Back in the tourney! Although many LSU fans (and many bracket experts) think LSU is highly under seeded, the draw actually works out decently for LSU. None of that really matters if you don't get past the first team though, and that's St Bonny.

Projected Lineup

G- Kyle Lofton JR 6'3 190
- 14.6PPG, 5.5apg, 3.6rpg, 81% FT, 25% 3P
G- Jaren Holmes JR 6'4 215
- 13.6, 5.4rpg, 39% 3P%
G- Dominick Welch JR 6'5 200
- 11.7ppg, 6.9rpg, 40.8% 3P%
G- Jalen Adaway JR 6'5 210
- 12.3ppg, 6.1rpg,
C- Osun Osunniyi JR 6'10 220
- 10.5ppg, 9.5rpg, 2.9bpg

Key Reserves:

G- Alejandro Vazquez Soph 6'3 200
- 4.6ppg, 36.4% 3P%

Player Breakdowns:

Lofton and Osunniyi get the headlines and rightfully so. Lofton is a PG through and through and is the engine that runs them. He is calm, coordinated, and doesn't make many mistakes. Then on the back end, they have a long and athletic rim protector and rebounder. Osunniyi won't step out and hit deep shots, he's capable of hitting midrange, but large majority of his scoring come from putbacks.

Adaway is listed as a guard, but he's an old school SF. He can't shoot great, he's not big enough to be a PF, but he's gritty and tough. Really, you could say this about all of their players.

Welch and Holmes are both very quality shooting guards. They both have good size, they both are very solid shooters. Welch really wants to sit around the 3-point line but he's able to attack. He's attempted 120 3's (by comparison...Darius Days has attempted 121 3's), and only 186 FG's overall. That means 65% of Welch's shots come from 3...that is an insane amount. For Holmes, He shoots an average amount of 3's, but doesn't attack the rim a ton. He's just a good player with the ability to score on different levels.

St Bonaventure Statistics- (National Rank)
Offensive-
PPG: 70.5 (171st)
ORPG: 9.9 (58th)
FG%: 44.9 (105th)
3P%: 35.4% (93rd)
2P%: 49.3% (189th)
FT%: 73.4% (89th)
APG: 14.8 (63rd)
3PA: 18.5 (290th)
FTA: 16.1 (269th)
OR%: 31.9% (30th)
TOPG: 11.1 (29th)
Posssessions Per Game: 66.8 (329th)
Offensive Efficiency: 1.056 (53rd)

Offensive Breakdown:

The Bonnies have 5 guys who average double figures. Their "per game" stats are skewed because of the way they play. A few of the things that stand out is how many assists they average per game considering the amount of possessions they have. Also, the amount of offensive rebounds.

They play a methodical pace. They will not force ANYTHING, pass the ball around, play disciplined. They shoot the ball well, but they don't shoot a ton. They're 252nd in the country in percentage of points that come from the 3.

What they really do an excellent job of is crash the boards. It's been mentioned, and it can't be stressed enough. They have only one "big man", but their entire lineup on the floor rebounds. They rebound as a team and they crash relentlessly. What will be interesting to see is not only if LSU can keep them off the boards, but can LSU score in transition? Something the Bonnies do a good job of despite crashing the boards.

Defensive-
PPG: 60.4 (3rd)
FG%: 38.9% (5th)
3P%: 30.6% (32nd)
2P%: 45.1% (25th)
DRPG: 24.4 (122nd)
OR%: 26.2% (181st)
OTPG: 12.7 (202nd)
SPG: 6.0 (214th)
BPG: 3.9 (73rd)
Defensive Efficiency: .904 (17th)

Defensive Breakdown:

On Defense, the Bonnies don't do anything special. They will contest shots, not gamble, and funnel things to their big man if they get beat off the dribble. It's really nothing world beating, they just are well coached and play hard. They always bring the effort on that side of the court.

Their biggest weakness, much like LSU (though not nearly as bad), The Bonnies struggle to keep teams off the offensive glass. It is a bit surprising because they're not looking to get out into transition and score.

Game Breakdown and Projection

Since this game came out, many LSU fans have been "terrified" of the Bonnies. I think that goes back to some heartbreaks we've felt, knowing we don't always bring the intensity, and for as long as I can remember tough teams have given us trouble. However, I think this is about as good of a matchup as LSU could have in the first round.

LSU has played some really good defensive teams this year. LSU has played 11 games against teams in the top 25 in defensive efficiency. Yet, we are still 14th in offensive efficiency. LSU has done a tremendous job of playing their style and forcing the other team to do the same.

Most LSU fans, those who just tune in occasionally and those who watch every game, at times get sick from our offense. It's about isolation, taking your man off the dribble or sizing him up. It can stall and be stagnant and we can go through droughts. However, it's unique. Not many teams play the style we play. St Bonaventure has not played a team that has the offensive capability or the playmakers like LSU has. In fact, they haven't really come close to playing a similar team.

Another reason I really like LSU is because of depth. LSU doesn't have a ton of depth in terms of scoring, but guys like Josh LeBlanc, Eric Gaines, Mwani Wilkinson, and even Jalen Cook have shown signs they can play if needed. We will go 8 deep. If Days or Watford get in foul trouble, we can put in LeBlanc and he has proven he can deliver. However, the Bonnies are 6 deep. They can play a 7th but, not offense to him, he delivers virtually nothing. They're essentially 6 deep, their starters all average 33+ minutes. I say this because if Trendon Watford gets Osunniyi in foul trouble, what do they do?

Of course, the Bonnies pose problems to LSU, too. Obviously the rebounding. The thorn in our side all year is the defensive rebounding. Can we keep them off the boards? They're also very composed and poised, LSU will not be able to come out lazy and get away with it. The Bonnies will constantly keep the pressure on LSU. Can LSU match the intensity for 40 minutes?

I think when the dust settles, LSU's talent of their Big 4 will pull through. I saw a different team in the SEC Tournament, and I simply cannot imagine we don't play with the same type of effort. IF we bring A effort we win comfortably. If we bring a B type it's a coin flip.

LSU- 78
SBU- 71