Bills host Bonnies tonight at Chaifetz

After a tough two-game road trip to Washington, D.C, and Richmond, the Billikids are in need of a home court victory, but they will have to go through a recent nemesis to get it.

St. Bonaventure pays a visit to the Chaifetz Arena tonight for a key Atlantic-10

Conference match-up. The Billikens are 3-3 in A-10 play and 12-8 overall. Meanwhile,

the Bonnies are 2-4 in league play and 9-10 overall.

  This is a very important game for the Billikens because it’s their only home game sandwiched between four road games. After tonight, SLU heads to Philadelphia for road games against LaSalle and St. Joseph’s.

  Normally, the Bonnies would be a welcome tonic for a team trying to get back on the winning track, but the Boys in Brown have had our number over the past three years. They are seeking their fourth consecutive victory over the Billikens. The last three games against St. Bonaventure have not been pretty.

  In 2007, SLU entered the A-10 season with conference title aspirations. Those hopes were dashed early when the Billikens dropped their conference opener to the Bonnies in Olean. We never fully recovered from that upset loss and we finished seventh in the league. The following year, the Bonnies came to the Scottrade Center and handed the Bills a 20-point loss on Senior Night. Ouch.

  Last year, the Billikens ventured into Olean with an 8-5 conference mark, only to suffer a 75-58 drubbing at the hands of the Bonnies. The loss started a three-game slide to end the regular season and a final A-10 record of 8-8.

  The Bonnies will be no pushover tonight, either. Three of their conference losses have come on the road by a total of five points. They lost at Charlotte 57-54, at Duquesne 70-69 and at Massachusetts 70-69.

  Sound familiar Bills fans.

  St. Bonaventure is led by 6’9” sophomore Andrew Nicholson, who is one of the top post players in the league. He was the A-10 Freshman of the Year n 2009 and he has gotten better this year. He is averaging 16.7 points, 7.8 rebounds while shooting 61 percent from the field, which leads the nation.

  The Bonnies’ other top player is 6’5” senior Jonathan Hall, who has missed the last few games with an injury. He is averaging 11 points a game. He is their most versatile player. He killed us in Olean last year with 31 points. We could not guard him. I’m not sure of his status for tonight, but if he plays, we have to pay attention to him.

  While Hall has been out, 6’4” sophomore Michael Davenport has started in his place and has done well. He has averaged 12 points in those four games that he’s started. Senior guard Chris Matthews is their top 3-point shooter. He averages 11 points a game.

  The other guard spots is manned by 6’0” junior college transfer Ogo Adeqboye and 6’3” junior Malcolm Elby, who provides a spark off the bench.

  I’m looking forward to a very spirited effort by the Billikids tonight. In their last home game, they came out with a lot of energy and intensity against Fordham. I look for Kwamain Mitchell to get things going early. He is coming off a nice game at Richmond. The battle between Willie Reed and Nicholson in the paint should be fun to watch. A couple of real positive plays by Willie early in the game will get his juices flowing and get the crowd into the game. I would love to see that.

  Tip-off for tonight’s game is at 7 p.m. Hope to see you there tonight. If you can’t make it, you can catch it on ESPN-101 with Hall of Fame play-by-play man Bob Ramsey and yours truly on the call. The pre-game show starts at 6:45 p.m.

  Go Bills!