The Bulls play their fifth straight game on the road Saturday afternoon with a trip to St. Bonaventure. The Bulls are currently 2-2 on the road trip and are looking for their first victory at St. Bonaventure since the 1915-16 season, the first year of UB men’s basketball. Overall, St. Bonaventure holds an 8-3 edge in the all-time series as the Big 4 rivals meet for just the 12th time in the last 100 seasons.
As of December 1, Buffalo was the only team in the Mid-American Conference and just one of 23 teams nationally to play at least two ranked opponents over the firs month of the season. In fact, other than UB, only one MAC team has played a ranked team (Western Michigan). Akron will face Creighton on Saturday.
UB has played four straight games away from home, traveling nearly 9,000 miles in the process over 11 days. The Bulls played three games at the Great Alaska Shootout followed by a contest at nationally-ranked Creighton. During the trip, the Bulls made a visit to seven different airports (Buffalo, Detroit, Minneapolis, Anchorage, Seattle, Omaha, and Chicago). Following today’s game, UB heads to ACC foe Pittsburgh on Wednesday.
St. Bonaventure is 4-2 on the season following an 81-74 victory against Siena on Wednesday night. The Bonnies are currently riding a three-game winning streak and have scored over 80 points in all four of their victories this year. Their highest point total came against Central Michigan, a game the Bonnies won 102-71. St. Bonaventure is currently 2-0 at home.
The Bonnies have two players averaging over 20.0 points per game, led by Matt Mobley, who is averaging 22.7 points per game and is shooting nearly 44% from three-point range. Preseason Big 4 player of the year Jaylen Adams is averaging 21.2 points per game. Denzel Gregg is also averaging in double figures, scoring 11.8 points and pull down a team-high 7.0 rebounds per contest.
St. Bonaventure went 22-9 last season and 14-4 in the Atlantic 10, falling in overtime during the conference quarterfinals. The Bonnies were a top seed in the NIT last year, but lost in the opening round. Adams is the returning leading scorer for St. Bonaventure as he averaged 17.9 points per game and he dished out 150 assists a year ago.
Mark Schmidt is in his 10th season as head coach of the St. Bonaventure basketball program. Schmidt is third on St. Bonaventure’s all-time coaching wins list. His 100th win at Bona’s came at home on Jan. 22, 2014, against La Salle. Schmidt was recognized for his remarkable work in rebuilding the Bonnies by being named the 2012 Sporting News Atlantic 10 Coach of the Year. Schmidt served as the head coach at Robert Morris for six seasons prior to coming to St. Bonaventure.
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