If Buffalo is going to win another game this season, they will need a better performance from their "big three."
Darcel Williams, Louis Campbell and Robert Brown - three Bulls seniors who for the season have accounted for over 50 percent of the team's offense - were held to a paltry nine points combined in Wednesday's match up against the Bowling Green Falcons at Anderson Arena.
Needless to say, the Bulls lost.
Wednesday night's 73-58 defeat coupled with Northern Illinois' huge late game upset over Ball State resigned Buffalo (12-17, 7-11 MAC) to the road in the first round of the MAC Tournament. The Bulls' opponent is yet to be determined.
The win by Bowling Green (22-6, 12-5 MAC), combined with Toledo's upset over Ohio, gave the Falcons a first-round bye in the MAC tournament, which begins Monday.
"We weren't able to come out and establish ourselves, that was our thing," Bulls Head Coach Reggie Witherspoon told WWKB-AM 1520 after the game. "We started the game with our seniors and they didn't give us an opportunity to win. We started the second half with them again and it didn't get any better."
At the 13:52 mark of the first half, Buffalo trailing 15-12, Bowling Green went on a 7-0 run to extend their lead to 10 with just under 10 minutes remaining in the half. Deflated, UB would go on to score only 10 more points in the half and trail 39-22.
The second half started much the same way as the first half had ended, with the Buffalo seniors struggling to keep up with their counterparts from Bowling Green. The Falcons' "big three" - seniors Len Matela, Keith McLeod and Brandon Pardon - scored 57 of the team's 73 points. Matela led the charge with 21, followed by McLeod who scored 19.
Buffalo was unable to mount any kind of run until Bowling Green took their biggest lead of the night at 65-41 on a pair of Pardon foul shots at the 7:34 mark.
From there, it was all Clement Smith. Buffalo's junior forward showed he has fully recovered from an ankle injury suffered against Kent State that sidelined him for over a month. Smith, who only scored four points in the first half, provided a huge offensive boost late in the contest. He scored 11 of his game-high 21 points on 6-10 shooting and 9-10 from the line in the final 5:08 of the contest.
"I thought our freshmen and [Smith] did a terrific job making it difficult for them in the second half," added Witherspoon. "In the final 12 minutes they gave us the best opportunity to win."
"I have to monitor our program and see where we're going and where we are at. Where we're going is with the freshmen and where we're at is with the seniors. We have to find a balance to develop an opportunity to win."
Buffalo is waiting to see where they will travel for their first-round tournament opener. The possible teams they will encounter are Northern Illinois, Western Michigan, or Miami (Ohio) depending on the outcome of Saturday's MAC games.
Bowling Green has clinched the No. 3 seed in the tourney and will close out their regular season Saturday at Ohio.
