By SPENCER BATES
WASHINGTON, D.C. — Heading into the Atlantic 10 tournament, the St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team has won four of its last five games for the first time in over two months, it has won two of its last three games on the road and surpassed the 20-win threshold for the 19th time in program history in the process.
But, according to coach Mark Schmidt, none of that matters now. Ahead of his Bonnies, who earned the No. 8 seed in the conference tournament, lies the proverbial “second season.” Every team is 0-0, records don’t matter, and all it takes to send a high-flying team crashing to the ground is one poor possession.
So, when it comes to the biggest X-factor Bona is taking into its second-round game against No. 9 seed Duquesne, it is not the momentum the team has after rounding out the regular season on a high note that Schmidt is focussed on, instead it is the confidence his players are operating with.
“It’s good that we’re playing well, we’re playing with some confidence, but I think the confidence more than momentum is critical,” Schmidt said. “But at the same time you look at Duquesne, they’re coming into the tournament (on the back of) two losses, even though they’ve been close games. I just think the team that plays the best over those 40 minutes is critical. You gotta win the first game. Once you win the first game, then you can gain some momentum and feel good about yourself. But it’s about getting past that first game and we got a difficult first game.”
But one thing that Schmidt anticipates benefitting his side ahead of its fixture with the Dukes is the fact that it will not be a complete road game. In the A10 specifically, Schmidt has pointed out how difficult it is to win on the road thanks to the rambunctious atmospheres and dedicated fan bases littered throughout the conference.
Fortunately for Bona, the A10 tourney will be played at the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C., home of the NBA’s Washington Wizards, a neutral site.
Still, Schmidt is hoping for a bit of luck to be on his team’s side.
“It’s hard on the road, you know, we’re thrilled when we win by one point,” Schmidt said. “On the road, it’s just so much more difficult. The crowd gets involved and so forth, and it’s harder to execute. It’s easier to play on a neutral site than it is to play at someone else’s court. But hopefully, at the end, we can out-execute them, we can have some luck and hopefully the ball goes in for us and the ball hits the rim for them.”
And it will be that sound, one of shot attempts connecting with iron instead of nylon, that Schmidt will hope to hear come the end of Duquesne possessions as shooting percentages will be the biggest determining factor as to which side will emerge victorious.
In the first meeting between the teams, Duquesne shot the lights out and handed Bona what was, at the time, its largest defeat of the season. In the second meeting, in the Reilly Center, it was the Bonnies that had the most success on offense, its defense having stifled the Dukes.
But Schmidt noted the results of those games will not affect his team’s preparation and, in fact, virtually nothing will change in its approach to the game, a rematch of the 2024 A10 Semifinal that saw Duquesne put an end to Bona’s season.
“The saying is, ‘it is hard to beat a team three times,’ we only beat them once, so we’re in a little bit of a different situation,” Schmidt said. “Every game is different, but they’re playing the same way as they did the first game. In the second game, they just didn’t shoot the ball as well and that was one of the reasons why we won. But they’re a really good rebounding team, they’re a good defensive team. You got to keep them away from second-chance opportunities. We got to be able to get more shots than they do, try to keep them in the half court, try to keep the ball above the foul line, post defense with their big guys, and then keep them off the backboard. … They’re really athletic, they’re long, so that’s going to be a big key. … If we can do those things, then we have a good chance of winning. If we don’t, and Duquesne does those things better, then they’re going to win. You can’t play not to lose. You got to play loose and you can’t feel like it’s your last game. You just got to go out there and enjoy yourself.”
And it is no surprise who Schmidt will be looking towards to lead the lines heading into D.C. as many of his players will be navigating their first A10 tournament.
Noel Brown and Melvin Council Jr. have provided the Bonnies with a more-than-solid foundation this season, the former showing his worth in the second half of their most recent game, a win over Davidson in which he recorded all 16 of his points in the affair in the second half after some early foul trouble.
Simply put, as Brown and Council go, so too will the rest of the Bonnies.
“We’ve relied on (Noel) and Melvin the whole year,” Schmidt said. “When they play well we usually have some success. They’re the guys that practice the best, and they’re the guys that get guys excited to play. Noel played two minutes in the first half against Davidson, he had two dumb fouls, but he came back and he carried us, especially in the beginning of the second half. When he’s scoring the ball inside, we’re that much of a better team. When he’s on the court, we’re that much of a better team. We’re down because of injuries, and he’s really our only big guy. So, he needs to be out on the court, not sitting on the bench.”
Come gametime, Bona will rely on, not its recent successes, but the confidence it has built as a result, as it looks to take the first step in achieving the goal Schmidt, Brown and Council have had since the beginning to the season: win the A10.
St. Bonaventure and Duquesne will tip-off at 11:30 a.m. on March 13 in the Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
