Grand slam

Revenge is a dish best served with 19 points.

Almost one year after the infamous 19-point, second-half collapse against Ohio in the Mid-American Conference finals, Bulls fans can look at Thursday night's win and breathe a little easier.

Holding Ohio to its lowest point total of the season, the Bulls were able to pull out a 70-51 win at a raucous Alumni Arena.

Leon Williams, who won last year's game with a buzzer-beating tip-in, was without a shot attempt, registering one rebound to go along with his zero-point game.

It was obvious from the first possession that this was going to be Buffalo's night. Yassin Idbihi got going early after Williams, losing a shoe in transition, couldn't keep the senior from posting up for an easy two.

Following that up with a contested three, and a mid-range jumper, Idbihi scored the first seven points of the game. He finished with 22 points on 10-of-12 shooting, 2-of-3 from long range.

Led by Idbihi and Middleton, the Bulls (15-4, 5-3 MAC) posted their second highest field goal percentage, going 66.7 from the floor.

Without No. 5 Leon Williams scoring a point, Ohio (12-4, 6-2 MAC) was 0-for-5 with five turnovers before five minutes had ticked away.

"It's a great feeling, coming here and getting a win," said senior Bulls guard Calvin Cage. "We had great crowd support tonight. It's a big win. It really helped us back in the MAC race."

Cage had a solid game from the point guard position, playing 40 minutes and putting up 12 points and five assists.

The three-ball turned out to be Buffalo's best friend and Ohio's nightmare. Led by Rodderick Middleton, who sank 5-of-6 from behind the arc, the Bulls shot 60 percent from long range; 80 percent in the first 10 minutes.

Ohio, on the other hand, was a dismal 5-of-29 from three.

"It certainly wasn't our night," said Bobcats coach Tim O'Shea. "You got to give Buffalo all the credit. I guess that's just life in the MAC. You go on the road, and you come out with low energy, you're going to get beat. Any night Leon Williams goes scoreless, you can be sure it's going to be a long night for us."

Turnovers were a major factor in insuring a long-overdue victory. Buffalo capitalized on 21 Bobcat giveaways to improve their record to 3-16 against Ohio.

During one first-half stretch, Ohio turned the ball over on four consecutive possessions.

Despite the big lead, 5,884 fans in attendance couldn't shake their fears. The Bulls were up by a scary 19 with 15:31 left to play. When many fans would start looking for the nearest exit, the Mighty Maniacs couldn't shake the memory of Buffalo's 57-38 lead with 16 left in the MAC final.

"We were expecting them to make a run the whole game," Idbihi said. "We were expecting them to try to come back. We were very focused on not letting them back into the game, not letting them back by creating turnovers. We just played hard today, and that's what gave us this win."

Despite running virtually no zone all season, UB played a 2-3 for the entire game against a team that came in shooting 36.9 percent from three-point range. Even with only two perimeter defenders, the zone worked to perfection, allowing just 17.2 percent from three, while collapsing on the paint all night long

"I can't remember playing that much zone in a game," said head coach Reggie Witherspoon. "We played a little of it the other night at Bowling Green with the thought that it might give us some minutes, with the thought that it might keep some people out of foul trouble. We've been practicing it for a while, and maybe we're getting good at it. We'll have to see."

The Bulls continue their quest for a MAC title against Kent State on Sunday.