Basketball Hall of Fame Showcase Spotlight Awaits Bonnies, Providence – St. Bonaventure
ST. BONAVENTURE (9-1) vs. PROVIDENCE (7-4, 1-0)
Saturday, Dec. 14 – 5:00 p.m.
Uncasville, Conn. – Mohegan Sun Arena
TV: CBS Sports Network
Radio: Bonnies Online Network / 100.1 FM The Hero
OPENING TIP
St. Bonaventure heads to Connecticut for a marquee non-conference game against Big East foe Providence at Mohegan Sun Arena as part of the Basketball Hall of Fame Showcase. Saturday’s game is a Top-100 matchup in both NCAA NET (SBU 55, Providence 72) and KenPom (Providence 76, SBU 86).
The Bonnies enter the weekend as winners of nine of their first 10 games and one of just two nine-win squads in the Atlantic 10 along with Rhode Island (9-1).
Bona has a 9-1 start through 10 games for just the second time since 1971, also doing so to begin the 2020-21 campaign when St. Bonaventure went on to win both the Atlantic 10 regular season and tournament championships.
Other 9-1 Bona teams and their ultimate finish: ’56-57 (17-7, reached NIT); ’58-59 (20-3, NIT); ’60-61 (24-4, NCAA Tournament), ’63-64 (16-8, NIT). Bona has not had a better open since the 1969-70 Final Four campaign when the Bob Lanier-led Bonnies began 12-0.
STARTING FIVE
Saturday, Dec. 14 – 5:00 p.m.
Uncasville, Conn. – Mohegan Sun Arena
TV: CBS Sports Network
Radio: Bonnies Online Network / 100.1 FM The Hero
OPENING TIP
St. Bonaventure heads to Connecticut for a marquee non-conference game against Big East foe Providence at Mohegan Sun Arena as part of the Basketball Hall of Fame Showcase. Saturday’s game is a Top-100 matchup in both NCAA NET (SBU 55, Providence 72) and KenPom (Providence 76, SBU 86).
The Bonnies enter the weekend as winners of nine of their first 10 games and one of just two nine-win squads in the Atlantic 10 along with Rhode Island (9-1).
Bona has a 9-1 start through 10 games for just the second time since 1971, also doing so to begin the 2020-21 campaign when St. Bonaventure went on to win both the Atlantic 10 regular season and tournament championships.
Other 9-1 Bona teams and their ultimate finish: ’56-57 (17-7, reached NIT); ’58-59 (20-3, NIT); ’60-61 (24-4, NCAA Tournament), ’63-64 (16-8, NIT). Bona has not had a better open since the 1969-70 Final Four campaign when the Bob Lanier-led Bonnies began 12-0.
STARTING FIVE
- Junior Lajae Jones is fresh off playing a full 40 minutes for the first time in his Division I career, doing so in a win vs. Buffalo Dec. 7. His +124 +/- rating this season is second only to senior Chance Moore (+128) on the SBU roster.
- Jonah Hinton notched a career-best 12 points off the bench vs. Buffalo, his fourth game of double-figure scoring this season. His 15 3-pointers are tied with Moore for the team lead.
- St. Bonaventure has held a lead for 35+ minutes in seven of 10 games.
- The Bonnies are 23-19 on neutral floors since 2017-18, including six wins over Power 5 and Big East opponents.
- Chance Moore is on this week’s Atlantic 10 Weekly Honor Roll after averaging 16.5 ppg in two wins last week.
HOOP HALL x BONNIES
Saturday’s game is hosted by the Basketball Hall of Fame – the Bonnies have played in a Hoop Hall event every year since 2019 with the exception of the 2020-21 pandemic season. The Bonnies defeated Rutgers in Toronto as part of the James Naismith Classic at Scotiabank Arena in November 2019 and also won the Hall of Fame’s Boca Beach Classic, winning games over San Diego and FAU that December. In 2021, the Bonnies lost to Virginia Tech in Charlotte at the Hall of Fame Shootout and fell short in a battle with Iona at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center in a December 2022 Basketball Hall of Fame Invitational. Last year, the Bonnies took nationally-ranked FAU to the wire in Springfield, Mass. before dropping the Basketball Hall of Fame Classic.
The Bonnies have often made the most of playing in special events: Bona had a nine-game winning streak in MTEs (multi-tournament events) snapped in the Legends Classic Championship Game last November vs. Auburn. Prior to that, the Bonnies went 3-0 in the 2022 Gotham Classic, defeating Notre Dame for the crown, and in 2021 won the Charleston Classic with victories over Boise State, Clemson and Marquette. Last month, the Bonnies went 1-1 with a 72-67 setback vs. unbeaten and eventual event champion Utah State before a double-digit win over Northern Iowa to take third-place at the ESPN NIT Tip-Off at Disney World.
ST. BONAVENTURE AMONG THE ‘POWER’FUL
The Bonnies have time and again proven to be “giant killers” over the past decade. Since 2017-18, St. Bonaventure is 11-8 against the Power 5 and the Big East. During that time, the Bonnies scored a 2018 NCAA First Four win over UCLA; 2021 Charleston Classic victories over Clemson and Marquette; and 2022 NIT true road victories at Colorado, at Oklahoma and at Virginia. Of those games, none have been played on Bona’s home court.
DEFENSE ON LOCK
One of the keys to Bona’s great start has been the strong play on the defensive end. By nearly all metrics, the Bonnies have ranked as one of the nation’s top defenses thus far. Entering this weekend, the Bonnies stand 14th in the country in scoring defense by allowing just 60.5 points per game to opponents. In the Dec. 4 win at Bucknell, Bona held the Bison to 47 points on their home court. It was the lowest scoring output by a Bonnies opponent since SBU limited Cleveland State to 42 points in a win at home Dec. 7, 2022. It was the first time that the Bonnies have held an opponent under 50 points on the road since holding George Mason to 49 in a win on the Patriots home court Jan. 8, 2020.
How SBU ranks defensively among all Division I teams (as of Dec. 11):
Steals per game – 39th (9.4)
Field goal percentage defense – 60th (40.0%)
Blocks per game – 61st (4.5)
Turnovers forced per game: 74th (14.6)
Turnover margin: 75th (+2.7
Rebound margin: 102nd (+4.6)
The Bonnies have been strong defensively without fouling – Bona is committing only 13 fouls per game, ranking 10th nationally in fewest fouls per contest.
HOT START
St. Bonaventure has matched its best start through 10 games since 2021. Bona’s +12.2 scoring margin thus far is the program’s best through the first 10 contests since the 1970-71 squad also opened the season with a 9-1 mark and a +16.4 scoring margin. Currently, the Bonnies have the 67th highest margin of victory in Division I.
Bona’s highest scoring margin through 10 games all-time:
1969-70: +31.7 (10-0)
1967-68: +17.0 (10-0)
1970-71: +16.4 (9-1)
2024-25: +12.2 (9-1)
2020-21: +10.3 (9-1)
2017-18: +10.1 (8-2)
SERIES HISTORY
St. Bonaventure leads, 12-11
This year’s meeting will be the 24th contest between the programs all-time, but the first since 1980. In a 1960 matchup, Bona Hall of Famer Tom Stith had a performance for the ages with a 46-point showing as St. Bonaventure won a game between nationally-ranked teams in triple overtime, 90-89, at the Olean Armory. The Bonnies also captured a 1978 win in the Reilly Center over a top-20 ranked Providence club.
A triumph over Providence also came as one of Bona’s 23 straight wins during an undefeated 1967-68 season and SBU claimed another win in the series during the magical Final Four season of 1969-70.
The 46 points scored by St. Bonaventure Athletics Hall of Famer Tom Stith vs. Providence Feb. 9, 1960 were the most by any Friars opponent until 2018 when Marquette’s Markus Howard finally broke that record.
Bona’s won the last meeting between the teams, 81-75, on Jan. 4, 1980, led by 34 points from SBU Hall of Famer Earl Belcher. The first-ever meeting came in February 1958 when SBU won a home meeting vs. the Friars, 67-57.
While the teams have a storied series history, this will be the first neutral court matchup.
ABOUT PROVIDENCE
- Providence outlasted DePaul in the Big East opener Tuesday night in overtime, scoring a conference win on the road. The Friars bounced back from a loss last Saturday at Rhode Island, 69-63, which dropped PC to 0-2 vs. the Atlantic 10 this year. Providence also lost vs. Davidson, 69-58, Nov. 28 at the Battle 4 Atlantis. After a disappointing trip to Atlantis where Providence went 0-3 with losses vs. Davidson, Oklahoma (79-77) and No. 14/15 Indiana (89-73), the Friars responded with a dominating 83-64 home win over BYU Dec. 3.
- PC was buoyed by the return of senior Bryce Hopkins who missed the first eight games of the season due to injury. Hopkins, who is coming back from a knee injury suffered this past January that ended his 2023-24 season, was named to the Wooden Award Top 50 Preseason Watch List after averaging 15.5 ppg, 8.6 rpg before injury. He began his collegiate career at Kentucky before joining the Friars in 2022-23 when he was named First Team All-Big East after leading the team in scoring with nearly 16 points per game while logging 10 double-doubles. Earlier in preseason, he was also picked to the preseason First Team All-Big East squad as well as one of 20 players on the Karl Malone Power Forward of the Year Watch List.
- Providence was selected sixth in the 11-team Big East Preseason Poll.
- The Friars are in their second-year under head coach Kim English, a familiar face to Atlantic 10 fans as he previously led George Mason’s program for two seasons. He led Providence to a 21-14 overall record last year including a 10-10 mark in Big East play and PC was one of the first teams left out of last year’s NCAA Tournament.
BONNIES VS. BIG EAST
St. Bonaventure is well familiar with playing Big East foes, having taken on BE opponents 195 times previously including 89 wins (89-106). The Bonnies have played Xavier (16-24), Villanova (16-23), Seton Hall (13-14), Providence (12-11), DePaul (10-7) and Georgetown (6-5) double digit occasions each.
The last time the Bonnies played a Big East opponent – the 2021-22 season when St. Bonaventure went 1-2 against the league. During the regular season, Bona’s scored dominating victory over Marquette in the championship game of the 2021 Charleston Classic before dropping a decision vs. UConn in the 2021 Never Forget Tribute Classic. In the postseason, the Bonnies fell vs. Xavier in the 2022 NIT semifinals.
