A tough semifinal loss followed by a bounce back victory. That is the most simple and arguably best way to summarize the St. Bonaventure trip to Disney and the ESPN NIT Tip-Off.
Scores:
Semifinals:
North Texas 68 Northern Iowa 48
Utah State 72 St. Bona 67
Consolation:
St. Bona 68 Northern Iowa 56
Championship
Utah State 61 North Texas 57
Semifinal:
Possessions: 68
Offensive efficiency: Utah State 106, St. Bona 99
The semifinals, held on Thanksgiving, at State Farm Field house in Kissimmee (Fla.) saw a battle of two teams with unblemished records. Bona at 6-0 faced 5-0 Utah State of the Mountain West Conference. Bonnies started out cold then turned up the heat hitting six of their last eight from the field to open a five point lead at intermission.
The lead would extend to eight early in the final stanza. The Bonnies then went through another cold spell while coach Jerrod Calhoun’s Aggies heated up. Utah State went on a 13-2 run. Bone big man Noel Brown was saddled with foul trouble to compound the issue.
Utah State led by 12 with just under three minutes remaining. The Bonnies made one last ‘crunch time. The Bonnies were within one possession left before Ian Martinez canned two from the charity stripe to seal the verdict.
Bona defense did the job. Utah State entered with a 54% field goal percentage, including 42% from downtown. Bonnies limited the Aggies to a 34% mark overall, 21% from three. They also average an offensive efficiency of 114. “They’re the number one team(nationally) in scoring,” Bona mentor Mark Schmidt told gobonnies.com. “They’re really good. We did a decent job defensively.”
The offense struggled against Utah State’s matchup zone. In the latter part of the game the Bonnies attacked the zone with more success.
Bonnies were beaten on the offensive boards 17-12 but only gave up four second chance points. Despite the outcome Schmidt could take solace in the effort. “Our guys fought,” he said. “And that’s what I like to see.”
Consolation:
Possessions: 62
Offensive efficiency: St. Bona 110, UNI 90
Black Friday saw the Bonnies back on the floor in the third place game. The offense struggled once again in the early going. The Panthers of the Missouri Valley Conference opened up an early nine point lead. As happened the day before and several times this season, the Bonnies responded and regrouped by going on a 21-6 run to take a six point lead into the half. Following the break there was no let up as the Bonnies hit five of their first seven attempts from the floor, building a 10 point lead.
UNI got the margin into single digits with just over nine minutes left. The Bonnies immediately answered and maintained control until the final buzzer.
Another good defensive effort for the Brown and White as they forced 17 turnovers, resulting in an excessively high 27% turnover rate for the Panthers. The Bonnies also came up with 14 steals. Schmidt mixed it up defensively, showing some 1-2-2 ¾ court defense as well as some zones in the half court setting. Different looks helped throw Ben Jacobsen’s Panthers off offensively.
Schmidt, naturally was pleased with the win, but also how it evolved. “The guys responded,” he said. ‘I expected our guys to come out and play well and they did…coming off yesterday’s disappointment this was a real positive step.”
Notes: Bonnies were ranked 16th nationally the last time they faced UNI. Unfortunately for the hosts, UNI exited Reilly Center with a 90-80 upset back in late November, 2021.
Dasonte Bowen led Bona with a season-high 15 points against Utah State.
Mason Falslev, an Oscar Robertson National Player of the Week, led Utah State with 15 against Bona.
Dasonte Brown matched his career-high of 17 points in the win over UNI.
Balance was evident as the Bonnies had four double figure scorers against Utah State and three against UNI.
Melvin Council jr. had a 13 point, 12 rebound double-double against Utah State. The Bona senior guard scored 15 against UNI, earning a spot on the ESPN NIT Tip-off All-Tournament Team.
Utah State’s Falslev went for 28 points (5 of 8 from three) in the championship game victory over North Texas. The sophomore guard was awarded tournament MVP honors for averaging 21.5 points and 8.5 rebounds for the two games.
For the second straight night, Utah State trailed at the half. Following a slow start in the final, the Aggies trailed by two at intermission.
Schmidt compared the tournament to A10 tournament play. You play a game and have one the next day which means, “go back, get some rest, watch some tape and try to win tomorrow.”
Bonnies exited the Sunshine State with a 7-1 record. Next up, a trip to Bucknell of the Patriot League on Wednesday.
Posted In: General Discussion