VCU at St. Bonaventure: 2021-22 college basketball game preview, TV schedule

A battle of undefeated Atlantic 10 squads is on tap for Friday night. St. Bonaventure will VCU on ESPN2 in a pivotal matchup for both teams.

Game time: Friday, January 14, 7:30 p.m. ET
TV schedule: ESPN2
Location: Reilly Center, Saint Bonaventure, NY

It’s still pretty early in the conference season, but early returns in the A-10 indicate that the conference is pretty wide open. Based on the small sample size, Davidson is the early favorite to win the league. But there are a good 4-5 other teams that could end up on top when March rolls around.

Two of those squads will square off on Friday night in New York when St. Bonaventure hosts VCU. The winner remains undefeated. The loser… well, they’ll still be looking okay. But we’ll learn a little bit more about each team. Here’s a breakdown.

First up is VCU at 10-4 (3-0) on the season. They’re fresh off a blowout win over George Washington on Tuesday, and they’ve really only been tested once in A-10 play so far in a game at Dayton. And, thanks to Ace Baldwin, they passed.

Speaking of Baldwin, he’s only played in six games this season coming off an injury, but his impact has been massive. The sophomore guard is averaging 10.8 points and 5.2 assists per game on the season, the latter of which is a team-high. 6’6″ wing Vince Williams is tops on the team in points with 11.3 points per game to go along with 6.0 boards. But as has been the case for VCU over the past dozen or so years, it starts with defense.

The Rams have the third-best defensive efficiency in the country per KenPom, and rank in the top five in effective field goal percentage, turnover percentage, three-point shooting, and non-steal turnover percentage. They’re locking teams down, and it’s giving them the ability to win on nights where maybe their shooting isn’t so hot.

As for the Bonnies, they’re 9-3 (1-0) this season thanks to a tight 80-76 overtime win over La Salle this week. Based on the preseason projections in the conference, that game shouldn’t have been as close as it was. But the Bonnies were coming off a COVID pause that lasted nearly a month. Additionally, the victory snapped a two-game losing streak for Mark Schmidt’s squad. Live game action hopefully helped St. Bonaventure get their feet under them a little bit ahead of the VCU game. If it didn’t, they could be in trouble.

Friday’s game figures to be a classic showdown between a good defense versus a good offense. The Bonnies have five players averaging in double-figures and are a top 50 team nationally in a host of efficiency categories. They’re led by the duo of Jaren Holmes and Kyle Lofton, who are each averaging 15.9 points per contest. Jalen Adaway, Dom Welch, and Osun Osunniyi round out both the starting five and the remainder of the double-figure scorers.

The challenge for Bona has been depth. Outside of those five, SBU hasn’t been getting much from their bench. Are their starters strong enough to outlast the VCU defense? If they are, expect a high-scoring game. Anything in the 60’s should favor the Rams.

Prediction: VCU 65 – St. Bonaventure 60