Bonnies Open A-10 Tourney Play against Richmond

March 10, 2009

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Nicholson was named the A-10 Rookie of the Year on Monday.

TOURNAMENT CENTRAL
DATE:Wednesday, March 11, 2009
LOCATION: Atlantic City, N.J.
SITE:Boardwalk Hall (10,000)
TIP-OFF:9:00 p.m.
RADIO:WPIG (95.7 FM) & WHDL (1450 AM) - Olean
WXRL (1300 AM) - Buffalo
WHTK (1280 AM) - Rochester
TALENT:Gary Nease (play-by-play)
Dr. John Watson (Analyst)
WEB AUDIO & VIDEO: www.GoBonnies.com
SERIES: Richmond leads, 9-3
LAST MEETING: Jan. 17, 2009
St. Bonaventure 71, Richmond 67 (Box Score - Pg. 2)
UP NEXT WITH A WIN: Thursday, March 12
vs. #3 Dayton @ 9 p.m.

AT A GLANCE
St. Bonaventure will make its 26th postseason appearance at the Atlantic 10 Tournament on Wednesday when it takes on sixth-seeded Richmond in the opening round at Boardwalk Hall. The Bonnies clinched their first A-10 Tournament berth since 2005 and the No. 11 seed with their 74-68 win over Charlotte on Saturday afternoon. The Brown and White's 15 victories and six A-10 wins are the most since the 2001-02 campaign, while the win over the 49ers also assured the Bonnies of a .500 record or better.

A-10 TOURNEY HISTORY
Making its first A-10 postseason appearance since the league expanded to 14 teams, St. Bonaventure will look to snap a three-game skid in the conference tournament. The Bonnies are 12-25 all-time at the A-10 Tournament with a pair of second place finishes to their credit in 1984 and 2000, respectively. St. Bonaventure will look to improve on its 6-9 record in the opening round and advance to play No. 3 Dayton on Thursday night.

ROOKIE OF THE YEAR
It's been a milestone season for freshman Andrew Nicholson and on Monday afternoon the 6-foot-9 forward was named the Atlantic 10 Rookie of the Year, in voting conducted by the conference's head coaches. Nicholson is just the second player in program history to be named the Rookie of the Year and just the eighth named to the All-Rookie team. So far this season, Nicholson boasts averages of 12.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.7 blocks. The Mississauga, Ontario product leads all freshmen nationally in blocks (79) and field goal percentage (.607) - figures that rank second in the A-10.

SCOUTING THE SPIDERS
Winners of five of its last six, Richmond enters Wednesday's tilt as the tournament's No. 6 seed after finishing in a four-way tie for fifth place in the A-10 standings at 9-7. Led by fourth-year head coach Chris Mooney, who recently received a contract extension, the Spiders are fresh off an 80-75 win over then-No. 17 Xavier in their season finale. Leading the way in the win was ultra-quick point guard Kevin Anderson who finished with 29 points en route to earning the final A-10 Co-Player of the Week honor. Anderson, a second team All-Atlantic 10 selection, leads the team with 16.2 points per game - good for seventh in the A-10. Forming the other half of the All-Conference backcourt is David Gonzalvez. The junior guard ranks among the top three on the team in nearly every statistical category, highlighted by his 15.6 points per game that rank eighth in the conference.

SERIES HISTORY
Richmond has taken nine of the 12 meetings from the Bonnies in the all-time series since joining the A-10 in 2001. St. Bonaventure broke the Spiders' momentum in the series earlier this season with a 71-67 win at the Robins Center. The two teams only postseason meeting came in 2002 at the Atlantic 10 Tournament, as Richmond defeated St. Bonaventure, 78-69, in the quarterfinals.

Nicholson is the third player to win Rookie of the Year in Schmidt's eight seasons as a head coach.

HEAD COACHING MATCHUP
ST. BONAVENTURE HEAD COACH
Mark Schmidt
@ St. Bonaventure: 23-36 (2nd Season)
Overall: 105-126 (8th Season)
Atlantic 10 Record: 8-24
Vs. Richmond: 1-2
Vs. Dayton: 0-2

RICHMOND HEAD COACH
Chris Mooney
@ Richmond: 54-68 (4th Season)
Overall: 72-80 (5th Season)
Atlantic 10 Record: 28-36 (4th Season)
Vs. St. Bonaventure: 4-3

DAYTON HEAD COACH
Brian Gregory
@ Dayton: 123-66 (6th Season)
Overall: same
Atlantic 10 Record: 55-41 (6th Season)
Vs. St. Bonaventure: 6-0

AN EYE FOR TALENT
Out of his eight years as a head coach, Mark Schmidt has landed three players who have gone on to win the conference Rookie of the Year award in their respective leagues. Current freshman Andrew Nicholson became the first player in St. Bonaventure history to win the A-10 Rookie of the Year award this season. Schmidt also recruited Tony Lee and Jeremy Chappell at Robert Morris who both won the NEC Rookie of the Year award under Schmidt in 2003 and 2005, respectively. Both Lee and Chappell went on to win the NEC Player of the Year award in their senior campaigns.

TWO OF A KIND
The team leader in the three major statistical categories, junior Jonathan Hall is looking to become just the second player in program history to lead his club in scoring, rebounding and assists in the same season. Hall's 12.9 points, 6.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists are all team-bests through 29 games. Ahmad Smith is currently the only player to accomplish the feat in program history back in 2004-05, with totals of 14.2 points, 6.2 rebounds and 3.4 assists.

OH CANANDA
Freshman Andrew Nicholson has more than lived up to the hype that crossed the Canadian border with him. The 6-foot-9 forward from Mississauga, Ontario won a program record six A-10 Rookie of the Week honors en route to being named the Rookie of the Year. Nicholson is averaging 12.5 points, 6.0 rebounds and 2.7 blocks per game. He leads all A-10 Rookies in six different categories, ranking second overall in the A-10 in both blocks and field goal percentage. On the season, Nicholson has scored in double figures 20 times, including a team-high three 20-point outings, and has three double-doubles. Nicholson has led the team in scoring nine times and rebounding 10 times, including both in the same game on five occasions. He just missed recording a triple-double at Bucknell with 22 points, eight rebounds and a school record nine blocks. Below is a look at how Nicholson stacks up amongst the league's rookies and leaders.

Category	Stat	A-10 Rookies	A-10 Overall
Scoring	12.5	2nd	-
FG Percentage$	.607	1st	2nd
Rebounding	6.0	1st	15th
Offensive Reb.	2.2	1st	14th
Blocks*	2.7	1st	2nd
Double Figure Pts.	20	2nd	-
Double-Doubles	3	T-1st	T-12th
20-Point Games	3	2nd	T-21st
10-Reb. Games	3	1st	T-15th

* - Ranks 7th nationally and is tops amongst all freshman
$ - Ranks 13th nationally and is tops amongst all freshman

Matthews' 80 three-pointers are the fourth-best total in single-season history.

BOMBS AWAY
Junior Chris Matthews has made a living from beyond the arc this season. Earlier in the year at Dayton, Matthews tied a school record with eight three-pointers en route to a career-high 28 points. The Washington, D.C., native's eight long range makes were the sixth of its kind in program history, while his 80 three-pointers are fourth in the single-season record books. Matthews has made five or more threes in a game five times this season and his 80 trifectas are 57 more than the next highest Bonnie. Matthews' 3.06 trifectas per game in conference play are second amongst the league only leaders, while he ranks fourth in the A-10 overall at 2.8 long range field goals per game. Matthews has 61 percent (80-of-132) of the team's three-pointers this season.

IN A LEAGUE OF HIS OWN
As of Mar. 5, freshman Andrew Nicholson was one of just two players in the entire country to rank in the top 15 nationally in blocks per game (2.7/7th) and field goal percentage (.607/13th). Nicholson leads all freshmen in both categories.

BOARD WORK
After winning the battle on the glass just 12 times all of last season, the Brown and White have responded by out-rebounding 21 of their 29 opponents this year for a +3.8 margin on the glass. The increased effort has come by committee as six different players are averaging 3.4 or more boards per game. St. Bonaventure is the only team in the A-10 to sport three players in the top 20 in rebounding. As a team, the Bonnies have grabbed 10 or more offensive rebounds in 21 games, highlighted by a season-best 24 against Canisius and 20 against UMass. The Brown and White posted their biggest rebound margins of the season at Duquesne, owning the glass by a 52-27 edge, and against UMass, 48-28. The Bonnies sport three players with over 50 offensive boards.

JOHN OF ALL TRADES
Junior Jonathan Hall has shown he can do a little bit of everything this season. Hall ranks among the conference leaders in six different categories and up until last week was one of two players in the A-10 (Duquesne's Aaron Jackson) to rank in the top 20 in scoring, rebounding and assists. Just three games removed from scoring 31 points against Saint Louis, Hall leads the team in scoring (12.9), rebounding (6.4) and assists (3.2). The Miami, Fla. product also averages a team-best 35.4 minutes per game and is second on the team in blocks (17) and steals (33). Hall has shown consistency at the offensive end, finishing in double figures in 21 games, while leading the team in scoring on seven occasions. Below is a look at the number of games Hall has led the team in each category, including ties.

PTS	REB	AST	STL	MINUTES
7	8	12	7	19