Colorado vs St. Bonaventure 3/15/22 College Basketball Picks, Predictions, Odds

The St. Bonaventure Bonnies & 4-seed Colorado Buffaloes will square off at the CU Events Center this Tuesday night in the 1^st round of the NIT Tournament.

The St. Bonaventure Bonnies finished their regular season with an overall record of 20-9 and finished Atlantic-10 play with a record of 12-5. St. Bonaventure earned the 4-seed I the Atlantic-10 Championship, however, St. Bonaventure didn’t last long after being defeated by the 5-seed St. Louis Billikens by a 57-56 margin in the Quarterfinals. St. Bonaventure went 8-3 in their non-conference schedule with solid wins against Boise State, Clemson, & Marquette, however, the Bonnies struggled with some of the top-tier competition in the A-10 conference as they lost by 15+ points to both Dayton & Davidson.

On the season, St. Bonaventure is averaging 70.1 ppg on 45.1% shooting from the field. The Bonnies are averaging 5.8 three-pointers per game on 31.8% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, St. Bonaventure has been led by Jalen Adaway (16.0 ppg, 6.4 rpg, 1.1 apg), Jaren Holmes (13.2 ppg, 5.1 rpg, 3.7 apg, 1.1 spg), Kyle Loftin (12.8 ppg, 3.6 rpg, 5.7 apg, 2.2 spg), Dominick Welch (12.0 ppg, 5.8 rpg, 1.7 apg, 1.3 spg), & Osun Osunniyi (11.1 ppg, 7.6 rpg, 1.5 apg, 2.9 bpg).

Defensively, St. Bonaventure is holding their opponents to an average of 66.3 ppg on 42.4% shooting from the field. The Bonnies have a rebound margin of 0.6 and a turnover margin of 2.3.

The Colorado Buffaloes finished their regular season with an overall record of 21-11 while finishing Pac-12 play with a 12-8 record. Colorado earned the 4-seed in the Pac-12 Tournament and defeated the 5-seed Oregon Ducks by a 80-69 margin in the quarterfinals, however, the Buffaloes could not make it to the finals after being defeated by the 1-seed Arizona Wildcats by an 82-72 margin. Colorado went 9-2 in their non-conference schedule, however, needed OT to beat Montana State & Duquesne. The Buffaloes did pick up a huge win at home against Arizona in late February, however, Colorado just pile up to many conference losses, including double-digits against Washington State & Arizona State, to be considered for an at-large bid.

On the season, Colorado is averaging 71.2 ppg on 44.3% shooting from the field. The Buffaloes are averaging 6.9 three-pointers per game on 37.0% shooting from beyond the arc. Offensively, Colorado has been eld by Jabari Walker (14.9 ppg, 9.4 rpg, 1.2 apg), Evan Battey (12.3 ppg, 4.7 rpg, 1.2 ap), Keeshawn Barthelemy (10.9 ppg, 2.4 rpg, 2.4 apg), & Tristan da Silva (9.3 ppg, 3.5 rpg, 1.9 apg).

Defensively, Colorado is allowing their opponents to average 67.1 ppg on 41.7% shooting from the field. The Buffaloes have a rebound margin of 5.0 and a turnover margin of -1.5.

The Bonnies are 4-10 ATS in their last 14 games following a ATS loss & 2-8 ATS in their last 10 road games. The Buffaloes are 6-2 ATS in their last 8 games overall & 7-3-1 ATS in their last 11 games as a favorite.

St. Bonaventure came into this season with high-expectations behind one of the better starting five units in College Basketball, however, despite being a top-25 team to start the season, the Bonnies struggled on the road and just had too many double-digit losses in A-10 play to be considered for an at-large bid after being knocked out by St. Louis in the A-10 championship. Colorado has been decent on both ends of the court this season and between the fact that Colorado is a tough place to play and that the Bonnies lack of depth (4 starters play more than 37 min per game) will give them trouble in the thin air in Boulder, I’m taking Colorado to cover this small home spread. Good Luck!