"Second round, second chance"

Last season was a season of firsts for the UB men's basketball team. This season, so far, appears to be a season of seconds.

The Bulls earned their second-ever home playoff game, which was against Northern Illinois for the second time in two seasons. They won their second-ever Mid-American Conference playoff game, and will now face the No. 2 seed Toledo in the second round of the MAC Tournament for the second year in a row.

UB remembers last year's playoff loss to the Rockets and the team hopes that this season of seconds won't have a repeat in that area.

"We have a bitter taste in our mouths from last year," said Bulls' senior point guard Turner Battle. "We know we have to go into practice and the game focused."

Battle, who has led the Bulls to their first 20-win season, will have to clamp down on defense to contain the 3-point shooting of Toledo and their leading scorer Keith Triplett.

"They penetrate off the dribble very well, and they shoot it very well," said Bulls head coach Reggie Witherspoon. "They shoot the three, they love to shoot the three, but that all comes from their ability to get to the basket off the dribble."

In addition to Triplett, Toledo's star, the Rockets' assist leader is freshman Kashif Payne who was named to the MAC all-freshman team.

"Now they have four all-MAC freshmen on their roster, they have some heavy weapons and we'll have to deal with them," said Witherspoon.

Coming into this season, the Bulls were 0-8 against Toledo, including last year's second-round MAC tournament loss. This year, however, the Bulls have recorded their first victory against the Rockets. The game was during winter break, at Alumni Arena.

Whether or not that game will have an effect on this one, however, Witherspoon does not know.

"The answer to that lies in the mind of the players," said Witherspoon. "Obviously it's a new game, we draw it up and we go out there, see what happens."

Battle knows that the Bulls can't rest on the momentum of the team's victory over Northern Illinois on Monday.

"We were happy with the win, but we know we have to take care of business," said Battle.

To get ready for what the Rockets bring to the table, the Bulls are going to have to make sure they know their opponents inside and out.

"We're going to look at some film and see what we have to do," said Witherspoon.

In order to be victorious in this game, Witherspoon knows that the strategy can be relatively simple.

"We have to do the things that we do well, and do them better," he said.

Battle is the Bulls' leading scorer with 15.4 points per game. Mark Bortz is the team's leading rebounder, pulling down 5.8 boards per game.

For the Rockets, Triplett leads the team in scoring with 15.1 points per game, and Justin Ingram leads the team on the glass with four rebounds per game.

The game is set to tip off in Cleveland, Ohio at noon on Thursday. Should the Bulls be victorious against the Rockets, they would go on to the semifinals of the MAC tournament for the first time in school history. All MAC Tournament games are played in Cleveland's Gund Arena. The championship game will be aired on ESPN 2 at 7 p.m. on Saturday.