The struggles continue. Davidson defeated St.Bonaventure 74-61 on Wednesday. The game at Belk Arena saw the Bonnies fall to 13-16 (7-9) while the Wildcats, now on a two game win streak, improved to 13-14 (6-9). Numbers and notes…
Possessions: 64. Grind it out tempo, a pace Davidson favors while Bona hasn’t had a great difficulty with. Number of possessions was not the factor.
Offensive efficiency: Davidson 116, St. Bona 95. Subpar on the offensive side for Bona, and on defense as well. Matt McKillop’s Wildcats entered the game sixth in the conference with a 104 average efficiency. Obviously, the Davidson offense was running on all cylinders.
Four Factors:
eFG Pct: Davidson 56, St. Bona 52
FT Rate: Davidson 49, St. Bona 13
OREB Pct: Davidson 30, St. Bona 15
TO Rate: Davidson 16, St. Bona 17
Bonnies shot 35% the opening half before improving to 50% over the final twenty minutes. Davidson shot 54% before intermission including 7 of 13 (54%) from beyond the arc. Wildcats had been averaging six three pointers a game coming into the contest. That proficiency allowed the hosts to open a 43-22 lead at the half.
Turnovers were close (Bona led 13-9 in points off turnovers). Bona struggled getting to the line and in rebounding (Davidson led 39-28).
Too little too late. Bona did make a run getting the deficit down to 12 points with just over four minutes remaining in the game. Davidson answered with a Foster Loyer three pointer that basically sealed the verdict.
Still the same. A10 talk colleague Jack Milko wrote the pregame story with the theme of a Bob Seger song, ‘Turn the page’. The story of this outcome brings up another Seger hit, ‘Still the Same.’ Bonnies are in a five game losing streak. Against Davidson it was another game where the Bonnies could not produce a strong forty minute effort. It also featured some offensive woes as well as the opposition’s prolific outside shooting and prowess off the glass. With two games left before Brooklyn, it’s something coach Mark Schmidt and his club need to figure out.
Kenpom.com MVP: Foster Loyer 27 points including 4 of 6 from beyond the arc. Teammate Sam Mennenga added 24 points, with three field goals from long distance. Bonnies were led by Moses Flowers with 16 points. Daryl Banks III was Bona’s other double figure scorer finishing with 12. David Skogman of Davidson grabbed a game high 8 boards while Banks III and Chad Venning shared the Bona lead with five each. Davidson’s Grant Huffman handed out eight assists. Flowers and Kyrell Luc had three assists each for Bona.
Next. Bonnies close out the campaign hosting Saint Joseph’s on Sunday before finishing with a visit to UMass the following Saturday. The Hawks of Billy Lange dropped one in the final second at Davidson last Saturday. Tuesday they were handled at home by VCU. Saint Joseph’s is in the midst of a three game losing streak. With the scoring combination of Erik Reynolds II, Cameron Brown and Lynn Greer III, Saint Joseph’s has options and will be a test.
UMass has been decimated by injuries. Frank Martin’s Minutemen lost at home to Dayton on Wednesday and have dropped six of their last seven. RJ Luis, a 6’7” freshman, has been a bright spot as of late. Regardless, the game is at the Mullins Center and presents another challenge as the Bonnies hit the road for their final contest.
