???Riding a nine-game winning streak sparked by impressive defense, the men's basketball traveled to Ball State to finish the MAC West part of their schedule. Unfortunately, the Bulls' lack of offensive efficiency finally caught up to them Sunday at Worthen Arena.
???Despite holding the Ball State (11-12, 6-5 Mid-American Conference) to just 40 percent shooting, Buffalo (17-6, 9-2 MAC) couldn't muster enough offense to take advantage, dropping a heartbreaker to Ball State 53-51.
???The loss ended Buffalo's nine-game winning streak. In addition, it was the Bulls' fourth loss in five games to the Cardinals, whose win gave them sole possession of first place in the MAC West.
???Down by two with 22 seconds left, Buffalo had the ball with an opportunity to either tie the game or take the lead. Junior guard Rodney Pierce, who shot an uncharacteristic 1-for-11 from the floor, missed a 3-point shot with 12 seconds left. Junior forward Calvin Betts grabbed an offensive rebound but was unable to tally the put back.
???Cardinals forward Malik Perry grabbed the rebound and eventually turned the ball over with one second left, but Buffalo couldn't get off a shot in that time.
???Head coach Reggie Witherspoon believes the team was trying to avoid losing instead of playing to win, resulting in the loss.
???"[The loss] hurts," he said. "I think we got a couple guys that need to courage to display energy. We were just hanging on to the win streak which is not the way to win consistently."
???Buffalo shot 37.4 percent from the floor, making it the third time in six games the Bulls failed to shoot 40 percent. The Bulls' 51 points was the lowest total since scoring 49 points in a loss to Evansville earlier this season.
???The back-and-forth contest was highlighted by numerous lead changes. Eight lead changes occurred in the second half and neither team possessed a lead larger than six points over the course of the game.
???Ball State had an advantage on the boards and out-rebounded the Bulls 36-33. It was only the fifth time Buffalo was outrebounded this season. The Cardinals took advantage by scoring 14 second-chance points, including a put back by Ball State's Maurice Hubbard with 1:05 left that proved to be the game-winning basket.
???"[Rebounding] was an area we knew were going to challenge, we didn't do a good enough job," Witherspoon said. "We got challenged on the glass. We got hit and they kept hitting. At some point that's what it came down to."
???Junior forward Max Boudreau was the only Bull to score in double-figures. Boudreau came off the bench to score 13 points on 5-of-6 shooting.
???The reserve forward was the only Bull to score more than 10 points despite playing only 11 minutes. Thirty seconds after hitting a free throw to give the Bulls a 38-37 lead with 9:05 left in the game, Boudreau was taken out of the game. He would not return to action.
???Witherspoon saw Boudreau get tired over the course of the game, resulting in the switch of personnel.
???"Max just couldn't get into a groove. He got fatigued when he was out there, but he played well," Witherspoon said.
???According to Witherspoon, the Bulls were unable to score when they needed to. The combination of Ball State's tempo and Buffalo's lack of aggressiveness cost the Bulls the game.
???"I think [Ball State] controlled the pace a little bit. Some of it was we got cautious," he said. "We had opportunities to do what we needed to do but we got overly cautious."
???The Bulls return to MAC East action with a home game Wednesday night against Bowling Green. Buffalo dropped their MAC opener to the Falcons earlier this season. Tip off is at 7 p.m.
Photo: Breadchastick / Wikimedia Commons
