It proved to be Friday night lights out. The start was encouraging. St. Bonaventure scored the first two points following intermission to increase the lead to 10 points. Then the reality of VCU’s pressure and second half prowess set in. The host Rams defeated the Bonnies 75-61. Friday night’s game at the sold out (7,637) Siegel Center in Richmond saw the Bonnies drop to 15-6 (3-5) while Ryan Odom’s Rams improved to 16-4 (6-1). Numbers and notes…
Possessions: 67
Offensive Efficiency: VCU 112, St. Bona 91
Four Factors:
eFG Pct.- VCU 54, St. Bona 47
FT Rate- VCU 28, St. Bona 18
OREB Pct.- St. Bona 29, VCU 18
TO Rate- VCU 9, St. Bona 24
Points of emphasis:
Turnovers. In the win at the Reilly Center on New Years Eve, the Bonnies committed six turnovers for an outstanding 10% turnover rate. This time the script was flipped as Ram pressure defense forced Bona into 16 miscues resulting in that excessively high 24% TO rate. VCU capitalized by leading 17-4 in points off turnovers. Runouts as a result of the turnovers also helped the Rams build a 22-5 edge in fast break points.
“They’re (VCU) a really good team,” Bona coach Mark Schmidt told gobonnies.com. “We turned the ball over too many times in the second half.”
Second half. The Bonnies were outscored by a 50-28 count following intermission. In the second half the Bonnies matched their first half 44% shooting from the floor. Unfortunately they attempted 23 shots in the final twenty minutes, 11 less than the opening stanza. The turnovers played a big part in that disparity.
On the flipside, VCU, which shot 45% for the game, connected on a white hot 61% those final twenty minutes including 8 of 13 from long range.
“We did a really good job defensively in the first half,” Schmidt said. “We got up 10 and the game plan was working, but they went after us. The whole key is here is you know they’re going to make a run and you’ve got to answer it. When a team shoots 61 percent in the second half you’re not going to beat anybody.”
Rebounding. A plus for Bona was winning the rebound battle against a team leading the conference in offensive rebounding percentage. The Bonnies, led by Noel Brown’s game-high 10 rebounds, won the boards by a 38-30 count. They also led 10-6 on the offensive boards. Bona also had an 11-7 edge in second chance points and 38-28 in points in the paint.
In the end, all the positives the Bonnies did have were negated by those aforementioned dreaded turnovers. Plus VCU’s second half shooting proficiency and the boisterous home crowd.
Kenpom.com MVP – Joe Bamisile. The Rams senior guard scored a game-high 18 points, with six assists and zero turnovers in 32 minutes of action.
Bonnies had four in double-figures. Chance Moore led the way with a game-high 21 points. Jonah Hinton had 12 and Noel Brown and Melvin Council had 10 each.
VCU also had four double-digit scorers. Beside Bamisile, Phillip Russell scored 16, Max Shula 13 and Jack Clark added 12.
Notes. VCU was led in the rebounding department by Zeb Jackson with nine.
The loss snapped a four-game win streak for the Bonnies against VCU.
VCU led in bench points by a 15-0 count. Not surprising with Lajae Jones and Melvin Council logging 40 minutes and the entire Bona starting five playing 36 or more minutes.
VCU’s rally from 10 points down marked the largest deficit the Rams have overcome to win a game this season.
Brown posted his second career double-double.
VCU will travel to Saint Louis on Tuesday in what should be a very interesting matchup as the Billikens are 5-2 in conference play.
Next for the Bonnies is a Tuesday evening home matchup with Dayton. Bonnies have now dropped three straight and five of their last six so it’s safe to say this game can be filed under ‘must win’. Anthony Grant’s Flyers enter the Reilly Center with a 4-3 A10 record. They are on a three game win streak with the last game a 77-72 win over Saint Joseph’s at UD Arena this past Friday. Dayton leads the A10 in three point field goal percentage at 38%. The Flyers, however, allow a 37% mark in three point field goal defense-13th in league play.
“We couldn’t keep it in the halfcourt (in the second half), we had some soft turnovers and gave up fastbreak points.” – Mark Schmidt
