Thursday night, the men's basketball team was looking to pick up its 1,000th victory in school history. Ironically, the Bulls were also playing for their first home win of the season. Although the win plateau was in the back of its mind, Buffalo was more concerned with sending its fans away from Alumni Arena happy for the first time all year.
They went to war with Army, and although both teams suffered from bumps and bruises, the battle ended with the Bulls on top.
Buffalo (3-2) did a solid job of attacking the rim and was awarded more than three times as many free throws as the Black Knights (5-2). This, combined with strong rebounding and solid 3-point shooting, helped the Bulls defeat Army, 74-67.
'[Army is] very experienced,' said head coach Reggie Witherspoon. 'They played hard, they played quick, and watching their other games, they do a great job of putting their opponents in uncomfortable situations. This might be the best team we've played.'
In the first half, Army played a lot of zone defense, allowing the Bulls to take uncontested shots from the outside. Buffalo took advantage of getting open looks and shot 57.1 percent from both the field and the 3-point line in the opening stanza.
After missing his first shot, sophomore guard Zach Filzen knocked down his next three shots – all 3-pointers – to help the Bulls jump out to a 35-21 lead with 3:29 remaining in the first half. He nailed two treys from the corner and then hit his third from the top of the key on a quick catch-and-shoot play.
Senior guard Sean Smiley also added a spark off the bench. He played tough defense, made smart passes and shot well all-game long. Smiley finished with a season-high 14 points and was an asset to Buffalo's offense throughout the game.
Witherspoon was especially proud of how his team moved around on offense, and hopes it can continue to play with such energy.
'We were moving and moving without the ball,' Witherspoon said. 'We're trusting that movement and when we do that, we're pretty good offensively. We've just got to try to find a way to be consistent.'
The Bulls led by as many as 15 in the first half, but Black Knights senior forward Eric Zastoupil hit a short jump shot as the halftime buzzer sounded and sent the teams into the locker rooms with the score 40-30 in favor of Buffalo.
The second half was closer than the first as the Bulls cooled off from the outside and the Black Knights started shooting well.
Army came out ready to stage a comeback and sophomore guard Julian Simmons led the way. He scored 21 points in the second half, giving him a game-best and career-high 30 points on the night.
Buffalo's hot shooting didn't transition to the second half as the Bulls only nailed 28.6 percent of their shots during the final 20 minutes.
'We didn't have the same kind of flow in our offense that we did in the first half,' said senior guard John Boyer. 'We were walking [the ball] up the court a lot and when we do that, we tend to struggle.'
The Black Knights fought hard and were able to close the gap to one point with 4:28 remaining, but Smiley answered with a 5-0 run of his own and Buffalo never looked back from there. The Bulls stood their ground and closed out the game well by hitting clutch foul shots.
Buffalo's bench played exceptionally well, scoring 36 points to Army's 13 bench points. Senior forward Max Boudreau had a strong night as he recorded a double-double with 12 points and 10 rebounds. Boyer and senior guard Rodney Pierce chipped in with 14 and 13 points, respectively.
'We have [bench players] that we have a lot of confidence in,' Witherspoon said. 'They have great experience, they know what they're doing and we're so blessed to have them. We need them to come in and express that, and convey that, and I thought they did a great job of that tonight.'
The Bulls are in action again on Saturday as they visit West Lafayette, Ind. to face No. 4 nationally ranked Purdue. The Boilermakers are 5-0 and will look to remain undefeated on the season. Tip-off is scheduled for 5 p.m.
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