Buffalo loses battle of the Bulls

It was a two-man game Monday night, but neither of the two played for the Buffalo Bulls.

The men's basketball team could not stop South Florida's Melvin Buckley and Solomon Bozeman as the South Florida Bulls rolled to a 77-61 victory.

The duo played all but two minutes of the game and torched Buffalo for a combined 52 points.

Buckley, a senior forward, dropped 29 as he played the entire game to go along with five steals and a game-high-tying eight rebounds.

"What Buckley did, we saw him do on film," said Buffalo head coach Reggie Witherspoon. "We were aware of what he was good at, but we weren't able to make him take tough shots. He took some open shots, he got into a rhythm, and his shots needed to get tougher as the game went on, and they seemed to get easier as the game went on."

The true freshman, Bozeman scored 23 in his first collegiate game and also dished out five assists in his 38 minutes of action.

"When you're playing younger guys," Witherspoon said, "you can come up with a great scouting report but when they cross the line sometimes the anxiety of the competition just completely wipes their mind away from focusing on any kind of a plan. It sometimes puts them in a position where they're just surviving."

For the second straight game Buffalo was guilty of sloppy play and poor decision-making, as it turned the ball over 25 times.

"We turned the ball over too many times," Witherspoon said. "We did that Friday night, we did it again tonight and you can't be in a position where you're turning the ball over 25 times and also be in a position where you have a chance to win against a team like this on the road."

Buffalo was also caught out of position multiple times, leading to many team fouls, several away from the ball.

"There were a lot of fouls called and it's unfortunate," Witherspoon said. "We were out of position for some of them and when you go on the road you have to be a step a head. You can't be even. You can't be a step behind because if you do you'll end up in foul trouble and that's what happened to us tonight."

South Florida took advantage of the Buffalo miscues, as it scored all but 19 of their points off of turnovers and free throws. South Florida scored 31 points off of Buffalo turnovers and made 27 of 38 free throws. The 38 free throws were more than triple Buffalo's total of 12.

Buffalo led early 9-8 on an Eric Moore free throw at the 13:46 mark. South Florida responded with two free throws of its own and Buffalo never led again. However, Buffalo kept it close through halftime, when they trailed by only three, 31-28.

After a layup by senior forward Parnell Smith brought the Bulls to within five at 56-51, South Florida took charge of the game with a 9-0 run.

South Florida controlled the action down the stretch, as it outscored the Bulls 19-10 over the final 7:10.

Smith led the Bulls in points and tied for the team a game-high in rebounds. After a disappointing season opener in which Smith scored as many points as personal fouls, the forward responded with a 21-point effort in the loss. His eight rebounds tied him with senior forward Yassin Idbihi, Buckley and South Florida's Melvyn Richardson for the game high. Smith also contributed three blocks on the night.

"Parnell has several gears to get through," Witherspoon said. "He scored some points tonight but we got a long way to go on him."

Idbihi was a source of frustration for the Bulls throughout the evening. South Florida shut down the Bulls' forward and he scored just two points in only 19 minutes before fouling out.

"They managed to get (Idbihi) in foul trouble," Witherspoon said. "It's going to be hard for us to win if he plays 19 minutes. He played less than half the game and out of those 19 minutes he was in foul trouble. So, he ended up playing tentative. When we turn the ball over 25 times, that's certainly going to make life a little harder on him although he had his share of them. But you know, 19 minutes, we need more than that."

Outside of Smith, a bright spot was the play of several youngsters. Sophomore guards Andy Robinson, Eric Moore and sophomore forward Vadim Fedotov each chipped in. Moore registered his second consecutive game in double figures, as he scored12 points, and went three of six from beyond the arc. Robinson finished with eight points and also grabbed six rebounds and swiped five steals, and Fedotov also reached double figures with 10 points in 29 minutes.

Buffalo next heads to Evansville, Ind. for the America's Youth Classic where the Bulls will match up against Cleveland State on Friday night in the first of three tournament games. Tip-off is at 9:30 p.m.