St. Bonaventure Preview and Game Thread -- 01-21-2023

[JCT]

Saturday, January 21, 2023 3:00 p.m.
Gentile Arena, Chicago, Ill.


The Bonnies of St. Bonaventure come to Chicago Saturday afternoon to play Loyola for the first time as a conference foe—and if the media guide is correct—and the first time since 1937. Coming off a deep run into the NIT last season, the Bonnies lost 99% of their scoring from last year, most in college hoops. Yet somehow, the St. Bonaventure has managed to arrive in Chicago at 10-9 overall, 4-2 in the A10.

The “somehow”—how SBU managed to recover so well from a total evacuation of all significant players to a middle of the pack A10 team able to make a dark horse run at the conference tournament—is Mark Schmidt, the universally respected head coach of the Bonnies for the past 16 seasons. Schmidt took over a moribund program after a not-so-spectacular stint at Robert Morris (the NEC school in Pittsburgh, not the NAIA one in Chicago that was subsumed by Roosevelt U.) It took him three years to get a winning record, five years to win the A10 tournament for an NCAA bid, and since a 14-15 record in year six, he hasn’t had a losing season. It’s pretty remarkable, especially when considering where this school is located, and how messed up the program was when he got there.

This season, St. Bonaventure has a win over Notre Dame, and league wins over Richmond and Duquense—two teams that look poised to finish mid-pack or higher. Yes, the story of the 2022-23 Bonnies is impressive, but it has a giant asterisk: they haven’t won a single road game this year, even against some pretty bad teams. And when I say “pretty bad teams,” I’m talking about teams that linger in the same part of the KenPom ratings where Loyola has fallen, and even worse: they lost at Rhode Island (KenPom 212) and at Canisius (KenPom 266). They lost by double-digit points at Northern Iowa, and Buffalo.

This is a game the Ramblers badly need to win; not just to stop the bleeding, not just to get their first win in the conference, but because there will not be a better or more likely chance for a conference win until early-to-mid February.

Coach Schmidt will likely start 5’11” sophomore point guard Kyrell Luc (a transfer from Holy Cross), 6’3” junior shooting guard Daryl Banks (a transfer from St. Peter’s), 6’6” freshman forward Yann Farell, 6’8” freshman forward Barry Evans, and 6’10” sophomore center Chad Venning (a Morgan State transfer). The two guards, Banks (16.3 ppg) and Luc (13.3 ppg) lead the team in scoring, and Luc dishes out 4.6 assists against 2.6 turnovers per game. Venning is the third scorer in double digits with 11.2 per game, and he plays about 26 minutes per contest. Moses Flowers, a 6’3” junior transfer from Hartford, is the first player off the bench, averaging 8.1 per game. Flowers, Luc, Banks, and Evans all average more than one steal per game.

The Bonnies defend the three very well (14th best in the country), and have overall defensive efficiency in the top third of all teams in D-1. They take care of the ball well against steals (but make a lot of unforced errors), and generally they defend the rim well. Their weaknesses are low shooting percentages from both inside and behind the arc, so-so rebounding, and putting opponents on the free throw line way too much. They make up for some of the bad shooting with their very good defense, controlling the tempo of games, and ball handling. The home/road splits in most of the aforementioned categories are stark, so it’s good for Loyola to get them at home this year.

After seven losses in a row since mid-December—all by double digits, and the longest losing streak in 11 years— the Ramblers need a win like nobody’s business. It feels like a moment where the players, the team, the coaches and the fans need to all resolve that the losing has to stop right here. A loss in this game would probably add even more gravity to the free fall.


Loyola game notes: https://loyolaramblers.com/documents/20 ... _-_SBU.pdf

St. Bonaventure game notes: https://gobonnies.com/news/2023/1/20/me ... icago.aspx

TV/Streaming video: NBC Sports Chicago https://www.nbcsports.com/chicago

Radio/Streaming audio: https://loyolaramblers.com/watch/?Live=137&type=Live

Live stats: https://stats.statbroadcast.com/broadcast/?id=426266

Vegas odds: Bonnies by 1.5

[goramblers2011]

We are somehow only a third of the way through the conference season. Feels like it has been going on forever.

[natetheskate]

The Bonnies look like a young team...Hope we play with composure and our vets come through against a team that looks like they will not physically dominate us. Also hope we get another solid game from Quinn.

[JCT]

We have to get some fouls called here... Welch was pushed out of bounds on the rebound, we've been tackled and hacked, Alston was out from blood. Need to get calls, or this game is over.

[ahunte1]

Hutty comes in and immediately sparks an 8-0 run. Go figure.

[Dansen]

I haven’t ever been a Hutty truther per say, but it was odd that with Golden’s struggles this year especially early on that Hutty couldn’t ever get any minutes. Happy for him.

Wilson has the green light today

[Dansen]

Also funny stat - 26 “bench” points at the half, 5 points from starters

[RamblinTank22]

Starting Hutson in the 2nd half, and just riding the hot hand. I like it. Playing matchups like that is what we hoped we could've successfully done the whole season.

[Rambler88]

First points from Norris at the 12;13 mark,

[goramblers2011]

Wilson and Hutty carry us to our first A10 win. Just as we all thought.

Happy to get that off our back. Congrats to Coach Drew, the staff and the team. That didn't look like a team thats given up on their coach. Let's win a few more!