Mark Schmidt cut to the heart of the matter in his Saint Louis postgame radio interview.
When things are going well for his St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team, he pointed out, as they did in recent home wins over UMass and George Mason, “we’re fine.” But when adversity hits, the way it typically has on the road, when opponents make their inevitable run, that’s when things go awry.
And in almost every instance, the Bonnies haven’t been able to recover.
With mirroring 7-1 and 1-7 records, Bona has officially become a polar opposite in home and non-Reilly Center games, respectively. The question now: Is there a mental hurdle this new group still has to clear or is it merely a matter of needing a better effort in a foreign environment? Heading into tonight’s tilt against Rhode Island (7 o’clock, WPIG-FM, ESPN+-live stream) inside the Ryan Center, Schmidt’s oft-used line in these moments rang particularly true.
“You learn how to win on the road by winning on the road. We gotta win a game on the road, that’s the bottom line” Schmidt said flatly, before balancing that thought by noting, “Veteran teams are more successful on the road because they understand what it takes; younger teams aren’t. We gotta grow up, become a little bit more mature and understand what it’s gonna take to be successful in the Atlantic 10 in a hostile environment.”
BONA HAS had its moments on the road this year.
It should have beaten Canisius; it gave itself a chance against South Dakota State, Siena and Iona. On Saturday, against a Saint Louis team that’s one of the best in the conference, it got off to a 15-11 start and managed to cut the deficit to single digits after the break, but ultimately floundered in each half.
Just four days after that 78-55 loss to the Billikens, Bona gets its next opportunity at its first true road win. And with upcoming contests at Loyola-Chicago, VCU, Richmond and Davidson, among others, this might be its best remaining chance — against a rebuilding Rhody team that ranks No. 242 in the NET, fourth-worst in the conference.
The hope is to use its showing against Saint Louis, and some of the good things its done away from home this year, as a teaching tool.
“I didn’t think we quit, I thought we kept on fighting,” Schmidt said of Saturday’s performance. “Physically, (Saint Louis) took it to us a little bit. But I think our guys are learning what the Atlantic 10 is all about — the physicality and the skill level and the coaching and the scouting.
“Hopefully they take away something positive from that game. We hung in there at times, we just didn’t do it consistently, and on the road, no matter where, you gotta have a consistent effort. You gotta execute at a high level in order to win in this league.”
TONIGHT, THE Bonnies will aim to do that against a familiar foe: former Dayton coach Archie Miller.
Miller led one of the league’s powerhouses at UD, guiding the Flyers to four NCAA Tournaments in six years (and going 8-2 against Schmidt’s Bonnies in that time). He parlayed that success into the Indiana job, but couldn’t quite get it going in Bloomington and was fired after four seasons and no NCAA trips in 2021 before reemerging in the A-10 last spring.
Despite some key portal losses, Miller inherited a solid core in the backcourt, highlighted by sophomore Ishmael Leggett, an A-10 All-Rookie Team selection a year ago (that group also includes veterans Jalen Carey and Malik Martin). Additionally, he added 6-foot-2 George Washington transfer Brayon Freeman, another A-10 Rookie Team choice and a 2022-23 A-10 preseason Third Team selection.
Leggett and Freeman lead the Rams (5-10, 1-2) at 16 and 14 points per game, respectively.
Rhode Island played an identifiably physical style under former coaches Dan Hurley and David Cox, the latter of whom was relieved after four years and no postseason appearances, giving way for Miller’s hire. But what kind mark has Miller made on what from 2015-20 was one of the league’s best programs?
“They don’t have mature guys or veteran guys inside, they’re more perimeter-oriented,” Schmidt noted, “but they really push it, they really play defense, they rebound at a high level (the Rams are averaging 41 boards per game in league play).
“They’re aggressive; they play like Archie plays, really aggressive, his personality. That’s what you see. They’re still learning just like us, they got a new coach, a lot of new players and they’re still trying to figure it out. But they have Atlantic 10 talent, especially with their guards.”
YES, URI has had its struggles in Year 1 under Miller, losing to Duquesne by 11 in its A-10 opener, edging a decent Fordham team at home and, on Saturday, falling into overtime at La Salle, which ranks last in the A-10 in the NET. But it’s also averaging 79 points over the last two games and came within that narrow La Salle defeat of bringing consecutive wins back into this one.
Martin, who’s averaging 10 points, had 23, including a 5-of-6 effort from 3-point range against Fordham, and Carey and Freeman both had 18 versus the Explorers. The challenge for Bona, which is looking to snap a five-game losing streak in Kingstong dating to 2015, will be handling the Rams’ talent in the backcourt and aggressiveness.
And it will hope to continue building on the positives, including the emergence of reserve guard Moses Flowers, who’s totaled 27 points and five 3-pointers over his last two games.
“It’s the guys that finish the game, it’s not the guys that start the game,” said Schmidt, when asked if Flowers might make his way into the opening five. “He’ll be right where he is, he gives us a scoring punch off the bench, he’s done a really good job and we need him to play even better.”
