St Bonaventure/ Cornell Total

YTD: 2-1

2011-'12: 34-23

2010-'11: 2-3-1

2009-'10: 14-7

Coming off a disappointing loss on the CMU / Iowa over on Monday night.

But just as the previous plays this season, a nice early season opportunity opens up tonight as both teams involved are going through a philosophical transition due to roster turnover that the markets haven’t accounted for.

Play: St. Bonaventure / Cornell Over 132

Under Steve Donahue, Cornell was a roster filled with shooters. In his last 4 years there, the Big Red ranked no lower than 25^th in 3PT % and in 2010 (his final year) actually were #1 in the country. Bill Courtney was fully aware of that when he took over the program and the style of players that he inherited. But now entering his 3^rd season, he feels as though the transformation from a jump shooting team into a more athletic, defensive minded team is complete. Quotes in preseason publications support this transition:

"We've got to get a lot more in transition. We have to create some offense off our defense. We won't shoot as many threes. We'll look to post up different guys. We'll look to attack the basket and get fouled. We'll certainly change the way we do things offensively because the last few years we've been doing everything to get a 3-point shot."

Increased pace and foul shot situations are always good for overs.

And this philosophy was realized in their first game this season. Despite 63 – 55 final, the game was played at 71 possessions versus an average paced Western Michigan squad.

On the flip side, we have a St Bonaventure team dealing with the loss of their star Andrew Nicholson who anchored a defense that held opponents to 65.0 ppg and 41.7% shooting from the field. Offensively last year, the Bonnies would be very deliberate with their offensive sets and work the ball inside to Nicholson. This should no longer be the case as they return a deep back court – and overall they return eight players who averaged more than 10 minutes per game last season, and 3 starters.

I also believe we catch a lower total tonight due to the one game sample for the Bonnies with only a 65-55 final in their opener vs Bethune Cookman on their record this season. This result should be taken with a grain of salt as BC ranked #290 in adjusted tempo last year and a much faster pace should be expected tonight. SB played 12 games vs opponents ranked in the top 100 in adjusted tempo last year and those games averaged 66.5 possessions. Cornell fits this profile as they were the Ivy’s fastest paced team, averaging 68.4 possessions per game (#66).

I fully expect to see a game played with at least 65 possessions tonight (KenPom predicts 66). Last year’s game played at the Reilly Center supports this thought as well; a 79-58 final that saw 66 possessions.

Good luck if you decide to make a play

let's do this!!              

   OVER!!

as ugly as the 1st half was, this total still has a shot..

the tempo is there, these fuckers need to make FT's..