Preview: Virginia Cavaliers vs. St. Bonaventure Bonnies

Game Details

Who: Virginia Cavaliers (21-13) vs. St. Bonaventure Bonnies (22-9)

When: Tuesday, March 22nd at 7pm

Where: John Paul Jones Arena in Charlottesville, Virginia

How to watch: ESPN

All-time series: this is the first meeting between Virginia and St. Bonaventure

By the Numbers

Virginia	By the Numbers	St. Bonaventure
62.7	Points Per Game	70.3
60.4	Opponent PPG	66.4
45.1%	Field Goal %	45.5%
42.7%	Opponent FG %	42.6%
32.5%	Three-Point FG %	33.2%
33.9%	Opponent 3PT FG %	34.4%
83rd	NET Ranking	85th
72nd	KenPom Ranking	80th
58th	Strength of Record	67th
6-4	Last 10 Games	8-2

Opponent Breakdown: St. Bonaventure

Notable results: Boise State (67-61 W), Clemson (68-65 W), Marquette (70-54), UConn (74-64), Virginia Tech (86-49 L), VCU (73-53 W), Dayton (68-50 L), Davidson (81-76 L), Richmond (71-61 L), Richmond (72-65 W), Colorado (76-68 W), Oklahoma (70-68 W)

St. Bonaventure began the season very strong, winning five straight and eight of the first nine games, including an impressive stretch of victories against Boise State, Clemson, and Marquette at the Charleston Classic. Facing a tough schedule with several games against teams that wound up making the NCAA Tournament, the Bonnies finished the regular season 20-8 overall and finished fourth in the Atlantic 10 standings. St. Bonaventure fell to No. 5 seed Saint Louis, a team the Bonnies had beaten twice in the regular season, by just a single point in a heartbreaking 57-56 loss in the quarterfinals of the Atlantic 10 Tournament.

In the NIT, St. Bonaventure went and took down Colorado in Boulder and Oklahoma in Norman to advance to the quarterfinals. The Bonnies will look to knock off a third-straight major conference opponent on the road and advance to the NIT semifinals at Madison Square Garden.

St. Bonaventure runs a short bench, with five players averaging over 30 minutes played per game, four of whom are averaging over 37 minutes player per game. The Bonnies' starting five all average in double-figures, while the next highest scorer on the roster averages 3.6 points per game.

Jalen Adaway is the team's leading scorer at 15.9 points per game and is the best three-point shooter at 39.2%, but the Bonnies are not generally a very good three-point shooting team at 33.2%. Senior center Osun Osunniyi averages 11.3 points per game on 61.0% shooting from the floor and 7.7 rebounds per game. Jaren Holmes (13.5 ppg), Kyle Lofton (12.8 ppg), and Dominick Welch (11.9 ppg) round out the starting five for the Bonnies. All five of those starters are seniors with a ton of playing experience.

What to Watch For

Stamina and Fatigue

Both the Cavaliers and the Bonnies run a short bench, usually only going around seven-players deep in most games. Both teams also played hard-fought road games that went down to the wire in the second round of the NIT on Sunday night. While Virginia does have the advantage of playing at home, but both teams had to travel after their last games less than 48 hours ago and the Cavaliers also went to overtime in their win at North Texas. Look for fatigue to potentially play a factor late in the game.

Jalen Adaway vs. Reece Beekman

Virginia has put Reece Beekman, an All-ACC Defense selection this season, on some of the most talented guards in college basketball this season. We'll see it again on Tuesday night as Beekman looks to lock down Jalen Adaway, who made the Atlantic 10 All-Conference First Team this season. If Beekman can limit Adaway's playmaking abilities, that will give UVA a massive edge in this battle.

A trip to Madison Square Garden on the line

Both teams are looking to advance to the NIT semifinals for the first time in decades. St. Bonaventure last went to the semifinals in 1977, when the Bonnies won the championship. Virginia seeks its third NIT semifinal appearance. In each of their two previous appearances in the NIT semifinals, the Cavaliers ended up winning the NIT Championship in 1980 and 1992. But ultimately, both the Cavaliers and Bonnies just want to keep their seasons alive for one more game.

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Preview: Virginia Cavaliers vs. St. Bonaventure Bonnies | NIT Men's Basketball

Game Details

By the Numbers

Opponent Breakdown: St. Bonaventure

What to Watch For

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