Basketball vs St. Bonneventure Dec 17 at 4 PM

The Hokies play St. Bonneventure today at 4 PM in Charlotte, NC. The game is on ESPN2.

I took the below from Shelton Moss's writeup. I'll add my usual tables and comments below; but there won't be many comments because Shelton pretty much covered it.

Preview: St. Bonaventure(Mods: Is it ok to do this? If not, I will take it out and just reference Shelton's article)

Coming into the year, St. Bonaventure was widely considered one of the best mid-major teams in the country. They were ranked 23rd in the preseason AP poll, and were the unanimous favorites to win the Atlantic 10 Conference. A big reason for this was not just their talent but their experience: in the age of endless transfers, the team's top five players entered the season totalling 283 starts in a Bonnie uniform. Combine that with a veteran head coach in Mark Schmidt who enters his 15th year with the program, and Virginia Tech will have their hands full in the Queen City on Friday.

St. Bonaventure is led by senior guard Jaren Holmes (17.4 ppg), who does pretty much everything well: he can shoot, facilitate, and get to the free throw line. He also never leaves the court, playing in 96.2% of the team's minutes, ranking fourth in the nation. Since the injury to starting point guard Kyle Lofton (more on that in a moment), Holmes has excelled taking on more of a distributor role, though I'd be concerned about his workload, as he has played the entirety of the Bonnies' last three games.

By far the biggest matchup concern is 6'10 senior center Osun Osunniyi (10.2 ppg), the reigning A-10 Defensive Player of the Year. Osunniyi possesses incredible hops, as evidenced by his 12.4% block rate which ranks 17th nationally. He shoots the ball extremely well inside (62.8 eFG%) and demonstrates good defensive footwork and positioning which allows him to defend without fouling. That is certainly a byproduct of his experience, as the fourth-year big has seen his foul rate decrease every year of his career.

Throw in a pair of veteran guards in Jalen Adaway (14.6 ppg) and Dominick Welch (11.2 ppg) and you have the makings of a very solid team. The one weak spot for St. Bonaventure is that they are extremely top-heavy: their bench accounts for just 17.6% of their minutes, the eighth-fewest in Division I. They utilized a seven-man rotation last year, and with the injury to Lofton are back to playing seven again this year. The flip side to that is they possess a very high continuity of minutes, which is a key stat in KenPom's preseason rankings, and a huge part of why everyone thought so highly of St. Bonaventure: their core players have played together for multiple seasons, and everyone is on the same page.

That said, the injury to Lofton really hurts. The four-year starting point guard sustained an ankle injury in a Dec. 1 game against Coppin State and has not played since. (I heard broadcasters reference a two-week recovery time on Dec. 4, which would potentially allow him to return against Virginia Tech.) He was the team's leading scorer, but his absence has affected the Bonnies far more on the defensive end, where they have dropped 32 spots in KenPom's Adjusted Defense, now ranking 83rd. Lofton is long and athletic with active hands that disrupt ball handlers. He was replaced in the starting lineup by freshman guard Quadry Adams, who hasn't been very impactful. This is where the Bonnies' lack of depth has come back to haunt them. It would be huge if Tech can work the ball inside to Aluma and get their bigs into foul trouble, because Schmidt has no choice but to play them (though St. Bonaventure has done a very good job of avoiding fouls this season).

Although it is still December, the Hokies really need this win, much more so than I think most fans realize. A Quadrant 2 victory over the A-10's top program will certainly have Tech's resume looking more palatable to the NCAA selection committee; a loss will conclude a 7-4 record in non-conference play, and require that Virginia Tech dominate their weak conference slate even more. Which, given what we have seen so far, seems unlikely.

St. Bonnie Roster:

I still can't find anything about whether Kyle Lofton will play; but Holmes has stepped up to play the PG position well in his absense. The Bonnies do have enough height to give the Hokies problems inside; but as Shelton said, they are very thin. Foul trouble could really be our friend.

#0 Kyle Lofton 6'3 G Sr. 38.5 MPG: 17.4 PPG: 7.1 RPG: 4.9 APG: 2.1 TOPG

#5 Jaren Holmes 6'4 G Sr. 39 MPG: 17.4 PPG: 3.9 RPG: 5.9 APG: 2.1 TOPG

#33 Jalen Adaway 6'5 G R-Sr. 36.9 MPG: 14.6 PPG: 7.8 RPG: 1 APG: 1.1 TOPG

#1 Dominick Welch 6'5 G Sr. 34.9 MPG: 11.2 PPG: 5.7 RPG: 2 APG: 1.7 TOPG

#21 Osun Osunniyi 6'10 F/C Sr. 28.9 MPG: 10.2 PPG: 7 RPG: 1.5 APG: 1.5 TOPG

#12 Abdoul Karim Coulibaly 6'9 F R-So. 10.5 MPG: 4.3 PPG: 1.7 RPG: 0.2 APG: 0.4 TOPG

#2 Quadry Adams 6'3 G R-Fr. 14 MPG: 3.2 PPG: 1.4 RPG: 0.4 APG: 0.7 TOPG

#4 Linton Brown 6'5 G R-So. 13 MPG: 2.8 PPG: 1.7 RPG: 0.2 APG: 0.6 TOPG

Season Record

The Bonnies are 6-4 on the season; 5-1 at home, with the only loss to Northern Iowa. They are 3-1 in neutral sites with wins over Clemson, Marquette and Boise State in Charleston, SC and a loss to UConn in Newark, NJ

Average Stats:

Detailed Stats:

I don't have much to add to Shelton's comments. If Lofton does not play, the weaker defense from the guards may be the opening Storm needs to play a good game and get some confidence back. If Lofton plays and is near 100%, this may be the game CMY finally decides to give Pedulla more playing time. With Lofton healthy, all five starters for the Bonnies average more than 10 points per game. Adaway is the main threat from 3; but all the guards can shoot the three. If Pedulla plays, he's going to have to keep track of his man on defense; or open threes will be our downfall. If Lofton does not play, his replacement, Quadry, has not been as much of a threat from beyond the arc. As Shelton noted, The Bonnies are a mature team that has played together for several seasons. The Hokies are going to have to step up their offensive performance to win this game. Dribbling and standing around are not going to create offense against the Bonnies. Ball movement and crisp passes will give us better scoring opportunities.

Like Shelton, I'm not optimistic; but I am hopeful the Hokies can find their Mojo and put this game in the win column.

LETS GO HOKIES!