BUFFALO – The University at Buffalo men’s basketball capped off its 100 seasons of basketball celebration on Saturday afternoon as the Bulls picked up their sixth straight win with a 71-58 defeat of the Miami (OH) RedHawks. The win improves Buffalo to 15-12 on the year and 9-5 in MAC play.
The Bulls used a solid defensive effort to limit the RedHawks to just 58 points as Miami shot 37.7% from the floor and 26.3% from three-point range.
UB raced out to an early 10-4 lead as senior Raheem Johnson capped off the run with a one-handed put-back dunk. Just moments later, Johnson had a huge block on the defensive end to preserve the early lead. UB held on to a slim advantage for much of the first half, but the RedHawks did take a brief two-point lead at 24-22 with 3:03 left before senior Willie Conner drilled a three and the Bulls never trailed again. UB ended the first half on an 8-0 run to take a 30-24 lead into the break.
The RedHawks cut the Buffalo lead to just four 90 seconds into the half, but then the Bulls answered with six straight points as a fast-break layup from Dontay Caruthers gave the Bulls a 38-28 lead. Miami pulled back with six at 41-35 with 13:16 left, but a Blake Hamilton three-pointer began a 13-3 run, which was capped on another three from CJ Massinburg to give Buffalo a 54-38 lead with 10:04 left.
The Bulls led by double figures for the rest of the afternoon, taking their largest lead of the game at 68-51 on a free throw from Conner. Buffalo went on to win 71-58 the sixth time this year they have allowed 60 or fewer points in a game.
Hamilton led the Bulls with a game-high 23 points as he went 8-of-13 from the floor, including 5-of-7 from behind the arc. He added four assists, a block and a steal. Caruthers finished with 12 points and a career-high seven assists, while adding three steals.
Conner had 11 points and six rebounds, while Massinburg added nine points, five boards and three assists. Sophomore Nick Perkins had eight points and five rebounds. In all, 10 different players found the scoring column for the Bulls.
Miami fell to 10-17 on the year and 3-11 in conference play. The RedHawks were led by 19 points and seven rebounds from Michael Weathers.
The afternoon was capped off by the 100 seasons of men’s basketball celebration that ran throughout the weekend. During halftime of today’s contest, nearly 50 former men’s basketball players from eight different decades were honored in front of the crowd of over 4,000 people.
The Bulls will continue their three-game homestand on Tuesday night as Buffalo hosts Kent State at Alumni Arena. Tipoff is set for 7:00 pm.
from UBBulls.com via IFTTT
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