No matter the record, you can at least say the Bulls are finishing out the season, for good or bad, which already places them above another Division I program in Western New York - specifically, in the town of Olean.
With the losses piling up one after another, the only consolation for the Bulls is the fact that there is only one regular season game left. That means UB is only a day away from ending a dreadful regular season and starting over with a clean slate for the opening round of the Mid-American Conference Tournament, probably at Kent State, Miami, or Northern Illinois.
Buffalo (4-22, 1-16 MAC) got slammed by the Western Michigan Broncos (17-9, 9-8) in Kalamazoo Wednesday night, 87-66. The loss was their sixth in a row and their 18th in the last 19 games.
Senior night, played in front of 2,305 Bronco faithfuls, turned out to be a spotlight performance for junior forward Mike Williams, who had a game-high 22 points and a team-high six rebounds. Fellow junior Anthony Kann chipped in 13 points and added five rebounds.
Seniors Robby Collum (11 points) and Terrance Slater (seven points) helped lead Western Michigan to their second win in a row.
"We just wanted to make it as hard on Robby Cullum as possible," UB head coach Reggie Witherspoon said. "He does a terrific job for them and we are without our version of that, Turner Battle, and it makes it really tough."
With 7:31 left in the first half, Buffalo forward Mark Bortz thundered home a dunk that tied the game at 29. WMU calmly proceeded to go on a 17-4 run to end the first half. The Bulls never recovered and the Broncos only continued to add to their lead in the second half.
Sophomore Jason Bird led UB with 16 points. Bortz finished with 12, and added seven rebounds. Calvin Cage also chipped in 10 points.
Akron rolls into Alumni Arena on Saturday to take on the Bulls in both teams' regular season finale. The Zips have won four straight games, a streak that includes victories over Kent State and No. 1-seeded Central Michigan.
Derrick Tarver leads the team with20.3 points per game. Jonathon Hollingsworth (18.2 ppg) and Darryl Peterson (13.8 ppg) round out the top scorers for the Zips.
Junior Andy Hipsher leads the team in rebounding with 5.8 rebounds per game. Peterson grabs 4.5 rpg.
Akron is a well-balanced team averaging just over 79 points per game. They have a good assist to turnover ratio but often get out-rebounded, and have had some struggles on the defensive end of the court, giving up over 77 ppg.
