ESPN3. Miami is 12-14 ( 6-9). Buffalo is16-8 ( 10-4). 300 Miami student athletes will be honored for first semester grades at the game.
The Bulls have won 6 games in a row and 10 out of 12 since starting 0-2 in MAC play. Last week 6-7 SR Josh Mballa was the MAC player of the week. We beat Buffalo 91-81 in late December in spite of 26 points and 17 rebounds by Mballa. 6-5 Sr Jeenathan Williams averages 19/5, Mballa averages 13/8, and 6-0 SR Ronaldo Segu averages 15/5 assists. Other starters include GW transfer Maceo Jack, a 6-5 SR who is the son of the Bulls longtime successful women’s basketball coach Felicia Legett-Jack. Jack is averaging 10/4. 6-10 sophomore David Skogman has won the starting center position and averages 8/6. Williams, Segu, and Jack have all scored over 1,000 career points and Mballa is just 27 points from joining them.
Miami defeated Buffalo 91-81 at UB back in early December as Mekhi Lairy had 28 and Dae Dae Grant 23. We lead the all time series 27-25. Grant leads Miami in scoring at 17.2 ppg and in assists at 3.9/gm. Precious Ayah leads the MAC in FG% at 67%. As a team, Miami is now 8th in the nation in ft% and 16th in to/gm. 5th year SR Dalonte Brown continues to climb Miami career lists and is now 6th in rebounding and 8th in scoring. Earlier this season he became #1 in both games played and started.
We have climbed back up to #7 in the MAC standings and could still finish anywhere from #6 to #11. Top 8 make the MAC tournament in Cleveland.
Question- if we make it to Cleveland, we’ll almost certainly face Ohio, Toledo, or Kent in the quarters. Who would you most want to face? All three are almost certainly losses.
I’d want to play Toledo. They’ll have the pressure of not making the NCAAs in so long and playing OU and Kent in Cleveland is almost like playing on the road.
With Buffalo, you have to rebound and not settle for 3s. You’ll probably get outrebounded but you can get your fair share of offensive rebounds, which we did in the 1st matchup. Our shooting balance was also good in the 1st matchup with 19 out of our 73 attempts being 3s, and we were 20/24 from the foul line. Also, you can cancel out the offensive boards by not turning the ball over and giving them transition opportunities. Buffalo has won 10 of 12, but only 1 of those was against a team with a winning record in conference play.
I would also say Toledo, we only lost to them by 3 the first time, plus they have not been playing as well lately. Toledo is under great pressure from their fan base to finally break through after 40+ years without an NCAA team. They have had a bunch of really good MAC teams without even 1 time winning the tournament for all these years.
Buffalo is a great offensive rebounding team. Saturday Eli played what I thought was his best game of the year, that included 5 rebounds and 8 points while missing only 1 shot. Strong performances by Eli and Beck can raise our team to a higher level and are exactly what the team needs to finish strong
It’s really baffling that UT has not gone dancing in my lifetime, especially considering all the good teams they’ve had over the last few decades. Weren’t they the #1 seed when we beat them in the semis in '07?
Bortz favored by 5. We are 3-17 ATS this season since starting 3-0. ESPN gives UB a 70% chance. We’ve been playing a little better of late, though I think we fall tonight. 84-76 Bulls
Stayed close for a while but Buffalo had a 14-point run it’s now a 10-point game. Bulls with a lot of second shot opportunities. Ayah picked up two fouls early.
And suddenly it’s a three-point game at the under 8 time out. Free throw shooting big for Miami so far… McNamara out with an injury, and Ayah picked up those two early fouls ,so lots of playing time for Beck.
Buffalo dominating on the offensive glass. Captain Obvious says we really need some help inside. Ayah and McNamara are doing what they can. Beck actually having one of his better games.