Leon Williams made his last trip to Alumni Arena on Wednesday night, and for the first time since his freshman year, Williams and the Bobcats came away with a win. Many people know Williams as the forward who ended Buffalo's bid for the NCAA tournament by tipping the ball in with less then one second left in the MAC championship game. But on Tuesday night, Williams was just one part of the formula to Ohio's 68-59 victory over the Bulls.
While Williams' modest 10 points and nine rebounds don't jump off the page, he had a large impact in the outcome of the game. His steal from sophomore guard Byron Mulkey late in the game changed the momentum of the contest.
"That was huge, we had the ball and we were in transition, and had an opportunity to score, and we don't get the field goal and they get the field goal going the other way, it's a four point swing in a game that's tightly played," said Bulls head coach Reggie Witherspoon.
Buffalo started the game hot, leading 12-8 early in the game, yet Ohio finished the half on a 25-13 run to lead 33-25 after the first half. Ohio dominated the paint in the first half scoring 10 second chance points, to Buffalo's zero. Ohio also outscored Buffalo in the paint 14-6.
"I thought it was a tight game, it was a little loosely played in the first half," Witherspoon said. "I thought their experience around the basket really hurt us. It kept us off the glass, we got 10 offensive rebounds the whole game, which was probably a season low or close to it."
Buffalo came out in the second half determined to cut into the Bobcats' lead. However, the Bulls were hampered by not having Sean Smiley, their best three-point shooter, playing at 100 percent. Smiley was injured in the first half, tweaking his ankle, as well as cutting his elbow, which required stitches. Though he played in the second half Smiley was largely ineffective, shooting 1-6 from three-point land, and scoring four points in 15 minutes.
With Smiley unable to contribute, Buffalo relied on junior guard Andy Robinson, who scored 23 points on 4-7 shooting from three-point land. Sophomore guard Calvin Betts also continued his hot streak, scoring nine points and adding seven rebounds. Over his past six games, Betts has averaged 12 points and eight rebounds per game.
Following Betts' and Robinson's lead, Buffalo was able to cut Ohio's lead down to one with just under eight minutes to go in the game at 54-53. After stopping the Bobcats on their next possession, Buffalo had several opportunities to take the lead, but two missed shots by Smiley led to a missed opportunity for the Bulls. Ohio pushed the lead back up to 63-51, and cruised to a 68-59 victory.
One big difference between the two halves was turnovers. In the first half, Ohio outscored Buffalo 14-5 on points off of turnovers, yet in the second half Buffalo held the advantage 10-2 in points off turnovers.
"We passed it better, we had two turnovers in the second half," Witherspoon said. "I think when we passed it better then we have a chance to shoot it better. I think we made a pretty concerted effort to drive the ball to the basket."
Along with Williams, Ohio was led by Jerome Tillman who scored 11 points and brought down nine rebounds, and Bert Whittington IV, who had a team high 22 points and also recorded six rebounds.
Despite their sloppy play in the second half, Ohio coach Tim O'Shea was happy to come out of Buffalo with a victory. Alumni Arena had been a house of horrors for the Bobcats the previous two seasons, losing to the Bulls by 19 points in each of the past two years.
"They got in a run there where they just shot the ball exceptionally well," O'Shea said. "I thought that defensively we didn't do some of the things that we wanted to in terms of going over their screens...I was pretty upset with the defense for a while there...On the road in the MAC, whenever you get a road win, I don't care where it is, it's something you have to be pleased about."
Buffalo will be back in action on Saturday when they travel to take on Toledo. Tip is set for 7 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
