Bonnies Look to Bounce Back
After losing against a sharpshooting St. Louis squad, St. Bonaventure look to get back on track and pick up a crucial win this weekend. The Bonnies (14-2) are 2-1 in conference play and second in the Atlantic 10 Conference, right behind Saint Louis who remain undefeated in conference play. The Bonnies face La Salle Saturday, who have had a rough start to the season. La Salle is at the bottom of the conference with an 8-7 record overall, and 0-2 vs A10 teams.
While the Bonnies can boast a high winning percentage and a spot in the Power 37 rankings (37th), the performance against St. Louis was a bit concerning. The Bonnies as a team shot only 40% from the field and a dismal 20% from beyond the arc, which would be their kryptonite in the second half. While only shooting 33% as a team in the first half, St. Louis would go on to shoot 7-15 (46.7%) from three-point land to secure the 73-68 victory. La Salle on Saturday offers up a very favorable matchup for the Bonnies, who are currently hunted by VCU and George Washington for control of the top of the A10 alongside St. Louis.
The Bonnies currently sit at 12th in the NCAA for opponent points scored at 61.8 and have one of the best records in the NCAA. While their undefeated conference and eight game winning streak came to an end, the loss does provide an opportunity for growth. After the game, head coach Mark Schmidt had a very measured take on the game citing that while they remained close, they failed on getting the ball inside and will focus on moving forward. “We knew we weren’t going to go undefeated; we need to learn from our mistakes tonight. We had two road games here and we were able to win one of them.”
The Bonnies hosting La Salle is just one of the top two sleeper games this weekend. While St. Bonaventure ranks among the top of the NCAA in OPG and flaunts an impressive record, another team shares a similar position. Over in the Big West, a first-place squad with the same stifling OPG numbers will need to fend off a hungry opponent to maintain their spot. That team is the Tritons from UC San Diego, who host UC Irvine in a crucial matchup for first place.
Bonnies Slip While Tritons Stay Perfect
After losing to the Florida Gators, Tennessee has lost its chance at an undefeated season and relinquished the longest current win streak title. That title now belongs to UC San Diego of the Big West Conference. The Tritons hold a perfect 4-0 record in the Big West, first place in their conference, and will host second place UC Irvine on Saturday.
They’re currently riding the highs of a twelve-game winning streak but will need to continue to stack as many wins as possible to stay ahead of UC Irvine (14-2) who’s also on a win streak and undefeated in conference play. The Tritons also recently received their first vote in in the Top 25 Coaches Poll in school history, ranking 7th. They currently sit at 12th in the NCAA for opponent points per game at 61.8 and hold the 11th spot in the league for scoring margin with 19. Sitting right behind UC Irvine in the Big West is CSUN at 3-1, 11-4 overall and UC Riverside (3-0), 10-6 overall.
After Saturday’s matchup the Tritons will hit the road, where they will face Long Beach State on the 16th and Big West opponent UC Riverside on the 18th.
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