ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. – The St. Bonaventure men's basketball team will host its first ranked opponent of the 2025-26 season when it welcomes No. 24 Saint Louis to the Reilly Center on Friday (Jan. 23). Tipoff is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. ET, and the game will be televised live on ESPN2.
 
Fans are encouraged to wear white as part of the Reilly Center's White Out game. Tickets are available for purchase here: CLICK HERE
 
TO BE FRANK
St. Bonaventure forward Frank Mitchell has been one of the most productive players in the country this season. 
 
Mitchell tallied 18 points and 11 rebounds on Tuesday (Jan. 20), contributing to his 11th double-double of the season. He became one of just eight players in the country with 11 or more double-doubles on the season.
 
Mitchell is averaging 10.4 rebounds per game, which leads all players in the Atlantic 10 conference. As of Wednesday (Jan. 21), ranks seventh in the nation in total rebounds with 198.
 
A remarkable number of Mitchell's rebounds have come on the offensive end. His 89 total offensive rebounds (4.68 per game) lead all of Division I.
 
Most Offensive Rebounds in NCAA Division I
(Wednesday, Jan. 21)
Rank                          Name                                          School                       #                  
1                                  Frank Mitchell                         St. Bonaventure    89
2                                  Brandon Benjamin                 Fairfield                    81
3                                  JT Toppin                                   Texas Tech               80
4                                  Duke Brennan                          Villanova                  78
t5                                Giovanni Emejuru                  East Carolina          77
t5                                Rikus Schulte                            Fordham                  77
 
Mitchell has tallied double-digit offensive rebounds two games this season, with a season-best 11 against Colgate (Dec. 10) and 10 vs. Ohio (Dec. 13).
 
Mitchell's total rebounding percentage of 18.7 and offensive rebounding percentage of 16.3 would both be school records if the season ended today, with the latter being the highest in school history by 3.3 percentage points. 
 
Mitchell is no stranger to the top of the national rebounding leaderboards. In 2023-24 with Canisius, he averaged 11.6 rebounds per game, the fourth-most in Division I.
 
In the scoring column, Mitchell has scored in double figures in 18 of 19 games this season. He has scored 20-or-more points in six games this season, and in five of his last eight.
 
DASONTE DELIVERS
Dasonte Bowen has been an extremely effective playmaker this season, averaging 4.8 assists per game over the course of the season, and an Atlantic-10-leading 5.8 assists per game in conference play. He has recorded three-or-more assists in 17-of-19 games this season.
 
Over St. Bonaventure's last three games, Bowen has combined for 26 assists and just three turnovers.
 
Bowen's playmaking prowess was on full display in last Wednesday (Jan. 14) night's game against Saint Joseph's. The redshirt junior posted eight assists and just one turnover in the loss.
 
Then, on Saturday (Jan. 17) at La Salle, Bowen recorded 10 assists and no turnovers. He was the first Bonnie to have double-digit assists with no turnovers since Kyle Lofton in 2021 (Feb. 26 vs. GW, 10 assists-0 turnovers) and just the third SBU player to do so since 2015.
 
With 12 points, he became the first SBU player to record a points-assist double-double since Kyrell Luc did so against George Mason in 2023 (Jan. 4).
 
On Tuesday (Jan. 20) against Loyola Chicago, Bowen tallied eight assists and no turnovers, bringing his assist-to-turnover ratio to 8.67 over his last three games.
 
Bowen's season assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.37 leads the Atlantic 10 among players averaging 3.0 assists or more.
 
COUNT ON CAYDEN
Cayden Charles has been pivotal to the Bonnies' offense in conference play. The 6-foot-3 guard is averaging 14.8 points and 6.7 rebounds per game in St. Bonaventure's six Atlantic 10 games.
 
Last Wednesday at Saint Joseph's, Charles scored 17 points and grabbed seven rebounds. He made a career-best-tying three triples. All 17 of Charles' points came in the second half, leading an 18-point swing for the Bonnies that gave the team its first lead of the game.
 
Inversely, Charles scored a team-best tying 11 points in the first half of Saturday's game at La Salle, but went scoreless in the second half. 
 
Charles posted his fourth double-double of the season in Tuesday's win over Loyola Chicago (Jan. 20), finishing with 16 points and 10 rebounds.
 
The senior has reached double figures in seven consecutive games, tallying at least six rebounds in all-but-one game during that span.
 
BUDDY BUCKETS
Buddy Simmons II has lit up the scoreboard in Atlantic 10 play. The junior is averaging 18.0 points in conference games, while shooting 47.1 percent (40-for-85) from the field and 47.6 percent (20-for-42) from beyond the arc.
 
Simmons II has scored at least 14 points in five-of-six A-10 matchups, with 20-or-more points in three of those games.
 
Against Loyola Chicago, the Detroit native dropped a season-best 26 points on 7-of-17 shooting. He made a season-high-tying six three-pointers to lead St. Bonaventure's second half comeback.
 
Simmons II became the first SBU player and just the fourth A-10 player to reach 50 made three-pointers on the season.
 
IN THE RANKINGS
In the latest NET rankings published by the NCAA on Wednesday (Jan. 21), the Bonnies ranked 147th. In TeamRankings.com's RPI rankings, St. Bonaventure was ranked 113th in the country.
 
The Bonnies ranked 112th in FaktorSports' KPI rating, a metric used by the NCAA Tournament Selection Committee.
 
SAINT LOUIS NOTES:

• Saint Louis enters Friday's game at 18-1, with an unblemished 6-0 record in Atlantic 10 play.
• SLU is ranked No. 24 in the AP Top 25 poll and No. 23 in the USA Today Coaches' poll.
• The Billikens are led by stretch five Robbie Avila, who leads the team in points (12.8 ppg) and assists (3.8 apg).
• Saint Louis has six players averaging double figures.
• The Bonnies trail in the all-time series with Saint Louis, 16-17.
• SLU has won four consecutive games against St. Bonaventure.
• Mark Schmidt is 15-10 against Saint Louis in his career.