MEN'S BASKETBALL: UB surges past Rockets, 72-54

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March 7, 2010

By Thomas Baldwin The Journal-Register Sun Mar 07, 2010, 11:22 PM EST

AMHERST — Sometimes in March, things happen that aren’t supposed to. That’s the beauty of college basketball this time of the year.

However, that was not the case on Sunday, because what was supposed to transpire did — in routine fashion.

The University at Buffalo raced out to an early lead and coasted to a 72-54 victory over Toledo in a Mid-American Conference play-in game before a sparse crowd of 859 at Alumni Arena.

Now it is time to get down to serious business for the fifth-seeded Bulls (18-11 overall, 10-7 MAC), who advance to Thursday’s quarterfinals, where they’ll play fourth-seeded Miami (Ohio) at 9 p.m. in Cleveland.

The 12th-seeded Rockets looked every bit the part and finished 1-16 in league play and 4-28 overall.

Senior forward Max Boudreau led the Bulls with 18 points while Calvin Betts added 13 and Sean Smiley scored 12.

The surging Bulls — winners in six of their last eight games — are playing solid ball at the right time in spite of a recent bad loss.

“Coming off the game at Miami, our effort level was poor,” UB senior guard John Boyer said. “It is a new season now, and it is time for everybody to rededicate themselves. Everybody is 0-0. We went back to basics in practice yesterday and put it on display on the court today.”

UB scored the first seven points of the game and never looked back. Twice the Bulls led by 10 points in the first half and owned a 35-22 lead at the break.

If there was any doubt whatsoever about a Bulls victory, it was erased early in the second half when, leading 48-37, they embarked on an eight-point run to open up a 56-37 advantage.

Keys to UB’s triumph were points off turnovers, second-chance points and scoring from the bench.

The Bulls scored an impressive 25 points off Toledo turnovers, recorded 16 second-chance points and got 38 points from players coming off the bench.

To Betts, it was a simple matter of facts, nothing fancy. “We played defense, rebounds and determination — those three things,” he said. “If you are determined, the other things will fall into place.”

On paper, it appeared to be a mismatch, but UB coach Reggie Witherspoon was worried for two reasons. First, his club was coming off a poor performance in a 73-62 loss at Miami (OH) on Thursday. In addition, the Rockets scared the heck out of the Bulls in a 65-59 loss to UB on Feb. 6.

“I was concerned,” Witherspoon said. “I think our focus defensively was pretty good, and I think our determination was good, which allowed us to rebound the ball pretty well.”

With Toledo dispatched, now it is time for the rematch with Miami (OH). UB defeated the Red Hawks 73-55 on Jan. 9.

NOTES: The Bulls improved to 4-0 all-time when hosting a first-round MAC Tournament game…..Despite the loss, Toledo still leads the all-time series 11-5.…The Bulls only shot 27.3 percent (6-of-22) from 3-point range. The Rockets shot 46.7 percent (7-of-15).

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