PHOTO COURTESY OF GOBONNIES
BY JONNY WALKER, ADVISORY EDITOR
PITTSBURGH — The St. Bonaventure men’s basketball team visits Duquesne Tuesday night, looking to improve to .500 in Atlantic 10 Conference play.
Winless in January, the Dukes (9-8, 0-5 A-10) have dropped each of their last two contests by just two points. The Bonnies (11-6, 2-3 A-10) have lost three of their last four. Despite averaging nearly 75 points per game this season, Bona averaged less than 63 points in those three losses — including a 60-point dud at George Mason Saturday afternoon.
“We got to be more consistent,” said Bona head coach Mark Schmidt. “We can’t have those lulls on offense that we had against [George] Mason.”
Bona forward Chad Venning led all scorers against George Mason with 17 points. However, the big man needed 14 field-goal attempts to get there.
“But he [Venning] shot 5-14, which is about 35%. Big guys need to shoot 55, 60%,” said Schmidt. “We struggled against the double teams … We’ve got to play much better, inside and out, against Duquesne if we’re going to win.”
For the third-straight game, Bona appears prepared to trot out a starting lineup that favors Moses Flowers over Daryl Banks III at shooting guard. Banks will also resume backup point-guard duties as Schmidt said junior guard Kyrell Luc is “still working his way back” from an ankle injury.
Duquesne features two preseason all-conference selections in senior guards Dae Dae Grant and Jimmy Clarke III. The duo boasts a combined scoring average of 34.5 points per game — although Grant has missed the Dukes’ last-two games with a concussion.
“They’re two of the best guards in our league,” said Schmidt. “They can shoot it, they can take you off the bounce, they have a middle game … You just try to make them work for everything.”
Grant’s status for Tuesday remains unclear.
Tipoff from UPMC Cooper Fieldhouse is set for 7 p.m. and will stream live on ESPN+.
walkerjc20@bonaventure.edu
