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Bonnies Head West For Battle at No. 7 Dayton

Bonnies Head West For Battle at No. 7 Dayton
Posted: Jan 21, 2020

ST. BONAVENTURE (12-6, 4-1 A-10) at #7 DAYTON (16-2, 5-0 A-10)
Wednesday, Jan. 22 - 7:00 p.m.
Dayton, Ohio
Online Coverage: Live Stats | Live Video | Live Audio
TV: CBS Sports Network | Radio: Bonnies Basketball Radio Network
Complete Game Notes (PDF)

OPENING TIP
St. Bonaventure matched its school record for best start in Atlantic 10 play by winning its first four conference games - and its reward is facing three of the league's best teams over the next week. The Bonnies started that guantlet last Saturday with a disappointing setback at VCU, now travel to nationally-ranked Dayton Wednesday before finally returning home to face Rhode Island this Saturday at the Reilly Center.

The Bonnies entered this stretch as one of the nation's hottest teams, having won 11 of their last 12 games since starting the year 1-4 down two starters as Osun Osunniyi and Jaren English were both sidelined by injury. Osunniyi missed last Saturday's game at VCU due to a concussion.
 
Bona has been a group of road warriors as of late - the Bonnies are in the midst of a stretch of just one game on home court between Dec. 18 and Jan. 25. Included in the start to A-10 play are two road wins (at GW, at George Mason) and another on a neutral court over UMass Jan. 15 in Rochester, approximately two hours from campus. 
 
TRENDING NUMBERS
  • 6.5 - Kyle Lofton is averaging 6.5 assists per game this year and is the only A-10 player averaging better than six assists per contest.
  • 10.2 - St. Bonaventure ranks third in the A-10 by committing just 10.2 turnovers per game in conference play including single digit turnovers in the past two contests (9 at VCU, 7 vs. UMass).
  • 11-0 - St. Bonaventure is 11-0 this season when Osun Osunniyi plays at least 18 minutes.
  • 17 - Kyle Lofton had scored at least 17 points in five straight games prior to Saturday at VCU.  
  • 40% - For the season, freshman Alejandro Vasquez is shooting 40% from 3, ranking sixth in the A-10.
  • 61.7 - Bona has allowed just 61.7 points per game on average to opponents, ranking third among all A-10 teams.
  • 90 - Prior to this past Saturday, the Bonnies had not surrendered 90 points in regulation since a 90-74 setback vs. Dayton Jan. 3, 2017. 
PREVIOUS MEETING
Dayton 89, St. Bonaventure 86 - 2 OT (1/19/19)
In a hard-fought Atlantic 10 game that took two overtimes to decide, St. Bonaventure fell just short as Dayton took a 89-86 decision. St. Bonaventure's 14-game home winning streak against A-10 opponents was snapped. The loss also dampened a career-best effort by Bonnies senior forward Courtney Stockard, who scored 36 points to go with 10 rebounds and three assists. Mark Schmidt's team controlled most of the second half and led 63-55 with 4:31 left in regulation. From there, however, Dayton scored 10 of the next 11 points.
 
SERIES HISTORY
Wednesday marks the 36th meeting all-time between the Bonnies and Flyers with Dayton owning a 25-10 advantage. St. Bonaventure's last win over Dayton came in 2016 at UD Arena, but the Flyers have taken the last four games including last year's game in double overtime. 
 
DAYTON NOTES
- Dayton enters the week ranking first in the league in offense, averaging nearly 83 points per game on the year, and sixth in scoring defense while surrendering 65.6 ppg.
- Dayton also leads the league in field goal percentage (51.9%) and assists (18.7) while standing second in three-point percentage (37.2%) and rebound margin (+3.2).
- Dayton's only two losses are to Kansas - in overtime in the Maui Invitational championship - and Colorado on a buzzerbeater.
 
SBU VS. NATIONALLY-RANKED FOES
St. Bonaventure is 5-1 in its last six games against ranked opponents since 2014:
 
Opponent Date Site Score
#17/18 Buffalo 12/8/18 H L, 80-62
#14/16 Rhode Island  2/16/18 H W, 77-74
#13/15 Dayton 2/20/16 A W, 79-72
#18/18 VCU 2/7/15 H W, 73-71
#18/17 Saint Louis 3/14/14 N W, 71-68
#21/19 UMass 1/29/14 H W, 78-65
 
Bona has not played an AP top 10 team since March 16, 2012 when it took No. 10/12 Florida State to the brink in the NCAA Tournament before falling, 66-63. 
 
HEALTHY CHANGES EVERYTHING
  • St. Bonaventure is 9-1 in games where it has a fully healthy roster this year.
  • Bona is 11-1 when it has Osun Osunniyi available for a full game - though he was limited to 17 minutes at Buffalo due to foul trouble. The team is 11-0 when Osunniyi plays 18 or more minutes.
  • Three of Bona's five losses are by five points or fewer - setbacks vs. Vermont, Canisius and Buffalo came by a combined 11 points and just one of those, an 84-79 decision at Buffalo Dec. 30, came with its regular lineup all available - though on that night Osunniyi was limited to 17 minutes due to foul trouble.

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