West's New Album Appallingly Good
Artist: Kanye West
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Artist: Kanye West
Being from Buffalo is quite the unique experience, to say the least.
ATHENS, OHIO – The threat facing the football team on Thursday night was readily apparent from the first offensive play from scrimmage. The team had to go up against two athletic quarterbacks at the same time.
"If you want to marry a shoe, I'll marry you."
The San Francisco 49ers were everybody's sexy preseason pick.
Sophomore linebacker Darius Willis, as well as freshmen defensive linemen Matt Hornbuckle and Albert Sparks, have quit the football team, thus bringing the total number of nine players to leave the program since new head coach Jeff Quinn's arrival.
Today is the last day of school.
Let's just blame it on the referees. It's a lot easier that way, isn't it? As adoring fans, we hate to think for even a second about our beloved team's inadequacies. If the referees make one questionable call, they become an easy scapegoat for the losing team and its fans. In Buffalo, we're used to resorting to such tactics. There are many Buffalo sports fans that are legitimately convinced that referees across all sports have an unwritten vendetta against the Queen City. Wednesday night's playoff game between the Buffalo Sabres and the Boston Bruins was the latest addition to the ever-growing sports statistical category of referee-induced Buffalo playoff failures. Although most of the hockey world will remember the contest because it went into double-overtime and featured two of the sport's best goaltenders at the top of their games, many in Buffalo will recall the crucial penalty call during the third period. With Buffalo leading two goals to none, Sabres center Cody McCormick went hard to the net through a crowd of Bruins defenders. He got pushed into the goal along with a player from Boston, unintentionally taking the goal off of its moorings as the Boston player took out his own goaltender, rookie Tuukka Rask. Inexplicably, McCormick was called for goaltender interference, giving the Bruins a power play. With the man advantage, Boston proceeded to score quickly, making the score 2-1. After that, it didn't take long for Buffalo to allow the Bruins to tie the game on a fluke goal by center Patrice Bergeron. The game went into overtime, and despite numerous "did-he-really-just-do-that" saves by Sabres goaltender Ryan Miller, Boston prevailed and now leads the first-round playoff series three games to one. Sure, the Sabres had a much better chance at winning the game had the questionable penalty not been called. Sure, we're all getting sick of these tough breaks, and it makes sense to lump this into the same category as No Goal and the Music City Miracle (I'm sorry to those who just cringed). That's too easy, though. Yes, it was a bad call, but it didn't solely lose the game for the Sabres—after all, they were still winning even after the original power play goal. If certain embittered fans insist on blaming the officials, that's fine with me, but I'm sure of one thing: If the Sabres are thinking that way, they have no chance of coming back and pushing this series to seven games. Buffalo's players and coaches need to forget about the things that they cannot control and realize that they have now lost two games in this series after going into the third period with the lead – something that they did not do once during the regular season. They need to realize that if they played with consistent toughness and took advantage of precious offensive opportunities, this series could have been a sweep in their own favor. Instead, they are on the brink of elimination and need to win three games in a row against the only goaltender in the league with better statistics than Miller.It may not be likely, but it's certainly possible. Miller said it himself; if the Bruins can win three in a row, why can't the Sabres? They won't give up until they're officially eliminated. The key is to play mistake-free hockey and remain focused. Some better officiating wouldn't hurt though, either. E-mail: luke.hammill@ubspectrum.com
Buffalo's rowing team had an extraordinary afternoon of competition on Saturday as the squad won nine of its 11 races and placed six of its seven boats in Sunday's Grand Finals at the Knecht Cup in Camden, N.J. The Bulls proved they were worthy of receiving 15 votes in the latest national poll as the Varsity Eight boat won its opening heat by more than 10 seconds with a time of 6:46.2. Led by sophomore coxswain Alison Sheehan, the crew improved its time by 10 seconds in the semifinals, beating Boston College by six seconds with a time of 6:36.72. Alongside Sheehan were seniors Sam Masucci, Kate Garofalo, Cathleen Streicher, Tara Rudkowski, Francisca Nwoke, Alana Sharpe, junior Sasha Bailey and sophomore Brittany Ronald. The Varsity Eight boat boasted the second-fastest time of all 18 boats in the semifinals, as Duke edged the Bulls by only six-tenths of a second. The Bulls advanced to Sunday's grand finals for a matchup with Drexel, Duke, Temple, Boston College, and Rutgers. Buffalo's Second Varsity Eight boat of sophomore coxswain Kate Evely, juniors Ashley Hanhurst and Lindsay DiCosimo, sophomores Dakota Smith, Alexandra Condon and Jacklyn Postulka, as well as freshmen Rosa Kemp, Shannon David and Danielle Carlino, were also very impressive after posting the top times in both the opening and semifinal heats (6:52.69 and 6:55.17). They also advanced to Sunday's final to face Drexel, Temple, UMass, Duke and Rutgers. The Novice Eight boat picked up a pair of wins as well after recording the second fastest time of the opening heats, 7:01.21. In the semifinals, the Bulls defeated Colonial Athletic Association-rival Delaware and improved nearly five seconds to a time of 6:56.54. The Novice Eight, consisting of freshman coxswain Kara Buchheit, sophomore Jamie Varble, and freshmen Melissa James, Kylie Lewis, Lauran Benz, Deborah Garth, Bethany Cross, Elizabeth Murphy and Katelynn Hentz advanced to Sunday's final against Delaware, West Virginia, Wisconsin, UMass and UConn. The Bulls' Varsity Four boat also qualified for Sunday's finals. After winning its opening heat, the Varsity Four posted a time of 7:44.51 – less than a second behind first place finisher Villanova – for a second-place finish. The Bulls advanced to Sunday's final for a race against Colgate, Lafayette, Miami, West Virginia and Villanova. The Second Varsity Four boat only raced once on Saturday and clocked in at 7:55.79 for a first place finish to advance to the finals to meet Fairfield, Colgate, UMass, Fordham, and Loyola. The Novice Four boat finished in first place in its opening heat with a time of 8:30.77 and followed up with a third-place semifinal finish to advance to Sunday's petite final. Buffalo's eighth nationally-ranked lightweight boat did not compete on Saturday and automatically advanced to Sunday's Lightweight Eight final to race off against Lafayette, UMass, MIT and two boats from Wisconsin. Check back in Wednesday's issue of The Spectrum for coverage of Sunday's finals action. Additional reporting by Andrew Bellaflores, Staff Writer E-mail: sports@ubspectrum.com
Be honest, Sabres fans. When you think back to the beginning of this NHL season, what were you saying about the Sabres? What type of predictions were you making? From what I remember, nobody had high expectations for the team. Everyone was saying that it was going to be another typical losing season and that the Sabres didn't have a roster solid enough to compete with star-studded teams like Pittsburgh and Washington. I'll admit it — I was right there with you, doubting the potential of the Buffalo blue and gold. Well, look at the Sabres now. On Saturday night, they clinched a playoff berth for the first time since 2007, the year Chris Drury and Daniel Briere led the team to the NHL's best record. Here in 2010, the Sabres are in position to win the division, which would give them home-ice advantage in the postseason's first round (knock on wood — this is Buffalo, after all). Taking the preseason expectations into consideration, it seems to me like the Sabres have had a great season. So why isn't anybody giving this team any credit? Why are people still down on the Sabres after all they've accomplished this season? When I turn on WGR 550, Buffalo's sports talk radio station, I'm always hearing miserable Mike Schopp talking about how the Sabres have no chance of winning a Stanley Cup. When the Sabres lose two games in a row, everyone I run into suddenly has 10 reasons why the Sabres are terrible. I can't help but feel that they are undeserving of so much criticism. Call me foolish, but I'm an optimist. I'd like to commend the Sabres for the job they've done this season and give you a few reasons to root for them come playoff time. 1. Though this year's Sabres lack the 2007 team's offensive star power, head coach Lindy Ruff has promoted a team-first philosophy, and the goal scoring has been done by committee rather than by one or two stars. Thomas Vanek and Jason Pominville have each scored 23 goals, leading the team. Right behind them are Derek Roy, whose hat trick on Saturday brought him up to 22 goals, and Jochen Hecht, who has 20 goals. 2. On the defensive end of the ice, six-foot-eight-inch Tyler Myers is a favorite to win the Calder Memorial Trophy, which is awarded to the league's top rookie. He just turned 20 years old in February and has been dominant all season long. If I were Sabres general manager Darcy Regier, I'd sign Myers to a lifetime contract this summer. 3. Head coach Lindy Ruff is the longest tenured head coach in the NHL. He has seen it all and has become the face of the Sabres since he was hired in 1997 after playing here for most of his career in the 1980s. He will provide experience and toughness for his team when they need it most — in the postseason. Am I forgetting anything? Let's see ... offense, defense, coaching ... 4. Ryan Miller! Let's remember that Miller, the MVP of the Olympic men's hockey tournament, is considered by many to be the best goaltender in the league. He's had one of the best seasons of his career this year, and he has the ability to carry the Sabres on his back. The team will go as far as Miller takes them in the playoffs. Say what you want about the Sabres' offense, but the opposition can't beat them if they aren't beating Miller. So there you have it. From now on, whenever you're down on the Sabres, just think back to your expectations for the team in September. E-mail: luke.hammill@ubspectrum.com
By LUKE HAMMILL Asst. Sports Editor Last Saturday, Washington D.C. rapper Wale performed at Alumni Arena in what was deemed a "Disaster Relief Concert." Students were notified about the event, which was hosted by the Student Association and free to UB undergraduates, in an email sent out the previous Monday. The email was signed by three SA officers: President Ernesto Alvarado, Vice President Greg Robbins, and Treasurer Jordan Fried. When I first found out about the concert, I didn't know what to expect. The email didn't even mention which disaster the SA was raising money for. Haiti? Chile? The New York Knicks? My roommate's love life? I'm not much of a fan of Wale's music (save for "W.A.L.E.D.A.N.C.E."), but I decided to attend the show anyway since I had nothing to do that night, it was free, and it was for a good cause. Knowing from prior experience that rappers never take the stage on time, I arrived on North Campus around 8:30 p.m., 30 minutes after Wale was scheduled to appear. When I got into the arena, the crowd was still waiting for the show to start while DJ Omega played music and asked everyone if they had gotten their pregame on. I learned later that Alvarado had taken the stage and addressed the crowd before I had gotten there. When Wale finally did arrive on stage with his band, he was wearing a jacket with the Red Cross symbol on the back. I mention this because the expensive-looking jacket was the only indication I got during my entire time at Alumni Arena that night that I was indeed at a "Disaster Relief Concert." On the way into the arena, I wasn't especially looking for any stations where I could donate money, but I definitely didn't notice any. You'd think that at a "Disaster Relief Concert," these stations would be eye-grabbing and in many places. Even worse, Wale did not make any mention whatsoever of disaster relief. Instead, he rapped hits like "Nike Boots," "Pretty Girls," and "Chillin" to fans that could not hear him because his band's sound engineer couldn't seem to get the levels right. It's probably for the better, though – are these typical rap lyrics that brag about spending money and partying appropriate for a "Disaster Relief Concert"? During one section of the show, DJ Omega played classic rap hits while Wale interacted with the crowd. One song that was selected, Luniz's "I Got 5 on It," is about contributing five dollars toward a marijuana blunt and getting high. While the song blasted, Wale led the crowd in a chant about "smoking great." Perhaps he could have also suggested throwing $5 down on some disaster relief. Granted, I arrived late and left early (out of embarrassment after Wale tried to get the crowd amped to Kings of Leon's "Use Somebody"). Maybe after I left, Wale urged the crowd to donate money. Maybe the Alvarado speech that I missed at the beginning inspired some people to give to charity. But that isn't the point. If I never got that email, I would have never known I was at a "Disaster Relief Concert" that night. I'd like to know how much money the SA spent on the event, including the amount Wale received, and then I'd like to know how much it raised for disaster relief. E-mail: luke.hammill@ubspectrum.com
At the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, Buffalo's very own Steve Mesler made Western New York and the United States of America proud when he won a gold medal in the four-man bobsled. A City Honors School graduate and former decathlete at the University of Florida, Mesler pursued a bobsledding career after college and didn't look back until he was on top of the podium. His team beat out Germany's silver medalists by just 0.39 seconds to bring home the USA's first gold medal in the event since 1948. Mesler arrived home in true Buffalo fashion, throwing a party that was open to the public at the Pearl Street Grill & Brewery. During the party, Assistant Sports Editor Luke Hammill got the opportunity to take Mesler away from the crowd for a few minutes and sit down for an interview. The Spectrum: What made you decide to leave the warm weather as a track and field athlete at the University of Florida and come back to the cold climate to compete as a bobsledder? Steve Mesler: That's a good question. I wasn't ready to be done yet. My track career hadn't gone where I wanted it to go — I had injury after injury after injury. I finished up with Tommy John surgery as a senior [in college], and I wasn't ready to accept that I had peaked when I was 17 years old at high school nationals, so I was just looking for something else. S: Your bobsled team went into Vancouver as the defending world champions from the 2009 competitions. Would anything less than a gold medal have been a disappointment? SM: I would have liked to have said "no," that simply medaling would have been fine, but the only 100 percent satisfaction would have been what's sitting right here [points to his Olympic gold medal]. S: You competed at one of the last events in the Olympics. Did that leave you with any time to absorb the entire Olympic experience? SM: No, you absorb it a little bit at the beginning, but then for the rest of the time you just go back to work. If you're sitting there and absorbing it, then you're thinking about it all the time and you're feeling too much, so you go to work. You absorb things when you can, but it's two weeks of work for us. S: Was the training from your track and field career similar to your training now as a bobsledder, or is it totally different? SM: It was very similar. It crossed over really easily for me. It's a lot of sprinting — all short sprinting, under 90 meters (30, 60, 90 meters). It's a lot of lifting, a lot of [plyometrics], a lot of bounding, hurdle hops, cleans, RDLs [Romanian dead lifts], stuff like that. S: After the initial push and hop into the sled, what was your job while the driver guided the speeding bobsled down the track? SM: Our job in the sled is: we have different aerodynamic positions that we put ourselves in on the way down. You have to flow with the sled as you go around turns — the best analogy is being in a car and you're in the passenger seat. If someone takes a hard left-hand turn, you get pushed into the right side door. Well, if that happens in a sled and the driver takes a left-hand turn and you all crash into the right side of the sled, you're going to skid because you're on the ice and lose time from the skidding. So we actually have to flow with the sled as it goes around the turns. S: Were you worried at all after seeing the unfortunate death of Georgian luger Nodar Kumaritashvili in a crash? SM: No, it was just sad to see. We weren't worried about that. From our standpoint, you can't think about it. You mourn it for a day and then you have to put it out of your head. S: Now that you're back, what's it been like? You dropped the puck at the Sabres game on March 10. SM: It has been fun. The Sabres game thing is something I've always wanted to do since I was a kid, so it was very cool. Hopefully I got some good pictures. We went down in the locker room afterward and met the players — they had a day off the next day … it was a good time. S: I'll get you out of here with this question: What's next? Thinking about a repeat in 2014? SM: For the first time in my life, I actually don't have to look four years down the road. I don't have to look ahead; I can just enjoy what I've done and not really worry about down the road yet. E-mail: sports@ubspectrum.com
The men's basketball team is hitting its stride at the perfect time. The Bulls (15-9, 8-5 Mid-American Conference) extended their current winning streak to four games on Wednesday night when they defeated the Bowling Green Falcons (13-12, 6-7 MAC), 64-51. Senior guard Rodney Pierce, who was honored before the game for topping 1,000 points in his career, led the way with 18 points and six assists. The Bulls victory was an important one, as they came into Wednesday night's contest just one game ahead of Bowling Green in the MAC East standings. They are now tied at 8-5 with Miami (OH) and just two games behind division leaders Akron and Kent State, who both sit at 10-3 with three games to left in the MAC schedule. Three-point shooting proved to be the difference in the game. The Bulls connected on 10-of-25 shots (40 percent) from beyond the arc, while the Falcons went just 1-9 (11 percent). The long range proficiency was especially important for Buffalo in breaking Bowling Green's 2-3 zone defense, a strategy that favors defending the areas around the basket over guarding the perimeter. Bulls head coach Reggie Witherspoon had his players well prepared for Bowling Green's defensive strategy going into the game. 'There were a number of different ways that we wanted to attack [the zone],' Witherspoon said. 'They're very good at their zone and they've confused a lot of teams… We wanted to move the ball in an efficient enough manner [so] that they had to chase it.' Pierce and fellow senior guard Sean Smiley were Buffalo's top zone-killers, as each hit four 3-pointers, including a string of crucial shots that saved the Bulls from a Bowling Green comeback early in the second half. The Falcons went on a 14-2 run to open the second period, cutting Buffalo's 15-point halftime lead down to just three. However, Buffalo responded with 3-pointers from Pierce, Smiley and senior guard John Boyer on its next four possessions to increase the lead to 49-38 with 10:29 remaining. 'We started the second half in a funk,' Witherspoon said. 'I thought we responded well to them making a run at us.' According to Pierce, the Bulls weathered the Bowling Green storm by increasing their intensity and getting back to their first-half strategy. 'Our mindset was just to stay locked in and do the things that we were doing in the first half,' Pierce said. 'We had to get our determination level back up to where it was. Once we did that, things turned out how they were supposed to turn out for us.' Buffalo's first-half success was due in part to contributions from the bench. Senior forward Max Boudreau, junior forward Jawaan Alston, and senior forward Adekambi Laleye provided key minutes for the Bulls after starting sophomore forward Mitchell Watt picked up two quick fouls to open the game. Despite recording only four minutes, Laleye provided solid bench play and what was arguably the highlight of the game: a huge dunk over a Bowling Green defender off of an assist from senior guard Calvin Betts with 7:03 remaining in the first half. '[Laleye] was big because he just played four minutes, and usually when a guy only plays four minutes he spends three of those four minutes trying not to make a mistake, which means he's going to make mistakes,' Witherspoon said. '[Laleye] knew – because he was active vocally on the bench – where he should be … He was able to contribute in a short period of time [which] was huge for us because Max [Boudreau] got tired and Mitchell [Watt] had two fouls.' As Buffalo moved up in the rankings, Bowling Green fell. The Falcons' loss dropped them to four games out of the division lead. 'You have to have a blue collar mentality when you come up here [to Buffalo],' said Falcons head coach Louis Orr. 'We were on our heels in the first half, and you can't come here and be on your heels – Buffalo is too aggressive at home.' While Witherspoon is enjoying the late-season momentum that his team has gathered, he isn't taking the success for granted. 'We've learned from the past that nothing we've already done qualifies us to be at less than our best in what we have in front of us,' Witherspoon said. 'We still have to use every opportunity to get better.' The players aren't satisfied, either. 'I think we have another notch we can take it to,' Pierce said. Buffalo takes a break from the MAC East grind this Saturday as it participates in ESPNU BracketBusters weekend. The Bulls will face off against the St. Peter's Peacocks (15-11). Tip-off is 2:00 p.m. at the Yanitelli Center in Jersey City, N.J. E-mail: sports@ubspectrum.com
Buffalo is a hockey town. As a Buffalonian, it took me a long time to accept this fact. I have always been in denial because basketball is my first love, but Buffalo does not field a professional team in the NBA. If I were to be a Buffalo sports fan, I knew I would have to jump on the hockey bandwagon. Buffalo is a city swarmed by the most dedicated hockey fans. But putting fanatics aside, it is also home to some of the countries' most talented youth hockey players. Western New York has a vast network of hockey programs, from mini-mites to junior divisions, which have produced a handful of professional talents through the years. Buffalo area natives currently playing in the NHL include Olympians Patrick Kane and Brooks Orpik, as well as Nick Foligno, and Lee Stempniak. Tim Kennedy and Angola's own Patrick Kaleta were fortunate enough to land on the roster of their hometown Sabres. Buffalo can arguably boast more homegrown talent in hockey than it can in any other major professional sport. Which leads to me to ask – why does the University at Buffalo not have a Division I hockey program of its own? I acknowledge that it wouldn't be an easy task to acquire a hockey team. Building a Division I program from scratch requires a lot of investment and support. Financially, a men's hockey program could demand nearly as much money as our football program currently costs. A hockey program would also need to enroll in a different athletic conference, as the Mid-American Conference does not currently support hockey. While it would be costly, it can be done. Niagara and Canisius athletics compete in the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference, but their hockey programs play in the College Hockey America and Atlantic Hockey conferences. Adding to the financial burden is the necessity for a Division I hockey program to make an arena of their own. With no rink on campus, the university would be required to construct an entirely new arena. Playing at the nearby Amherst Ice Rink (formerly known as the Amherst Pepsi Center) is unfortunately out of the question because it isn't on campus. Finding the space for a second arena would be difficult enough, let alone the cost of building and maintaining one. Cost aside, however, I believe the pros outweigh the cons. Some programs might have to be cut or forced to spend less, but so what? Would you rather have an array of mediocre teams or a smaller number of competitive programs that have the potential to consistently win on a regular basis? Buffalo athletics has just two total MAC Championships since joining the conference in 1998. With a recruiting gold mine in our own backyard, a hockey program would certainly be in contention for a national championship with a few years of work. In 2005, Gene Corrigan, whose worked as Athletic Director at Notre Dame University and President of the NCAA, published a report after conducting an assessment of UB's athletic program. A portion of Corrigan's report is as follows: 'UB needs to consider a reduction in the number of its intercollegiate sports, focusing on sports with the best opportunities for success. The University should also consider adding sports that have a potential for success due to location, facilities, or expertise, such as hockey or lacrosse.' While the report recognizes UB's lack of a campus hockey rink as the main financial obstacle, I propose the use of Alumni Arena. Why not convert our current athletic facility into a hockey rink? Arenas across the country – including Buffalo's own HSBC Arena – support multiple sporting events under one roof. While it would also be costly, converting Alumni is quite possible. For now, I'll stick to watching the Sabres, but the idea of a Division I hockey program at UB needs to be seriously considered. E-mail: luke.hammill@ubspectrum.com
The sport of boxing has reached rock bottom. No one is watching and nobody cares – or do they? Mixed Martial Arts has arguably taken over as the No. 1 combat sport in America, but with its historical relevance, can boxing make its way back to respectability?
Now that the Super Bowl is over, it's time to shift our focus. March Madness and the NCAA Men's Division I Basketball Championship tournament are right around the corner. Many think that the 65-team, three-week tournament is the greatest event in all of sports. But it's in danger of being ruined. There has been a lot of talk about expanding the tournament field from 65 teams to either 96 or 128 teams. On the scale of bad ideas, this one is right up there alongside the 'Let's hire Chan Gailey' move. The tournament is perfect exactly the way it is. Why change it? For those unfamiliar with March Madness, here's how the 65-team field is decided: At the end of the regular season, every conference (except for the Ivy League) holds a championship tournament. The winner of each conference tournament receives an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament. The Ivy League simply sends its regular season champion. There are 31 conferences in Division I, so 31 teams receive one of these automatic bids. That's the easy part. The 34 remaining spots in the tournament are assigned by a selection committee, which carefully reviews the credentials of each team in the nation and decides whether the team is worthy of an invitation to 'The Big Dance.' Most of the decisions are easy to make, but every year, there is controversy surrounding the teams 'on the bubble,' or in other words, the teams that barely make it in and those that just miss being included. Sure, maybe St. Mary's should have gotten in instead of Wisconsin last year. But was St. Mary's going to beat North Carolina, who made winning the championship look easy? Not likely. Though teams on the outside looking in may have legitimate complaints, they also have to deal with the fact that a few more regular season wins would have taken away the committee's ability to snub them. A main argument for expanding the field is that schools that normally don't make it into the tournament would get to experience the opportunity of a lifetime, one that many student-athletes miss out on. Isn't it an opportunity of a lifetime precisely because it's difficult to get in? Expanding the field lessens the sense of accomplishment, waters down the competition, and renders the regular season meaningless. If making it into the current field is like getting a table at The Chophouse on a Saturday night without a reservation, then changing it into an expanded field would be like reserving a table at Applebee's for Tuesday at noon. The real motive behind the potential expansion is money, just like it always is with the NCAA. More teams means more games, and more games mean more revenue from television deals and sponsors. The same organization that won't allow its athletes to make a penny off of their talent can't seem to stop trying to exploit the athletes to make more money for itself. The NCAA's greed has already ruined college football's championship system. It would be very sad if it ruined college basketball's as well. E-mail: luke.hammill@ubspectrum.com
Now that everyone's christening Peyton Manning as the greatest quarterback of all time, it's easy to forget about the Saints' quarterback – what's his name again?
'What really knocks me out,' Holden Caulfield tells us in The Catcher in the Rye, 'is a book, when you're all done reading it, you wished the author that wrote it was a terrific friend of yours and you could call him up on the phone whenever you felt like it.'
For the men's basketball team, Saturday's game against Northern Illinois served as an opportunity to stop the bleeding by winning a game for the first time in two weeks. The Bulls (11-7, 4-3 Mid-American Conference) took advantage and defeated the Northern Illinois Huskies (8-11, 4-3 MAC), 95-83, at the Convocation Center in DeKalb, Ill. Buffalo recorded season highs in total points and shooting percentage during its best offensive performance of the year. The conference victory snaps Buffalo's three-game losing streak. The team made 34 of 61 shots – including 8-of-19 shots from beyond the arc – for a 56 percent average from the field. Senior guard Rodney Pierce led the Bulls with 17 points, four rebounds and six assists in the win. Pierce went over 1,000 points for his college career, becoming the 16th player to reach that mark at UB, and the 10th player to do so in just three seasons as Bull. According to head coach Reggie Witherspoon, the sudden improvement in shooting percentage was a result of executing the offensive scheme to perfection. 'I thought our execution was great,' Witherspoon said. 'Even in transition when they scored, we got it out, ran the floor, and scored three seconds into the shot clock… What I also thought was good… we executed and ran the clock down, so we had to make a lot of passes. We were able to make passes, catch it, and get a shot in rhythm.' The offensive attack was balanced. Five Bulls scored in double figures, and the bench outscored the Huskies' reserves, 34-14. In addition to a powerful offense, the Bulls took good care of the basketball, recording 21 assists and only eight turnovers. Additionally, the team won the battle on the boards against the Huskies, who came into the game leading the MAC in rebounding. The Bulls outrebounded Northern Illinois, 38-34, after losing that battle in four-straight games. Defensively, the Bulls did a good job of getting stops and held the Huskies to 47 percent shooting from the field. 'I think our effort, energy, and concentration improved,' Witherspoon said. 'The last three games, our opponents shot over 50 percent from the field, and this one didn't.' The first half was closely contested and included nine ties and five lead changes. Trailing 19-17, the Huskies went on a 9-0 run to take a 26-19 lead. After the Bulls battled back to tie the score at 26, Northern Illinois made a 6-0 run. The Bulls rallied yet again and took a lead that they never relinquished when sophomore forward Dave Barnett hit a 3-pointer to make the score 39-36. Though the Bulls went into halftime leading 47-42, the team began to dominate in the second half. Buffalo hit 20 of 33 shots (61 percent) after the intermission. With 9:50 left to go, the Bulls extended their lead to 17 points, the largest lead of the game. After that point, the Huskies couldn't get within single digits of the Bulls to drop its third-straight contest. The Bulls' mistake-free play gave them a key road victory against a quality conference opponent. '[Northern Illinois] is a very good team on the rise,' Witherspoon said. 'I said that before last year, and I'm saying it again. This is a team that is going to be a very, very difficult one.' Senior guard Sean Smiley scored 13 points off the bench. Boyer recorded 12 points, five rebounds, and a game-high eight assists. Sophomore forward Mitchell Watt had 12 points on 6-of-9 shooting in just 17 minutes of play. The Bulls will try to keep their high-powered offense going on Monday, when they take on Western Michigan at home. The game will be at Alumni Arena and is scheduled to tip-off at 7 p.m. E-mail: sports@ubspectrum.com
I've never been a Brett Favre fan.