The Bulls host the Ohio Bobcats on Tuesday night in their Mid-American Conference home opener. The Bulls are coming off an impressive 77-68 win at Eastern Michigan on Saturday afternoon, while Ohio is looking to remain undefeated in conference play following a win over Kent State on Friday night. For the Bobcats, this will be just their fifth road game of the year and first in conference play.
Sophomore CJ Massinburg had a career night the last time these two teams met in Alumni Arena as he recorded 36 points against the Bobcats tied for the 10th most in a single game in school history and the most by a UB freshman. Massinburg is coming off another career milestone as he recorded his first career double-double on Saturday with 18 points and a career-high 10 rebounds.
After playing 12 of their first 15 games away from Alumni Arena, the Bulls will have their first two-game homestand of the season beginning on Tuesday night. UB will play nine of its final 16 games at home, including three of its next four games. Buffalo is 37-9 at Alumni Arena since the start of the 2013-14 season.
Ohio is 10-3 on the season 2-0 in conference play following an 85-67 win over Kent State on Friday night. The Bobcats have been impressive in conference play so far with a conference-opening win over WMU, 89-58. Ohio will be playing just their fifth road game of the season on Tuesday night and Ohio is 1-3 away from home, but their one victory was at Georgia Tech.
Ohio has four players in double figures led by reigning MAC Player of the Year Antonio Campbell, who is averaging 18.3 points and 9.8 rebounds per game. Campbell is shooting over 53% from the field. Kenny Kaminski is averaging 14.0 points per game, while Jordan Dartis is averaging 12.6 points and Jaaron Simmons is averaging 11.8 points and 7.6 assists per contest.
Ohio is ranked 14th nationally in three-pointers per game at 10.1 and Jaaron Simmons is third nationally in assists at 7.6 per contest. Antonio Campbell is also in the top 10 nationally, this time in defensive rebounds, as he averaged 7.75 boards per game.
Saul Phillips enters his third season as head coach of the Ohio men’s basketball program in 2016-17. Ohio posted 23 victories in 2015-16 — including an 11-7 mark in Mid-American Conference play. The 2015-16 Ohio squad matched the 1998-99 team for the biggest turnaround in program history. Phillips came to Athens following seven seasons at North Dakota State, where he guided the Bison to a 134-84 record (.615) — including a 75-45 mark in The Summit League — and NCAA Championship appearances in 2009 and ’14. Phillips was an assistant coach at North Dakota State for three seasons.
After a stretch of playing 12 of their first 15 games away from Alumni Arena, the Bulls will come home for the first time in 2017 on Tuesday night for a meeting with the Ohio Bobcats. This will be the first of two straight home games for the Bulls, the first time this season that Buffalo has played consecutive games inside Alumni Arena.
Buffalo is 8-10 all-time in conference home openers and have won two of their last three home games to start conference play. The Bulls and the Bobcats will meet for the first time since the Bulls defeated Ohio, 88-74, in the MAC semifinals last year in Cleveland. Before that, Ohio won both regular season meetings, including a 103-96 overtime affair in Athens.
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