ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — The St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team hears it.
It knows that, according to a good number of its fans and followers, a once-promising season is already over.
“The hate is just bringing me and my bruthas closer actually,” senior Matt Mobley tweeted late Friday night, after the Bonnies had dropped their fourth game in five tries, leading to a flood of negative reaction on social media.
Bona never expected to be sitting at 2-4 and in 11th place in the Atlantic 10 standings a third of the way through the conference campaign after what it accomplished in November and December. It’s a stretch that likely cost it a realistic chance at an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament.
It wants you to know, however: There’s still time to save the season. And the turnaround effort starts tonight in a rematch with Saint Joseph’s back home in the Reilly Center.
“To be honest, (we) just try to tune it out,” said senior Idris Taqqee, addressing the criticism that has come the Bonnies’ way. “Coach keeps telling us there’s a lot of season left, and that’s what we want to keep in mind.
“At the same time, losing games is something you just have to fix. And that’s something that we’re trying to take upon ourselves, just to get the job done. So we’re not really listening to it; we’re just trying to keep in mind that we have a lot of season left.”
Bona (12-6, 2-4) can pick up a much-needed win and exact some revenge on the Hawks tonight in the RC. Joe’s led by as many as 16 in beating the Bonnies 85-78 just 18 days ago in Philadelphia, the second in Bona’s four-game road slide.
It can also take the first steps toward proving it’s more the team we saw in the non-conference than the one we’ve seen in January.
In many ways, the stage is set for a strong finish.
Coach Mark Schmidt’s team will play the next two at home and five of eight at the RC in February. It has just three games remaining against teams currently ranked No. 150 or better in the RPI – at home against Rhode Island (No. 9) and Davidson (111) and at VCU (137). It’s motivated to put the past behind them.
“We know what we’re capable of, so it’s not like we’re doubting ourselves or anything like that,” Taqqee said. “We’ve shown to everybody what we can do. For other people to doubt us or whatever it may be, that’s OK, because we know what we can do. We have to keep that mindset and know what we’re capable of and just go off that from here on out.”
Added Schmidt: “We wish we had pulled out a couple of wins, but we didn’t. Now we’ve got to look forward, you can’t look back. Our whole emphasis is preparing to play well against Saint Joseph’s.”
The Hawks (9-9, 4-3), currently in a three-way for fourth in the A-10, have gone 2-2 since beating Bona, losing close road games to George Mason and UMass while handling both Dayton (81-65) and Fordham (68-46) at home.
Joe’s — if it’s any consolation to Bona fans — has been virtually unbeatable at Hawk Hill, with wins over VCU, Bona and Dayton. And though it’s also winless (0-3) on the road in league play, those losses have come by six, two and three points, respectively.
The Bonnies found out first hand just how tough the Hawks are despite being without two preseason all-conference players: Junior guard Lamarr Kimble, out for the season with a broken foot, and sophomore forward Charlie Brown, who remains sidelined with a wrist injury, but is expected back soon.
What needs to be different in the rematch?
“Just playing harder,” Taqqee said. “I don’t think we played as hard as we know we could when we were in Philly. Whether it’s a home game or not, it was a close game with five minutes left, so it’s making sure we’re making those adjustments at the end of the game.
“You have to make sure you’re going to keep those mistakes limited when crunch time approaches.”
Consistent with its current theme, Bona struggled to stop the Hawks in Philly, allowing seniors Shavar Newkirk and James Demery to go for 23 and 24 points, respectively, and the team to score 85 points on 46 percent shooting.
Joe’s also took Mobley, the Bonnies’ second-leading scorer, out of the game, holding him to a mere two points on 1-for-5 shooting (though reserves Courtney Stockard and Izaiah Brockington combined for 33).
Bona, which saw its seven-game win streak over Joe’s come to an end in the first matchup, is looking forward to seeing the Hawks again this quickly.
“Any competitor wants to get that revenge back,” Taqqee said. “That’s how I look at it. It’s a good thing I can get my revenge now; I don’t got to wait until the end of the season. I just want them to feel what I felt last time.”
It’s also happy to be home, where it’s won two league games by an average of 18 points and where it hasn’t lost since Jaylen Adams returned to the lineup in early December. Tonight’s game marks the first in the RC with students since, unbelievably, Dec. 9 against Yale. For Bona, this is an opportunity for a fresh start.
“It’s always good to be home,” Schmidt said. “The RC is one of the best places to play in the country. Our guys look forward to it. I can tell you that it’s better than playing on the road.”
NOTE: Bona is expected to be without junior forward Josh Ayeni, who, according to sources, will sit another two games for a previous violation of team rules. With Ayeni out, Bona will have nine scholarship players available against the Hawks.
