Juniors shine during Buffalo's road to MAC Championship

???Buffalo's journey to the Mid-American Conference Championship game provided spectators with many thrills.

???For a time, it gave fans a glimmer of hope that Buffalo's name would appear on an NCAA tournament bracket come Selection Sunday.

???Before the Bulls (21-11, 10-6 MAC) had their NCAA tournament dreams extinguished, they took care of Kent State (19-14, 10-6 MAC) in the quarterfinals and Ball State (14-17, 7-9 MAC) in the semifinal round during the Mid-American Conference Tournament in Cleveland, Ohio.

???On Thursday in Buffalo's game with Kent State, the Bulls were looking for revenge. A week prior, Buffalo dropped a contest with the Golden Flashes in overtime at Kent State's M.A.C. Center.

???The Bulls got their revenge. With five seconds remaining in the game and holding a three-point lead, the Bulls made a key play to regain possession. As Kent State attempted to inbound the ball on their offensive end, Bulls senior guard Andy Robinson sneaked in to seal the in-bounds pass and threw the ball off of Kent State's Al Fisher to give the Bulls the ball. Buffalo was able to run out the clock and celebrate victory.

???"It was a slugfest. They threw some haymakers, but we fought through," said Bulls head coach Reggie Witherspoon. "When momentum shifted to the opposition, we stayed focused and determined. They never got down."

???Despite an off game from All-MAC guard Rodney Pierce, the Bulls advanced with some help from a familiar face. Calvin Betts finished with 11 points and a career-high 18 rebounds, including six on the offensive end. The performance earned Betts his fourth double-double of the season.

???Betts could not have picked a better time to come out of his funk as Pierce, Buffalo's leading scorer and a first-team All-MAC selection, struggled from the floor on Thursday. Pierce shot 3-for-15 against the Golden Flashes and scored just seven points.

???"I was just trying to get back to my old self," Betts said. "Earlier this season, if I started missing shots, my confidence would drop. I didn't think about the last [Kent State] game and just tried to be effective."

???As well as the Bulls played on offense, their defensive effort was the difference in the victory. Fisher, last year's MAC Player of the Year, was held to just nine points on 2-for-14 shooting. They also forced the star point guard to turn the ball over four times.

???On Friday night, the chant "Just like football" echoed throughout Quicken Loans Arena. There were not any game-changing fumbles or long bombs for touchdowns, but the result of Buffalo and Ball State's semifinal game was very similar to the MAC football championship game between the two teams.

???Junior forward Max Boudreau put the Bulls on his broad Canadian shoulders, scoring a career-high 21 points en route to a Buffalo 64-52, MAC semifinal victory over the Ball State Cardinals.

???"I think Max is really determined to improving and working at his game," Witherspoon said. "That was the key in the game. He really has established himself around the basket."

???The Bulls came out more determined and focused than they did in their previous matchup with Ball State in February. In the loss to the Cardinals, Buffalo struggled down low and was unable to establish a consistent offense.

???Buffalo's domination in the paint was key in their victory on Friday. As a team the Bulls out-rebounded Ball State by a whopping 13 rebounds. In their loss at Ball State in February, the Bulls had three less rebounds than the Cardinals.

???"We wanted to step up our intensity this game," said freshman forward Mitchell Watt. "I think last time against Ball State we came out flat. I think...we came out and banged back a little bit. We got back to playing our defense."