"Bortz, Idbihi Lead Savage Beating of Marshall"

Maybe it was the cameras of the Empire Sports Network, the mid-afternoon start or the raucous crowd in Alumni Arena that did it.

Whatever it was, the Buffalo Bulls came out of locker room seemingly rejuvenated and unphased by their let down against Eastern Michigan earlier in the week.

After letting EMU leave Alumni Arena with an ugly Mid-American Conference win against the Bulls, Buffalo (9-10, 5-6 MAC) head coach Reggie Witherspoon had this to say about his team's mentality coming into the Marshall game:

"We asked them going into the game to issue a statement of response to Wednesday night's game," said Witherspoon. "I think it's important that once you get into the thick of conference play, there is going to be some adversity and you're going to have to respond to it."

Respond they did, as Buffalo jumped out to an early 19-6 lead and never looked back as the Bulls beat Marshall (7-12, 4-7 MAC) 77-58 in front of a lively 3,278 fans on Saturday.

"I don't think we could have played worse to start the game," said Marshall head coach Ron Jirsa. "If I thought we played well and lost by that much I might be a little bit more upset but we just played god awful."

Coming off arguably his worst game of the season, junior Mark Bortz took it upon himself to not allow a repeat performance.

"I was thinking about the last game against Eastern and felt like I got manhandled," said Bortz. "I took that very personal. I don't feel I should ever be manhandled by anybody in the game."

Bortz also referred to the previous encounter this season against Marshall as inspiration.

"I also thought about the last game at Marshall where we let them get to the glass and we had mental lapses in the game, and that really upset me," said Bortz. "So I came into this game determined."

"No one is going to manhandle me, no one's going to keep me off the glass, and no one is going to stop me from getting to the line," he added. "It was determination today."

Bortz finished with a game high 21 points and career high 15 boards.

"I think Mark's game typified the notion that we have to respond," said Witherspoon on the play of Buffalo's big man.

Buffalo's other big man, Yassin Idbihi, finished the game with a career high 19 points and added seven boards while also knocking down an uncharacteristic 3-ball.

The second half for the Herd would be better, but Marshall could not chip away at the Buffalo lead. Up by 17 at the intermission, Buffalo went on a 10-4 run to put the themselves up 52-29.

That run, possibly the most electrifying of the afternoon, was capped off by a Daniel Gilbert steal at mid court, which he took the distance and slammed home sending the arena into an uproar.

A "Dan-ny Hust-le" chant broke out, even though he was whistled for a technical foul for hanging on the rim. It did not matter however, because Buffalo was rolling with great momentum and the crowd was at a fever pitch.

Turner Battle finished with 12 points, six assists and only one turnover and is showing why he was an All-MAC preseason pick and the MAC East Player of the Week last week.

With the win, the Bulls move into a tie for third place in the MAC East standings with Ohio, who downed Ball Sate in overtime 88-84. UB is now fighting for playoff seeding and a first round home game.

Buffalo will get their first chance see whether the team is in fact a contender or just a pretender when they travel to Kent State (16-3, 10-1 MAC) to take on the MAC East leading Golden Flashes.

Tip off is at 7 p.m. on Wednesday.