Gotham Classic.

BONNIES IN SPECIAL EVENTS

• St. Bonaventure has recorded an impressive record of success in special events in recent years. In Mark Schmidt's tenure, the Bonnies are 19-10 in multi-team event (MTE) appearances including 13-7 since 2016-17.

• Bona had a nine-game winning streak in MTE tournament game appearances dating to 2019 snapped in the Legends Classic Championship Game last November vs. Auburn.

• The Bonnies scored in-season tournament title crowns in the 2022 Gotham Classic (beat Notre Dame in title game), 2021 Charleston Classic (wins over Boise St., Clemson, Marquette) and 2019 Boca Beach Classic (wins vs. San Diego, at FAU).

• St. Bonaventure has scored other marquee wins in non-conference special events and tournaments. Bona's recorded a Legends Classic win a year ago over Oklahoma State at Barclays Center in Brooklyn. Later in the year, the Bonnies also battled nationally-ranked FAU to the wire in the Basketball Hall of Fame Classic in Springfield before falling late, 64-54. In 2019, SBU defeated Rutgers in Toronto as part of the James Naismith Classic at Scotiabank Arena and last year, the Bonnies won vs. Akron in Cleveland's Rocket Mortgage FieldHouse as part of the Legends of Basketball Showcase.
 

SERIES HISTORY
Utah State leads, 2-0

The Bonnies and Utah State have met twice previously, though the last meeting came 64 years ago.

Utah State won the first-ever meeting in 1947, 51-47. The teams met once again in the consolation bracket of the 1960 NIT in a game that featured three St. Bonaventure Athletics Hall of Fame members:  Brothers Sam and Tom Stith combined for 48 points and 17 rebounds in the contest. Whitey Martin added four points and eight boards, though the Bonnies' efforts were not enough, and they were outscored 99-83. Martin and the Stith brothers were all members of the inaugural St. Bonaventure Athletics Hall of Fame induction class in 1969.

BONNIES IN THE SUNSHINE STATE
St. Bonaventure is making its second trip to Florida this month, having won at Florida Gulf Coast just over two weeks ago. That winning trip continued a recent trend of success in the Sunshine State as the Bonnies have won their last three games in Florida, also taking two wins on campus at FAU in 2019 to win the Boca Beach Classic, and are 14-5 all-time in the Sunshine State.

Bona has had some memorable in-season tournament moments in Florida: in addition to the 2019 Boca Beach Classic crown, SBU scored a first round win over Maryland at the 2017 Emerald Coast Classic in Niceville and finished runner-up in the 2012 Gulf Coast Showcase in Estero. During the undefeated 1967-68 season, Bona won the Tampa Invitational with victories over Seattle and Auburn.

ABOUT UTAH STATE

• Utah State enters in at 5-0, with their last win coming over Iowa, 77-69, last Friday in Kansas City. The Aggies have been ranked within the top 50 of the KenPom rankings through the early stretch of this season, starting this week at No. 45.
• The Aggies have been competitive nationally in recent years, winning more than 20 games and earning an NCAA Tournament bid in each of the past two seasons. In the last six years, the Aggies have averaged 24 wins per season.
• The 2023-24 campaign led to a 28-7 record and entry into March Madness as an eight seed for the Aggies, where they took down ninth-seeded TCU, 88-72, in the first round before falling to top-seeded Purdue in the second round, 106-67.
• Guard Ian Martinez has held down the Aggies' backcourt responsibilities as he leads the team in scoring (20.8 ppg), minutes played (26.0 mpg), and three-pointers made (15), and leads the team in assists (21).
• Forward Karson Templin anchors the paint for the Aggies, as he leads the squad in rebounds (6.8 rpg).
• Utah State owns the nation's top-ranked offense thus far, averaging over 98 ppg. USU had its lowest scoring output of the year last Friday in a 77-69 win over Iowa, but previously scored 101 against Alcorn State, 103 against Charlotte, 117 against Westminster, and 95 against Montana.
• Utah State AD Diana Sabau is a St. Bonaventure graduate.

BONNIES VS. MOUNTAIN WEST
St. Bonaventure is 3-6 all-time against current members of the Mountain West. The Bonnies last played a MWC opponent three years ago, defeating Boise State in the first round of the Charleston Classic, 67-61.

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