Photo courtesy of gobonnies.com
BY: WILL NUNN; CO-EDITOR-IN-CHIEF, SPORTS EDITOR
The St. Bonaventure University men’s basketball team travels to Amherst, N.Y. for the 19th installment of their rivalry with the University at Buffalo Saturday.
The Bonnies have won 13 of the previous 18 meetings against the Bulls, including winning three of the last four matchups.
Both teams enter Saturday’s game with hopes of continuing their winning ways. The Bonnies sit at 8-1 on the season and are winners of three in a row. The Bulls are one of just 16 undefeated teams in the country, sitting at 8-0 on the year for just the second time in school history, including 4-0 on their home floor.
The main catalyst for the Bulls’ hot start has been sophomore guard Daniel Freitag. A transfer from the University of Wisconsin, Freitag is averaging 20.1 points and 4.3 rebounds per game, shooting 44.1% from the floor and 40.8% from beyond the arc. Freitag is the two-time reigning Mid-Atlantic Conference Player of the Week and scored a career-high 33 points in a game against the University of Vermont on Nov. 18.
Junior guard Ryan Sabol complements Freitag in the Bulls’ backcourt averaging 14.9 points and 3.0 assists per game. Graduate guard Angelo Brizzi adds 13.3 points and 2.3 steals per game for the Bulls.
The Bonnies are led offensively by junior guard Darryl Simmons II and senior forward Frank Mitchell. Simmons scores 15.4 points per game on 45.1% shooting, including 40.0% from three. Mitchell adds 15.3 points and 10.3 rebounds per game, shooting 52.1% from the field. Mitchell has tallied six double-doubles in the Bonnies’ nine games played this season.
Both Bonaventure and Buffalo find success from a slow, methodical style of play on the offensive side of the ball. Both squads rank in the bottom third in the country in adjusted tempo, but top half in the nation in offensive rating.
The game is scheduled to tip off at 2 p.m. Saturday at Alumni Arena. The contest will be streamed live on ESPN+ and be broadcast on the Bonnies Online Network.
