Buffalo's three-game winning streak in late November has been left so far in the dust that it's out of sight in the rear-view mirror. Since the streak, the Bulls have lost seven of their last eight games, including their first four in Mid-American Conference (MAC) play.
The trend of poor play continued on Sunday when Buffalo fell 64-57 against the Miami (OH) RedHawks. Despite Miami's poor shooting from behind the arc, making only one of 12 attempts, Buffalo could not pull off a win.
A big reason for the loss was the large incongruity in foul shots. Buffalo attempted only 16 free throws for the game, making 11 of them, while the RedHawks made 19 of their 31 shots from the charity stripe. Buffalo also committed 17 turnovers leading to 20 points for the RedHawks. Miami only turned the ball over nine times.
Both Miami (7-9, 1-3 MAC) and Buffalo (6-10, 0-4 MAC) were desperately seeking their first conference win of the season, yet neither team shot better than 40 percent from the field. The Bulls were led by a duo of sophomore guards, as Calvin Betts scored 12 points and brought down nine rebounds and Sean Smiley led the team with 13 points, including three from behind the arc.
The Bulls went into halftime with a 31- 29 lead, after Betts hit two free throws with under a minute remaining to give Buffalo its first lead of the game. This was the fifth time during Buffalo's losing skid that it went into halftime with the lead, yet the Bulls have only managed to win one of those games.
With the game still in doubt during the second half, Miami forward Tim Pollitz took control of the game. With just over 11 minutes left in the game and Buffalo up 44-43, Politz came away with two momentum-changing plays that halted Buffalo's 8-2 scoring run. On two consecutive Buffalo possessions, Politz came away with a steal and converted the turnovers into un-contested lay-ups giving the RedHawks a 47-44 advantage, which they would not relinquish.
Pollitz played 38 of a possible 40 minutes of the game, scoring 18 points on 8-17 shooting, along with eight rebounds. RedHawks guard Kenny Hayes scored a game-high 20 points.
A glaring difference between the two squads was the rotation of players. Miami's starters all played at least 30 minutes; they played only three players off the bench, with just two players totaling double digit minutes off the bench. On the other end of the spectrum was Buffalo, who played 11 players, nine of whom reached double digits in minutes. Sophomore guards Greg Gamble and Rodney Pierce were the only Buffalo players to accumulate at least 30 minutes of playing time.
"It was a defensive battle," said head coach Reggie Witherspoon in a press release. "Miami did an excellent job maintaining their poise in their decision-making and we didn't. I think that was the most deciding factor from our standpoint."
The Bulls will next take it to the court on Wednesday night at 7 p.m. when they face the Ohio Bobcats in Buffalo at Alumni Arena.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
