In a Division-I basketball program, the roles of freshmen and sophomores are pretty defined. They are expected to practice hard and learn the game slowly from the coaches and the upperclassmen that have been through the battles of the MAC conference.
They are certainly not expected to play the majority of the minutes in every game.
UB (3-12, 0-7 MAC) is the exception to that rule. On a team where there are only four upperclassmen on the roster, the underclassmen are learning under fire.
"Eighty percent of our minutes are being played by freshmen and sophomores," said head coach Reggie Witherspoon, whose team is on a nine-game losing streak. "That's unusually high."
The freshman that has made the most of his opportunities so far has been forward B.J. Walker. Walker came into this season expecting to come off the bench and get his minutes spelling senior captain Clement Smith. When Smith went down with a back injury, Walker was thrust into a major role on the team and has played like a veteran. Walker led the team against Marshall last Saturday with 22 points and seven rebounds. He attributes his success to hard work.
"I just try to play hard every game," said Walker. "I want to show the opponents and my team that I can play."
On a team devoid of big men, the injury to the 6'8" Smith was a big loss. If Walker at 6'9" can continue his quality play he can go a long way toward shoring up the middle of the UB line up.
"I think B.J.'s worked hard," said Witherspoon. "I think he's got a better understanding of the kind of effort it's going to take for him to have any success at this level. I think that's difficult for freshmen."
The next test for Walker will be playing in front of his home crowd. UB travels to Ohio to take on the Miami RedHawks (8-9, 6-2 MAC) Saturday at 3 p.m., only an hour away from Walker's hometown of Cinncinnati.
"I have a few family members and some of my friends coming to the game," said Walker. "It's equally important for me to have a good game here, but it would be nice to have a real good game in front of my friends and family."
Playing a Miami defense that is ranked first in points Witherspoon thinks that his freshman forward will do fine.
"I think he's excited about it, but that excitement can spill over sometimes," said Witherspoon. "He'll have a rush of adrenaline and adrenaline can be your friend especially at the defensive end of the floor. Offensively it can be your enemy. It's a lot for a freshman, to be going home and playing, and playing as many minutes as he is. I think he'll be fine after the first couple minutes of the game."
The homecoming aside, the Bulls have quite an opponent in the RedHawks, who have the conference's top-ranked defense. Unlike many other teams, Miami has no one star player that they turn to. They utilize a group of experienced players that play hard in a system that can be stifiling to opponents.
"Miami is a sound team," said Witherspoon. "We cannot turn the basketball over because they are not going to turn it over much. We're going to have to get the ball down inside and put pressure on their post players. Miami's style is that they typically don't get out and try to out score you by running up and down the floor. It's different from what we saw in Marshall who tends to take some chances. (Miami) is not a team that beats themselves."
Miami does have a few players to keep an eye on.
"They've got a couple guys - Juby Johnson, Danny Horace, and Chet Mason are all guys that do a lot of damage for them."
UB was supposed to be an up and coming team after enjoying an eight win swing from two years ago to last year. This season has been a different story with UB needing nine wins in the last eleven games to equal last year's total. Most of that can be attributed to youth and injury. With a young team, however, winning a few games to end the season can be nothing but beneficial to their progression.
"Our guys understand what we've got to do is try to be better tomorrow than we were today." said Witherspoon. "We are so young that we've got to be improving everyday. The quality of the league is such that you have to continue to get better."
Saturday's game can be heard on WWKB-AM 1520. The RedHawks hold a 7-1 record against UB all-time. Miami beat Buffalo all three times last season, including a win in the first round of the MAC Tournament that eliminated the Bulls.
