By SPENCER BATES
ST. BONAVENTURE — St. Bonaventure men’s basketball head coach Mark Schmidt wanted his side to get off to a fast start.
Hosting the No. 24 ranked team in the nation, he wanted to get the fans into the game and make it as difficult as possible for Saint Louis to get comfortable.
Unfortunately for him, the reverse occurred.
The Billikens were on fire from the first whistle. They shot the lights out and had an answer for just about everything the Bonnies tried to throw at them. It was a game that was never out of the visitors’ control as they led wire-to-wire and handed Bona a heavy 97-62 defeat.
“All the credit goes to Saint Louis,” Schmidt said. “That’s probably one of the best halves of basketball that I’ve coached against in my career. Everything they shot went in. In order for us to have a chance tonight, I thought we needed to get off to a good start and get the crowd involved. But when they go 13-for-18 from the 3-point line and have (Robbie) Avila out there, there’s only so much stuff you can do.”
The Billikens’ efficiency from beyond the 3-point line was off the charts. Entering the game, they averaged just over 10 made 3s per game — they surpassed that number in the first half alone. A number of those long range baskets were open chances that came as a result of extremely fluid and smart ball movement. But a fair number were contested, and still, the Bonnies could do nothing but watch as the shots kept falling and the gap between them and their guests widened.
Schmidt gave his team credit for staying in the game and not calling it in when they were down by 32 at the break. But when all was said and done, Saint Louis went 19-of-33 (57.6%) from range and 37-for-64 from the field overall (57.8%), near-unbeatable numbers Schmidt noted.
“Some of them were open shots, some of them were contested shots, but once they got it going, it was hard to stop them,” Schmidt said. “To give our guys credit, in the second half we didn’t lay down. We kept on fighting, and that’s a good sign. But all the credit goes to Saint Louis, they’re the best team in the league for a reason. They got good players, and when they shoot the ball like that, they’re going to be really difficult to beat.”
According to Schmidt, a big reason for how Saint Louis was able to find so many open looks was the presence of Avila. An Atlantic 10 preseason first-teamer, Avila orchestrated the offense, pulling the strings while demanding attention as well. He missed just one shot all night, went 3-for-3 from beyond the arc and dished out five assists to his one turnover.
“They space you out and you have to spend so much time on (Avila),” Schmidt said. “You look at his stat sheet and he only had nine points and five rebounds, but he just controls the game. Everything goes through him. It’s just difficult when they make shots like that. Any team making 19 3s, you’re not gonna beat them.”
St. Bonaventure’s Darryl ‘Buddy’ Simmons II (8) looks to attack the Saint Louis defense. Simmons scored 12 points for the Bonnies in their loss to the Billikens. (Hunter O. Lyle)
The offense of the Billikens overpowered the Bonnies, that was plain to see. But what allowed Saint Louis to open up such a wide margin was its defense. No matter what Bona came up with, no matter how far into his bag of tricks Schmidt went, there was just no solving the lengthy and athletic defense it faced.
Bona shot just 34.4% (21-for-61) from the field and 18.2% (4-for-22) from 3-point territory.
“They’re a good defensive team, they’re the best team in the league, (they hold teams to) 35% (from the field) and 26% from 3,” Schmidt said. “So we knew it was going to be a difficult game scoring the ball. When they’re scoring, it’s more difficult attacking them five-on-five. We got to get out on the break. We got to get fast break points. We got to get points off turnovers, and we were unable to do that. That was the difference.”
Bona got virtually no support from its bench on the night either. Achille Lonati and Andrew Osasuyi chipped in seven and five points, respectively. Osasuyi and Joe Grahovac (who was held scoreless) reeled in four rebounds apiece.
“Those guys have to be more productive,” Schmidt said. “It’s hard, those guys are young guys. None of them have played Division One basketball before, and they’re playing at a level that’s challenging. So we’re going to have to have some patience with those guys. It’s not going to happen right away, they’re still learning.”
On the other side, Saint Louis got 46 points from its bench. Most of which came courtesy of Ishan Sharma, who broke his previous career-high in the first half alone, going into the break with 18 points. He ultimately finished with a game-high 29 as he went 9-for-12 from deep.
The Bonnies’ leading scorer on the night was Dasonte Bowen, who tied his career-high of 17 points on 7-for-11 shooting. Darryl ‘Buddy’ Simmons II was the only other Bona player that reached double digits in the score column, finishing with 12 points to his name.
St. Bonaventure’s chance to bounce back into the win column will come on Jan. 28 at Duquesne. Tip-off for that game is set for 7 p.m.
