The last outing for our Buffalo Bulls proved to be an exciting one as they closed out a win against Canisius in overtime. UB will be facing another Big 4 opponent in St. Bonaventure before they take a road trip to #7 Duke and #5 Iowa State in the span of three days. St. Bonaventure is the one game on UB's non-conference schedule that isn't a sure win or a sure loss. This one can still go either way depending on how UB plays.
Quick Facts
Opponent: St. Bonaventure
Head Coach: Mark Schmidt (208-214, 9th year with St. Bonaventure)
Date/Time: 12/2/15, 7:00 PM
Home/Away: Home
Opponent's Mascot: The Bona Wolf (whatever that is)
Current Record: 3-2 with wins against Binghamton, Loyola (MD), and Canisius
2014-15 Season Record: 18-13 (10-8 Atlantic 10)
Postseason: Did not receive postseason bid
All-Time Series: St. Bonaventure leads 6-4
Opponent's Roster and Stats
| Player | Position | Height | MIN | PPG | RPG | APG | FG% | FT% | 3P% |
| Marcus Posley | G | 6'0" | 37.6 | 19.4 | 5 | 3.8 | 0.39 | 0.962 | 0.3 |
| Dion Wright | F | 6'7" | 32.2 | 15.6 | 10 | 0.8 | 0.423 | 0.762 | 0.25 |
| Jaylen Adams | G | 6'1" | 34.4 | 14.4 | 3.2 | 4.8 | 0.404 | 0.875 | 0.3 |
| Denzel Gregg | F | 6'7" | 30 | 10.6 | 6.8 | 0.4 | 0.462 | 0.8 | 0.143 |
| Nelson Kaputo | G | 6'1" | 20.6 | 7 | 1.8 | 3 | 0.407 | 1 | 0.391 |
| Derrick Woods | F | 6'8" | 16.6 | 6 | 2.8 | 0.2 | 0.688 | 0.8 | 0 |
| Idris Taqqee | G | 6'4" | 24.8 | 3.2 | 3.6 | 1.2 | 0.455 | 0.714 | 0.25 |
| LaDarien Griffin | F | 6'7" | 3.8 | 0.4 | 0.4 | 0 | 0.333 | 0 | 0 |
| Totals | -- | 77 | 39 | 14 | 0.429 | 0.841 | 0.301 |
This team isn't as deep as us. There definitely seems to be a clear seven man rotation. If we get them into foul trouble, things could go wrong for the Bonnies. If all things go right we should be able to keep them from getting hot at the three point arc as they're only shooting 30%. One of my larger concerns is their free throw shooting. One of the things that kept Canisius in the game was that they had a lot of good free throw shooters and were able to capitalize on a lot of our fouls as a result. Bonaventure will do the same when they're given a chance at the charity stripe so we have to limit the dumb fouls in this one. Dion Wright might give us a lot of trouble especially in offensive rebounding. Rebounding hasn't been the strongest for us this year and they could really reap the rewards there.
Notable Opponents
- Won against Binghamton (UB plays them)
- Won against Canisius (Buffalo won against them)
- Lost to Syracuse
- Ohio (MAC Opponent)
- Vermont (Buffalo won against them)
- VCU (UB plays them)
- St. Joes (UB lost to them)
Can We Win?
I'm putting the odds for this one at 60/40 advantage to St. Bonaventure. Bona played very well in a game against a tough Syracuse team. If UB continues to show improvement game by game like they have, Bona could leave Alumni with a loss. It would be a great statement by the Nate Oats led team that they're going to be better than we thought. If it doesn't happen it's ok because I put this game as a loss in my preseason projection.
