Game 17: GMU (9-7/ 2-1) vs St. Bonaventure (11-4 / 3-1) on Wednesday, January 26, at 7PM.

[Patriotsince81]

Get your lazy a$$ off the couch and get to the game. This team is worth watching and supporting!

St. Bonaventure is currently 11-4 and 3-1 on the season. They are 6-1 at home, 2-1 on the road, and 3-2 at neutral sites.

History: Including tournament play GMU is 1 - 10 as a member of the A10 against the Bonnies.

Wins: Sienna, Canisius, Boise St., Clemson, Marquette, Coppin St., Buffalo, Loyola MD., LaSalle, vcu, Duquesne
Losses: Northern Iowa, UConn, Va Tech, Dayton
Canceled/Postponed: Northeastern, GW, St. Louis

Schedule: https://gobonnies.com/sports/mens-basketball/schedule
Roster: https://gobonnies.com/sports/mens-basketball/roster
Stats: https://gobonnies.com/sports/mens-basketball/stats/2021/pdf

St. Bonaventure is led by 6’4” Jaren Holmes (15.3 ppg & 6.1 reb), 6’5” Jalen Adaway (14.6 ppg & 7.2 reb), 6’3” Kyle Lofton (13.8 ppg), 6’10” Osun Osunniyi (10.9 ppg & 7.7 reb), and 6’5” Dominick Welch (10.2 ppg & 5.7 reb). All 5 starters above play more than 30 minutes per contest. 6’3” Quadry Adams (3.1 ppg) and 6’5” Linton Brown (3.0 ppg) are the only other Bonnies to average double figures in minutes played.

St. Bonaventure averages 70.3 points per game while giving up 67.1. The Bonnies shoot 44.1% from the floor and 31.8% from 3. Opponents are shooting 41.5% from the field and 34.8% from 3. They shoot 77.2% from the free throw line. The Bonnies are currently out rebounding their opponents by 2.8 boards per game. They average 10.8 turnovers per game.

The game is on ESPN+.

My prediction: This is a great opportunity to notch another quality A10 win. They are EXPERIENCED! However, they lack depth and 3 of their starting five (Holmes, Lofton, Welch) shoot below 40% from the field. They also don’t shoot the 3 particularly well. Getting them in foul trouble will be yet another key. St. Bonaventure 74 - GMU 69. However, I will not be shocked if we pull out the win. Good times are coming to Fairfax.

Discuss.

 

[phoenix-arizona]

A win would be a good way to improve the home game experience.

 

[tblack33]

This is a very winnable game. Get Osun in early foul trouble, let Oduro ear. Get Adaway or Lofton in trouble, Bonnie’s can’t score. A lot of ways to victory, they all involve smart basketball.

 

[GMUgemini]

This is a very winnable game. Get Osun in early foul trouble, let Oduro ear. Get Adaway or Lofton in trouble, Bonnie’s can’t score. A lot of ways to victory, they all involve smart basketball.

Going to need Cooper and Schwartz to be ON from 3 I think. Not sure we'll be able to stop Lofton's drives (it'll be covering up the shooters when he gets into the paint and hoping we can bother him enough -- I'd prefer covering up Adaway and Holmes instead of collapsing on Lofton and giving him an easy kickout to a wide open shooter).

There's a lot of minutes on Bona's legs. Have to try to take advantage of that in transition. And when they play that zone, got to find the open man and hit enough shots to get them out of it.

Oduro vs. Osun should be an interesting one v one matchup.

 

[Quentin Daniels]

I think we need Ticket Gaines to be on every bit as much, if not more, than Cooper & Schwartz if we’re going to have a shot at a W. Not necessarily on the offensive end but on the defensive side grabbing rebounds, blocking shots, and getting his arms in the passing lanes to slow down the Bonnie’s.

 

[gmujim92]

Safe to say all 5 starters are gonna have to play their A game for us to win. Fortunately Bona barely uses its bench so it’s not like they’ll wear us down with depth like vcu tries to do.

 

[GSII]

Safe to say all 5 starters are gonna have to play their A game for us to win. Fortunately Bona barely uses its bench so it’s not like they’ll wear us down with depth like vcu tries to do.

Let's go Coop!

 

[NewPatriot]

After watching the bonnies destroy vcu. CKE should not hedge josh on ball screens. Ossun is too quick rolling to the basket and dunk it every time.

 

[psyclone]

Kenpom has the Bonnies as 1 pt favorite.

 

[HoopsAdmin]

This team often plays to the level of their opponents... just once I'd like them to come out on fire, running on all cylinders, and blow out a top 3 A10 team.

I remember when we blew out ODU by 30 (Jan 4, 1999) with George Evans, Erik Herring, Tremaine Price, for the first time - emerging out of the CAA cellar to claim our spot as a top CAA team. We could use a win like that to build on moving forward.

 

[Pablo]

Mason Hosts A-10 Preseason Favorite St. Bonaventure Wednesday - George Mason University Athletics

The George Mason University men's basketball team (9-7, 2-1) wraps up a three-game homestand Wednesday vs. preseason A-10 favorite St. Bonaventure (11-4, 3-1).

gomason.com

"• Mason's four total turnovers Monday marked the lowest by a Patriot team since a Jan. 29, 2011 win at William & Mary.

• The Patriots rank 21st nationally in 2pt FG% (.557), 30th in effective FG% (.545) and 88th in 3pt FG% (.354) this season."

"• The Patriots rank 47th nationally and third in the A-10 with 9.2 3pt FG made/game. That's a school record by a sizable margin (7.3/game, 1987-88).

• Mason is shooting 48.5 percent from the floor through three A-10 games. The Patriots are also averaging just 9.7 turnovers in league play, down from 12.6/game during non-conference play."

"The Bonnies feature a top-50 scoring offense (49th, 1.107 points/possession) and turn it over on just 16.2 percent of possessions (34th nationally). Defensively, led by Osun Osunniyi, the Bonnies rank fifth nationally in block rate. Osunniyi is eighth in the country in blocks per game (3.33), 20th in offensive rebounds/game (3.47) and notches 10.9 points/game."

 

[psyclone]

Kenpom has the Bonnies as 1 pt favorite.

Vegasinsider: Bonnies open as a 2 pt favorite, now as a 3 pt favorite

 

[Quentin Daniels]

Vegasinsider: Bonnies open as a 2 pt favorite, now as a 3 pt favorite

Was just looking that up myself and came here to post.

That line surprised me at first, but looking over their games, SBU has been a pretty inconsistent this year. They thumped #22 Marquette on their own floor by 16, beat the snot out of vcu by 20 and beat Siena by 28. But then they lost to Dayton by 18, Va Tech by 27, and squeaked by bottom-feeder La Salle.

For a team that's led by 5 Seniors and has had a lot of success already, that doesn't make much sense.

I hope tired legs won't be a factor tonight. Every starter played over 30 min. in a tough one against St. Joes. w/only a day of rest in between.

 

[GSII]

Bonnie's starting five play big mins also....As for strategy, Maybe we pull Josh out so Osun can chase and open the lane.....should be a great opportunity for Cooper to slash to rim.

 

[Five Two]

Credit to Dr Gunnie for finding this:

Davonte Gaines finds new opportunity, new energy at George Mason

“It’s having the opportunity to be the player I know that I was, and that I know I am,” said Gaines, who is shooting 55.4% (56 for 101) from the

buffalonews.com

What is a "Big Four program"? Assuming thats Buffalo, Canisius, Niagara and St Bonaventure? I grew up near Binghamton and have never heard of the Big Four.
I know the Big 5 is Penn, Villanova, LaSalle, St Joe's and Temple (poor Drexel).

 

[dr. gunnie]

Credit to Dr Gunnie for finding this:

Davonte Gaines finds new opportunity, new energy at George Mason

“It’s having the opportunity to be the player I know that I was, and that I know I am,” said Gaines, who is shooting 55.4% (56 for 101) from the

buffalonews.com

What is a "Big Four program"? Assuming thats Buffalo, Canisius, Niagara and St Bonaventure? I grew up near Binghamton and have never heard of the Big Four.
I know the Big 5 is Penn, Villanova, LaSalle, St Joe's and Temple (poor Drexel).

Correct - I think it's relatively new because I don't remember hearing about the Big 4 when I was living there... could be wrong.

 

[gmutom]

It's much easier said than done, but the key against a good shot blocker is to attack him with the hope of drawing a few quick fouls and getting to the FT line. Osunniyi is too athletic and savvy to fall for pump fakes and slow-developing finesse moves, so we need Josh to be aggressive in the post rather than settling for jumpers and fadeaways. He also needs to stay out of foul trouble on the defensive end.

There's no question Josh is one of the best — if not the best — offensive big men in the A10 this season. Let's see if he has the killer instinct to take on the best defensive big man in the conference tonight.

 

[sleeperpick]

Kyle Lofton has been really bad the last couple of games. We have to hope that continues today. Like folks have said above, get Osun off the court and I think we win this game. His shot blocking, rebounding and paint clogging is a big part of what makes their wheel turn. Adaway and Holmes need to be defended well by Ticket and Schwartz. I think Cooper could have a really big game today. They have one big off the bench... They make us look like we have great depth even. I have a good feeling about tonight.

 

[Leesburg Chankenstank III]

It's much easier said than done, but the key against a good shot blocker is to attack him with the hope of drawing a few quick fouls and getting to the FT line. Osunniyi is too athletic and savvy to fall for pump fakes and slow-developing finesse moves, so we need Josh to be aggressive in the post rather than settling for jumpers and fadeaways. He also needs to stay out of foul trouble on the defensive end.

There's no question Josh is one of the best — if not the best — offensive big men in the A10 this season. Let's see if he has the killer instinct to take on the best defensive big man in the conference tonight.

Really looking forward to this matchup. When Josh is aggressive, there’s usually no stopping him. And the Bonnie’s may be okay with that if the rest of the team is shooting poorly.

I saw something from Schwartz last game that I’ve rarely seen though: he was missing three’s all night (and they weren’t even close to going in). Late in the game Oduro made a sweet pass to Schwartz who was wide open but missed badly again. He walked right up to Oduro and adamantly said “f**k! My bad man. Give to me again I won’t miss”. And surely enough Oduro went back to him and he hit a crucial 3 pointer late in the game.

It almost seemed that Schwartz was so impressed by Oduro’s performance that he felt embarrassed to be missing his own shots so badly. It seems he alsmost willed that last 3 pointer to go in. This team is very entertaining to watch.

 

[mkaufman1]

Agreed with the thoughts above. Josh will have his work cutout for him but I can't wait to see how he does against Osyunnyi considering hes been improved on the defensive side of things.

One thing I hope they adjust defensively is against how Bonaventure screens and passes the ball. They are super quick when they roll off a screen and passing the ball to an open shooter.

I can't wait for tonight and at the very least hope to see excellent effort and everything left out on the floor win or lose.