Game Notes: Virginia faces St. Bonaventure in NIT quarterfinals

Virginia (21-13) will host St. Bonaventure (22-9) in an NIT quarterfinal contest on Tuesday. Tipoff at John Paul Jones Arena is set for 7 p.m.

For Openers

• UVA meets St. Bonaventure for the first time.
• UVA is making its 14th NIT appearance and seeks its first NIT semifinal appearance since winning the title in 1992.
• UVA’s Jayden Gardner needs 15 points for 2,000 career points.

Broadcast Information

• The Virginia-St. Bonaventure game will be televised on ESPN and streamed online at WatchESPN.com and ESPN App.
• The game will also be broadcast on Virginia Sports Radio Network, VirginiaSports.com and Virginia Sports app.
• Live statistics will be available on VirginiaSports.com and Virginia Sports app.

Virginia Notes

• UVA is led by its backcourt of Kihei Clark (10.2 ppg & 4.3 apg) and Reece Beekman (8.3 ppg, 5.2 apg, 3.8 rpg & 2.2 spg), and the additions of transfers Jayden Gardner (15.4 ppg & 6.4 rpg) and Armaan Franklin (11.0 ppg).
• Gardner averaged 18.5 points and 8.9 rebounds in 79 career games at East Carolina, while Franklin averaged 11.4 points and shot 42.5 percent from 3-point range in 2020-21.
• Francisco Caffaro (4.3 ppg & 4.6 rpg) and Kadin Shedrick (6.9 ppg, 5.0 rpg & 1.9 bpg) anchor the paint. Shedrick has started 18 contests, while Caffaro has started 16.
• Kody Stattmann (35.7% 3FGs), Malachi Poindexter, Taine Murray, Igor Miliĉić Jr. and Carson McCorkle provide perimeter depth off the bench.

St. Bonaventure Notes

• Coach Mark Schmidt (267-194 in 15 seasons at St. Bonaventure, 349-284 overall) goes with a short rotation. How short? The Bonnies rank 358th, dead last, in D1 in bench minutes, per KenPom.com.
• The iron man five, all seniors, all averages double-digits in scoring, not surprisingly, as a result, led by 6’5” power forward Jalen Adaway (15.9 ppg, 6.1 rebs/g, 48.2% FG, 39.2% 3FG).
• 6’4” shooting guard Jaren Holmes (13.5 ppg, 5.0 rebs/g, 3.7 assists/g, 39.2% FG, 27.6% 3FG) and 6’3” point guard Kyle Lofton (12.8 ppg, 5.7 assists/g, 40.6% FG, 29.5% 3FG) are the backcourt. The lone backup getting minutes has been 6’3” freshman Qadry Adams (2.1 ppg, 8.8 minutes/g), but we’re not talking about a lot of minutes – he didn’t play at Oklahoma, got four minutes at Colorado, two in the loss to Saint Louis in the A-10 Tournament.
• The other starters in the frontcourt are 6’5” small forward Dominick Welch (12.0 ppg, 5.8 rebs/g, 41.4% FG, 36.3% 3FG) and 6’10” center Osun Osunniyi (11.2 ppg, 7.7 rebs/g, 2.9 blocks/g, 60.8% FG).
• The bench guy in the frontcourt is 6’9” sophomore Abdoul Karim Coulibaly (3.6 ppg, 9.5 minutes/g), who you will actually see for a few minutes – he got six at Oklahoma, nine at Colorado, eight against Saint Louis.