ST. BONAVENTURE (10-1) at SIENA (5-5, 1-1 MAAC)
Tuesday, Dec. 17 – 7:00 p.m.
Albany, N.Y.
TV: ESPN+
Radio: Bonnies Online Network / 100.1 FM The Hero

OPENING TIP
St. Bonaventure finishes up its two-game road trip Tuesday night by stopping in Albany for the annual installment of the Br. Ed Coughlin Franciscan Cup at MVP Arena.

While the Bonnies are fresh off a win over Providence this past Saturday to improve to 10-1 on the season, Siena has had over a week to prepare for this game after splitting its opening weekend of MAAC competition Dec. 6-8 in Western New York.

STARTING FIVE

• Senior Melvin Council Jr. moved into the starting point guard role for the first time this season Saturday vs. Providence and shined, earning Basketball Hall of Fame Showcase MVP honors with a season-high 24 points, the third-highest total of his Division I career. He has tallied double figures in 34 of 44 career D-I games. On Monday, he was named to the Atlantic 10 Weekly Honor Roll. 
• Senior Chance Moore tallied his second double-double of the year and fifth of his career in the Providence win, matching a season-best 12 boards.
• Junior Lajae Jones posted 15 points Saturday, one off his D-I high of 16 set on opening night vs. CSUN. He helped ice the win by going 8/8 at the line.
• Grad captain Noel Brown hauled in a career-high eight rebounds in Saturday's win and his 16 points represented the third-highest total of his career.
• Tuesday's game will complete five days on the road for the Bonnies. The team traveled to Uncasville, Conn. last Friday for the Basketball Hall of Fame Showcase where they scored a win over Big East foe Providence to move to 12-8 in their last 20 games (since 2017-18) vs. power conference opposition. The squad then drove to Albany Sunday and spent the past two days in the Capital Region preparing for Tuesday's contest.
   

RECEIVING VOTES
St. Bonaventure was named in the AP Top 25 poll released Monday, receiving votes for the first time this season after being voted No. 24 by a pollster this week.

It is the first time that the Bonnies have garnered AP Top 25 votes since November 2021. St. Bonaventure was last ranked in the AP Top 25 during the 2021-22 season as well, opening the year ranked No. 23 before rising as high as No. 16 in the national poll following a title victory in the 2021 Charleston Classic.

STARTING IN STYLE
St. Bonaventure has its best start to a season since the 1969-70 Final Four squad led by Bob Lanier opened that year at 12-0 over five decades ago.

The hot start for the Bonnies this season has put this year's team in the conversation with some of the best in program history. Bona has a 10-1 record through 11 games for the fourth time - in the previous three instances, SBU made a national postseason tournament: 1960-61 (opened 21-1, reached the first NCAA Tournament in school history); 1958-59 (opened 15-1, finished 20-3 and reached NIT); 1950-51 (opened 12-1, finished 19-6 and reached NIT). Bona has only had four better starts through 11 games all-time: '69-70 (started 12-0, reached Final Four); '67-68 (started 23-0, NCAA); '51-52 (started 16-0, NIT); '49-50 (started 11-0).

TRENDING NUMBERS
13 - St. Bonaventure is one of 13 teams nationally in Division I to have scored 10 victories as of Monday. Entering this week, the Bonnies are tied for the national lead in wins.

39.6% - Bonnies opponents are shooting just 39.6% from the floor collectively for the year, a total that ranks 50th nationally in field goal percentage defense.

90.9% - St. Bonaventure comes into the week with a winning percentage of 90.9%. Only the five unbeaten D-I teams have a better win percentage: Florida, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Utah State and Drake.

+128 - SBU has had power in the paint so far: Bona's is +128 in paint scoring though 11 games and has held a plus paint margin in all contests. SBU was +20 in the paint against Big East foe Providence (38-18). 

NET GAIN
As of Dec. 16, the Bonnies ranked No. 56 in the NCAA NET rankings, second-highest among all Atlantic 10 squads behind only Dayton (23). Bona's only loss thus far came on a neutral court against Utah State, which stood No. 20 in the NET as of Monday. The Bonnies scored a top-100 win on a neutral floor vs. Providence as the Friars stand No. 74 in the NET. Saturday's win gives Bona three top-100 triumphs as Northern Iowa ranked No. 81 and CSUN ranked No. 85 in the latest rankings.

DEFENSE ON LOCK
One of the keys to Bona's great start has been the strong play on the defensive end. By nearly all metrics, the Bonnies have ranked as one of the nation's top defenses thus far. Entering this week, the Bonnies stand 17th in the country in scoring defense by allowing 61.4 points per game to opponents. In the Dec. 4 win at Bucknell, Bona held the Bison to 47 points on their home court. It was the lowest scoring output by a Bonnies opponent since SBU limited Cleveland State to 42 points in a win at home Dec. 7, 2022. It was the first time that the Bonnies have held an opponent under 50 points on the road since holding George Mason to 49 in a win on the Patriots home court Jan. 8, 2020.

How SBU ranks defensively among all Division I teams (as of Dec. 16):
Steals per game – 47th (9.0)
Field goal percentage defense – 50th (39.6%)
Turnover margin: 73rd (+2.6)
Blocks per game – 77th (4.3)
Rebound margin: 91st (+4.8)
Turnovers forced per game: 93rd (14.1)

The Bonnies have been strong defensively without fouling – Bona is committing only 13 fouls per game, ranking 13th nationally in fewest fouls per contest.
 
SERIES HISTORY
St. Bonaventure leads, 33-12
The Franciscan sister schools have met every year since 2010 with the exception of 2020.

St. Bonaventure owned the series for decades, dating back to the first meeting in 1939-40. Overall, the Bonnies have a 33-12 series advantage. Since the renewal of the rivalry with the start of the Franciscan Cup series 14 years ago, though, the battles have been much more even as the Bonnies own a 8-5 edge in Franciscan Cup games. Prior to the beginning of the Franciscan Cup series with a Bonnies win in 2010 at the Reilly Center, the two teams had just met sparingly over the previous three decades. St. Bonaventure and Siena met 26 times between 1939 and 1961, but then did not play for nearly 20 years as the Bonnies won a one-off meeting in 1980 and then the series paused for another 17 years as the squads got together four times between 1997-2001 before another nine-year break.

The Bonnies have won six of the seven Franciscan Cup battles at the Reilly Center, but Siena has won four of six at Albany's MVP Arena including the last time the teams met there two seasons ago.

The trophy awarded to the victor of the annual meeting between St. Bonaventure and Siena was renamed in honor of Br. Ed Coughlin, OFM, who passed away July 30, 2019, following complications from heart surgery. Coughlin earned his bachelor's degree from St. Bonaventure and returned to the University in the late 1970s, working several assignments including serving twice as director of the college's Franciscan Institute, overseeing the research program's academic course offerings and publications, and working on the summer faculty. In 1996, he was named provincial secretary of the Holy Name Province of the Order of Friars Minor. Br. Ed, as he was known across both campuses, became Siena College president in November 2014. He also served on the Board of Trustees at both institutions.

IN THE EMPIRE STATE
All-time, the Bonnies are 348-253 against teams from New York State. There are 22 New York schools currently playing at the Division I level and the Bonnies have played them all except one - there has never been an SBU vs. SBU matchup as the Bonnies have never played Stony Brook.

Among all New York Division I men's basketball programs since the start of the 2010-11 season, only two have a better overall winning percentage than St. Bonaventure's .604: Syracuse (.653) and Iona (.639).
 
ABOUT SIENA

• The Saints are in their first season under head coach Gerry McNamara who was named the 19^th head coach in program history in late March. Siena is his first head coaching job after spending 15 years on staff as an assistant at Syracuse where he was a star player and helped lead the Orange to the 2003 national championship.
• Siena showed a flair for the dramatic out of the box, winning their first two games in overtime at home vs. Brown (72-71) and at Bryant (90-88). Like the Bonnies, the Saints also won a contest vs. Bucknell (71-58) and at Canisius (66-53). The Canisius game came on Dec. 8, following a setback two nights earlier, 69-68, to open MAAC play at Niagara, and the Saints have been idle for over a week.
• Junior college transfer Major Freeman was selected Preseason Second Team All-MAAC and currently leads the team with nearly 15 points per game. Both he and junior forward Brendan Coyle are deep threats, combining for 55 3-pointers in the first 10 games.
• According to KenPom, junior guard Justice Shoats has a hand in the result of nearly 32 percent of Siena's possessions, ranking 32^nd nationally in that category. He posts 14.5 ppg and a team-best 34 assists.
• 6-foot-11 center Peter Carey (4.8 ppg, 2.9 rpg) followed McNamara from Syracuse where he saw time in 17 games a season ago.