With a free pass to Cleveland on the line Thursday night, the men's basketball team was hoping to beat a conference rival on the last day of the season for the second-straight year.
The Bulls (17-11, 9-7 Mid-American Conference) battled back from 13 points down at halftime to knock off Miami (Ohio) (13-17, 9-7 MAC) in overtime a season ago to win a share of the MAC regular season title.
The only difference this season was the venue – Millett Hall proved to be unkind to Buffalo this season.
After a tightly contested first half, the Bulls fell behind early in the second and were unable to recover, falling to Miami, 73-62.
The Bulls shot 48 percent from the field in the first half but couldn't buy a basket in the second, going 10-for-36 from the field and 1-for-10 from three-point range. Miami shot 50 percent for the game and a staggering 67 percent from downtown.
'We obviously shot poorly,' said Bulls head coach Reggie Witherspoon. 'You can shoot bad, but you have to make your opponent shoot bad as well,' Witherspoon said. 'We didn't do that.'
The loss forces the Bulls to become spectators on Friday when the Akron Zips host the Kent State Golden Flashes to determine the MAC regular season victor. The game also will dictate whether the Bulls have a play-in game at home to the MAC Tournament.
Witherspoon and company will be cheering on Akron for the only time this season, as a win by the Zips will send the Bulls directly to Quicken Loans Arena.
Sophomore forward Mitchell Watt rocked the rim for the first points of the game to jumpstart the Bulls offensive attack. The next two trips down the floor ended with points as well when sophomore Titus Robinson and senior Max Boudreau converted on jump shots to give Buffalo a 6-2 advantage early on.
Watt dominated in the first half and almost looked like a different player. He scored 17 points in the game, 11 of which came in the first half. He also blocked five shots and grabbed six rebounds.
The two teams would battle fiercely throughout the first half, but senior guard Rodney Pierce never really seemed to settle into the game. His stat line may be a bit deceiving because, while he finished with 16 points, it came on a 3-for-13 shooting performance.
It was announced early on Thursday that Pierce was named the Buffalo News 'Big Four' Player of the Year. But despite going 9-for-10 from the free throw line, the senior didn't play like it on this night.
Boudreau knocked down a jump shot to bring the Bulls within two points. He scored all eight of his points in the first half.
RedHawks forward Julian Mavunga scored nine straight points, giving Miami a 38-33 advantage with 17:08 remaining in the game.
The Bulls pulled within five at 45-40 on a Pierce layup before the RedHawks put the game away.
Miami utilized an 11-0 run highlighted by a reverse slam-dunk by RedHawks guard Antonio Ballard to end all hope for the Bulls.
Mavunga and senior guard Kenny Hayes finished with 17 points for Miami. Ballard came within one rebound of a double-double after his 13-point, nine-rebound performance.
Senior guard Calvin Betts struggled from the field but was a monster on the glass, grabbing 12 rebounds in the loss, five of which were offensive.
If Kent State wins on Friday, the Bulls will play the Toledo Rockets at Alumni Arena at 2 p.m. An Akron win will give the Bulls the fourth seed, which will send them straight to Quicken Loans Arena.
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