By Paul Gotham
Early feedback from St. Bonaventure’s 72-63 win over the University at Buffalo in Big 4 action.
Back-to-back double-doubles for the big fella
Four days after registering 23 points and 11 rebounds in a 74-59 win over Niagara, Youssou Ndoye provided more double vision for fans. The 7-0 center netted 17 and grabbed 13 rebounds. The senior added four blocks, a steal, an assist and one imposing presence in the paint. What doesn’t show up on the stat sheet are the two charges he took, the one ball he saved from going out-of-bounds and the numerous hedges he set 20 feet from the basket on UB ball screens.
Bonnies in good hands with Alston
In little more than three minutes UB cut an 18-point SBU lead in half. Bona head coach Mark Schmidt went to his bench and summoned Iakeem Alston. The junior guard responded with a layup and two assists over the next 2:24 to push the Bona lead back to a dozen at 54-42. In 13 minutes of playing time Alston dished four dimes, scored five points (2-of-3 from the floor and 1-of-2 at the line), bagged three steals and even managed two rebounds while committing exactly ZERO turnovers. Another way to look at Alston’s performance he produced 13 points in 13 minutes.
Consistent defense
Bona held UB to 22-of-57 (38.6 percent) from the floor for the game. That marks the fifth of SBU’s sixth opponent which they have held under 40 percent from the floor. Only Jackson State broke 40, and that was 23-of-57 (40.4 percent). Worth noting that the Bonnies held opponents to 41.7 percent from the floor during the 2011-12 season when they earned an NCAA Tournament bid.
Fear the “Worm”
Nicknamed the “Worm” because he slithers around the paint, Dion Wright netted a season-high 19 on 9-of-17 shooting to go with eight rebounds. The junior forward twice went with a spin dribble in the lane and a finish with a finger roll.
Sweeping the Big 4
With the win Bona goes 3-0 against the Big 4 for the season. The Bonnies defeated Niagara, 74-59 on Saturday and Canisius 59-53 the week before that. It is first time since 2011-12, Andrew Nicholson’s senior season, Bona swept all three Western New York schools.
Having a game in 4:02
At the 14:08 mark, UB trailed by 16. At 9:52, the deficit was cut to eight. In between the Bulls Shannon Evans accounted for 12 points. The sophomore guard netted nine in three straight possessions starting with a pair of and ones before connecting from behind the arc. Evans let teammate Raheem Johnson convert a pair of free throws before drilling another trey to to trim SBU lead to single digits at 50-42.
Undermanned
The Bulls were without forwards Xavier Ford and Rodell Wiggington. The pair combine for 9.8 points and 9.6 rebounds a game. Wiggington is sick. Ford is going through protocol after suffering a concussion in Saturday’s game. On having to game plan without the two, UB head coach Bobby Hurley commented: “It was a nightmare especially for Rodell. He had been at practice the last two days. He came down with a high temperature this morning. It was unexpected. It forced us to play guys who haven’t been playing… It’s nice to have a chance to experiment some because things weren’t really working that well.”
They said it
SBU’s Mark Schmidt: “This was the biggest test. This was we felt like an Atlantic 10 team coming in here. The kids responded. This was the first big test. They stepped up to the plate. I’m not sure they hit a home run, but they hit at least a double.”
SBU’s Dion Wright: “We don’t care about what happens on offense. We got to trust in our defense. That’s what we did tonight.”
Hurley: “We made a heckuva run to cut it to seven. For the way we played throughout that game, I don’t think we had much business being that close, but we were.”
Going forward
UB (4-2) travels to Robert Morris for a 1 p.m. tip on Sunday.
Bona has their first true road game at Ohio on Saturday. A 1 p.m. tip is slated.
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