Defensive troubles

???On Jan. 10, the men's basketball team lost its first Mid-American Conference game against the Bowling Green Falcons. Since then, the Bulls have shocked the MAC by rising to the top.

???Looking for vengeance Wednesday night, the Bulls welcomed the Falcons to Alumni Arena, hoping to recover from Sunday night's loss to Ball State.

???Bowling Green had other plans in mind.

???The men's basketball team's offensive struggles continued on the court against the Falcons. Unlike previous games, the Bulls' defense, which has led them to first place in the MAC, didn't show in their usual shutdown capabilities.

???Bowling Green (15-10, 8-4 MAC) shot 53.7 percent from the floor and imposed a 2-3-zone defense that flustered Buffalo's (17-7, 9-3 MAC) attack and got the Falcons a 59-48 win. With the win, Bowling Green captured the sweep over the Bulls this season. It was also the Bulls' second straight loss after winning nine-straight games. The loss ended Buffalo's seven-game home winning streak.

???Buffalo shot 34 percent in a game where Bowling Green's zone set the tempo and forced 16 Buffalo turnovers. The Falcons controlled the flow of the game from the get-go, holding the Bulls to 8-of-27 shooting in the first half.

???Bowling Green's offense got off to a fast start as well. The Falcons grabbed control with a 15-2 run that made the score 24-12 with 9:15 left in the half. Bowling Green shot 14-for-25 in the first half, putting Buffalo in a 37-22 hole at halftime.

???The second half saw an improved performance from the Bulls. A 3-pointer by junior guard John Boyer put the Bulls within seven points at 48-41 with 9:36 left in the game.

???It was the last field goal that Buffalo made until 48 seconds were left in the game. During that time, the Falcons went on a 9-0 run that put the Bulls in a hole they were hard-pressed to climb out of.

???"I don't think we did a good job defensively," head coach Reggie Witherspoon said. "They physically imposed their will on us tonight and it's discouraging. We didn't impose ourselves on them. Their position was too good to effectively defend them."

???Brian Moten led the Falcons with a dominating performance off the bench. The senior guard finished with 22 points in 37 minutes. Moten frustrated the Bulls' perimeter defense, shooting 6-for-9 from 3-point range.

???His last 3-pointer provided the dagger to Buffalo's heart. With the Bulls down by 13 points with two minutes remaining, Moten nailed a long 3-point shot with the shot clock winding down to finalize the victory.

???On the other end, it was Bowling Green's defense that frustrated their opponent. Buffalo was unable to shoot the Falcons out of the 2-3 zone. Almost half of Buffalo's 53 shots came from 3-point range, making only seven of the 26 shots they took behind the 3-point line.

???"[Mouten] did a great job, he hit some deep ones," Witherspoon said. "It was the opposite of the way we shot it."

???Buffalo had two players score in double figures. Junior guard Rodney Pierce ended up with 13 points to go along with four rebounds and five assists. Junior forward Calvin Betts scored 10 points and grabbed a high for the team of six rebounds, including four on the offensive end.

???"We tried to flow into our offense, and usually we're pretty good at it, but we struggled with it today," Betts said. "We settled for jump shot a lot."

???The Bulls take a break from MAC play to try to recover their momentum. They travel to Burlington, Vt. to take on the Vermont Catamounts on Saturday as part of ESPNU's Bracketbusters. The nationally televised game will tip off at Patrick Gym at 1 p.