Over the turn of the New Year, the play of the UB men's basketball team was more in tune of A Christmas Carol. While no one is comparing UB Head Coach Reggie Witherspoon to Ebenezer Scrooge or Gabe Cagwin to Tiny Tim, Buffalo at times looked like they did in seasons past, such as when they squandered several opportunities to win at home against Ohio, or when they lost at the buzzer on the road at Northern Illinois.
Buffalo (9-9, 4-4 MAC) also gave us a look at their present state and what the future may hold with spectacular wins at home against perennial MAC heavyweight Kent State and a victory on the road against Marshall, something only two conference teams have accomplished over the past two seasons.
Buffalo 79, Akron 60
Dec. 8, 2001
In previous years, a 17-point first-half deficit may have presented an almost insurmountable obstacle for the Bulls to overcome. Well, to quote Bob Dylan, "the times they are a changin."
After the Akron Zips rushed out to 31-14 first-half lead, the Bulls outscored the Zips 65-29 over the rest of the contest to earn a stunning 79-60 in their first conference game of the season.
They did it with defense, as their full court press led to 21 Akron turnovers. After it was implemented with the Bulls trailing by 17, Buffalo went on a 13-0 run in the next 1:31 to draw the Bulls within four. Turner Battle's jumper with five seconds left in the half pulled the Bulls to within two at the half.
Buffalo picked up where they left off to open the second, and Robert Brown's lay-up with 17:16 remaining gave the Bulls their first lead of the contest, at 42-41.
That sparked a 26-10 run over the next 4:22 to blow the game open.
Darcell Williams led the Bulls with 22 points, leading a quartet of bulls (Williams, Louis Campbell, Brown, and Battle), to score in double figures. Williams also added 11 rebounds for his second-straight double-double of the year.
The Bulls also fed off the energy from the 4,119 in attendance, which marked the second time this season that Alumni Arena had over 4,000 in the stands.
"It felt really good with the crowd we had here," said Witherspoon. "The crowd gave us great energy. The students were just fantastic. Our guys could feel it and it helps. Our crowd gave us a home court advantage tonight."
Tulsa 80, Buffalo 75
Dec. 20, 2001
While the Bulls three-game winning streak was snapped, their respect around the country must have been strengthened after playing the defending NIT champion Tulsa Golden Hurricanes down to the wire. Tulsa has long been one of the winningest programs in Division I basketball, having won at least 25 games in each of the past five seasons.
Campbell's driving lay-up pulled the Bulls to within one, at 76-75. Buffalo quickly applied full court pressure on the in-bounds pass, forcing a five second violation, and giving the Bulls a chance to take the lead.
On the ensuing possession, Cagwin's three point attempt from the corner rimmed out. After a pair of Greg Harrington free throws put the Golden Hurricanes up three, Campbell's last-second three was short and the Hurricanes added two more free throws to escape with an 80-75 victory.
Williams shot a torrid 10 of 12 from the field en route to his 24 points. Campbell and Brown each had 13, while Battle showed why he is the most promising freshman recruit to be seen in Western New York for quite some time, finishing the night with nine assists.
Buffalo 64, Navy 53
Dec. 21, 2001
The Bulls had little time to enjoy the white sand beaches and palm trees that Hawaii has to offer, playing their second game in as many nights. After their impressive 64-53 victory over the Navy Midshipmen, the team should have been entitled to at least a surf and turf dinner (hold the Mai-Tai's).
UB withstood a second-half rally that saw the Midshipmen tie the game at 43 with13:16 left in the game, after the Bulls had jumped out to a 10-point halftime lead. From there, Buffalo went on a 17-4 run that sunk Navy for good.
Williams' three-pointer started the run and gave the Bulls a lead they would not relinquish. Once again, he led all scorers with 19 points, and was two rebounds shy of a double-double. Campbell and Brown were the other two Bulls who scored in double figures, with 15 and 10 respectively.
Valparaiso 87, Buffalo 80
Dec. 22, 2001
The song remains the same. Led Zeppelin's famous words of wisdom proved true in the final game of the Yahoo Invitational at BYU-Hawaii.
The Bulls got reacquainted with some old rivals in the final game when they faced off against former Mid-Continent foe, the Valparaiso Crusaders. There was no Rasaun Young, no Bryce Drew, but the 87-80 Crusader victory held the familiar sting of defeat that the Bulls have felt in 9 of the 11 contests between the schools.
With three of the Bulls' best players, Clement Smith, Williams, and Campbell, plagued by foul trouble, Brown had a monster game. His 26 points and 11 rebounds almost single-handedly kept the Bulls close.
Syracuse 83, Buffalo 62
Dec. 30, 2001
UB had proven they could hang with the best the MAC has to offer. Hanging with the best teams in the country, however, can be a different story.
The Bulls were within three of the tenth-ranked Orangemen midway through the first half when Syracuse went on a 10-3 run to take a 40-27 lead at the break.
In the second half, Buffalo got down by 20 before going on a 12-4 run to trim the deficit to 12. The Orangemen then responded with a 9-0 run of their own to put the game out of reach in coasting to an 83-62 victory.
Williams had another banner night, leading all scorers with 24 points on 9 of 15 shooting from the field.
Preston Shumpert led Syracuse with 22 points.
Buffalo 70, Eastern Michigan 51
Jan. 2, 2002
Brown was seeing a lot of familiar faces in his return to the Michigan area where he had grown.
Unfortunately, they may not remember him as fondly after his game-high 19 points led the Bulls to a convincing 70-51 victory over the Eastern Michigan Eagles. While the Bulls played as if winning on the road was as routine as the bus ride there, the win in fact snapped a 27-game conference road losing streak that dated back to the Bulls' inception into the MAC at the start of the 1998 season.
"It's great to win on the road," said Witherspoon. "It is so difficult to win on the road in our conference and it's great to be able to come in and get one. I think now our guys know what we are capable of and they have an expectation that we can win on the road."
The Bulls also received significant contributions from their freshmen. Battle tallied 11 points, while Jason Bird scored eight in a balanced UB attack.
Northern Illinois 72, Buffalo 70
Jan. 5, 2002
After the Bulls' first two MAC games, which featured two 19-point drubbings of Akron and Eastern Michigan, it looked as if the Bulls had climbed all the way up the ladder from the basement to the penthouse.
Following a 72-70 defeat at the hands of the Northern Illinois Huskies at the Chick Evans Field House, it appears there may be a few rungs left on their ascent.
Campbell, who has a propensity for hitting last-second shots to break the back of Bulls opponents, thought he did just that against the Huskies. After converting on one of two free throws, he then took advantage of a Northern Illinois turnover and cashed in on a 10-foot fade-away jumper with 12.1 seconds left to put Buffalo up 70-69.
With no timeouts left, Leon Rodgers raced the length of the court and hit a 10 footer of his own while being double-teamed. They added another free throw with one-second left to seal the victory.
Buffalo 66, Kent State 65
Jan. 9 2002
Sometimes, you can tell by the look in someone's eyes what they are thinking or feeling. Whether they want to be approached or whether they want to be left alone. Anyone involved in the weekly meat markets that take place at any of the local Main Street establishments has developed a keen understanding of this basic concept.
Against Kent State, it was the look in senior swingman Louis Campbell's eyes that made Coach Witherspoon call on the guard to decide the outcome of the game.
"He had that look in his eye. He wanted it. It was like I got him where I wanted him. It felt good going through Louis," said Witherspoon.
If it felt good for Witherspoon, it felt even more gratifying for the 1,642 in attendance when, his team trailing 65-64, Campbell took an in-bounds pass, drove the lane, and then threw up a runner from just inside the foul line that graced the bottom of the net with 0.9 seconds remaining.
Trevor Hoffman's desperation heave from half court was off, and the Bulls had just scored their biggest MAC victory ever against a team that had made the NCAA Tournament last year and was the MAC News Media Association preseason poll favorite to win the MAC again this year.
Williams had a career night with 20 points and career-high 18 rebounds, followed by Campbell who added 18.
Bowling Green 85, Buffalo 73
Jan. 12, 2002
UB had thought they faced seen some big-time scorers this season. They had dealt with Syracuse's superstar Preston Shumpert, keeping him to his scoring average. They had stifled Kent State's 2001 All-MAC First Team member, and pro prospect, Trevor Hoffman. But nothing prepared them for Keith McLeod.
The 6'2" senior swingman erupted for 42 points, leading the Bowling Green Falcons to an 85-73 victory over the upset minded Bulls. UB played the MAC's best toe-to-toe for the first half, going into the break trailing by only two, 37-35.
The Falcons, however, went on a 12-1 run to open the second. Buffalo responded by going on a run of their own and a Williams three-pointer closed the gap to 63-60. McLeod then hit one of his game-high six three-pointers and the Bulls would creep no closer the rest of the contest.
Once again, Williams led Bulls with 22 points on the evening, followed by Campbell who had 18.
Ohio 62, Buffalo 61
Jan. 15, 2002
What looked like another chapter in a storybook season had a surprise ending and the 1,402 in attendance wondering what will become of this season on the edge. The Bulls have been playing with fire all season in a multitude of games that have come down to the wire at Alumni Arena.
This time, they got burned.
Battle's potential game-winning runner in the lane glanced off the rim, and the rebound went out of bounds as time expired, allowing the Ohio Bobcats to escape with a 62-61 victory.
"We got two good looks at the basket. Sometimes they roll in, sometimes they don't roll in. We know in that situation we are prepared to get a shot to win the game," said Witherspoon.
Williams played another outstanding game for Buffalo, leading the team with 20 points, 16 of those coming in the second half to keep the Bulls in the game. Campbell chipped in with 13.
Sonny Johnson led Ohio with 19, and All-MAC candidate Brandon Hunter followed with 18 points for the visitors.
Buffalo 82, Marshall 78
Jan. 19, 2002
It's one thing to beat MAC cellar dweller Eastern Michigan on the road. Many MAC teams can lay claim to that feat. But, in the past two seasons, the only MAC teams to defeat the Thundering Herd at the Cam Henderson Arena have been Kent State and Ball State. Now, Buffalo can be added to that prestigious list after an improbable 82-78 come-from-behind victory in front of 5,025 of the Thundering Herd faithful.
"It's a very difficult place to win," said Witherspoon. It's sort of known in this conference that this is a place you don't win, so we told the guys let's just hone in on what we need to do."
The Bulls spotted the Herd a 16-point first-half lead before roaring back with a 14-3 run to close the first half, sparked by a trio of three pointers by back-up guard Davis Lawrence to pull the Bull to 46-41 at the break.
Buffalo continued the charge early in the second, going on a 16-2 run to put the Bulls up 64-50, a lead they would not surrender.
Kent State 91, Buffalo 53
Tuesday Night
After beating Marshall on the road, UB's confidence was perhaps at an all-time high heading into their contest with the Kent State Golden Flashes Tuesday night.
That confidence was shattered in a mere 20 minutes.
KSU, still smarting from an upset loss to the Bulls on Jan. 9 at Alumni Arena, dominated UB from the opening tip en route to a convincing 91-53 win before 4,177 fans at the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center in Kent, Ohio.
The Flashes held a 49-16 advantage at halftime and sizzled from three-point range connecting on 10 of 11 shots in the opening stanza. KSU's dominance in the first half left little doubt as to who would be the victor on this night.
Kent State shot 55 percent for the game but the real story was their defense. UB shot a dismal 27 percent as the Flashes appeared to know Buffalo's offensive plays better than the Bulls did.
"[Buffalo] runs four or five set plays and our guys know them better than they know their academic classes," KSU Assistant Coach Klint Pleasant told Akron's WNIR-FM.
Trevor Huffman led KSU with 24 points, scoring most of them in the first half before each team began playing their bench players. Andrew Mitchell contributed to the thrashing with 22 points of his own for the Golden Flashes.
Bird and Battle were the only Bulls to score in double figures. Battle posted 11 points, while Bird tallied 10.
The win improves Kent State to 7-0 at home. They have now won four consecutive games heading into a showdown with Bowling Green (14-2, 4-1 MAC) Saturday.
