ST. BONAVENTURE, .N.Y — His public stance has long been clearly defined.
“You can’t look at any one game as bigger than the other,” St. Bonaventure men’s basketball coach Mark Schmidt has often maintained.
Oh, Schmidt acknowledged Saturday that this current stretch is of the utmost importance, given that Bona still has six of the next eight at home. But this one is no different from the others that will follow, he said.
Except, to a man, inside that locker room and out, it is.
In perhaps as pivotal a game it will play all year, Bona (12-5, 4-2) can either return to the path of contending for both a league title and NCAA at-large berth or continue the inconsistent ways that have defined the season. It can make another statement against one of the league’s banner programs, a Davidson team that sits first in the A-10, has won 16 of 17 and was No. 25 in the nation until Monday morning. It can claim a win that could truly propel it through a gauntlet of a February slate.
And it can do those things when it meets another hot-shooting Wildcats squad tonight (7 o’clock, WPIG-FM, CBS Sports-TV) inside the Reilly Center.
“Every win propels us,” the 15th-year coach countered. “The win the other day against Saint Joe’s (80-69 at the RC) gives us confidence, so no win is more important than any other game, (whether) it’s on national television or local television.
“It’s one of our 18 conference games, so we’re putting everything into it to see if we can play as well as we can.”
AGAINST Davidson, currently first among A-10 teams in the NET (No. 48), Bona will probably have to do just that.
The Wildcats (17-3, 7-1) boast a standout returning core, each of whom has taken the next step in 2021-22, highlighted by preseason all-conference third team big man Luka Brajkovic (15 points, 7 rebounds) and Player of the Year candidate, 6-foot-7 junior Hyunjung Lee (16 points, 7 rebounds). And though they lost star guard Kellan Grady to a fifth year at Kentucky, they haven’t missed a beat with his replacement: Skilled 6-foot Michigan State transfer Foster Loyer, who’s averaging 15 points and three assists.
Collectively, that group has played like a classically dangerous Davidson team: It ranks second in the A-10 in scoring (76.9 points) while pacing the league, and ranking fifth nationally, in 3-point percentage (.408) and sitting No. 2 in treys per game (9.1).
Bona, though, following a four-game losing streak in which it surrendered an average of 13 3s per game, was stout defensively last year against the Wildcats, allowing a mean of just 56 points in back-to-back late-February wins that pushed it to the doorstep of its regular season league crown.
And most of those players, on both sides, remain in this one.
So, is there something Bona might take from its approach last year that it can apply in tonight’s showdown?
“Coach (Bob) McKillop is one of the best coaches in the country, he runs that (motion offense) system and they’re extremely good,” Schmidt began. “(But) our veteran guys have seen it; it’s like the VCU press, if you have experienced guys that have seen it, it helps. But it’s still hard to guard …
“It’s really a challenge for our guys to be able to guard them and we’ll do the best job we can. Hopefully we can contest 3s, hopefully we can do a good job on (Brajkovic) inside, but they present a lot of problems.”
THE BONNIES, who’d lost seven of eight to Davidson prior to last year’s sweep, are more than familiar with what Brajkovic can do inside and how deadly the likes of Lee and Mike Jones (13 points) have become, especially on the perimeter.
The new “known” is Loyer, who’s averaging nearly three treys per contest.
Behind that group, Davidson followed a 1-2 start with a 15-game winning streak, the longest nationally until McKillop’s team was edged at home by VCU (70-68) last Wednesday, a loss that dropped it from No. 25 in the AP poll to No. 32. It then rebounded with a 77-69 victory over La Salle.
And with Loyer on board, it will now bring its league-best 7-1 record and the A-10’s most efficient offense (.493 from the field) into the RC.
“He knows how to play, he’s smart, he’s got a high IQ, he’s got a high skill level,” Schmidt said of the Michigan State addition. “He’s a great leader; playing for Coach (Tom) Izzo, I would assume toughens you up a little bit.
“But he’s perfect for how Davidson plays. He brings a lot to them, and one of the reasons they’re having the success that they’re having is because of his leadership and ability to not only knock down shots, but be able to get the ball into the post as well.”
TYPICALLY, this is the time of year where Bona makes its move. It’s not only fared splendidly in league home games in recent years, but in the month of February, specifically, where it’s a stellar 35-12 since 2016.
To make it 36, and earn a key win for its postseason resume, Schmidt’s team will have to execute defensively, starting with how it handles Brajkovic inside, and moving out.
“We gotta do a decent job on the big guy, and then you gotta be able to guard their stuff,” Schmidt said. “You gotta guard them off the bounce so they can’t drive and kick, get you in rotations, and that’s easier said than done.
“That’s why they’re at the top of the league and have won 16 of 17 (including a non-league triumph over then No.-10 Alabama). They’re a very good team that has really good pieces. You gotta contest shots, you can’t give them open 3s and when you do, you have to hope they miss. But it’s gonna be a challenge.”
