By CHUCKIE MAGGIO
Game preparation looks different when you meet a team for the second time in four days.
A St. Bonaventure coaching staff that examines copious amounts of game film to scout each opponent has a lighter load for Round 2 against Saint Louis. The Bonnies’ initial game plan worked against the Billikens; now the focus is on minor adjustments for Monday’s rematch (5 p.m., CBS Sports Network).
“If we were playing somebody else, then we’d be watching hours and hours of tape of that next opponent,” Bonnies coach Mark Schmidt acknowledged. “But the game against Saint Louis, it would just be watching the game that we just played and trying to make corrections.”
The corrections Bona makes after Friday night’s 68-61 victory over Saint Louis will verge on nitpicking. Schmidt’s charges made half of their field goal attempts and held the Billikens under 40 percent in the second half. The Bonnies played the cleaner, more physical game and won the objectively tougher half of the home-and-home series, prevailing in hostile territory.
Saint Louis has already won a rematch with an Atlantic 10 opponent three days after losing to them, albeit winning the home game, when it responded to a 91-85 loss at UMass with a 90-59 thumping on Jan. 23. The Billikens are 5-1 after a loss this season, winning four of the five by double-digits.
SLU coach Travis Ford told the St. Louis Post-Dispatch that Bonaventure’s “maturity really showed” after falling behind by 11 points halfway through the first half. A 16-0 Bonnies run ensued and SBU never trailed again.
The Billikens, who not only graduated second and third-leading scorers Jordan Goodwin and Hasahn French last May but lost Javonte Perkins to an ACL injury in the preseason, are the 15th-least experienced team in the country according to KenPom.com. The maturity gap Ford perceived on Friday is an aspect that Bonaventure, the 10th-most experienced group, looks to take advantage of again on Monday.
Schmidt would not go as far as to say Friday’s win, or Monday’s game, can serve as a springboard for the team as it strives to earn a double-bye in next month’s A-10 Tournament. A victory would, however, secure a key standings tiebreaker with the Billikens, who currently hold the No. 4 spot in the league at 8-3.
“It was a great victory,” Schmidt allowed on Friday night. “We’ll celebrate tonight and tomorrow morning, (then) we’ll get back to work, look at the tape and try to get better so we can play even better on Monday.”
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