The University at Buffalo men’s basketball team wraps up its season-long six-game road trip on Wednesday night at ACC foe, Pittsburgh. The game can be seen on ACC Network Extra and the Watch ESPN App.
The Bulls are looking to snap a two-game losing streak, the first time this season that Buffalo has dropped two in a row. Pittsburgh leads the all-time series between these two squads 8-1 as UB’s lone win came back in 1916-17, a 34-29 victory. These two teams last met during the 2007-08 season.
According to the latest Kempom.com rankings, the Bulls have played the seventh toughest non-conference schedule in the nation in games played through Dec. 5. Of the top seven teams, Buffalo is the only team that has a record of .500 or better on the year.
Fifth-year senior Raheem Johnson is averaging 13.0 points and 6.5 rebounds per game over the last two contests after he set a career high with 14 points in UB’s nationally-televised game over Creighton. Over the last five games he is averaging 7.6 points and 4.6 rebounds. He has been efficient from the field, shooting 19-of-24 (79.2%) during the road trip.
Pittsburgh is 6-2 on the season, but is coming off a 64-55 loss against cross-town rival Duquesne. Prior to the loss, the Panthers had won four straight games, including a 73-59 victory at Maryland in the ACC/Big Ten Challenge. Buffalo will be the second MAC team that Pitt plays this season as the Panthers defeated Eastern Michigan 93-90 in double overtime in the season opener.
The Panthers are led by Michael Young who is averaging 23.0 points and 8.0 rebounds per game. Jamel Artis, who missed the previous game, is second on the team in scoring at 19.7 points per contest and he leads Pittsburgh with 26 assists. Cameron Johnson is the third Pitt player averaging in double figures as he has 11.5 points per game.
Kevin Stallings is in his first season as head coach at Pittsburgh after a successful run at Vanderbilt over the previous 17 years. Stallings enters his 24th season as a head coach with an impressive 455-283 (.617) record overall. Stallings, a two-time SEC Coach of the Year, took the Commodore basketball program to unparalleled heights in his 17 years at the helm. His teams advanced to seven NCAA Tournaments. Stallings coached six seasons at Illinois State (1994-99) in his first head coaching opportunity.
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