???In preseason polls, the men's basketball team was expected to place last in the Mid-American Conference's East division.
???Three months into their season, the Bulls have proven the polls wrong.
???The Bulls continued on the path of success on Wednesday as they extended their winning streak to three with a win over MAC opponent Kent State, 64-53.
???The result put an end to Kent State's (8-10, 1-3 MAC) seven-game winning streak over the Bulls (11-5, 3-1 MAC), dating back to the 2004-05 season. With the victory, Buffalo remained in a three-way tie for first place in the MAC East.
???It was a total team effort on the offensive and defensive ends that led the Bulls to victory.
???Offensively, hot shooting from junior Rodney Pierce mixed in with stellar bench performances seemed to be the winning formula for the team.
Pierce led Buffalo with 18 points including big 3-pointers with the shot clock running out. In addition, the Bulls bench outscored Kent State's 25-9.
???Six of the seven bench players that saw action scored for the Bulls. Sophomore Jawaan Alston led the bench players in scoring with eight points, followed by senior Vadim Fedotov with six points.
???Defensively, the Bulls had the hard task of trying to defend Kent State's leading scorer and last year's MAC Player of the Year, Al Fisher. Even though the Bulls allowed him to score 26 points, they managed to lock down the rest of the team, allowing the other four of their scorers to a combined 27 points. Buffalo also dominated the boards, out-rebounding Kent State 39-29.
???The victory, however, was not perfectly executed. The start of the first half was very sloppy for the Bulls, missed shots and turnovers plaguing the squad. Buffalo was able to only score seven points in the first nine minutes of play. By halftime, they had racked up nine turnovers.
???With Buffalo up only five at halftime, they needed someone to help get them enthused. They found that person in freshman Titus Robinson.
???With 15:39 left on the game clock, Robinson dunked a perfectly thrown in-bounds alley-oop pass from senior Greg Gamble, which put them up by nine and secured the momentum.
???"[That play] gets everybody pumped up, and everybody plays a little harder on defense. It's a momentum-getter," Robinson said.
???The inconsistency of Kent State's season has frustrated Golden Flashes head coach Geno Ford.
???"The reality is we have been the most erratic, inconsistent group you have ever seen in your life," he said. "The only thing we have done consistently all year is not rebound and be a bad free throw shooting team. Those things we seem to do on a nightly bases."
???Buffalo head coach Reggie Witherspoon, on the other hand, was pleased with the performance of his team and the outcome of the game, even after the way his team began the game.
???"I thought we did a good job of recovering from our start," Witherspoon said. "I thought we defended pretty well for most of the game and rebounded pretty well for most of the game."
???The Bulls hit the road Saturday as they attempt to extend their winning streak to four against Miami (OH). Tip-off is at 4 p.m.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
