ST. BONAVENTURE, N.Y. — There is a game today, of course.
And it’ll likely go down as one of the three or four toughest on the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team’s non-conference schedule: against a Hofstra team that ranks inside the top 125 of the KenPom projection (No. 120) and No. 25 nationally in scoring at 82 points per game.
This afternoon, however, also doubles as a celebration.
Before what will be close to a sellout audience — a small number of tickets is expected to remain available until tip — Bona will honor both its 20-player All-Time Team (at halftime) and the 1969-70 Final Four team (postgame) on this, the marquee day of its 100th anniversary commemoration.
It’s been the most-circled date on the 2019-20 schedule since the Final Four announcement over the summer. Given the combination of the number of program greats on hand, the presence of Bona’s greatest team and the caliber of opponent, it’s perhaps the most anticipated non-league contest of the Mark Schmidt era.
That’s the backdrop for today’s matchup with old rival Joe Mihalich and the Pride (2:30 p.m., WPIG-FM, WHDL-AM) inside the Reilly Center.
“Basketball is really important here,” Schmidt noted. “You’ve got to take the history and tradition of Bonaventure basketball seriously. We’re here because of what those guys have done before us. It’s a proud moment for everybody, and hopefully it’s a great day.”
Reflecting on the magnitude of that moment, sophomore forward Bobby Planutis added: “I didn’t know how big of a deal (Bona’s basketball history) really is. I knew (Bob) Lanier was good, but I didn’t know he was that good. It’s crazy to think guys can do that from this school.”
The current Bonnies intend to bring that pride into a contest at which legends such as Lanier, Greg Sanders and J.R. Bremer will be present. They’ll also be bringing their first real momentum of the season.
Schmidt’s team has won a season-best three-straight following a 1-4 start, including a pair of wins to claim Monday’s Boca Raton Beach Classic championship, the program’s first in-season tournament title since 2002. It’s begun to find itself collectively, with the sophomore trio of Kyle Lofton, Dominick Welch and Osun Osunniyi beginning to take the leadership/production role needed of it and the likes of Planutis and Jaren English settling in as key role guys.
The challenge now is to continue it against perhaps their most talented opponent since Rutgers.
“Hopefully (Boca) gives us some confidence ,” Schmidt said. “We didn’t play well all the time, but we found a way to win … we made some plays when we needed to make plays. Those two games gave our younger guys more experience, which is critical, and we won, so it gave them a sense of accomplishment.”
He warned, though: “Winning three in a row isn’t going to dictate anything or give us a reason for why we’re going to win (today). It’s good to be on a three-game winning streak as opposed to a three-game losing streak, but we’ve got to be ready to go. We know we’ve got a tough game ahead of us.”
And, they do.
Hofstra, which was picked to finish first in the Colonial Athletic Association preseason poll after winning 27 games and the league’s regular season crown last season, sits 6-3 after topping Holy Cross and Canisius to claim its own Boca Beach title (the Pride won the Naismith Bracket while Bona took the Hall of Fame bracket).
And though it did lose to common opponent San Diego by 10 (79-69; a team Bona topped, 70-61), it also owns an impressive 88-78 road win over UCLA.
That success has been spurred by one of the best offenses, to this point, in college basketball.
The Pride boasts five players in double figures, highlighted by preseason first team all-CAA guard Eli Pemberton (17 points), impressive point guard Desure Buie, who averages 16 points while ranking No. 21 nationally in assists (6.2) and No. 15 in steals (2.7) and former Bonnie Tareq Coburn, a promising prospect who transferred after earning little playing time his freshman year and now averages 12 points and a team-best seven rebounds for Hofstra.
The Pride, which has won two regular season CAA titles under the former Niagara boss Mihalich, but has not reached a Big Dance, averages 82 points and shoots 36 percent from 3-point range to Bona’s 63.9 and 32 percent, though the Bonnies have begun to show some improvement offensively.
The question is: can Bona’s stout defense (64.4 points) once again rise to the occasion?
“Buie’s good, but it’s not like he’s ‘the known’ — they have four knowns,” Schmidt said. “Part of it is to try to keep the ball in the half court, try to keep them above the foul line as best we can. They’re good off the bounce, so it’s hard. But that’s the goal.
“They’re going to try to keep us above the foul line, we’re going to try to keep them above the foul line. Whoever does the best job is going to have the best chance to win.”
While these Bonnies understand the significance of today, they don’t expect to be distracted from the task at hand.
“As a player, there’s nothing to get distracted about,” Schmidt said. “They’re going to go through the same rituals — practice, the scouting report (Friday night). (Today), we have shoot-around and then a game. All the festivities are after the game, so those guys, they’re not too concerned about that stuff.
“They have a job to do, and their schedule doesn’t change.”
Added Planutis: “I think (it’s) just treating every game the same. Even when the place is packed, you don’t really know it. I mean, you know it’s loud, but you’re focused on the game, so you just treat it like every other game.”
