ST. BONAVENTURE — The numbers, offensively, were as good as they might be all season.
The St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team shot a red-hot 60 percent from the field, including an eyebrow-raising 21-of-29 over the final 20 minutes. Its next two top scorers were at their best, as Jalen Adaway and Jaren Holmes, while routinely breaking down Loyola’s zone defense, combined to go an impressive 18-of-26 from the field and finished with 22 points apiece.
For long stretches, Bona had its way on the offensive end. But for a team that prides itself on defense, and has been among the best in the Atlantic 10 in that category, there was something to be desired. And that’s why, even after another victory — this one an 84-71 triumph over Loyola on Wednesday night before a relatively sparse audience of 2,720 inside the Reilly Center — there was again a hint of dissatisfaction in the air.
The Bonnies (8-1) avoided the dreaded “trap game,” shaking off another lethargic first-half effort to take care of a lower-tier, but inspired Patriot League foe. They finished their four-game homestand 3-1, only the end of the Northern Iowa game from perfection. But on their home floor, in that same span, they’ve surrendered an average of 77 points — far from the defense of the previous year, which allowed each of those opponents to remain it until the end.
And that — not the win — was their bigger takeaway.
“The bottom line in this business is winning. So we’re winning and we’re 8-1 and that’s terrific,” a noticeably candid coach Mark Schmidt began afterward. “But we gotta get better in all areas.
“When we play without a lot of energy, we’re just an average team, and we gotta bring it all the time. Not just from a defensive standpoint, but overall. It’s great that we’re 8-1 … but we gotta get better; the schedule is going to get more difficult. We’re winning, and that’s a positive, but we gotta get back to playing Bonaventure basketball.”
Bona, again, played another forgettable, if concerning first, half, and it began on the defensive end.
Schmidt’s group allowed the Greyhounds to shoot an unacceptable 56 percent from the floor and surrendered eight 3-pointers after setting a goal of giving up seven or fewer for the game. Loyola, in its Princeton-style attack, essentially matched the Bonnies basket for basket while bringing a 41-38 lead into the break.
In the second half, Bona followed an increasingly typical formula for success: It got off to a good start, connecting on 12 of its first 15 shots to get the lead back, played with more energy and ultimately pulled away for a relatively comfortable victory.
Adaway, who’s become deadly from the mid-range, and Holmes, who’s excelled at the point position with star guard Kyle Lofton sidelined, produced one bucket after another in, for a long time, a back-and-forth affair. The latter also racked up nine assists, setting a career-high in that column for a second-straight game.
In addition, Dominick Welch had 16 points, Quadry Adams had a Bona-high of 12 off a handful of steals and putbacks and Osun Osunniyi posted eight key points in the final 20 minutes.
The larger focus, however, wasn’t on an offense that’s averaged an impressive 81 points over its last four games. It was on this: Bona, through Charleston, was surrendering just 57.6 points per game, tied for 24th nationally. Since then, however, all on its home floor, it’s been giving up a very un-Bona-like 77 points.
“Like Coach has said, we need to be more connected together,” said Holmes, when asked about that differential. “I think everyone in that locker room has been doing some things we know we need to get better at.
“That’s not how we play defense; we don’t give up 71 points. We normally don’t score 84, so in order for us to get back to the top of where we need to be and to be that top-tier team, we’re gonna have to defend much better. We can’t give up 71 points. One of those times we’re gonna reach to come back and it’s not gonna be there. We just gotta work some things out; we’ll figure it out on film.”
