The Buffalo Bulls did something they had not been able to do since 1929 on Wednesday night in Alumni Arena.
They beat the Ohio Bobcats, one of the four teams they could possibly meet in the first round of the Mid-American Conference Playoffs on Monday night in Alumni..
In fact, the last time these two teams met, on Jan. 14, Ohio (9-19, 6-11 MAC) wiped out the Bulls (15-11, 10-7 MAC) by 24 points.
This, however, is a different, confident, and seemingly unstoppable Buffalo team.
"We were a victim of the Buffalo Buzzsaw," said Ohio head coach Tim O'Shea. "It was really an incredible performance by Buffalo in the first half."
The "Buffalo Buzzsaw" started off the game quickly, using defense to spark the offense, as Turner Battle stole the ball from Ohio on their first possession and passed to Mario Jordan for a fast break bucket. The game was essentially over quickly, as the Bulls coasted to a 77-49 victory in preparation for their first-ever home playoff game this Monday, March 8.
UB scored almost all the points they would need in a monster first half save three with 47 points, which included major contributions from Daniel Gilbert, Battle, Jason Bird and Calvin Cage, each of whom ended the game in double figures.
The Bulls were absolutely deadly from 3-point-land, shooting a mind-numbing 76.9 percent in the first half.
"If they were to play Wisconsin the way they played tonight or if they would have played a Top 25 team, they would have a great shot at winning," said O'Shea. "When you shoot the three like that - and they weren't all open threes - you have guys 6-5, 6-6 raising up shooting it . . . they were phenomenal."
While Bulls' head coach Reggie Witherspoon understands that without their hot shooting, the Bulls wouldn't be where they are today, he also gives credit to the defense.
"Our defense made it as difficult as possible for them," he said.
UB's defense stifled the Bobcats' offense, forcing them to take terrible shot after terrible shot. Ohio ended the first half 6 of 24 from the field, which, if you're not a math major, is a measly 25 percent.
If you add 18 turnovers to that dismal shooting percentage, you have a recipe for Ohio disaster and Buffalo victory.
Bird led the Bulls in scoring with 19 points going 3-4 from the land of plenty. Gilbert scored 13 points, Battle had 12, Cage ended with 11, and Jordan drained 10.
With 18 seconds remaining in the first half, the Bulls were up a ridiculous 45-18, and the fans wanted blood. They began chanting for Yassin Idbihi to drain one of his famous 3-pointers from the very top of the key. UB was unable to set him up properly however, and Calvin Cage took over and drained a mid-range jumper to put the Bulls ahead 47-18 at the end of the first half.
Buffalo cruised along in the second half, basically matching Ohio point for point until the final buzzer sounded.
The Bulls' current six game win streak is their longest since the 1994-95 season.
Coming up on Monday will be the Bulls' first MAC playoff game at home. In a season of firsts, how can Witherspoon keep the team playing so fiercely?
"You can't get to a point where you think you've arrived, because the next game is going to be tough," said Witherspoon. "I think we just have to stay the course, and try to get better, there are some things we need to improve, like free-throw shooting, and those are the things we've got to keep up with."
The home playoff game takes place Monday, March 8, in Alumni Arena at 7 p.m.
Bulls Look to Finish Strong in Akron
Three years ago the UB men's basketball team brought in its most highly touted recruiting class in the school's history, headlined by the first top 100 recruit to ever play for the Bulls in Turner Battle.
Despite high expectations, the Bulls struggled that year. The concept of a six-game winning streak and a record good enough for third place in the MAC East was inconceivable.
That was three years ago.
After an initially rough ride to begin the 2003-04 season, the baby Bulls have matured into a force to be reckoned with and look to continue their dominating streak of wins when they venture on their last road trip of the regular season this Saturday to Akron, Ohio.
The last time the two teams met was on Jan. 28 at Alumni Arena where the Bulls walked away with a close 89-83 victory over the Zips.
The second edition of Bulls vs. Zips will be no different than the first, with both teams set to unleash their respective high-energy offensive arsenal.
For UB, it will be a team effort run by the floor general, Battle. The Bulls' leading scorer at 14.3 points per game, the Junior has been nothing short of clutch as of late, distributing the scoring load and helping to accentuate the shooting prowess of UB's perimeter players.
With an outside game that has flourished as of late, Buffalo will look to the outside shooting of guards Cage, Gilbert and Bird to patrol the 3-point arc. Bird is coming off a season-high 19-point game against Ohio on Wednesday night in which he was 3-4 from 3-point territory.
Akron (13-13, 7-10 MAC) enters Saturday's contest most recently dropping a 78-68 game to Marshall on Wednesday night. Despite the fact that the Zips have had an extremely inconsistent season in terms of wins and losses, they have a diamond in the rough, utilizing one of the leagues most consistent scorers, Derrick Tarver.
Tarver, a MAC player-of-the-year candidate is responsible for 29 percent of Akron's offensive production. The senior guard also leads the MAC in scoring and ranks among the top 15 nationally with 22.2 points per game.
A noon tip-off time is slated for Saturday, in Akron, Ohio.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
