Examining the CU Buffs’ NIT first round opponent: St. Bonaventure

Taking a look at St. Bonaventure

The Colorado Buffaloes came pretty close to stealing a bid in the NCAA Tournament. However, they weren’t able to defeat Arizona for the second time in two weeks and lost to the Wildcats on Friday in the Pac-12 Tournament semifinals.

Nonetheless, the Buffs are playing postseason basketball and got a spot in the NIT. Even better, the Buffs got a home game as the four-seed and face St. Bonaventure.

The game is in Boulder on Tuesday at 9 p.m., and here’s a quick dive into St. Bonaventure.

Record: 20-9 overall, 12-5 Atlantic 10

The Bonnies finished fourth in the A-10 behind Davidson, VCU and Dayton in another strong year for the conference.

The Bonnies’ biggest victory came against Boise State in Idaho back in November, and they defeat Richmond (which earned a 12-seed in the Big Dance).

St. Bonaventure has five scorers averaging double figures: Jalen Adaway (16 points per game), Jaren Holmes (13.6), Kyle Lofton (13), Dominick Welch (11.9) and Osun Osunniyi (11.3).

After that, the next highest scorer is Abdoul Karim Coulibaly, who averaged just 3.7 PPG.

The Bonnies primarily run a six-man rotation, and they run a four-guard lineup. That makes things interesting for both sides.

The Buffs have leaned heavily on Jabari Walker and Evan Battey this year, and the Bonnies might need to shift things a bit to deal with the big men from Colorado.

On the other hand, the Buffs will need to find a way to deal with that lineup as well. It goes both ways.

The most notable stat about the Bonnies is they take care of the basketball. They’re 34th in turnovers and 33rd in assist/turnover ratio and are somehow 24th in blocked shots, although Osunniyi averages 2.9 per game.

The Buffs won’t have it easy on Tuesday night.

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