BY: CARSON HAYEK; SPORTS EDITOR
Photo Courtesy of gobonnies.com
The 2024-25 Bonaventure men’s basketball season has ended, and the season was a fascinating one. A season that saw the team start 14-1, finish 8-12 and go 9-9 in conference play has led to many questions about the state of the team entering the offseason. Here are the final takeaways from the 2024-25 season.
- The Bonnies’ Poor Shooting Limited Their Ways to Victory
On the season, the Bonnies scored 68.6 points per game, which was second last in the Atlantic 10 Conference. Of the bottom seven teams in the conference in points per game, only three had winning records.
The Bonnies struggled to shoot 3-pointers, as they shot 31.2% from the perimeter, which was second last in the conference, and a middling of the pack at 44.6% from the field. When the Bonnies shot over 40% from the field, they were 18-6, but when they shot less than 40%, they were 2-6.
Following their NIT loss to Kent State, Bonaventure head coach Mark Schmidt acknowledged that the Bonnies shooting wasn’t a strength.
“We don’t shoot the ball well,” Schmidt said. “That’s one area where we have to win, and they dominated us in that. We [were also] sloppy on the foul line. We shot six of 13, and we just didn’t play well enough.”
If the Bonnies’ strong defense had an off night, it was very rare for the Bonnies offense to hide those deficiencies and carry a path to victory. That was shown with the Bonnies going 2-7 when the team was trailing at the half.
- Defense Was One Of the Best in the Conference
The Bonnies’ defense allowed 65.2 points per game, which ranked third least in the A-10. Of the top eight teams in least points allowed per game in the conference, seven of the eight teams had 20 or more wins. The strong defense allowed the Bonnies to have an average point margin of +3.4 points per game.
The Bonnies also ranked in the top half of the conference in field goal percentage allowed (42.2%), 3-point percentage allowed (32.8%), opponent rebounds (32.9) and steals per game (7.5).
Schmidt repeatedly stated that the team needed to have a strong defensive outing if they were going to be successful.
“You win in this league by playing defense and rebounding,” Schmidt said. “You don’t win in this league by outscoring people. We have [got to play great defense] night in and night out.”
- The Team Rarely Hurt Themselves
The Bonnies were disciplined in both turnovers and fouls this season. Bonaventure turned the ball over third-least per game in the conference and took the ball away sixth most in the conference. The Bonnies were second-best in the A-10 in turnover margin per game (+2.1). Of the 34 games played, Bonaventure had equal or fewer turnovers than their opponent in 27 games.
Bonaventure only took 13.5 personal fouls per game, which was not only the least in its conference but sixth least in the country. The Bonnies had equal or fewer fouls than their opponent in 21 games.
According to Schmidt, smart decisions with the ball and discipline were also vital to the team having success.
“We have to take care of the basketball,” Schmidt said. “If you don’t take care of the basketball… you have no chance. [If we can] take care of the basketball, we have a chance to be successful.”
