Game Recap: New Mexico 81 St. Bonaventure 54

Not really a lot to say about this game except that the Lobos took care of business. They started off a little slow, but with time their veteran leadership and outstanding execution on the offensive end was too much for the Bonnies to handle. Oh, and they played superb defense.

The Lobo defenders were in the face of every St. Bona player from the start of the game to the end of it – and it showed as the Bonnies committed 19 turnovers. After yesterday’s game, Schmidt said he wanted to limit the turnovers to 13 or 14 a game and while 19 is an improvement over 20, it’s still way too many. The silver lining can be found in the second-half statistics where the Bonnies turned the ball over eight times, three fewer than the first half.

After a slow first half in which he only scored five points, Fereti finished with a game-high 20. He finally decided to drive to the basketball and Lobo defenders had to respect that, giving him more open space to shoot the ball as they backed off him on the perimeter – something they weren’t doing in the first half. Again, Z cannot settle and everyone saw why he shouldn’t settle tonight. He’s very tough in the lane and that creates more open space for his sometimes deadly long ball. He needs to keep driving and slashing.

Lee was limited and it was because the offense just didn’t get him the ball down low. He needs to touch the ball in the low blocks every trip. He can shoot from outside, but he has to prove to defenders that he can score down low first. Once they respect his game in the blocks, they will back off him and allow him to shoot the outside shot. He can drive past lesser opposition but he can’t drive past New Mexico’s defenders and we found that out tonight.

Aside from Lee and Z, the offense didn’t do much. Eleby finished with four assists and four turnovers but if you had seen the game in person you would know that he just isn’t prepared to run the point for a Division I team yet. Relph is at least steady and consistent. He’s not the scorer he was in high school but he can distribute the basketball and at least doesn’t force the issue as much as Eleby. Relph should be starting over Malcolm. No question about it. Eleby has been out of the game the last two nights before the first media timeout at 16 minutes. If that’s the case, then why bother to start him? He played 18 minutes and a lot of that was in garbage time at the end of the game. Relph played 27 minutes when the game still “somewhat” mattered. It may be hard to rationalize from a distance when you see Eleby with four assists in 18 minutes and Relph with three in 27 minutes, but after witnessing how Eleby responded in his first real test against a tough team, Relph should be this team’s starting point guard.

The Bonnies lack of offense can be found in the assist department. The team combined for eight assists and committed 19 turnovers. That’s less than a 1:2 ratio. New Mexico had 20 assists and 10 turnovers. That’s a 2:1 ratio. The latter is where the Bonnies need to be to be competitive this year. The eight assists is a sign of a poor offense. There was ball movement, but it was lateral ball movement and not inside-out. The Bonnies cannot throw the ball around the perimeter for 30 seconds and then settle for 3’s. They need to attack and then dish if necessary. The Bonnies scored just 16 of their 54 points in the paint. That needs to increase and it can be done by simply giving the ball to Lee where he should be getting it – in the low blocks.

Tonight’s game was for all intensive purposes a predetermined outcome. The Lobos were favored by 20 and won by 27. Tomorrow is a crucial game for this team. Presbyterian is a team in its first Division I season and hasn’t won a game yet. They lost to Loyola Marymount earlier today and got embarrassed by New Mexico last night and they don’t want to head back to South Carolina with an eggshell. Two wins in this tournament – featuring two bad teams, one mediocre team and one good team – is a must for Schmidt and his players. A 3-2 record heading back to the RC for a tilt with Eastern Michigan next Saturday night and the Bonnies will be starting this season off just as many had predicted and hoped they would.

-- Jason MacBain, Advisory Editor