St. Bonaventure Bonnies
Date: Sunday February 9th, 2025
Time: 12:00 PM ET
Venue: Reilly Center (St. Bonaventure, NY)
TV: USA Network
Ranks: 96th (KenPom), 85th (Bart Torvik), 87th (Haslametrics), 103rd (EvanMiya)
2023-24 Record: 20-13, 9-9 (T-7th in A10)
2024-25 Projected Record: 21-10, 9-9 (7th in A10)

Head-to-Head: 37-30. GW has won the last two meetings after previously dropping six of the previous seven to the Bonnies. Last year's senior day game in Foggy Bottom finally put to bed the long 12 game losing streak as the Revs finally prevailed 86-75. The game started out much like many of the others, as GW went down by five at halftime, 42-37 behind predictably good offense and lousy defense. The two teams combined to nail 14 triples in the first half, with JB leading the way with four trays in the frame. Stretch Akingbola got called for a foul and got T'd up, resulting in four FTs late for the Bonnies before Autry beat the buzzer with a three. It was much of the same after halftime, with the two teams knocking down a combined 12 threes. Both squads would trade blows during the third quarter, but GW went on a 21-5 run late to push the lead to 17. That stretch included a transition dunk from JB, which was a great send off in what would be his final game at Smith. For the game, both teams shot well but GW had the edge by converting on nearly 59% of their attempts from the field on 19 total assists. JB led all scorers with 27 points (to go with 6 assists), Max turned back the clock to notch 19 points/7 rebounds off the bench, Jun had 14 (including two made threes in the first half), and Jacoi had 13 points/7 assists.

The last contest at the Reilly Center was very memorable, with GW gutting out a tough 83-81 win in overtime. The Revs blew a late second half lead due to limited depth, resulting in a made buzzer beater by Kyrell Luc. In overtime, Bonaventure would go up four with 42 seconds to go and at that point I had lost hope. That was when BA came off a curl and drained a three from the top of the key to keep GW within range. Bona would miss a FT, and JB - who was so good at drawing contact his entire career (the current guards should take note) - got enough of the Bona defender to get three attempts from the line and he would make all of them to move GW to 7-7 in conference. The Revs finished shooting over 50% from the field in that game as well and made 37% of their threes (via 17 assists). Notably, in both games they out-rebounded St. Bonaventure as well. The strong shooting day helped overcome a 19 turnover game. BA led the way with 28 points (and 7 rebounds), JB was just behind with 25 points (and 6 assists), and Ricky finished with a double-double (10 points/10 rebounds). Max had 15 rebounds and a sweet dunk in the first half.




Offensive Efficiency: 115th (KenPom), 98th (Bart Torvik), 87th (Haslametrics), 89th (EvanMiya)
Defensive Efficiency: 95th (KenPom), 84th (Bart Torvik), 82nd (Haslametrics), 132nd (EvanMiya)
Pace: 343rd (KenPom), 343rd (Bart Torvik), 344th (Haslametrics), 355th (EvanMiya)
Offensive Shot Quality Rank: 155th
Defensive Shot Quality Rank: 94th
Rim & 3 Rate: 82% (197th)

Strengths (2024-25 Season):
Fouls Per Game: 13 PF/G (7th)
Scoring Defense: 64.5 PPG (22nd)
Turnovers Per Game: 10.5 TO/G (49th)
Winning Percentage: 70.8% (58th)
Rebound Margin: +3.6 RPG (86th)
Field Goal Percentage Defense: 42.1% (95th)

Weaknesses (2024-25 Season):
Scoring Offense: 70.6 PPG (267th)
Three Point Attempts Per Game: 19.7 3PA (305th)
Three Pointers Made Per Game: 6.5 3PM (307th)
Assists Per Game: 11.1 APG (333rd)
Bench Points Per Game: 9.7 PPG (354th)

Projected Starting Lineup:
#11 G Melvin Council Jr. (Senior; Rochester, NY) - 14.4 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 4 apg, 2.1 spg; 44% FG, 32% 3-PT, 88% FT per 36.1 mpg/24 GP
#8 G Jonah Hinton (RS Sophomore; Chicago, IL) - 8.5 ppg, 2 rpg, 1.6 apg; 37% FG, 35% 3-PT, 82% FT per 27.2 mpg/24 GP
#0 G Chance Moore (Senior; Brookhaven, GA) - 13.6 ppg, 6.9 rpg, 1 apg, 1.2 spg, 1.1 bpg; 48% FG, 28% 3-PT, 63% FT per 33.4 mpg/23 GP
#10 G Lajae Jones (Junior; Jacksonville, FL) - 10.6 ppg, 5.5 rpg, 1.3 spg; 49% FG, 44% 3-PT, 80% FT per 32.9 mpg/24 GP
#24 C Noel Brown (Graduate Student; Leesburg, VA) - 12.4 ppg, 5.5 rpg; 58% FG, 20% 3-PT, 79% FT per 30.4 mpg/24 GP

Key Bench Players:
#5 G Noah Bolanga (Freshman; Poitiers, France) - 1.9 ppg, 1.3 rpg; 26% FG, 24% 3-PT, 53% FT per 11 mpg/22 GP
#1 F Duane Thompson (RS Freshman; Boston, MA) - 3.2 ppg, 1.7 rpg; 33% FG, 30% 3-PT, 55% FT per 9.1 mpg/18 GP
#21 F/C Xander Wedlow (Freshman; Detroit, MI) - 2 ppg, 1.2 rpg; 79% FG, 63% FT per 6.6 mpg/22 GP

Key Losses:
Chad Venning (Transferred to Boston College; Brooklyn, NY) - 13.4 ppg, 4.6 rpg, 1.6 bpg; 53% FG, 71% FT per 24.1 mpg/33 GP
Mika Adams-Woods (Graduated; Syracuse, NY) - 12.8 ppg, 2.5 rpg, 3.7 apg, 1 spg; 46% FG, 43% 3-PT, 84% FT per 32 mpg/32 GP
Charles Pride (Graduated; Syracuse, NY) - 10.9 ppg, 5.7 rpg, 1.6 apg, 1.2 spg; 44% FG, 40% 3-PT, 83% FT per 30.2 mpg/30 GP
Daryl Banks III (Graduated; Somerset, NJ) - 9.7 ppg, 2.2 rpg, 2.4 apg; 34% FG, 34% 3-PT, 90% FT per 29.2 mpg/33 GP
Moses Flowers (Graduated; Dorchester, MA) - 9.6 ppg, 2.8 rpg, 1.2 apg; 41% FG, 38% 3-PT, 75% FT per 24.8 mpg/32 GP
Yann Farell/Assa Essamvous (Transferred to East Carolina; Libreville, Gabon) - 7.4 ppg, 5.3 rpg, 1 spg; 42% FG, 34% 3-PT, 71% FT per 26.7 mpg/33 GP

Preview:
Jon Rothstein doesn't always hit the mark with his Rothsteinisms but "Mark Schmidt. More with less." is certainly one of his better and more accurate sayings. Schmidt has consistently done more with less at one of the harder places to recruit to (NIL has probably changed that a bit, but it still remains somewhat of a challenge). In the past ten seasons, St. Bonaventure has finished under .500 in the A10 just once under his watch. For context, the Bonnies had seven total seasons .500 or better in the Atlantic 10 for the 25 seasons prior to his arrival.

MBB drives the bus and likely gets the most support (adding Woj as GM certainly doesn't hurt), but the challenges of the job become more clear when you look at their other team sports in the league. Men's Lacrosse, Women's Soccer, Women's Basketball, and Softball teams all finished dead last. Baseball was second to last. Women's Lacrosse and Men's Soccer were both in the bottom half of the conference as well. Even though SBU finished just seventh in the league in MBB last year, that's still significantly better than what most of the other school's teams are able to accomplish.

Last year's Bona squad went a solid 9-3 during OOC play last year. Two of the losses to Auburn and a nationally ranked Florida Atlantic squad were understandable, but the Bonnies were tripped up against local rival Canisius, basically their version of American U (the Golden Griffins are 18-16 all-time against them). On the flip side, Bona did defeat both Oklahoma State and Akron, solid teams on neutral sites. Ultimately, they were never able to find any consistency in conference play. At no point did they ever win or lose more than two games in a row. Despite dropping their final two regular season games to arguably the two worst teams in the conference in GW and SLU, the Bonnies went on a bit of a run in the conference tournament. They narrowly defeated La Salle and Loyola before falling to eventual winner Duquesne in the semifinals.

This past offseason was virtually a total reset, with Bonaventure losing their top six scorers from last season and eight of their top nine. That's not unfamiliar territory for Schmidt, as he experienced an even worse exodus during the 2022 offseason, when they lost over 99% of their scoring following a trip to the NIT. Having said that, that was the one aforementioned team that failed to finish .500 in the A10 and there's still big shoes that needed to be filled. Chad Venning struggled at times to stay on the floor with his conditioning, but he was a problem on both ends when he was in the game. Last season, he ranked top 70 nationally in both field goal percentage and blocks per game. Venning opted to go to Schmidt's alma mater in Boston College. He must not value winning as the Eagles are consistently one of the worst power conference schools every year. Guards Mika Adams-Woods and Charles Pride graduated as well. The pair of Syracuse natives were very efficient shooting the ball and combined to make 90 threes last season (Adams-Woods was also 81st nationally in assist/turnover ratio). Multi-year players Daryl Banks III, Moses Flowers, and Assa Essamvous were also staples in the lineup. Banks had a somewhat disappointing year after he led the team in scoring the previous year. He still finished 17th nationally in FT percentage and second in made threes behind Flowers, who is now playing professionally in Portugal. Essamvous made a somewhat lateral move by going to East Carolina. He also decided to go back to being known as Yann Farell which feels like a first in CBB history? Both names are in his full legal name, but I don't remember a player changing names twice.

The Bonnies got off to another strong start this year, going 12-1 OOC, giving them a chance at an at-large with a strong run in conference play. They beat Canisius this time around (although pretty much any team can do that this year) and their only loss was a narrow one to a clear tournament team in Utah State. They were one of three A10 teams to defeat Kim English's Providence squad. The Friars became the fifth power conference team to fall to the Bonnies in the last six seasons. In conference play, Bona has also defeated Dayton by 20+ at home, but have otherwise been very uneven again. They are coming off a very disappointing 24 point loss on the road against Loyola. Overall, just like GW they aren't shooting the ball as well this season compared to the previous year. Defensively, they are ninth nationally in defensive rebound percentage and eighth in the nation in defensive free throw rate which will be a challenge for the Revs. On the one hand, fewer FTs opportunities is not a good thing for a team that relies on the charity stripe to score but given how GW has shot them lately it's not the worst thing in the world. Schmidt teams are usually content with allowing teams to bomb away from deep, so it will be interesting to see if GW plays along with that tomorrow with how things have gone. Scoring inside will be tough, as Bona is usually strong in interior defense. They have ranked top 100 in block percentage in 11 straight years. If GW plays at Bona's pace, they will likely struggle to force many turnovers.

In true Schmidt fashion, Bona has ranked among the worst in the nation in bench points per game yet again this year. Part of that isn't Schmidt's fault this time around though. Iowa transfer Dasonte Bowen (who I think was also considering GW last offseason) went down with a foot injury in early December and seems likely to be sidelined until the A10 tournament. Bowen's injury has forced Wagner transfer Melvin Council Jr. to take on ball handling duties full time and basically not come off the floor (22nd in the nation in minutes per game). Council paces the team in scoring at 14.4 ppg, ranking 93rd nationally in field goals made. He has finished in double figures in 20 of 24 games and 15 straight although he's really struggled from deep in conference play (8/37 - 21.6%). Council has not made multiple threes in a single conference game this season. Defensively, he's equally as impactful, ranking 37th nationally in steals at 2.1 per game (2nd in A10 after Sebastian Thomas of URI).

Fellow guard newcomers Chance Moore, Lajae Jones, and Jonah Hinton will join Council along the perimeter. Moore spent the last two seasons at Missouri State after beginning his career at Arkansas. Somewhat like Daniel Rivera of UMass, he really stuffs he stat sheet, leading the Bonnies in both rebounding and blocks. His three point shooting has continued to fall over the course of his career, and like Council has really struggled in A10 play (5/23 - 21.7%). Jones and Hinton are JUCO imports who can knock down threes at a good clip. The pair accounts for nearly 53% of Bonaventure's total makes for the season. Jones was the #7 ranked JUCO prospect out of Barton CC after beginning his career at Tarleton State. He is a three level scorer on offense who shoots 44% from deep, rebounds, and plays strong on-ball defense. Hinton meanwhile is a Chicago native and dedicated shooter who takes nearly 2/3 of his attempts from distance (makes at a 35% clip). He previously knocked down 85 threes at a near 40% clip at Panola College.

With four of Bona's five starters newcomers, Schmidt is definitely happy to have old friend Noel Brown back in the fold to hold things down in the paint. As GW enters #RevengeWeek with JoeBam and VCU coming into town on Wednesday, I'll say that Noel is one of the few guys who transferred out that I think made the right decision and found a good landing spot. In general, I'm really happy for him that he's averaging double figures in his final season of CBB after many seasons at GW where it seemed inevitable that he'd be a career backup. Brown is finishing inside at a good clip, making FTs at a 79% clip (see Rafael it can be done!), and he even knocked down his first career three pointer against La Salle last month. I hope he does well the rest of the way when GW is not the opponent. Unfortunately, it somehow seems inevitable that he'll go off tomorrow though.

The Bonnies bench is very young and inexperienced. Noah Bolanga was a late addition to the roster after the Frenchman had played professionally overseas for a few years. His minutes have gone up some in conference play but he has really struggled to shoot the ball in his first year. Duane Thompson was a former GW recruit who redshirted last year after reclassifying. 62% of his points for the season have come in the last five games and in the last three games in particular the Boston native has shown good ability when it comes to getting to the line and drawing contact. Xander Wedlow figures to be Noel's successor next year. The 6'10" freshman has been highly efficient near the hoop, converting on 79% of his limited attempts. Wedlow is 8/8 from the field in Bonaventure's last three games. Miles Rose may see a few spot minutes, but given he's taken just eight shots all year I'd be surprised if his appearance is for anything other than giving one of the starters a breather.

Despite GW's recent success against Bona the last couple of years, winning at Reilly is always very tough. Once again, it may very well come down to whether GW can make outside shots. It would be nice to see Jun consistently involved throughout the game and in general get something from the bench. If St. Bonaventure's bench somehow outscores GW's tomorrow, the Revs have zero shot at winning. Rafael will also need to win his matchup against Noel.

Projected Score: St. Bona 70, GW 64. 28% chance to win (KenPom). Bart Torvik predicts a 22% GW victory. ESPN gives the Revs a 28.6% chance at a W.

Looks like Jun is feeling better post-injury for first half.

Yet we keep playing him.
Sometime, hopefully soon, he will get hot--or at least drive more.
  But we might be better off sharing at least a bit of his minutes with Bevins or Nessah,
when he is available. Next year looms.

Forget the poor outside shooting.
The passing is horrible.  The execution sucks.
4 fast break opportunities at least 3 on 1 with nothing to show for it.
I think this team enjoys the defensive side of the ball more because they’re committed to it.
On offense they seem anxious and tentative.

These turnovers are just brutal. I won't comment on the performance of any individual players after my jinxing fiasco on Wednesday. Would love to hit a few threes and pull away but based on how we've shot so far I don't see that happening

Nice to see Jun back! Him and Castro nice sequence.
A road W is always sweet.
Way to go Revs!!

Gritty win! That was the opposite of the end of the Lasalle game.  They need to get a good run going before the A10 tournament!

Great win!! tremendous D

GW is now 3-2 in Quad 2 games

Last edited by The Dude (2/09/2025 2:06 pm)

Any road win needs to be celebrated. Having Jacoi and Christian in at the same time is a new and effective wrinkle. Keeping Drumgoole on the bench during the last several minutes was needed. No starter should miss 10-12 shots and take such low percentage shots as he does. Twenty turnovers occurred with sloppy passing. This needs work. Jones had a great steal, was held and the refs did not call it. I hope the flight leaves on time and the team can watch the SuperBowl together with CC paying for upscale food. Well deserved.

Buchanan-Hutchinson-Autry-Castro-Jones.

I don't care who starts, I care who finishes.  This is the lineup I previously said I wanted most, and it's the lineup that looked great down the stretch today.  This may have been the most self-assured finish to a game in the CC era.  Despite the back and forth, I felt very confident that GW would win this one because the team was finally playing the way so many of us had been hoping for.  We didn't shoot well from 3 again but how many did we take to close out this game?  Hardly any.  And it was on the road against an outstanding coach (who CC is now 3-0 against).

There could be plenty of exceptions to the rule.  Gerald obviously runs hot and cold but when he's hot, it would be foolish to limit him to 18 minutes.  Matchups may necessitate having Sean play more over a guard.  Ty is a great weapon to help cool off a hot player.  Dayan when healthy offers flexibility coupled with raw talent.  T. Moss offers speed.  Am not saying there isn't a role for all of these guys in certain situations.

Nevertheless, credit to CC for figuring that Gerald does not have to play 30 minutes when his game is off.  And for realizing that Jacoi is the steadiest influence he has at the point, and that both he and Trey A. are clutch free throw shooters.  And for finding ways to get Jun more involved (or perhaps even having a talk with him about this.)  It's like Tim McCormack said on the telecast, Darren must become more involved in this offense if GW is going to play as well as it can.  Jun not only finished strong on drives but he made some outstanding passes.  Defenses must double him to cut off penetration and when they do, he has an ability to consistently find an open man.  Christian is also a bit hot and cold but a big difference between he and Gerald is that Christian can heavily influence a game defensively when his offense isn't going well.  That's called earning his minutes.  Gerald may look to drive if his shot is cold but he just doesn't impact the game with his rebounding or defense enough to warrant 30 minutes when he isn't scoring.

Jun-Jacoi-Trey A-Slim-Christian.  Would love to see GW continue to attempt to finish games with this lineup.  Really nice win.