UB men’s basketball (1-8, 0-0 MAC) fell 59-72 to the Butler Bulldogs (7-2, 0-0 Big East) Tuesday in a loss that keeps the Bulls without a win against a Division-I opponent this regular season. UB’s lone win came against D-II Roberts Wesleyan, and the Bulls have lost six straight since.
It was a cold shooting night for both teams, as neither side shot better than 45% from the field. That trend continued from the three-point line, as the teams combined for 11 makes on 50 three-point attempts for a 22% clip. Those numbers resulted in lengthy scoring droughts, including a four-minute stretch in the second half that saw one made field goal.
UB’s season-long struggles continued to plague the team as the team gave up 22 points in transition while turning the ball over 14 times. Each starter had at least two turnovers. Despite collecting 10 blocks, UB also gave up 46 points in the paint.
The Bulls stayed with Butler for most of the first half and were down 16-17 with nine minutes left in the half. Butler closed with a 6-0 run to go into halftime with a nine-point lead.
Butler’s lead grew to 24 points with 14 minutes left in the game, but the Bulls whittled their lead to five on a dunk from senior forward Sy Chatman to make it 59-64. That was the last time UB scored, and the Bulls lost by 13 as Butler went on another run.
Chatman, again UB’s leading scorer, had an efficient 16 points and collected eight rebounds. Freshman guard Anquan Boldin Jr. was the other starter in double figures, scoring 10 points and adding six rebounds.
The Bulls next face Western Kentucky (6-3, 0-0 C-USA) at home on Saturday, Dec. 9. Tip-off is at 2 p.m., and the game can be streamed on ESPN+.
The sports desk can be reached at sports@ubspectrum.com
Henry Daley is an assistant sports editor at The Spectrum. His work has featured on other platforms such as Medium and Last Word on Sports. Outside of the newspaper, he enjoys running and watching sports (when he’s not writing about them).
