Three games in three days is a lot to ask of any sports team. The men's basketball team, however, will do what it can to take them all this weekend at the America's Youth Classic.
During the three-day-long event, the Bulls will face the Cleveland State Vikings of the Horizon League, the Miami Hurricanes of the Atlantic Coastal Conference and host the Evansville Purple Aces of the Missouri Valley Conference.
"(There are) Three games not two, we looked at Evansville as a place where they draw really well, and they are a good program," said head coach Reggie Witherspoon. "Some of the tournaments that we looked at were nice climates, but places where not a lot of people are watching."
The first game for the Bulls will pit them against the Vikings, who are coming off of a 10-18 season. The Vikings are led by sophomore forward J'Nathan Bullock, who as a freshman led the team in scoring with 11.3 points per game. Through two games this season, Bullock is averaging 18.5 points per game. Cleveland State gets great production from its bench from freshman Joe Davis, who averages 13 points per game, and junior Kevin Francis, who chips in with 12 points and 8.5 rebounds per game.
The Bulls will attempt to keep up with this firepower with the three-point shooting of sophomore point guard Eric Moore. Moore is shooting 53 percent from three-point-land, and is averaging 16 points per game in his first season as a starter. Moore scored a career-high 20 points in the season opener against Canisius. Though his scoring has been way up, Moore will need to cut down on his turnovers, as he has 10 giveaways compared to a mere five assists.
Senior forward Yassin Idbihi will look to find his shooting touch again after Monday's game against South Florida where he had only two points and eight rebounds, before he fouled out midway through the second half.
The second day of the tournament will see the Bulls take on the Hurricanes. This is the second consecutive season Buffalo will test themselves against a team from the powerhouse ACC. Last season the Bulls fell to Boston College, 92-63. The Bulls are hoping that this case will be different, since the teams will meet on a neutral court.
However, Witherspoon feels that the team will not be intimidated by what conference the Hurricanes happen to play in.
"Not really. We're at a stage where we are taking it game by game," Witherspoon said. "We don't pay attention to what conferences they play in."
The Hurricanes lost last season's top scorer, Guillermo Diaz, to graduation. But in their first game of the season, senior center Anthony King more than picked up the slack as he scored 19 points and brought down 15 rebounds.
On Sunday, the final day of the three-day event, the Bulls will take on the Purple Aces. Evansville should prove to be another tough battle as it is a member of the Missouri Valley Conference, which is annually one of the toughest mid-major conferences in the nation. The MVC has received several bids to the NCAA Tournament in each of the last two seasons.
In Evansville's first game of the season, Lipscomb defeated the Purple Aces, 67-64. Jason Holsinger scored 15 points to lead the Purple Aces while Matt Webster chipped in 13 points and five rebounds.
"We're going to compete, we're going to use every opportunity to get better," Witherspoon said. "We're a very young team."
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
