ST. BONAVENTURE (22-11, 9-9 A-10) vs. KENT STATE (22-11, 11-7 MAC)
Tuesday, March 18 - 7:00 p.m.
Reilly Center
TV: ESPNU
Radio: Bonnies Online Network / 100.1 FM The Hero

OPENING TIP
St. Bonaventure has earned the No. 3 seed in the San Francisco Region of the 2025 NIT, hosting Kent State Tuesday night in the Reilly Center as part of the first round. The winner of the game will advance to play the winner of the No. 2 Stanford/CSUN matchup which will take place on the West Coast in late night following Bona's game. Tuesday's game will air nationally on ESPNU while the radio broadcast will be available through the Bonnies Online Network and locally on 100.1 FM.

TICKET INFORMATION 
Tickets are available for Tuesday's game. Click here for ticket information.

STARTING FIVE

• St. Bonaventure will host its third NIT home game in program history. The Bonnies seek their first postseason win at the Reilly Center since 1995 when they defeated Southern Miss in the NIT. 
• The Bonnies will make their 18th NIT appearance overall and first since reaching the semifinals of the 2022 tournament with road wins at Colorado, at Oklahoma and at Virginia.
• With 22 wins overall on the season, St. Bonaventure has its 19th 20-win season in program history and the seventh during the Mark Schmidt era.
• Melvin Council Jr. averaged 18.5 points and played every second of two Atlantic 10 Tournament games last week. Lajae Jones averaged 14.0 points and 9.0 rebounds in the two tournament contests in Washington, DC.
• The Bonnies are 12-3 on home floor this season including 6-0 against non-conference opponents. At home this season, Bona averages 71.1 ppg and 7.2 3-pointers per game while on the road, those numbers drop to 67.7 ppg and 5.2 3s per game.

NIT PROGRAM NOTES

• St. Bonaventure is 20-18 all-time in NIT games.
• St. Bonaventure last appeared in the NIT in 2022, reaching the semifinals at Madison Square Garden that season. It marked the second time in program history of reaching the final four of the NIT; the Bonnies won the tournament championship in 1977.
• The Bonnies defeated three Power 4 opponents on the road to reach the 2022 NIT semifinals. Prior to their run in 2022, Bona had never won a true road game in the NIT (0-6). The Bonnies played a first round game vs. Rutgers at Princeton on the way to the 1977 championship but scored their first true road NIT triumph at Colorado in the 2022 first round before backing that up with a win over top-seeded Oklahoma and finally a third win at Virginia.
• Bona's 1977 crown is the only national championship in school history (any sport).
• In all, Bona has advanced to the quarterfinals or better six times. Bona has played in the NIT semifinals four times: 1951, 1952, 1977 and 2022.
• With 22 wins on the season, the Bonnies have their winningest season since 2021-22 (23-10). A win in the NIT first round would match the '21-22 team for wins. The last time the Bonnies had more victories: 2017-18 when SBU set the program record with 26 wins. 
• Bona's second round win over Oklahoma in 2022 was its first over a top seed in the NIT. 
• St. Bonaventure had never beaten two Power 4 teams back-to-back prior to the 2022 NIT semifinal run.
• Twenty-six of the 32 teams in this year's NIT bracket posted 20 or more wins. The average win total for the teams in this year's bracket: 22. 
• First, second and quarterfinal round games will be held on campus sites. The semifinals (April 1) and finals (April 3) are set for Hinkle Fieldhouse in Indianapolis. All games during the tournament will be broadcast on the ESPN family of networks. 

NOTABLES

• Melvin Council Jr. enters Tuesday's game with 981 points in two seasons at the Division I level. Council leads all Atlantic 10 players and stands 26th nationally with 69 steals on the season. He averages just over two thefts per contest.
• Council scored in double figures in every Atlantic 10 game thus far and has done so in 24 consecutive games overall.
• Council enters this week with 69 steals which are the most by a Bonnies player since the 107 swipes posted by Marques Green in 2003-04.
• SBU ranked 21st nationally in scoring defense this season by holding opponents to 64.8 ppg. 
• Lajae Jones tallied his second double-double of the year in Bona's A-10 quarterfinal game vs. VCU (10 points, 10 rebounds).
• Chance Moore scored a game-high 19 points along with eight rebounds last time out vs. VCU. It was his highest scoring output since posting 21 points at VCU on Jan. 24.
• Bona posted season highs in points off turnovers (24) and point differential in points off turnovers (+20) in the win over Duquesne on Thursday.
• Lajae Jones hauled in a career-high 12 rebounds in the season finale victory at Davidson.
• Chance Moore recently reached a career milestone as he surpassed 1,000 career points during Bona's win Feb. 22 vs. Duquesne.
• St. Bonaventure is 15-2 when reaching 70 points this season.
• St. Bonaventure is 19-4 when winning the turnover battle this season. 
• The Bonnies are committing just 13.4 fouls per game on the season, ranking ninth in the country for fewest fouls per contest.

ABOUT KENT STATE

• Kent compiled a 22-11 overall record and went 11-7 in the MAC, culminating in a berth in the conference tournament as a three-seed. The Golden Flashes took down Western Michigan in the first round but fell to second-seeded Miami (OH) in the proceeding matchup. They won nine of their final 12 contests, building up momentum for the postseason. 
• The squad is led by redshirt senior forward VonCameron Davis, who was named an All-MAC First Team selection. He has shown up everywhere on the stat sheet this season as an all-around threat. He leads the Golden Flashes in steals (42) and ranks third in rebounds (119), but is the team's runner up in field goals made (170), three-pointers made (42), free throws made (86), points per game (14.6), and assists (63). 
• Senior guard Jalen Sullinger paces the team in scoring, averaging 15.4 points per game. He also leads in minutes played (986) and free throw percentage (87.3%) and ranks second in three-point percentage (37.3%). He earned All-MAC Second Team honors as the program's 13th all-time leading scorer and fourth all-time leader in three-pointers made. Rounding out the veteran leadership and providing a defensive anchor is senior center Cli'ron Hornbeak, who earned a MAC All-Defensive Team selection. He leads the team in blocks (42) and ranks second in total rebounds (196). 
• Kent State puts significant focus on the offensive glass as they rank 36th nationally and led the MAC in offensive rebounds per game (12.88). They also enjoy significant bench production, as their reserves put up the 48th most points per game in the country (25.76). 
• The Golden Flashes have appeared in nine NIT Tournaments and compiled a 5-9 record, with their first bid coming in 1985. Most recently, they reached the quarterfinals in the 2011 tournament, getting past St. Mary's in the first round and Fairfield in the second before eventually falling to top-seeded Colorado. 

SERIES HISTORY
Tuesday's game marks the 22nd meeting all-time between the Bonnies and Golden Flashes, but the first official game between the two programs since December 2003. St. Bonaventure leads the all-time series 14-7.

The Bonnies won 13 consecutive games over Kent State between the 1938-39 season when the teams met for the first time and 1988. Kent State has won five of the last six meetings, however. 

While the two programs have not met in an official game in over two decades, the Bonnies and Golden Flashes are familiar with each other: in recent years, St. Bonaventure and Kent State have played each other in each team's "secret scrimmage" before the start of each season dating back to 2010. This past fall, the Bonnies scrimmaged at Kent State. 

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