Getting to the top is great. The journey provides memories that last a lifetime. But, as the football team can attest, climbing back up the mountain can be more grueling than the initial ascent. Toiling at the bottom of the Mid-American Conference this season, the Bulls (2-7, 1-4 MAC) have a chance to turn back the clock this week.
NBA: Portland Trail Blazers at Oklahoma City Thunder- Friday 9:30 p.m. Eastern on ESPN Washington Wizards at Chicago Bulls- Saturday 8:00 p.m.
It is tough to rebuild a basketball team when it loses six players to graduation. Especially if five players were responsible for 67 percent of the total minutes played, 74 percent of the team's scoring, and 80 percent of the team's assists from the previous season. And imagine that three of these players were the three best from long range and that five shot above 75 percent from the free-throw line. It sounds impossible to replace that production, right? This is exactly what the 2010-11 men's basketball team will have to overcome. However, help is on campus. The Bulls will replace these six seniors with possibly the best recruiting class since the 2001 group that came within seconds of winning the Mid-American Conference Championship. "I feel like this class is really good.
As the final seconds ticked off the clock and the realization of defeat crept into the heads of six graduating seniors, it became clear that the Bulls let another opportunity slip through their collective fingers in last year's Mid-American Conference men's basketball tournament. The second-round exit was heartbreaking for a group of six seniors who would never again don the blue and white. But that was last year; it was a different team, and every player that remains a Bull learned from the defeat. "Last season was really disappointing," said junior forward Mitchell Watt.
In its second event of the short fall season, the rowing team showed that it could keep a blooming record of consistency afloat and that a strong first showing was no fluke. All Buffalo rowing teams that competed in Saturday's regatta at the Syracuse University Invitational finished within the top 10 of their various classes. The Varsity A boat finished in fifth place.
"Wats Up?" That is the name of sophomore point guard Tony Watson's season-long blog about the men's basketball team. The blog was passed down from former Bull Sean Smiley, and not just because it could be given this clever title. With the departure of six seniors, Buffalo is now one of the youngest teams in the Mid-American Conference, and the sophomore guard has emerged as one of the leaders of the squad. Due to the large group of seniors on the team, Watson only averaged 4.2 minutes per game during the 2009-10 campaign.
The volleyball team was lost after a tough October, but Buffalo's performance this weekend showed that it is moving in the right direction.
The men's swimming and diving team sunk its opponent on Saturday.
Football - senior safety Domonic Cook Cook started the season as a starting cornerback for the Bulls, but a midseason adjustment moved him over to safety.
ATHENS, OHIO ? The threat facing the football team on Thursday night was readily apparent from the first offensive play from scrimmage.
Friday NBA 7:30 p.m.- Washington at New York (MSG) 8 p.m.- Chicago at Boston (ESPN) 8 p.m.- Miami at New Orleans Saturday College Football 3:30 p.m.- No.
The Bulls could not catch a break these past few months due to injuries and nationally ranked competition. Last weekend, the men's tennis team looked to end this difficult fall season on a high note. The Bulls competed in the Cornell Invitational at the Reis Tennis Center, where they went against Navy, Duquesne and Fairleigh Dickinson.
The cross country team impressed this weekend at the Mid-American Conference Championships on Saturday. The Bulls traveled to Kalamazoo, Mich.
2010 Record: 6-3 (4-1 Mid-American Conference) 2009 Record: 9-5 (7-1 MAC) Last Meeting: Nov. 10, 2009 Ohio 27, Buffalo 24 All-Time Series: Ohio leads Buffalo, 10-7 Three Bobcats to watch: QB Boo Jackson- The dual-threat quarterback has done everything for the Bobcats this season.
It would make sense that the football team's first game after Halloween will be against a team led by Boo Jackson.
Solutions by The State News
