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CLEVELAND – The St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team will face Ohio on Saturday (Dec. 13) in the Cleveland Hoops Showdown at Rocket Arena. Tipoff is scheduled for 5 p.m. ET.
The game will be streamed live on passthaballlive.com. Please note that this platform requires a paid subscription. Fans may listen to the game for free on the Bonnies Online Network or terrestrially on 100.1 FM The Hero (Bradford and Olean), 1340 AM (Jamestown), WYSL 92.1 or 95.5 FM (Rochester), and WLEA 92.1 or 106.9 FM (Hornell).
Chairman of the Boards
St. Bonaventure forward Frank Mitchell has been one of the most impactful players in the country this season. Mitchell posted 19 points and 18 rebounds (11 offensive) in Wednesday’s win over Colgate (Dec. 10).
He became the first St. Bonaventure player to have at least 18 points and 18 rebounds in a game since fellow Canadian Andrew Nicholson did so in 2012.
The double-double was Mitchell’s fifth straight, a feat that also hasn’t been accomplished since Nicholson in 2010. During the streak, Mitchell is averaging 14.0 points, 13.0 rebounds, 3.2 assists, 1.0 steals and 1.0 blocks per game.
With seven double-doubles, the senior is tied for second-most in the country as of Thursday (Dec. 8).
Most Double-Doubles in NCAA Division I
Rank Name School #
1 Delricco Gillespie Kent State 9
2 Frank Mitchell St. Bonaventure 8
3 Michael Ajayi Butler 7
3 Demetrius Lilley Binghamton 7
Mitchell is averaging 11.3 rebounds per game, which leads all players in the Atlantic 10 conference and ranks fifth nationally.
Most Rebounds per Game in NCAA Division I
Rank Name School #
1 Duke Brennan Villanova 12.0
2 Delricco Gillespie Kent State 11.7
3 Michael Ajayi Butler 11.6
4 JT Toppin Texas Tech 11.5
5 Frank Mitchell St. Bonaventure 11.3
Mitchell’s rebounding average puts him on pace to record 350 rebounds on the season, which would be the fifth-most in a season by a St. Bonaventure player.
The senior has led St. Bonaventure in rebounds in all 11 games this season. The Bonnies are 8-0 when Mitchell has 10-or-more rebounds, and 10-0 when he records seven-or-more rebounds.
Mitchell is no stranger to the top of the national leaderboards. In 2023-24 with Canisius, he averaged 11.6 rebounds per game, the fourth-most in Division I.
Put a Bowen on it
Point guard Dasonte Bowen has been extremely effective at the free throw line to close games this season. In the last two minutes of games, Bowen is 10-for-10 from the charity stripe this season.
He went 6-for-6 to close a nine-point win over East Carolina on Nov. 27. Then, on Wednesday night against Colgate, Bowen went 4-for-4 down the stretch to secure another victory.
Bowen finished the game 7-for-7 from the line en route to a season-best 15 points. He added a career-best nine assists and six rebounds.
The redshirt junior’s nine assists were the most by any St. Bonaventure player this season and tied for the most by any player in the Atlantic 10.
The Boston native has dramatically improved his offensive efficiency after a shaky start to the season. Over his last five games, Bowen is averaging 10.0 points and 4.6 assists while shooting 53 percent (16-for-30) from the field. He shot just 37.2 percent in St. Bonaventure’s first six games.
Bowen is currently leading the Atlantic 10 by a wide margin and ranks 56th in Division I with an assist-to-turnover ratio of 3.21.
Highest Assist-Turnover Ratio in the Atlantic 10
Rank Name School #
1 Dasonte Bowen St. Bonaventure 3.21
2 Christian Henry Fordham 2.50
3 Ashton Walker La Salle 2.44
Bowen is averaging 4.1 assists per game on the season, fourth-most in the conference.
Most Assists per Game in the Atlantic 10
Rank Name School #
1 Christian Henry Fordham 5.5
2 Tarence Guinyard Duquesne 5.1
3 Justin Moore Loyola Chicago 4.8
4 Dasonte Bowen St. Bonaventure 4.1
5 Kory Mincy George Mason 4.0
Count on Cayden
Cayden Charles continued to be a reliable option for St. Bonaventure in Wednesday’s win over Colgate, posting a team- and season-best 20 points alongside 10 rebounds. Charles shot 5-for-7 from the field in the second half, scoring 12 points to help lead the Bonnies’ comeback.
Despite Mitchells eight double-doubles, Charles became the first St. Bonaventure player to have at least 20 points and 10 rebounds in a game this season. It was the fifth time in his career that he has reached the 20-10 mark, but the first time he has done so at the Division I level.
The Nerd Corner
In the latest NET rankings published by the NCAA on Thursday (Dec. 11), the Bonnies ranked 78th.
In TeamRankings.com’s RPI rankings, St. Bonaventure was ranked eighth in the nation on Thursday, and reached as high as sixth in the country on Wednesday (Dec. 10).
In Faktor Sports’ KPI rating, a metric used by the NCAA Tournament Selection committee, St. Bonaventure ranked 16th in the nation and first in the Atlantic 10 on Thursday. According to NCAA.com, “KPI ranks every team’s wins and losses on a positive-to-negative scale, where the worst-possible loss receives a value of roughly around -1.0 and the best-possible win receives a value of roughly 1.0. KPI then averages these scores across a season to give a score to a team’s winning percentage. The formula uses opponent’s winning percentage, opponent’s strength of schedule, scoring margin, pace of game, location, and opponent’s KPI ranking.”
The Reilly Center has provided the Bonnies a significant advantage at home this season, as evidenced by KenPom’s home court advantage rating. St. Bonaventure is ranked 14th in the entire nation, placing ahead of high-major teams such as Kansas (15th) and Auburn (17th).
OHIO NOTES:
- Ohio enters Saturday’s game at 3-6 overall, having won each of its last two games.
- The Bobcats are led by Jackson Paveletzke, who is averaging 17.2 points per game.
- Ohio fell to Atlantic 10 member George Mason, 92-69, at a neutral site on Nov. 24.
- St. Bonaventure leads the all-time series with Ohio, 8-5.
- The Bobcats won the last matchup between the two schools on Nov. 5, 2019.
- The Bonnies and Bobcats played in an instant classic in 2012, going to four overtimes in a 112-107 St. Bonaventure victory on Dec. 18, 2010.
- Bonnies legend Andrew Nicholson had a career-best 44 points in the game. That single game total has only been matched once by a St. Bonaventure player since (Jaylen Adams vs. Saint Louis; Feb. 17, 2018), and has not been exceeded.
