St. Bonaventure Basketball: How do the Bonnies match up with Florida?

Win the turnover battle

Neither one of these teams turns the ball over very often. In a game that will limit fast break opportunities, take advantage of them when they come is vital. Overall, Florida is the more talented team compared to St. Bonaventure. This means that the Bonnies will need to find advantages where they can in this matchup.

On the season, Florida turns the ball over the sixth-best rate in the country, only on 14.3% of possessions. However, will St. Bonaventure’s defense, which is 46th in the nation at forcing turnovers (20.7% of possessions) be able to force Chris Chiozza and Co. into mistakes? Creating turnovers will benefit St. Bonaventure in many ways. While the obvious one is potentially adding fastbreak points, they will also be able to speed up the pace of the game and draw fouls on the Gators.

We have already talked about how important it is that St. Bonaventure forces turnovers but they also need take care of the ball. This is typically not a problem for the Bonnies, who commit turnovers on 16.1% of possessions (35th in the land), but the Gators force a fair number of giveaways. Opponents of Florida this season turned the ball over on 20.1% of possessions (75th in the country).