Once Upon A Time In Las Vegas – Divisional Round
The St. Bonaventure Bonnies and Loyola-Chicago Ramblers will play Saturday at Joseph J. Gentile Arena in Chicago. St. Bonaventure, 10-9 SU and 12-7 ATS, defeated Duquesne on Wednesday. Loyola-Chicago, 6-12 SU and 3-15 ATS, was defeated by Saint Louis in its latest game.
The Bonnies are 2-1 all-time versus the Ramblers. The teams last met in 1952.
Tip-off is at 7:00 p.m. ET.
The Bonnies are searching for their first road win of the 2022-23 season. At 4-2 in conference play, they're just one game back of first place in the Atlantic 10 standings. St. Bonaventure was picked to finish tenth in the conference's preseason poll.
In their nine-point home victory over the Dukes, the Bonnies shot 22-for-50 (44%) from the field, including 8-for-20 (40%) from three. The Dukes shot 21-for-60 (35%) from the floor, 6-for-22 (27.3%) from distance, and 8-for-18 (44.4%) from the foul line. St. Bonaventure led 38-23 at halftime and never looked back. It's won 19 of its past 22 meetings with Duquesne.
9-1 on home court.
Roll the Winning Wednesday highlights! pic.twitter.com/BdKQcFhfqZ
— Bonnies Men's Basketball (@BonniesMBB) January 19, 2023
The Bonnies score 67.7 points per game on 43.1 percent from the field, including 35.1 percent from behind the arc. They convert 69.5 percent of their free throws and average 30.3 rebounds with a -0.9 rebounding margin. St. Bonaventure is 206th in schedule-adjusted offensive efficiency, per KenPom.
Junior guard Daryl Banks III leads the Bonnies in scoring at 16.3 points per game. Other players to watch are sophomore guard Kyrell Luc (13.3 PPG, 4.6 APG, and 1.9 SPG), sophomore forward Chad Venning (11.2 PPG, 5.5 RPG, 53.7 FG%), and freshman forward Yann Farell (8.5 PPG and 6.9 RPG).
St. Bonaventure surrenders 66.4 points per game, and its opponents shoot 42.2 percent from the field, including 28.8 percent from three (18th-lowest in D-1). It's 109th in schedule-adjusted defensive efficiency and 197th in assist-per-turnover ratio (0.96).