When the Bonnies win, the formula usually includes some big contributions from their big men.
Last Saturday, starting center Noel Brown scored 22 points and his backup, freshman Xander Wedlow, added 10 points in just under seven minutes of a 74-72 St. Bonaventure men’s basketball home victory over Fordham. Loyola Chicago almost entirely stripped the Bonnies’ of that strength, however. Brown scored four points on four free throws (0-for-4 on field goals) and Wedlow had just two points off the bench in a 77-53 loss in Chicago.
“It is what it is. We didn’t play well on Tuesday,” Bona coach Mark Schmidt said. “Nobody played well and when you don’t play well, that’s what happens.”
On the other end, Bona gave up seven dunks. Loyola center Miles Rubin scored 15 points in 26 minutes on 7-of-8 shooting.
“Everybody has good players,” Schmidt said. “We just had an off game. You can’t play well all the time and that’s what happened and hopefully we can play better on Sunday.”
The Bonnies (17-7, 5-6) will look for more out of their big men as they welcome George Washington (15-8, 4-6) for a noon tipoff on Super Bowl Sunday at the Reilly Center. The Bonnies are 10-2 at home (3-2 in A-10 play); G.W. 2-5 on the road (1-4 in A-10 road games).
“Respond the right way,” Schmidt said. “Winning on the road is difficult. We played well at times, we had it down to a one-point game (late in the first half), six-point game in the second half and they made it a run and ball security was an issue. But you’ve got to protect your home court and try to steal some on the road. We lost the other night and that’s just one game. Now we’ve got to bounce back. That’s what good teams do. You’ve got to protect your home court and that’s the goal on Sunday.”
The Revolutionaries rank second in the A-10 in scoring (75.7 points per game), second in the turnovers forced per game and first in steals. As always, Bona will try to take care of the ball: it’s 16-1 when it wins the turnover battle, 1-6 when it doesn’t. On Tuesday, it had 16 turnovers, second-most of any Bona game this year.
“Just play our game,” Schmidt said. “We’ve got to take care of the basketball, we’ve got to play downhill, we’ve got to get the ball inside, we’ve got to be able to keep them in front. We can’t turn the ball over and (let) them have breakouts and three-on-two, two-on-ones. We’ve got to keep it in the halfcourt like we always do.
“This time of year, we’ve already played 24 games so there’s not a lot of surprises from what they’re going to do and what the opposition’s going to do. We just try to do it as well as we can. And if we do, then we have a chance to win.”
Third-year coach Chris Caputo is 2-0 against Bona in his career, winning an overtime game in 2023 at the RC and taking care of the Bonnies 86-75 in D.C. last season.
G.W. center Rafael Castro, a 6-foot-11 Providence transfer, nearly averages a double-double (12.5 points, 9.2 rebounds) on 69.5% field goal shooting. Grad student guard Gerald Drumgoole Jr., a transfer whose previous schools include Pitt, Albany and Delaware, averages a team-high 13.0 points. The Revs’ preseason second-team All-A-10 selection and a 2023-24 All-Rookie pick, 6-7 forward Darren Buchanan Jr., has come off the bench the last seven games since returning from a two-game injury spell.
Bona point guard Dasonte Bowen, out for the last 14 games with a foot injury, remains unavailable in full practice, still in limited individual workouts or drills. Schmidt could not confirm whether the Bonnies expect him to play again this season.
“I don’t know,” Schmidt said. “That’s a decision when he’s fully healthy, then we’ve got to talk about what we want to do. What’s in his best interest?”
In minor ailments, Lajae Jones is recovering from a bout with the flu. He played sick on Tuesday for 22 minutes at Loyola, his lowest court time since November. Schmidt said Jones is feeling better and “hopefully” will be 100% by Sunday. Jones’ illness made way for more time for Duane Thompson, who scored six points in 16 minutes off the bench.
While the Bonnies’ last seven regular season games include four on the road, the next one is where they play their best.
“There’s a ton of teams that are one game away from fourth place, or two games maybe,” Schmidt said. “So we’ve got a lot to play for. We’re 17-7. It’s not like we’re 7-17. We’re 5-6 in the league, we have seven more games and we’re going to try to win them all. And you can’t win them all until you win the first one.”
