If Wednesday night's 29-point road thrashing of Atlantic 10 power Dayton proved anything, it's that this year's men's basketball team is a force to be reckoned with. But if St. Bonaventure's senior forward Andrew Nicholson has shown anything in his four years with the Bonnies, it's that he's an unstoppable scoring machine.
The Bulls (4-1) will have their hands full on Saturday night as they welcome Nicholson and cross-town rival St. Bonaventure (2-2) to Alumni Arena, where the Bulls will look to post their second consecutive victory over an Atlantic 10 opponent.
After a season in which he was named to the all-Atlantic 10 first team, Nicholson has continued his torrid pace, averaging 16.5 points and 7.6 rebounds per game in the season's early going.
"[Nicholson] is a tremendous player," said head coach Reggie Witherspoon. "He's certainly as good if not better than anyone we've faced this year."
Witherspoon believes his team will have to deploy a more cohesive defensive strategy if the Bulls expect to contain Nicholson.
"[Stopping Nicholson] has got to be a collective effort," Witherspoon said. "It'll have to be something that we all concentrate on – we'll have to do it as a team."
On the offensive side of the ball, sophomore forward Javon McCrea and senior forward Mitchell Watt have morphed into a two-headed monster in their first season starting alongside one another. McCrea, a finalist for the U-19 men's national team and the 2010 Mid-American Conference Freshman of the Year, leads the Bulls in scoring at a 16.8 points per game clip. Watt, a four-year starter, has continued his dominance in the paint with 14.4 points and 7.2 rebounds per game.
In addition to McCrea and Watt, senior guard Zach Filzen has kept pace in the scoring column, adding 15.2 PPG. Filzen believes opposing defenses are forced to "pick their poison" when it comes to doubling the tandem of McCrea and Watt in the post or defending his sharp-shooting prowess on the perimeter.
The Bonnies, too, boast scoring depth in the low post.
The 6-foot-6-inch junior forward Demitrius Conger has the ability to stretch the floor, as he's shot a lofty 40 percent from beyond the arc this season, while recording 13.8 points per game. The Brooklyn native is coming off a 23-point performance against a talented Virginia Tech (5-2) squad.
One storyline to keep an eye on for Saturday night is the ongoing position battle between sophomore point guard Jarod Oldham and his junior counterpart, Tony Watson.
Oldham, who held the starting position entering the season, has struggled of late, bottoming out in a zero-point, two-assist performance in 20 minutes of playing time against Dayton. Those struggles led Witherspoon to call on Watson, who promptly answered the bell with 10 points, four assists, and three rebounds in 23 minutes off the bench.
Regardless of who commands the floor at the point guard position, the Bulls have proven they are loaded with talent up and down their roster. Coming off an unprecedented road win over a consistent NCAA Tournament contender, Witherspoon anticipates his team to carry that momentum into Saturday night's "Big Four" matchup.
"When you go into a hostile environment like [Dayton], you come out of it with a better sense of togetherness and unity," Witherspoon said. "Hopefully we can bring that home with us."
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