There's one thing to be said about the Buffalo Bulls' basketball season after Wednesday night's comeback throttling of the Eastern Michigan Eagles.
It is on.
Behind a monster 24-point, eight-rebound, four-steal, three-assist performance from Turner Battle, UB (11-11, 7-7 Mid-American Conference) defeated the Eastern Michigan Eagles (10-12, 5-9 MAC) at the Convocation Center in convincing fashion, 83-64.
With the victory, UB moves into sole possession of fifth place in the MAC, and if the season were to end today, Buffalo would host a first round home playoff game against the 12th place Northern Illinois Huskies (7-17, 2-12 MAC).
Despite what the score conveys, the Bulls did not find their "A-game" until the end of the first half. They suffered from serious foul trouble, giving up one foul per minute for the first eight minutes of the game.
Yassin Idbihi was called for two fouls in the first minute of the game, while Roderick Middleton had three personal fouls in the half.
Even head coach Reggie Witherspoon got into the action with a technical foul.
EMU was unable to capitalize, however, shooting poorly from the charity stripe throughout the first half.
Buffalo finished the first half trailing by five, but came out charging in the second. Witherspoon noted that turnovers had been the key to the first half slump.
"At halftime we came in and noticed we had ten turnovers, and we only had three the second half," said Witherspoon.
UB was able to take over the lead with a 32-8 run that extended from the end of the first half until almost halfway through the second half. This was a big turnaround, not only from the first half, but from the first time the teams met.
Much of Buffalo's success should be credited to their rebounding work, as they were able to out rebound the Eagles 48-30. Of those 48 boards, 17 came on the offensive glass for the Bulls in comparison to Eastern's four. UB has dominated the glass in recent history, out rebounding their opponents in seven of the last games, including three straight by a margin of 122-75.
"We needed to dominate the glass, and they had four offensive rebounds the entire game," Witherspoon said. "The first time we played them, they had five offensive rebounds on their first six shots."
EMU had taken a 13-point lead in the first half, but just six minutes into the second half, the Bulls had not only come all the way back, but extended their lead to 10 points.
Battle was able to turn Buffalo's fortunes around in the second half after a dismal first one.
"The big thing with us was at half time he had four turnovers," said Witherspoon of Battle's performance. "He's not being himself if he has four turnovers."
He certainly turned it around for the second half, scoring 22 points without coughing the ball up once.
With just under eight minutes remaining, the Bulls extended their lead to 21 points at the end of a ridiculous 44-10 run. The key to their amazing second half was tight defense and inside scoring.
"Once Mark (Bortz) came in the game, we'd go into him and make them guard him," Witherspoon said. "That put a lot of pressure on Eastern (Michigan)."
The Bulls next play at Indiana State as part of ESPN's Bracket Busters. Witherspoon believes in the Bulls' chances, but says it will be tough.
"We're going to have to have the same determination the same energy to beat them," said Witherspoon.
Should the Bulls win this game, it will be the first time since they have joined the MAC that they will be over .500 this late in the season.
The last time the UB Bulls and Indiana State Sycamores faced off, a college basketball dynasty was just being born.
The Sycamores had just convinced a guy named Larry Bird to transfer there from Indiana and they kicked off the 1975-76 with a 102-73 victory over UB. The Sycamores went 13-12 that season, then 25-3 in 1976-77, 23-9 the next season and then capped it off with a magical 33-1 campaign.
The Bulls hope they can start a new era in their history, Saturday, with a win over ISU.
Buffalo guard Jason Bird has been playing like the aforementioned Bird, leading the team in both 3-pointers made with 31, and 3-point shooting percentage (.484). He tallied a season high 15 points on Wednesday, and went 3-4 from the 3-point line.
UB has become comfortable on the road, winning their fifth road game of the season against Eastern Michigan. This season also marks the first time Buffalo has won three MAC road games since joining the conference in 1998, and the first time the Bulls have won five on the road since 1994-1995.
Indiana State on the other hand, has just lost their eighth consecutive game on Wednesday to Creighton. Sophomore David Moss who averages 14.3 points, 4.3 rebounds, and 3.2 assists per game leads them.
Indiana's Tyson Schnitker is also a threat to the Bulls. He currently leads the Missouri Valley Conference in 3-point field goal percentage (.483).
By the numbers, Buffalo is the better offensive team, as they are averaging 73.7 points per game as opposed to Indiana's 58.1.
UB and Indiana tip off at 4 p.m. this Saturday in Terre Haut, Ind.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
