Boardwalk Bound
Tim Gross
Issue date: 3/12/10 Section: Sports
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Image courtesy of Sara Regal
On Feb. 17, Mark Schmidt slogged to his seat in the press room at the Reilly Center, one as warm as it's been in his three years as the Bonnies' coach. His team had just suffered its sixth defeat in its last seven outings, as a five-point halftime deficit turned into an 18-point loss to then-No. 21 Temple.
At 10-14 with only three conference victories, the Bonnies' drive for their second-consecutive Atlantic 10 conference tournament berth reached a patch of uncertainty. And Schmidt, the answer behind the program's shift in attitude and performance, had no answer for questions about his team's inconsistency, its absence of confidence.
Twenty days later, a confident Bonnies (15-15, 7-9) team knocked off Duquesne in the first round of the Atlantic 10 Championships for its fifth win in six games, earning a quarterfinal meeting with now-No. 17 Temple (AP and ESPN/USA Today polls) today at noon in Atlantic City, N.J.
"Our guys have really stepped up, and it's an exciting time for us," Schmidt said.
The Bonnies' streak started with two wins on the road, against La Salle and Fordham, to clinch a berth in the tournament. They finished the season with two wins at home, against Rhode Island and Duquesne, before losing the regular season finale at Xavier, earning the eighth seed in the tournament and a first-round home game against the ninth-seeded Dukes.
"We talked about getting a home game and working hard to get that home game," Schmidt said. "It was a great opportunity, and we had to take advantage of that opportunity."
In their third meeting with the Dukes this season, and their second in six days, Schmidt said the familiarity between the teams changed the approach they took into the game.
"The scouting work wasn't as important, the X's and O's weren't as important," Schmidt said. "It became more of a players' game, and I thought our players played pretty well."
Chris Matthews matched a career best 28 points, on a program record six three-pointers, in Wednesday's game. Since shooting 1-for-4 from beyond the arc Feb. 17, Matthews has recorded 26 three-pointers on 52 attempts to set the program's single-season record for three-pointers (99).
"He's may be as good, or better than, (Rhode Island's Jimmy) Baron was last year," Dukes coach Ron Everhart said of Matthews. "When you have a guy shooting with that much confidence, and he's that good, it's tough to play against a team like that."
Baron hit eight 3-pointers for the Rams in their loss to Duquesne in last year's A-10 Tournament.
"(Matthews is) their senior. He's their leader. He's out there in their huddles, and from a coaching standpoint, you see that and you really respect that," Everhart said. "They have good senior leadership."
Everhart said the Bonnies reminded him of another team from last year's conference tournament.
"I told (Schmidt) after our game here last week. I said, 'You know, your kids are playing with that kind of confidence and sharing the ball like we did last year when we made that run in the A-10 tournament. I can see you guys doing that,'" he said.
Everhart's Dukes entered last year's A-10 Championships as the seventh seed. They advanced to the finals with victories over UMass, Rhode Island and Dayton before losing the NCAA Tournament's automatic bid to Temple.
In last year's tournament, the Bonnies entered as the 11th seed and lost to Richmond in the first round.
Schmidt said this year's first round looked different.
"From my experience, when teams get to the tournament, they go one of two ways," he said. "They get really nervous and uptight, like we did last year, and you start playing not to lose, or you flip it and play loose, aggressive, and you play to win.
"Our guys loosened up and played with energy, and it looked like they were having fun. And that's how you win games in tournament play."
The win over the Dukes marks the Bonnies' first victory in the conference tournament since 2002. They have not advanced beyond the quarterfinals since 2000. The Bonnies have lost 16 straight against ranked opponents and 12 in a row against Temple (26-5, 14-2), the two-time defending conference champion.
In the Feb. 17 meeting, Temple's Ramone Moore, the A-10's Sixth Man of the Year, led the Owls with 18 points. Ryan Brooks leads the Owls with 14.5 points per game this season, and Lavoy Allen leads the team and ranks third in the A-10 with 10.8 rebounds per game to go along with his 11.7 points.
The Bonnies counter with Andrew Nicholson. Named to the A-10's all-conference second team, Nicholson has averaged 16.5 points per game and 22.7 points over his last three games. His 25-point performance against Duquesne divided the Dukes' defensive attention by drawing players inside before kicking the ball back out to the point.
In turn, Matthews' shooting keeps defenders from focusing on Nicholson.
"When we're shooting the ball well from the perimeter, it's hard to be able to double down," Schmidt said.
Temple enters the game with the conference's top scoring defense (56.8 points per game) and has won seven games in a row.
Schmidt said his team has a different attitude than the one that faced the Owls Feb. 17.
"We're playing well now," he said. "We're playing with energy, enthusiasm. Guys are pulling for each other, and we're taking care of the basketball, and we're shooting the heck out of the basketball.
"Our guys are playing with a lot of confidence. It's a great victory for us, winning an Atlantic 10 tournament game."
e-mail: grossts@sbu.edu
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