The Bulls (11-9, 4-3 Mid-American Conference) and their up-tempo defense was the difference maker as they defeated the Ball State Cardinals (13-7, 4-3 MAC) 76-64 on Tuesday night in Alumni Arena. The Bulls have picked up three wins in their last four games and are now above .500 in conference play once again.
Sophomore point guard Lamonte Bearden is expected to return to the starting lineup for the men’s basketball team Tuesday night after missing two games and coming off the bench in Buffalo’s last game. Bearden suffered a foot injury before the Bulls’ (10-9, 3-3 Mid-American Conference) victory over Central Michigan on Jan. 16.
Johnson will be able to medically redshirt this season and return to the Bulls next fall for his final year of eligibility. Per NCAA rules, if an injured player has not yet redshirted, and has played less than 20 percent of their team’s season, the season won’t count against the player’s four years of eligibility.
The Bulls (10-9, 3-3 MAC) would not recover from that not-so-welcome surprise either, as they saw their two-game winning streak snapped with a 91-71 loss to Western Michigan (8-11, 2-4 MAC) Saturday. The 91 points are the most Buffalo has allowed so far in conference play.
Behind a career game by Hamilton and an all-around excellent rebounding effort, the Bulls picked up their second consecutive conference victory with a 77-60 victory over Miami Ohio in Oxford, Ohio Tuesday night.
The Bulls (9-8, 2-2 MAC) defeated Central Michigan (9-8, 2-2 MAC) Saturday afternoon at Alumni Arena with a vintage performance by Skeete, who filled in for injured sophomore guard Lamonte Bearden.
The Bulls (8-8, 1-2 MAC), despite grabbing 49 rebounds, turned the ball over 23 times and shot less than 40 percent in a 81-69 loss to Eastern Michigan (10-6, 2-1 MAC) Tuesday night in Ypsilanti, Michigan.
The Bulls (8-7, 1-1 Mid-American Conference) defeated Kent State (10-5, 1-1 MAC) 76-67 at the Memorial Athletic and Convocation Center in Kent, Ohio Friday.
Akron (12-2, 1-0 MAC) defeated Buffalo 75-71 in Alumni Arena Tuesday night in front of an announced crowd of 2,226. The win ends Buffalo’s eight-game conference winning streak from last season, which included a win over Akron in the MAC Tournament Semifinals.
Eastern Michigan (10-2, 1-0 MAC) defeated Buffalo 67-56 Saturday at the Convocation Center in Ypsilanti, Michigan. The Bulls shot 32 percent from the field and went 5 of 21 from the beyond the arc. Buffalo’s two-game winning streak was snapped.
Both the men's and women’s teams ended the non-conference schedule with convincing victories Tuesday night. The men’s squad (7-6) defeated Delaware (5-6) 99-79 in Alumni Arena while the women (8-3) defeated Sacred Heart (2-9) 66-53 in Fairfield, Connecticut.
VCU (6-5) defeated the Bulls (6-6) 90-69 at the Siegel Center in Richmond, Virginia Tuesday. The 21-point loss against the Rams was the third time in five games that the Bulls have lost by 20 points or more. The Bulls have one more game left before beginning Mid-American Conference play.
The fall 2015 semester for UB Athletics had many highs and lows. The program took some steps toward its lofty goal of being “America’s next big-time college athletics brand,” while taking some steps back with departures in the process. These moments helped shape the landscape of the current state of UB Athletics, while progressing toward the future of the program. The Spectrum ranked the top-10 moments in UB Athletics during the fall 2015 semester.
With 14 freshmen on the roster, the Bulls (4-2, 0-1 Mid-American Conference) are set on getting several of them onto the mat to give them their first taste of college wrestling. Stutzman has been pleased with the performance of his young talent thus far.
It’s games like Sunday that make you realize this team needs major help in the post. Buffalo controlled the game in the first half, but then it allowed nearly 30 rebounds in the second half, nine on the offensive glass. Players like Baccas would have prevented a performance like that.
Chris Williams, a publisher of Iowa State fan site CycloneFanatic.comcreated the GoFundMe page, which has already met its $10,000 goal to raise funds for the Oats family’s medical expenses.
On paper, the results weren’t pretty for the Buffalo men’s basketball team last week. The Bulls (4-5) have lost three in a row, including a closer-than-you-think game against No. 5 Duke and a first half back-and-forth affair against No. 2 Iowa State. Buffalo is now under .500 for the first time this season. But if you watched the games, you saw the Bulls begin to make strides as they head into the final stretch of non-conference play.
Iowa State (7-0), ranked No. 2 in the entire country in the latest USA Today Coaches Poll, defeated the Bulls (4-5) 84-63 behind a late second-half surge at the Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa Monday night.
Behind a third quarter in which it outscored Buffalo 29-10, Duquesne defeated the Bulls (6-2) 79-62 in Alumni Arena to give Buffalo its second straight loss after a 6-0 start. The Bulls allowed the Dukes to shoot 48 percent from the floor and were outrebounded 43-32.
Things aren’t going to get any easier for the men’s basketball team. On Saturday, the Bulls (4-4) lost to the reigning national champions, No. 7 Duke, 82-59 in Cameron Indoor Stadium and it won’t be the last time this week Buffalo faces elite talent. On Monday night, the Bulls continue their road trip with a stop at No. 5 Iowa State (6-0) at the Hilton Coliseum in Ames, Iowa.
Solutions by The State News
