If there was any game for the Bulls to make a statement and to live up to the hype surrounding the team this season, it was Saturday night's match-up against the defending conference champion Western Michigan Broncos at home.
But thanks to poor shooting, sloppy defense, and a late first half collapse, the Bulls fell to the Broncos, 70-53, in front of a frustrated Alumni Arena crowd of 3,603.
"You could see this one coming from a couple days ago, I don't know if we just needed it but clearly we got out butts kicked," said UB head coach Reggie Witherspoon. "Western Michigan deserves a lot of credit, they were very unselfish, they moved the ball well, they did whatever it took to win. We didn't."
The Bulls (3-2 overall, 0-1 Mid-American Conference) were unable to consolidate their offensive efforts, shooting 32.8 percent as a team from the floor and just 4-25 from long range.
In contrast, the Broncos (4-2 overall, 1-0 MAC) put on an offensive clinic, headlined by the tremendous shooting effort provided by Levi Rost. Rost had a career night for the reigning MAC champs, scoring 31 points on a captivating 9-12 shooting performance from three-point range.
"Rost set some great screens which caused us some confusion. We got lost a little bit and he made us pay," said Witherspoon. "He got some open looks early and after he gets in a rhythm, it doesn't matter if you guard him or not."
Gaining control of the ball on the opening tip-off, the lively Bulls raced out to a quick lead just one minute into the first half. Calvin Cage knocked down a three and Daniel Gilbert dropped a basket of his own on the Bulls' next possession to make the score 5-0.
That would be the only lead of the game UB would enjoy, however, as the Broncos went on to dominate the first half, and ultimately the game, accelerated by the perimeter prowess of WMU forward Rost.
"It's obviously a very big win for us, from the standpoint that it's the conference opener for both teams," said Western Michigan head coach Steve Hawkins. "It can really help us from the standpoint that we're an inexperienced team. It's a tremendous opportunity because I don't think a lot of teams are coming into Buffalo and winning."
Following the Bulls' 5-0 run, the Broncos entertained a run of their own, scoring 12 unanswered points, thanks in part to the hot hand of Rost. After draining back-to-back shots from beyond the arc, Rost erupted from long range, shooting a tantalizing 6-7 from three point range to finish the first half with 18 points.
"The basket was big tonight, my teammates got me the ball where I like to score from," said Rost. "The basket was big and the shots were falling."
Despite having the height advantage in the post, UB was unable to dominate the inside game, essentially being forced to fire off shots from long range. The Bulls had trouble manifesting any semblance of first half offensive production, shooting just 8-29 from the floor and an even worse 2-14 from beyond the arc.
"We're not patient enough," said Gilbert. "There's going to be shots. There's going to be times when our guys are going to be wide open and we've got to wait for those." Entering the locker room at the half, Buffalo found itself in a precarious position, down 37-21.
"We went in the locker room at halftime and said, 'Let's get the ball inside.' We got the ball inside for one play," commented Witherspoon.
Yassin Idbihi connected on a lay-up to commence the first half of action for the Bulls, closing the WMU lead to 14 points.
Failing to display any offensive flow, the Bulls never decreased their margin of deficit by less than 14 points, falling behind the Broncos by as many as 29 points with 7:42 left to play in the second half.
"(The loss) was definitely disappointing, we had a good turnout, we didn't play to our potential tonight," said senior point guard Turner Battle. "As a team collectively, this better be a wake-up call to let us know you can't go halfway. You've got to play 100 percent every day, especially in our conference. You can't roll over, not play well and expect to win."
For the game, UB shot a ghastly 19-58 from the floor, including a 4-25 performance from beyond the arc. Gilbert led the Bulls in scoring with 13 points and seven rebounds on the night. Battle chipped in with 12 points, while Mark Bortz grabbed six boards, three blocked shots and nine points in the contest.
Idbihi, the reigning MAC freshman of the year, scored just three points and collected five rebounds in 13 minutes of action despite averaging 17.5 points and eight boards over the last two games for the Bulls.
The Bulls were able to hold All-MAC guard Ben Reed to 11 points in the game, although the senior was successful in finding the open man, dishing out five assists on the night.
"(Western Michigan) really got the ball on the floor quickly, they didn't dribble a lot, they moved tremendously well without the basketball," Witherspoon said. "I thought Ben Reed was extremely unselfish."
The Bulls return to action again on Tues., Dec. 7 at 7 p.m. when they travel to Battle's home state of North Carolina to take on Elon. Following the contest at Elon, UB will host Niagara on Sat., Dec. 11.
The highly-anticipated game against the cross-town rival is slated for 7 p.m. at Alumni Arena.
