By CHUCKIE MAGGIO
The St. Bonaventure Bonnies are still the Atlantic 10 champions until someone knocks them off. Whether or not the Davidson Wildcats, who upset Alabama last week, are that team largely depends on if Bona can reclaim its defensive edge.
If that stifling defense reappears, with Kyle Lofton locking down the opposing point guard and Jaren Holmes darting into passing lanes while Osun Osunniyi nullifies any mistakes made in front of him by swatting shots into the third row, SBU is still the team to beat.
Davidson did not display the same explosive scoring penchant it showed against the Tide during back-to-back losses to the Bonnies last season. Only two Wildcats reached double-figure points in each half of that home-and-home: Carter Collins and Luka Brajkovic with 16 and 12, respectively, at Belk Arena; Kellan Grady and Hyunjung Lee with 18 each at the Reilly Center.
Collins is at Murray State now, Grady at Kentucky.
Alabama surrendered 92 points to a disorganized Memphis team on Dec. 14 after allowing back-to-back 82-point games against Gonzaga and Houston. Good on the Crimson Tide for scheduling Davidson on short notice; many teams can’t slow Bob McKillop’s offense after a week of preparation.
Davidson would be a poor matchup for St. Bonaventure right now, with SBU’s defense experiencing a steep regression since the Charleston Classic. But on Feb. 1, the schools’ first and only scheduled regular season meeting, SBU is scheduled to have played half of its A-10 regular season games.
If the Bonnies aren’t a stout defensive unit again by then, they won’t be in the conversation for an A-10 title anyway.
The Wildcats and Dayton Flyers toppled Associated Press Top 10 opponents since Bona won in Charleston and, as a result, have each taken a turn as the conference’s “it” team. Dayton’s luster dulled quickly with losses at SMU and Ole Miss, which, combined with early-season home losses to UMass-Lowell, Lipscomb and Austin Peay, erased the Flyers’ chance at an at-large NCAA Tournament bid.
The Bonnies, you may remember, didn’t open last season’s conference campaign considered the “hunted.” Richmond, the preseason league favorite, had stunned Kentucky at Rupp Arena that November. Saint Louis, the preseason No. 2, had a 7-1 non-conference.
The 2019-20 Dayton Flyers were a unicorn, breezing through non-league play with just two overtime losses. The 2018-19 VCU regular season championship team was upset by Old Dominion and the College of Charleston before compiling a 16-2 A-10 record. Xavier pounded the 2015-16 Dayton co-champions 90-61; VCU lost three games in a row that same December.
Each of those teams earned an at-large bid without needing to travel to Dayton for the First Four. The Bonnies, who even saw Northern Iowa jump to a Quadrant 3 loss over Christmas, can still accomplish that with another sterling conference title run.
Bonaventure is 23-7 in February and 11-7 in March over the last four seasons. The probability that Bona has not yet played its best basketball is high, which will concern its opponents more than they let on.
“Like Coach always says, we don’t want to peak right now,” Holmes said after Bona’s win over Coppin State. “We don’t want to be the best team in the country right now. We want to fix everything heading towards March, so if we have any issues and flaws right now, let’s get those kinks out the way. I like to live in the present, but I want for our team to be peaking towards March.”
The ‘Cats, we all know, will be a team to reckon with. Bob McKillop’s “worst year” as an A-10 member was still good enough to play in the 8/9 game in the conference tournament; even Stephen Curry’s Warriors have experienced lower valleys recently. Until/unless Davidson can recreate one of its Davidsonian performances in the Reilly Center, however, the Bonnies remain the league favorites.
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