College basketball has been popular across the Western New York region for decades, however today’s matchup between the UB Bulls(4-2, 0-0) and the No. 25 St. Bonaventure Bonnies(6-1, 0-0) sets up to be one of the best ever. The Bonnies have found a number next to their name early on this season as UB was also picked to win their conference in preseason polls.
UB won the last meeting between the two programs and was their first ever win at the Reilly Center. This time, UB will find themselves as slight underdogs against the Bonnies heading in to Olean. The Reilly Center will be raucous trying to propel their Bonnies to a win to continue climbing the rankings.
Last Time Out
UB had a tune-up against NAIA-opponent Point Park that they dominated 94-49 in their last time out. Josh Mballa and Jeenathan Williams led the way for the Bulls with 19 and 18 points respectively. The Bulls had a chance to get their bench some solid minutes including 20 minutes for freshman Curtis Jones and 10 minutes for Jamon Bivens. UB easily handled their lesser opponents a loss, something their opponents the Bonnies struggled with.
St. Bonaventure struggled a bit with one-win Coppin State and even worse was the injury sustained by senior guard Kyle Lofton. Another slow start saw the Bonnies trailing by four heading into halftime. Senior guard Jaren Holmes was up to task of pulling the Bonnies back with 24 points on 10-for-14 shooting while adding 10 rebounds.
Talent and size took over for the Bonnies in the second half. Senior forward Jalen Adaway tallied 16 rebounds including five on the offensive glass. The Bonnies ran away with things at the end, however Lofton went down with about 2 minutes remaining after a 16-point performance.
Lofton OUT for UB-Bonnies
Lofton is the point guard for the Bonnies and arguably their most important. Luckily for Bonnies fans, Lofton should be back and healthy for A-10 play as he avoided any structural damage outside of the ankle sprain. There are a bunch of bucket getters on the St. Bonaventure roster, but all of them will tell you, things are easier when Lofton is running the offense.
The Bonnies do not just try to run up-and-down the court the way that Buffalo does, but instead they rely on Lofton to quarterback their half court offense. Strong defense and efficiency offensively have been the recipe for the Bonnies’ recent successes, but that could be seriously affected with Lofton out of the lineup.
UB-Bonnies Podcast Preview
Bonnies Perspective
Mitch:
Bonnies 68
SUNY Amherst 60
St Bonaventure’s point guard and 2nd-leading scorer, Kyle Lofton, went down with an ankle sprain this week and won’t be available for the game this Saturday. Real bad news for this team as he is the leader of this team and the offense runs through him. Wake Forest transfer, Quadry Adams will have to step up, not to fill that role, but to be efficient enough to keep the offense and defense rolling. Leading scorer, Jaren Holmes will likely move over to run the point and he will have to have a big game to beat Buffalo.
UB’s center, Josh Mballa is a pivotal part of their offensive game plan, but St Bonaventure is anchored by one of the best shot blockers in the country in Osun Osunniyi. Osun will have one of his toughest challenges this season to shut down Mballa and protect the paint. Bonnies will meet again with a familiar face in Maceo Jack, a former A-10 foe George Washington transfer. This will be a huge test for Mark Schmidt and the Bonnies this Saturday. If the short handed Bonnies can stay out of foul trouble and start out hot from the field, I think the Bonnies get the win in what will be a sold out, rowdy Reilly Center this Saturday.
Matt:
It is no secret that the success of the Bonnies is very reliant on the status of PG Kyle Lofton in tomorrow’s game. As of right now, there is no official word on Lofton, but just from watching the injury take place 15 feet in front of me Wednesday night, I assume that he will not be out there tomorrow afternoon. With that being said, this game has all the sudden become a true toss up.
Senior guard Jaren Holmes will most likely handle the point guard duties, as Wake Forest transfer Quadry Adams would be set to play his biggest role of the season if Lofton cannot go. The Bonnies have given up way too many points in each of their last two games, so my eyes are strictly on the defense in tomorrow’s game. The slow starts are something they need to put to rest, and giving up 80+ points a game is not the way the Bonnies want to play games.
If Lofton goes, I think it’s a Bonnies win, but as I said, I doubt that. Without him, I have my real doubts, and wouldn’t be shocked to see the UB Bulls victorious on the Reilly Center floor. Either way, I think we are in for a good one.
Degenerate Danger Zone
St. Bonaventure -3.5
SBU ML (-170) | UB ML (+137)
Over/Under 144.5
Tune In
Watch:
The game can be found live on the NBC Sports Digital app as well as nbcsports.com starting at 4 P.M.
Play-by-play: Ahmed Fareed
Analyst: John Giannini
Listen:
Buffalo: 1520 AM
Rochester: 1280 AM
Play-by-play: Josh Whetzel
Analyst: Jon Fuller
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