University of Richmond Athletics
Men's Basketball GAMEDAY: St. Bonaventure
02/17/2015 | Men's Basketball
OLEAN, N.Y. - With snow falling in Richmond, the Spiders will look north for a trip up to St. Bonaventure in mid-week Atlantic 10 action.
Wednesday's 7 p.m. game will feature two teams in Richmond (13-12, 6-6) and St. Bonaventure (13-10, 6-6) that are looking to make a big push in the final weeks of the season as they both come off losses.
Four players scored in double figures for the Spiders, but it wasn't enough as Richmond fell to George Mason, 71-67, in overtime at the Patriot Center on Saturday. The Spiders played their second overtime game of the year and the 14th game decided by six or fewer points. The game featured 10 ties and 20 lead changes as neither team led by more than five points at any time. Kendall Anthony sent the game to overtime with two tying free throws with less than a second remaining in regulation. T.J. Cline led all scorers with 18 points, including three three-pointers. Josh Jones had his second-straight career performance off the bench, knocking down four threes for a career-high 12 points just days after setting a new career high in rebounds against Fordham.
Wednesday's game will be streamed through the SpiderTV Atlantic 10 Digital Network Player. It is a St. Bonaventure production and is free of charge to all viewers on computers, mobile devices and tablets. Some Spider fans living in upstate New York will be able to watch a regional broadcast on Time Warner Cable SportsChannel. However, that broadcast is only available to regional cable customers and not aired on satellite television. The game will be on the radio on ESPN 950 AM and 93.1 HANK FM with Bob Black and Matt Smith on headset. Sirius channel 136 and XM channel 202 will also pick up the radio broadcast. The audio will be streamed for free on RichmondSpiders.com.
| 2014-15 SPIDER MEN'S BASKETBALL GAMEDAY CENTRAL - ST. BONAVENTURE |
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| Who | Richmond Spiders (13-12, 6-6) at St. Bonaventure (13-10, 6-6) |
| When | Wednesday, Feb. 18, 7 p.m. |
| Where | Olean, N.Y. |
| Venue | Reilly Center (5.480) |
| Live Video | TWCS | Spider TV Atlantic 10 Digital Network Player |
| On Air | Ben Wagner, Richard Walsh |
| Radio | ESPN 950 AM | 93.1 HANK FM | Sirius Ch. 134 | XM Ch. 202 | RichmondSpiders.com |
| On Air | Bob Black, Matt Smith |
| Live Stats | Click Here |
| Game Notes | Notes |
Scouting St. Bonaventure
After picking up big last-second wins over Davidson and VCU, the Bonnies have lost two in a row to UMass and Dayton to fall back to 6-6 in conference play. The Bonnies are without the services of Jaylen Adams (10.0 ppg, 4.5 apg) who is out indefinitely with a finger injury.
Marcus Posley continues to lead the offensive attack with his 16.7 points per game. Youssou Ndoye is a double-double machine with his 12.1 points and 10.5 rebounds per contest.
Series vs. St. Bonaventure
The Spiders won a 60-41 contest over the Bonnies earlier this year at the Robins Center. Richmond now leads the series 15-5, winning six of the last eight games.
SBU, however, has won the last two contests up in Olean as UR is 5-3 all-time at St. Bonaventure.
Nelson-Ododa Out Indefinitely
Richmond forward Alonzo Nelson-Ododa will be out indefinitely after he underwent surgery on Tuesday, Feb. 10.
The surgery repaired a fractured bone around Nelson-Ododa's right eye. He was injured in the first half of Richmond's game against Rhode Island after he received an elbow to the face going for a rebound.
The junior was also diagnosed with a concussion on Sunday night at the hospital.
I Got A Basketball Jones
Richmond has two unrelated Jones' on the squad with ShawnDre' and Josh, both sophomores. While ShawnDre' has been the first player off the bench all year, it's been Josh who has made the huge splash in the last two games.
After averaging just 7.6 minutes per game over the first 20 contests, Jones has averaged 23.5 minutes in the last two games, helping to fill in for Alonzo Nelson-Ododa's absence.
Against Fordham, Jones led the team with a career-high nine rebounds, while at George Mason he hit a career-high four threes to score in double digits (12 pts) for the first time in his career.
Nail-Biting Finishes
The Spiders have had a number of close finishes this season with 14 of 25 games being determined by six or fewer points. Of those 14, eight were decided by a made or missed shot in the waning seconds with two going to overtime.
Richmond is 4-10 in games decided by six or fewer points. The line has been extremely thin on the road where Richmond's point margin is just -4.5 despite a 1-9 record.
The Spiders overcame an eight-point second-half deficit to come back and defeat Fordham with several late threes on Wednesday night.
Second-Half Dominance
The Spiders have been really strong in the second halves of the last nine games, averaging 39.7 points per half and outscoring opponents by 7.3 in the second stanza. The Spiders have also won the rebounding battle (+0.7), turnover battle (+2.0) and shooting battle (.469-.402) in those second halves.
Unfortunately, over that same stretch the Spiders have only averaged 29.2 points in the first half and just 67.3 percent from the line, not leading at halftime in seven of the last nine contests.
Spiders Scoring Well In A-10 Play
Richmond has played very well offensively in 2015. The Spiders have dominated at home in conference play and played the A-10's top teams on the road very closely.
In A-10-only stats, Richmond ranks third in scoring (70.6), fourth in scoring margin (+5.5), third in FG pct (.461), second in FT pct (.748), third in 3PT FG pct (.376), second in assists (14.4), fourth in steals (6.9), second in turnover margin (+3.75) and second in assist/turnover ratio (1.5).
Individually, Kendall Anthony is third with 18.3 ppg, fifth in FT pct (.831) and ninth in 3PT FG pct (.397).
Protecting The Rock
Richmond has been very protective of the ball this season with a stellar backcourt and skilled frontcourt that rarely turns it over. Richmond currently leads the A-10 and ranks seventh in the country for fewest turnovers with 9.8 per game.
The Spiders only committed four turnovers against Northeastern, the best mark since 3/14/13 when Richmond had a three-turnover game against Charlotte. The Spiders have committed single digit turnovers in nine games and only gave up 12 against VCU, one of the nation's top teams in turning teams over.
When Richmond does turn the ball over, they often do it in dead ball situations. UR only allows 10.6 points per game off turnovers and just 4.0 fastbreak points.
