The UB Bulls basketball team plays their first ever game in the state of Alaska on Wednesday night as Buffalo faces Alaska-Anchorage in the opening round of the Great Alaska Shootout. The Shootout, which has been running continually since 1978, is the longest running in-season tournament in college basketball. Buffalo will become the sixth different team from the Mid-American Conference to play in the tournament, joining Ball State (2010), Central Michigan (2011), Eastern Michigan (1991), Ohio (1995), and Toledo (2015).
The Bulls allowed just 38 points in their previous game, an 85-38 win over Nazareth. The 38 points allowed by the Bulls were their fewest in a game since February 1, 1979 when they allowed just 38 points against Fredonia State. In the win on Thursday, Buffalo surrendered just 13 points in the second half.
Wednesday night’s game will begin a stretch of six straight games away from home, UB’s longest road trip of the season. Following three games in the Great Alaska Shootout, the Bulls will make a stop in Omaha on the way back to Western New York for a game at Creighton (11/29). After that, the Bulls will make stops at St. Bonaventure (12/3) and Pittsburgh (12/7) before returning home.
Alaska-Anchorage is 4-2 on the season following two straight wins at the Seawolf Jamboree this past weekend. The Seawolves opened the weekend with a 75-50 win over BYU-Hawaii and then on Saturday evening defeated Cal State-Los Angeles, 73-68. Alaska-Anchorage was ranked #12 nationally in the preseason Division II poll.
The Seawolves are led by Sekou Wiggs, who is averaging 23.2 points per game through the first six contest of the year. He is also the teams leader in three-pointers, hitting 16-of-39 so far. Corey Hammell is second on the team in scoring at 11.2 points per game and he is averaging nearly a double-double with 9.8 rebounds per contest. Alaska-Anchorage has used the same starting lineup for all six games this season and four of those players are averaging in double figures.
Last season Alaska-Anchorage finished 21-11, but was upset as the #3 seed in the GNAC Tournament. Wiggs led the team in scoring as well last year, averaging 24.1 points per game over 32 contests.
Rusty Osborn is in his 13th season as head coach at Alaska-Anchorage and his 26th year overall with the program. They have made five NCAA Tournament appearances and have defeated 10 Division I teams over his tenure. Before being named head coach, he was an assistant for the Seawolves for 13 years.
from UBBulls.com via IFTTT
