Read through the rest of the NCAA Tournament Cheat Sheets here.
Conference: Atlantic 10
Coach: Mark Schmidt
Record: 20-11, 10-6 (3rd)
Rankings and Ratings:
- Kenpom: 59
- RPI: 78
- AP/Coaches: Unranked
Seeding?: The Bonnies could end up sliding in somewhere around the 12 or 13 line, which will make them an interesting matchup.
Names to know: Andrew Nicholson (18.2 ppg, 8.3 rpg, 1.8 bpg), Demetrius Conger (12.3 ppg, 6.1 rpg)
Stats to know: The Bonnies rank 27th nationally in offensive rebounding percentage. They rank 47th in two point field goal percentage and 174th in three-point field goal percentage. That should tell you what you need to know about this team -- their front-line is their strength.
Tendencies: Andrew Nicholson. He wasn’t a secret to those that have been paying attention, but he made a national name for himself with his performance in the A-10 Tournament. He averaged 23.7 ppg, 10.0 rpg and 5.3 bpg while carrying the Bonnies to wins over St. Joe’s, UMass and Xavier.
Big wins, bad losses: The Bonnies didn’t have any notable non-conference wins, but they did lose to Cleveland State, Virginia Tech and Arkansas State in their first five games.
How’d they get here?: The Bonnies were the four seed in the A-10 Tournament, but got lucky after beating St. Joe’s in the first round as Temple was upset by UMass. They beat Xavier in the title game.
Outlook: This is a group that is peaking at the right time. We all know about Andrew Nicholson -- who may have played his way into the first round of the NBA Draft in July -- by now, but he’s not alone. Demetrius Conger had 22 points, 10 boards and eight assists in the win against UMass. Charlon Kloof averaged 12.7 ppg in the tournament. Nicholson is the key, but he’s not the only piece. They’ll be a tough matchup if they play a team in the first round that doesn’t have much size. Murray State better hope they don’t draw the Bonnies.
Rob Dauster is the editor of the college basketball website Ballin’ is a Habit. You can find him on twitter @robdauster.