The University at Buffalo Bulls basketball team opens up their 100th season of basketball on Friday night at Niagara as head coach Nate Oats looks to go 2-0 in season openers as a head coach.
Buffalo is 53-46 all-time in season openers and the last time they opened the year against Niagara was during the 2001-02 season, a 63-62 loss at the Gallagher Center.
With the Bulls and Purple Eagles not meeting on the hardwood last season, only two current UB players have ever played against Niagara, both coming during the 2014-15 season. Redshirt senior Raheem Johnson scored four points in 11 minutes of the bench for the Bulls, while junior Christian Pino played in the final minutes of action during the 88-62 win.
Beginning on Friday night, the Bulls will play eight of their first nine games away from home, with the lone home contest coming on Nov. 17 against Nazareth. Besides that, UB will rack up the frequent flyer miles, traveling over 8,200 miles during non-conference play with most of those coming in the trip out to Anchorage for the Great Alaska Shootout. UB will have three games inside Alumni Arena during non-conference play, including Coppin State (Dec. 10) and Maine (Dec. 30).
Niagara opens the 2016-17 campaign on Friday night after going 7-25 last season and 5-15 in conference play, falling in triple overtime to Canisius in the conference tournament. The Purple Eagles return six players from last year’s team, including three starters, while adding five newcomers to the mix.
The returning leading scorer for Niagara is Matt Scott, who played and started in 30 games for the Purple Eagles last season, averaging 15.4 points and 7.1 rebounds per game. Marvin Prochet, who played in all 32 games, averaged 7.3 points per game.
Last season was the first year since 1991-92 that the Bulls and Purple Eagles did not meet on the hardwood. The two teams had a chance to play each other in the Hall of Fame Tip-off Classic in Connecticut last November, but they did not meet in the tournament.
The Purple Eagles are led by Chris Casey, who is beginning his fourth season on the sidelines at Niagara. Casey had successful stints as a Division I assistant coach at St. John’s, Central Connecticut State and Saint Peter’s, and as a Division II head coach at LIU Post and a Division III head coach at Rutgers-Newark.
from UBBulls.com via IFTTT