2021 March Madness: 5 mid-majors capable of a Final Four run

St. Bonaventure (16-4)

• SEED: 9th (East)
• RANKINGS: 25th (KenPom), 23rd (NET)

CBSSports’ Jon Rothstein’s three-word summarization of Mark Schmidt and the St. Bonaventure Bonnies could not be any more accurate for this year’s team: “More with less.”

Despite having just seven players in the rotation, the Bonnies dominated the Atlantic 10, claiming their first-ever outright regular-season title before scooping up impressive routs of Saint Louis and VCU in the conference tournament.  Much of that can be traced to St. Bonaventure’s impeccable defense, which ranks 17th in defensive efficiency, 32nd in 3P%, 25th in 2P%, 4th in FT%, 13th in effective FG%, and 4th in points per game allowed at 60.1.

That defense – and the Bonnies’ efficient offense, which ranks 38th in the nation – has been spearheaded by the starting five, with all five players being involved in at least 81% of St. Bonaventure’s total minutes.  The engineer of that has been point guard Kyle Lofton, who ranks first among all college basketball players in percentage of minutes (95.9%), and leads the team in points (14.2) and assists (5.5).

Joining him in being the biggest catalyst for the Bonnies’ success is Osun Osunniyi inside, where the big man has thrived with averages of 10.3 points, 9.3 rebounds, 2.4 assists, and an NCAA ninth-best 2.84 blocks.

Those are just two members of St. Bonaventure’s deadly starting-five, which is rounded out by Jaren Holmes, Jalen Adaway, and Dominick Welch – all of whom average over 10 points and five boards per game.  While the lack of depth can be concerning, the Bonnies’ core group have proven to be a nightmare on the defensive end – including in their last two games, where they held stellar Saint Louis and VCU squads to an average of 0.91 points per possession and combined shooting clips of 42.3% (2PT) and 31.4% (3PT).

St. Bonaventure’s draw in the opening round of the NCAA Tournament will be their most difficult challenge yet, with a high-octane LSU offense looking to put an end to the Bonnies’ dreams.  But if St. Bonaventure’s defense can shut LSU down, then a date with a shorthanded, top-seeded Michigan squad awaits – and the Bonnies could legitimately pull off the upset, particularly if Osunniyi is able to make Hunter Dickinson uncomfortable inside.