Campus Watch

What do we have here? A formidable low-post presence for the Purple Eagles. And not just one, but two? Goodness.

Freshman T.J. Cline and sophomore Joe Thomas have combined for 19 points and 11 rebounds in helping Niagara open a 21-point halftime lead. What's more, they were a combined 8 of 8 from the field. I'm guessing Niagara hasn't gotten 19 points in a half out of its front line since Juan Mendez graduated in '05.

Antoine Mason tops all scorers at half with 13 points.

Niagara shot 50 percent in the half despite hitting just 4 of 16 threes.

-- Bob DiCesare

Here we go with the opener of the 63rd season of basketball at The Taps. Niagara (0-1) against St. Francis (Pa.) (0-1). Niagara's coming off a 102-83 loss at Oregon State in which the Purple Eagles sank 16 threes, the most since 2008. They're 13th in the nation in three-point percentage (47 percent), a drastic turnaround from the early part of last season, when they hovered at or near the bottom of the national rankings in the category.

St. Francis suffered a six-point loss at Penn State in the opener.

This has always been one of my favorite places to cover a college game. The crowd's tight to the floor, the students are usually vocal and it makes for a crazy atmosphere that feeds into Niagara's frenetic style.

Can't do a live game feed because the two apps I need are refusing to recognize each other. So I'll try to get something up at halftime and follow with the game wrap shortly afterward.

-- Bob DiCesare

---Former St. Bonaventure coach Jim Baron has been offered the job at Canisius multiple sources have told The News.

Baron, who was fired after 11 years at Rhode Island, is in negotiations with the school and is seeking additional funds for assistant coaches to help build a stronger infrastructure in the program.

While waiting on a commitment from Baron, Canisius AD Bill Maher is still talking to candidates in case Baron turns down the job. A source told The News that Maher on Wednesday spoke with Jayson Gee, the associate head coach at Cleveland State and former a St. Bonaventure assistant.

Baron, who coached at St. Bonaventure from 1992-01, had four consecutive 20-win seasons at Rhode Island before last season’s 7-24 finish and was fired a year after he agreed to a contract extension through the 2013-14 season. He has a career record of 390-367 (.515).

Norfolk State's Anthony Evans and Rhode Island College's Bob Walsh are also candidates, according to sources.

---Rodney McKissic

(twitter.com/rodneyjmckissic)

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. -- The News' Amy Moritz previews the NCAA Tournament second-round matchup between St. Bonaventure and Marist. The game tips off at 7:10 p.m. Tuesday. Moritz will also be live blogging during the game and providing postgame audio analysis.

Download audio 

St. Bonaventure 69, Duquesne 48

How Bona Won: By attacking the glass. The Bonnies outrebounded the Dukes, 48-26, and pulled down 21 offensive rebounds, which they turned into 22 points. They also locked things down defensively in the second half, limiting the Dukes to just 28 percent shooting (7 of 25) after halftime. It helped that they took better care of the ball, too. Bona made just five turnovers in the second half.

Player of the Game: Bona star Andrew Nicholson. His 21-point, 23-rebound performance is the first time since Dec. 22, 1967 that a player has put up a 20-20. The last to do it? Bob Lanier, who had 34 points and 27 rebounds against Loyola (Md.). Lanier is the only player in Bonnies history to have more than 23 rebounds in a game (his most was 27). Nicholson passed Fred Crawford to move into fifth on the Bonnies' career rebounding list with 790.

Play of the Game: Demitrius Conger finished off a baseline drive to the basket with a violent, two-handed dunk that gave Bona a 35-23 lead with 3:41 left in the first half and sent the Reilly Center fans into a frenzy.

Unsung Hero: Chris Johnson came off the bench to score 12 of his 15 points in the first half, sparking a Bona team that had fallen behind, 7-2, just two minutes in.

Stat of the Game: Bona's 21 offensive rebounds were a season high and the most they've come down with since finishing with 24 against Canisius on Nov. 29, 2008.

Home Cooking: Bona improved to 9-1 in the Reilly Center and 5-0 against league opponents. They've beaten their A-10 counterparts by an average of 19.6 points per game in those wins. Perhaps that's why coach Mark Schmidt said in his postgame press conference that he wished his team could play 29 home games.

He Said It: "Probably in my dreams," Nicholson, when asked the last time he had a 20-rebound game.

He Said It II: "We dominated physically. We were bigger and stronger and we needed to take advantage of it."

In the House: 4,505 including students dressed as a hot dog, a lucha libre and Superman.

What It Means: The Bonnies moved into fifth place in the A-10 with a 6-4 league record, a game out of the coveted top four. Those teams receive automatic byes into the A-10 Tournament quarterfinals in Atlantic City, N.J.

Next Up: The biggest game of the season against Temple, at 8 p.m. Wednesday in the Reilly Center. The game will be televised nationally on the CBS Sports Network. Win it, and a top-four finish starts to look very promising for the Bonnies.

---Jay Skurski

http://twitter.com/jayskurski