|
BUFFALO, NY - The University at Buffalo men's basketball team took down conference-leading Kent State, 70-55, in front of a national television audience on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Arena. The Bulls held the Golden Flashes to 34 percent shooting from the field and forced 19 turnovers to snap KSU's eight-game winning streak.
Buffalo (14-9, 7-5 MAC) jumped out to a 14-3 lead and held Kent State to only three fields over the first nine minutes of the game. Calvin Betts paced the Bulls early as he scored 13 of his team-high 17 points in the first half. His third three-pointer of the half gave the Bulls a 22-11 lead with 8:21 left. The Bulls kept their lead in double digits for the remainder of the half and held a 33-19 advantage at the break.
With UB leading 37-23, John Boyer scored 10 of the Bulls next 12 points,and his jumper with 12:52 remaining gave the the hosts their biggest lead of the game at 49-29.
Kent State (18-8, 9-3 MAC) managed to cut the lead to 12 with 3:35 left, but the Bulls were able to put the win away at the free throw line as they hit 11-of-12 free throws down the stretch. For the game, Buffalo made 18 of its 20 free throw attempts.
Boyer finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists. Betts also grabbed eight rebounds to go along with 17 points. Rodney Pierce had 14 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Max Boudreau added eight points for the Bulls. Mitchell Watt had four of the Bulls' six blocked shots and two of their nine steals.
Kent State was led by Chris Singletary who had 18 points and eight rebounds.
"I thought it was an opportunity for us to come in and play against a team that's been running through the conference pretty good," Buffalo head coach Reggie Witherspoon said. "There have been a number of things we've been trying to work on and get better at, and this was an opportunity for us to test some of those things, and I think we responded well."
The win was the 140th of Witherspoon's UB career and moved him into a tie for third place in school history with Malcolm S. Eiken.
Buffalo will close out its three-game homestand Wednesday night when it hosts Bowling Green at 7:00 pm. The Bulls then travel to St. Peters College for a Bracket Buster game Saturday (2 p.m.). Kent State returns home to host Ohio Wednesday (7 p.m.) and Western Carolina Saturday (7 p.m.) in its Bracket Buster contest.
Courtesy of UB Athletics
|
