ST. BONAVENTURE — It had a decidedly March feel to it.
From the high-level opponents the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team knocked off, including Clemson and Marquette, to the fan support, to the magnitude of what it accomplished, everything about Bona’s championship week in Charleston seemed like something typically reserved for the postseason.
Except in this case, it’s still only late November.
For Bona (5-0), the challenge now is to press the reset button after one of the true high points in its recent regular season history, to refocus on the rest of a grueling non-conference schedule. And that’s what it intends to do, beginning this afternoon (2 o’clock, WPIG-FM, ESPN+-live stream) against Northern Iowa — a historically strong program from the Missouri Valley Conference — inside the Reilly Center.
“All that’s guaranteed right now is five wins, and five wins isn’t gonna be good enough,” said coach Mark Schmidt, whose team vaulted from No. 22 to 16 in this week’s Associated Press Top 25 poll after its spectacular showing in South Carolina. “We had a great tournament down there, but that’s over with, it’s water under the bridge.
“We’ve had a week to prepare for Northern Iowa, they have our full attention, and that’s what we‘ve done. Winning the tournament’s great, but we have a lot of improvement to do in all areas, so that’s what we’ve been concentrating on (since Sunday).”
TODAY’S GAME was initially viewed as a marquee matchup of mid-majors (Bona opened the year at No. 2 in Busting Brackets’ Mid-Major Top 25, behind only Gonzaga, while Northern Iowa checked in at No. 20).
But while the Bonnies have so far lived up to the billing, the Panthers have gotten off to a bit of a slow start. UNI lost at home to both Nicholls (62-58) and Vermont (71-57) to start the year, and its only win to date is over in-state Division II foe Dubuque. That dropped it from the Top 100 of the KenPom rankings to No. 136.
Still, Northern Iowa, with all five starters back from last year’s 10-15 team, including star guard A.J. Green, the 2019-20 MVC Player of the Year, who played in just three games due to a hip injury, is a veteran bunch with several quality pieces. In addition to Green, the Preseason MVC POY in his return campaign (he averaged 20 points in 2019-20 and 22 last year before the injury), the Panthers have back last year’s leading scorer Trae Berhow (11 points this year), all-conference forward Austin Phyfe (8 points) and MVC Rookie of the Year Bowen Born.
This is a team with a rich history under longtime coach Ben Jacobson, having made four NCAA Tournaments since 2009, including a memorable run to the Sweet 16 in 2010. It’s one that has seemingly begun to find itself, trailing then-No. 16 Arkansas by just two at halftime (40-38) before falling 93-80 in its last outing on Nov. 17.
To Bona, this is every bit the tough non-league test it was meant to be.
“They’ve had a ton of wins, they’re well-coached, they’re a veteran team, so they’ve seen it all,” Schmidt said of the Panthers, who were chosen to finish third in the MVC’s preseason poll. “They have one of the best players in the country in Green; he can shoot the ball, THEY can shoot the ball.
“They’re getting healthy now, they didn’t have their full team earlier in the year. They’re dangerous, they shoot the heck out of the basketball, they got the big guy (the 6-foot-9 Phyfe) inside. They were ranked (as high as they were in most preseason polls) for a reason.”
FOR BONA, one of the internal objectives a sixth of the way through its season is finding a bit more consistency. Schmidt’s team has actually been outscored in five first halves collectively, but has been stellar in just about every second stanza to date. Part of that is a defense that tightens up when it needs to: the Bonnies, who were top 10 nationally a year ago, have remained in that echelon, currently ranking No. 11 in Division I in field goal percentage defense (.347) and tied-for-24th in scoring defense (57.4 points).
And that’s something Bona “has been working on” throughout a 5-0 start.
“You never want to get behind,” Schmidt allowed, “… but because we have such a veteran team, they don’t panic, and they just keep on focusing on the next play; veteran guys do that.
“We’ve played exceptionally well in every game over the last 20 minutes. … We’re gonna have to start getting it together, playing 40 minutes; if we don’t play 40 minutes against Northern Iowa, we’re not gonna win. It’s still early in the season. We’re nowhere near a finished product, and that’s a positive, but at the same time, we can’t get comfortable and we gotta continue to work.”
Externally, the primary aim will be to keep the Panthers in check from distance.
UNI has gotten off to a shaky start offensively, and much of that comes back to Green, who is shooting just 27.5 percent from the field as he continues to work his way back to full health (the 6-foot-4 redshirt junior had 16 against Arkansas, but on 6-of-21 shooting. He’s so far averaging just 11 points on the year).
Still, as a team, it’s averaging 10 3s per game (40 on the year) on 36 percent shooting, with Green bound to heat back up at some point.
“Every team has their strengths and weaknesses, and one of their strengths is their 3-point shooting,” Schmidt confirmed. “So we can’t give them open shots, dribble penetration, them kicking it out, making one more pass. Those are the plays that kill you.”
“They’re going to get some open shots; hopefully when they get them, they miss them, and the other ones, we contest. But it’s going to be a great challenge for us.”
