Low post back at full strength

Sometimes one injury can affect an entire season. For the men's basketball team, that injury happened to junior Parnell Smith.

After cruising to an 11-2 record earlier in the season, the men's basketball team hit a rough patch, dropping nine of its last 16 games. The losing streak started when Smith, Buffalo's starting forward, suffered a high ankle sprain in the Jan. 7 battle against conference foe Northern Illinois.

After being sidelined four straight games, and seeing his team drop two of those four, Smith made a return to the hardwood. The Bulls won two games in a row after his return, coming out victorious against Bowling Green and Ohio.

However, according to Buffalo's coaching staff and trainers, the big man was not at 100 percent and re-injured the ankle. Of six conference losses following Smith's return, four have come when he played less than 20 minutes, including losses to Mid-American Conference powerhouses Kent State and Miami (Ohio). Smith saw only 14 minutes of action in both games.

The team says that Smith is now back and at 100 percent.

"He sprained it, it's better, and now he's ready to go," said Bulls trainer Jim Mollosky.

Although Smith is now back on the court at full strength in the starting lineup, the Bulls are just now starting to mend their season, and re-adjust to Smith's presence on the floor. The Bulls are currently on a two-game winning streak going into the final regular season game.

"I feel like right now, we are starting to come together as a team," Smith said. "It really ate me up inside to have to watch the games. On the positive side, I got to see a lot of things I was doing wrong as a player, and I also got the chance to watch how different teams play us."

Smith started the last 14 games of the 2004-2005 season, edging out former senior Mark Bortz. Although Smith only averaged 3.3 points and 2.6 rebounds during those last games, he continued to start ahead of Bortz on a deep Bulls roster.

"It was very difficult for us. Last year we came in very deep," said Bulls head coach Reggie Witherspoon. "This year we only came in with five guys who had actual experience. Last year we barely played our freshmen."

Smith was averaging just over 11 points per game prior to his injury. The Bulls starters felt the loss of the 6-foot-6-inch junior, especially starting center senior Yassin Idbihi.

"We missed Parnell. He has a huge arsenal of low-post moves," Idbihi said. "That made it hard for our perimeter players to get open looks. He rebounds and blocks shots. Parnell is huge for us."

Idbihi isn't the only one who felt the loss. The lack of two strong, low-post players made it tough for the Bulls shooters to get the open looks they had been seeing all season. However, the Bulls players and coaches see that there were benefits to having to play without a star.

"Every basketball team has to go through a certain amount of adversity, I think that the adversity we went through will make us that much more ready for the playoffs," said Bulls senior and leading scorer Calvin Cage.

Several new Bulls had to step up while Smith was hurt, getting them some beneficial experience that could prove important as Buffalo heads into the MAC Tournament.

"Our bench had to step up when I was gone, and that's going to help us in the long run, with those guys getting that experience," Smith said.

The struggles are not over for Smith and the Bulls. The Buffalo coaching staff knows it will take time to get everyone back on the same page and get the team's timing down.

Witherspoon said Smith would also have to continue to play as if the injury had never happened.

"The biggest part will be him being able to play without trying not to get hurt," Witherspoon said.

Buffalo rounds out its regular season at Miami (Ohio), where the team will be trying to even the season series and carry its newfound momentum into the postseason.