"Despite Gaffes, Bulls Hold Off Colgate"

Few teams are able to register a victory in a game in which they record 22 turnovers, shoot under 45 percent in the first half, and have a lower free throw percentage than the opposing team.

The Bulls, however, beat the odds on Wednesday night in Alumni Arena as they defeated the Colgate Red Raiders, 74-62.

Fresh off of a blowout victory over Indiana State on Saturday, the Bulls (3-1 overall, 0-0 Mid-American Conference) were not able to carry over Saturday night's near-perfect play into Wednesday night's game against Colgate (2-3 overall, 0-0 Patriot League).

Although the Bulls notched a win, there was a somber mood after the game as UB head coach Reggie Witherspoon reprimanded his team for not playing up to its full potential.

"We didn't play well," said Witherspoon. "I haven't been this upset after a win since I've been here."

Though the lead changed seven times in the first half, the Bulls took a permanent lead 13 minutes into the first half. At three different times throughout the game, the Bulls attained a lead of 15 points.

"It's not because we didn't win by a lot," said Witherspoon. "It's because we had 22 turnovers and our defense was gamble, gamble, gamble."

Yassin Idbihi and Turner Battle led the Bulls with 13 points each. Idbihi had a double-double adding 11 rebounds to his stat-line, but the general pattern of play exhibited by both teams was sloppy.

"I really believe that what really is at the heart of this problem is that we're immature and typically when a team is immature they don't handle prosperity really well," said Witherspoon. "They want to believe that we'll be able to beat teams without really working hard."

In the first half, the Bulls did not execute on the defensive side of the ball. The Raiders shot 60 percent from the field while an animated Witherspoon could be seen stomping and yelling up and down the sidelines.

"We knew going into the half that we didn't play the defense that we were supposed to," said Bulls' point guard Turner Battle. "In the second half we had to pick it up."

And pick it up they did. The Bulls bounced out of the locker room and grabbed 24 rebounds in the second half, compared to the paltry 14 boards UB pulled down in the first half of the game.

Buffalo was also able to limit the Raiders' shooting percentage to just 32 percent from the floor as opposed to Colgate's 60 percent first half shooting.

For the Raiders, head coach Emmett Davis treated this game as more of a learning experience than anything else.

"They're a very good basketball team, and in our league we probably will not see another team that good," Davis said.

Colgate was down by only five points at the end of the first half, and the Raiders kept it close for several minutes into the second half. If it wasn't for UB's impeccable free throw shooting, and the Raiders' getting into foul trouble early in the second half, the game might have been much closer.

In addition to dominating the charity stripe, the Bulls dominated the boards, recording 38 rebounds on the night, compared to Colgate's 20.

"Those two kids inside, Idbihi and Bortz, they are good players," said Davis.

Witherspoon, however, believes that the Bulls could have executed much better. He thinks the fact that UB may have taken Colgate too lightly entering the contest may have been a factor in the Bulls lackluster performance.

"I've been trying to tell them there's nobody scared of Buffalo," Witherspoon said. "We have no basketball tradition whatsoever. Colgate has a better basketball tradition. They have more experience in tournaments, they have more 20 win seasons, I don't know why anybody would be afraid of us."

Battle echoed Witherspoon's sentiments, noting that no matter how good a team is in the NCAA, every team has to play hard in order to win.

"Any Division I team, if you don't show up, can beat anyone," Battle said.

Raiders' guard Jon Simon, who scored 20 points in the game, said the Raiders were not overwhelmed by all the hype surrounding the Bulls.

"I don't think we were intimidated at all," he said.

Simon, and the Raiders' other two starting guards combined for 44 of Colgate's 62 points.

The Bulls will be tested this Saturday when they host the defending MAC champion Western Michigan Broncos on Saturday at Alumni Arena. Tip-off is set for 7 p.m.