VCU is a team trying to win an Atlantic 10 regular season championship. St. Bonaventure is a looking to bounce back after a rough start to the year by fighting their way back into the top-4 as a sneaky double-bye contender for this year's A-10 tournament. How each accomplishes those goals is by winning key matchups like the one we'll see today in Olean.
<h4>(VCU 16-6, 7-2)
(ST. BONAVENTURE 9-13, 5-4)</h4>
<h4>A QUICK LOOK AT ST. BONAVENTURE</h4>
There are essentially two St. Bonaventure teams to consider when heading into today's game. The first is a Courtney Stockard-less Bonnies that opened the season with disappointing losses to the likes of Niagara, Bucknell and Georgia State. The second is Mark Schmidt's group with their star player, a team that still has it's warts, but has been a much tougher out.
The Bonnies began their seasons 1-5 without Stockard, but have been a .500 team with him in the lineup. Of their eight losses since his return, six have come at the hands of kenpom top-100 teams, the two others (Mason and Rhody) both in the form of road Ls. With Stockard, St. Bonaventure was a competitive group on the road against underrated Vermont (83-76 2OT loss) and Northeastern (64-59 Matthews Center L). They haven't resembled a true Atlantic 10 contender, but very much look like a top-4 hopeful and a spoiler for any team competing for an A-10 title that sees their path go through Olean, NY.
But Stockard isn't the only reason this team has gotten better. The young Bonnies that starts three freshmen has seen a bit of maturation as the season has progressed, particularly from freshman big man, Osun Osunniyi.
Coming off a 22-rebound performance in a win at Duquesne, the Larry Sanders-esque late bloomer has a 7'8 wingspan that he has used to become one of the nation's elite shot blockers. That paint patrol has made him arguably the frontrunner for A-10 defensive player of the year, currently leading the conference in defensive box plus/minus.
Osunniyi is joined by freshman star, Kyle Lofton. Lofton's 14.8 points per game is just behind Stockard's 15.9, but the freshman ranks tops on the team in assists (3.8 per contest). The Hillside, NJ native has been a steady presence at the point and an efficient slasher for Marck Schmidt's squad. What he hasn't been however, is a reliable shooter from long range (29.2%). Like VCU, the Bonnies have struggled from distance on the season, their 31.6% three-point percentage ranking 294th nationally, a number that's only gotten worse thanks to their 27.7% mark in conference.
They have typically done a solid job of playing to their strengths, doing most of their offensive damage inside the arc while generally staying away from the three ball. That could however, make things difficult today against VCU's 17th-ranked (nationally) interior D.
<h4>A QUICK LOOK AT VCU</h4>
Speaking of defense, it shouldn't be a huge surprise that the Rams limited a struggling GW offense to 50 points in VCU's first road game this week.
Limited offensively from deep (15% on their 20 three-point attempts), VCU ground down the Colonials in the 60-50 victory in Foggy Bottom, avoiding what would have been a terrible resume loss for perhaps the conference's only at-large hopeful. It was the black and gold's fourth road win of the season and fifth in-conference that they led by double-digits.
VCU has been competitive away from Richmond all season, but has struggled to finish at times, watching big road leads at ODU, Davidson and Rhode Island eventually turn into losses. The Rams' best win of the season came away from home, taking down NET No.37 Texas (kenpom No.27) in Austin, with VCU leading UVA late in Charlottesville as well, proving this is a team that can pull off the big road win, but more often than not has struggled to finish those contests (1-4 on the road against kenpom top-150 teams).
VCU's defense is statistically one of the best ever to wear the black and gold, defense we've seen carried into conference play as the A-10's most efficient D in Atlantic 10 games. The offense has been slightly better in-conference (1.01 points per possession versus a sub-1 showing in the non-conference), but has overall been handicapped by turnovers -- 21.5% of possessions in-conference, ranking 13th among 14 teams -- and the league's 10th-ranked three-point shooting offense.
The Rams have shot under 25% from distance in three of their last four contests.
TALE OF THE TAPE[/HEADING=3]
<h4>(VCU 16-6, 7-2)
(ST. BONAVENTURE 9-13, 5-4)</h4>
<h4>A QUICK LOOK AT ST. BONAVENTURE</h4>
There are essentially two St. Bonaventure teams to consider when heading into today's game. The first is a Courtney Stockard-less Bonnies that opened the season with disappointing losses to the likes of Niagara, Bucknell and Georgia State. The second is Mark Schmidt's group with their star player, a team that still has it's warts, but has been a much tougher out.
The Bonnies began their seasons 1-5 without Stockard, but have been a .500 team with him in the lineup. Of their eight losses since his return, six have come at the hands of kenpom top-100 teams, the two others (Mason and Rhody) both in the form of road Ls. With Stockard, St. Bonaventure was a competitive group on the road against underrated Vermont (83-76 2OT loss) and Northeastern (64-59 Matthews Center L). They haven't resembled a true Atlantic 10 contender, but very much look like a top-4 hopeful and a spoiler for any team competing for an A-10 title that sees their path go through Olean, NY.
But Stockard isn't the only reason this team has gotten better. The young Bonnies that starts three freshmen has seen a bit of maturation as the season has progressed, particularly from freshman big man, Osun Osunniyi.
Coming off a 22-rebound performance in a win at Duquesne, the Larry Sanders-esque late bloomer has a 7'8 wingspan that he has used to become one of the nation's elite shot blockers. That paint patrol has made him arguably the frontrunner for A-10 defensive player of the year, currently leading the conference in defensive box plus/minus.
Osunniyi is joined by freshman star, Kyle Lofton. Lofton's 14.8 points per game is just behind Stockard's 15.9, but the freshman ranks tops on the team in assists (3.8 per contest). The Hillside, NJ native has been a steady presence at the point and an efficient slasher for Marck Schmidt's squad. What he hasn't been however, is a reliable shooter from long range (29.2%). Like VCU, the Bonnies have struggled from distance on the season, their 31.6% three-point percentage ranking 294th nationally, a number that's only gotten worse thanks to their 27.7% mark in conference.
They have typically done a solid job of playing to their strengths, doing most of their offensive damage inside the arc while generally staying away from the three ball. That could however, make things difficult today against VCU's 17th-ranked (nationally) interior D.
<h4>A QUICK LOOK AT VCU</h4>
Speaking of defense, it shouldn't be a huge surprise that the Rams limited a struggling GW offense to 50 points in VCU's first road game this week.
Limited offensively from deep (15% on their 20 three-point attempts), VCU ground down the Colonials in the 60-50 victory in Foggy Bottom, avoiding what would have been a terrible resume loss for perhaps the conference's only at-large hopeful. It was the black and gold's fourth road win of the season and fifth in-conference that they led by double-digits.
VCU has been competitive away from Richmond all season, but has struggled to finish at times, watching big road leads at ODU, Davidson and Rhode Island eventually turn into losses. The Rams' best win of the season came away from home, taking down NET No.37 Texas (kenpom No.27) in Austin, with VCU leading UVA late in Charlottesville as well, proving this is a team that can pull off the big road win, but more often than not has struggled to finish those contests (1-4 on the road against kenpom top-150 teams).
VCU's defense is statistically one of the best ever to wear the black and gold, defense we've seen carried into conference play as the A-10's most efficient D in Atlantic 10 games. The offense has been slightly better in-conference (1.01 points per possession versus a sub-1 showing in the non-conference), but has overall been handicapped by turnovers -- 21.5% of possessions in-conference, ranking 13th among 14 teams -- and the league's 10th-ranked three-point shooting offense.
The Rams have shot under 25% from distance in three of their last four contests.
