After going 1-7 in Mid-American Conference play in a dismal January, the men's basketball team happily moved ahead to February, with help from a fresh face. Senior forward Yassin Idbihi may have had the big numbers, but it was freshman walk-on guard Byron Mulkey who stole the show on Saturday, in his first career start.
Mulkey, playing in just his second collegiate game, played 28 minutes for the Bulls as they went on to defeat conference rival Northern Illinois, 80-74, at Alumni Arena. The win snapped a five game losing streak for the Bulls (10-12, 2-8 MAC). Mulkey brought new life to a tired and faltering Buffalo team that has not won back-to-back games since the end of November.
"We've had a couple good practices and we hadn't showed it in the game and I said eventually, 'You're going to play like you practice,'" said head coach Reggie Witherspoon. "We've got a ways to go defensively, but we moved the ball better and more aggressively and it was good to see."
After being notified on Friday that he would be in the starting lineup against the Huskies (4-17, 1-8 MAC), Mulkey scored 11 points, including two three-pointers. The Wheatfield, N.Y. native's second long ball rejuvenated the Bulls and set them up for a 7-0 run to regain the lead early in the second half.
"I'm not surprised by him embracing the challenge. He'd shown signs of that from the very beginning and I'm sure it has to do with his upbringing," Witherspoon said. "He doesn't back away from anything. He's a tough kid, hard-nosed kid, great character and work ethic. I just think it energized our team."
Mulkey started over sophomore guard Eric Moore, and Witherspoon said he plans to continue to use Moore off the bench, where he hopes the three-point specialist can not only reenergize, but also give the team an occasional spark.
"We're not going to play anybody, and they're going to decide 'we're not going to leave Eric Moore open because he's coming off the bench'," Witherspoon said. "So he's still somebody you have to guard, that you better know where he is all the time, because he can make that shot. He can make it repeatedly, over and over and over and that's what we need."
A lack of depth at the guard position due to an illness to freshman guard John Boyer, put an extra burden on Moore to carry the team and, as Witherspoon put it, depleted the team at every position. With the team physically and emotionally drained, Witherspoon decided to bring Mulkey off of the scout team and into the starting lineup.
Mulkey was pulled from the game with one-second left and received a standing ovation from the crowd.
Idbihi finished with a career-high 26 points and added six rebounds, helping to bring the team's longest losing streak since the 2003-04 season to an end.
"Yassin Idbihi was difficult to stop inside," said Huskies head coach Rob Judson. "We tried zone. We tried man. We tried double-teaming him and Buffalo did a nice job of getting him the basketball in position to score."
The Bulls dominated the battle of the boards, 47-27. The Bulls had 25 offensive rebounds, while the Huskies only pulled down nine. Bulls sophomore guard Andy Robinson had a game-high nine rebounds.
"Obviously, we've been working on rebounding the basketball all season long and for the most part we've been able to do that better than our opponents," Witherspoon said. "Today was good to get 25 offensive rebounds and be able to cut our turnovers down and be aggressive with the basketball."
Also coming off the Buffalo bench, senior forward Parnell Smith finished with 16 points, with 14 of those coming in the second half. He grabbed eight rebounds and shot 8-10 from the free throw line.
"When you can get that off the bench, then it helps the guys who are starting," Witherspoon said.
The Bulls' bench finished with 34 points.
Conference play continues as the Bulls travel to Ball State to take on the Cardinals (7-15, 3-6 MAC) on Wednesday at 7 p.m. That game is followed by a three game home stand, beginning with a match-up against Central Michigan on Saturday.
Photo: Courtesy of Laron Fomby
