ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — The locker room. The rims. Even the ball racks.
For the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team, it must all be a welcome sight.
The Bonnies, due to a 25-day COVID pause and the scheduling changes that came after, have played at home just once in the last 52 days, an unheard of figure through the course of a normal college hoops season.
Indeed, four of their first five Atlantic 10 games came on the road, where they finished an unsteady 2-2. Their only home game in that stretch came two weeks ago in that impressive 73-53 win over VCU with few students.
But if ever there was a time to get right — to reclaim some of the swagger they had in November — this is it. The Bonnies are back home, where they’ll play seven of their next nine contests … and in front of a full student section. The first one comes today (2 o’clock, WPIG-FM, USA Network-TV) when they host Saint Joseph’s in their Alumni Weekend contest at the Reilly Center.
“Four out of five on the road to start, all the COVID stuff, but yeah, there’s nothing like the Reilly Center when the students are there,” coach Mark Schmidt said, “and I know the students will be there (today). It will be a great crowd, loud, so that’s what we need, is a great homecourt. It’s been a great home court since I’ve been here and I expect it to be tremendous (today).”
YES, BONA (11-5, 3-2), after Wednesday’s 75-66 loss to George Mason, now seems to have a real opportunity to head back in the right direction.
And the numbers agree.
Schmidt’s team has gone 42-10 in league home games since 2015-16. That includes a 9-0 mark during its 2018 NCAA Tournament season and a 7-1 showing en route to last year’s “double” conference title.
First, however, it needs to find its footing.
To Schmidt, it isn’t that the Bonnies have gotten away from their identity at various points in this roller-coaster of a season. It’s that they just need to be more consistent. And that’s priority No. 1 in today’s matchup with the Hawks.
“We haven’t been as consistent as we want to be,” the 15th-year coach acknowledged. “But we haven’t gotten away from (our identity). Offensively, we’re still sharing the ball, getting the ball into the paint.
“It’s more defensively, trying to keep the ball in front of us. That’s where we’ve struggled, trying to keep the ball in front of us, being harder on the ball, being more consistent on the ball. That’s what we’ve got to get better at.”
And that’s where, in this one, another stern test figures to lie.
AFTER finishing 13th of 14 in the league standings last year, Saint Joe’s has made progress under third-year coach Billy Lange.
The Hawks (9-10, 3-5) have already equaled their league win total from last year and have well surpassed their overall number from a shortened season (5-15). They began the conference campaign with a head-turning 83-56 pasting of Richmond and are coming off a 72-61 home triumph over Duquesne. And, within the former NBA assistant Lange’s spread-it-out, perimeter-oriented style, the 3-point line has been at the center of it.
Joe’s takes and makes a lot of treys, ranking No. 3 in the league in the former (26 per game) and fourth in the latter (8.8). It’s hit 25 in its last two contests — 12 in that win over Duquesne and 13 in a 77-71 loss to George Mason on Monday.
A year ago, Bona had little issue with the Hawks, rolling to an 83-57 victory behind that memorable career-high performance of 38 points from Jaren Holmes and 24 on 11-of-12 shooting from Jalen Adaway. But Lange’s team hit 10 in that game and has only gotten better this year.
“Saint Joe’s is a great 3-point shooting team,” Schmidt acknowledged. “They drive and kick, so we gotta be able to keep the ball in front of us … transition defense, try to keep them in the halfcourt, locate their shooters.”
He added of Wednesday’s outing, when Bona allowed a 15-of-32 clip from deep, “We had too many blow-bys against George Mason that gave them open shots. So we gotta do a better job being more committed on the ball, getting in the gaps and not getting the ball below the foul line, where not we gotta get in rotations, and that’s not good for any defense.”
INDIVIDUALLY, the task centers around a pair of preseason second team all-conference selections: Jordan Hall and Taylor Funk. Hall, a sophomore, has emerged as one of the most complete players in the A-10, averaging 15 points, seven rebounds and seven assists. Funk, the fifth-year senior who’s been around since Bona’s ‘18 tournament team, is enjoying a solid final year, averaging 15 points and seven rebounds while leading the league in 3s per game (3.1).
“Hall … does it all,” said Schmidt, whose Bonnies have won 13 of 14 against Joe’s since the 2014-15 campaign. “He’s got a really good feel, good IQ for the game. He’s a great distributor. He played great last year; statistically, he’s shooting the ball better this year from beyond the arc.
“Funk has always been a really good shooter, but he’s their leading offensive rebounder now. He’s going to the glass, being more physical, but he’s a guy that can really shoot the ball. They’re two very good players.”
Touching on Vanderbilt transfer big man Ejike Obinna (13 points, 7 boards per game), Schmidt added: “They have an inside guy that they haven’t had in a while that makes it more difficult to guard them.
“But (Hall and Funk), they’re the knowns, those are the guys that really make them go. And when they’re playing well and really shooting the ball well, they’re hard to beat.”
