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University at Buffalo
10-7, 3-3MAC
Ball State
10-9, 4-3MAC
Bulls' Rally Falls Short Against Ball State
1/28/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo men's basketball
team dropped its third straight game with a 75-69 loss to Ball
State at Alumni Arena on Thursday night. Buffalo ran into a red-hot
shooting Cardinal team that shot 55 percent from the field,
including 9-for-11 from beyond the arc.
It was a game that left UB fans scratching their heads. The Bulls
forced a season-high 25 turnovers and committed only six - their
lowest total in six seasons. In addition, Buffalo took 79 shots,
the most by a UB team since the 2002-03 season and 39 more than the
Cardinals. But it was Ball State who took advantage of their
chances, converting 22 of their 40 field goal attempts.
Buffalo (10-7, 3-3 MAC) took control of the game early and held a
25-18 advantage with 6:44 left in the first half. But Ball State
closed the half on a 20-6 scoring run, capped by a Randy Davis
desperation three at the buzzer to take a 38-31 lead at
halftime.
Ball State (10-9, 4-3 MAC) seemed in control and built its lead to
66-55 with 4:48 left. However, the Bulls rallied and scored ten
unanswered points, including eight straight by Sean Smiley.
Smiley's second straight three cut the Cardinal lead to 66-65 with
1:46 left. However, Davis struck again as he drained a
three-pointer from the top of the key as the shot clock expired to
give Ball State a 69-65 lead with just over a minute remaining. The
Bulls were unable to get any closer.
Max Boudreau was one of four UB players in double-figures with a
team-high 15 points to go along with eight rebounds. Smiley added
13 points and Calvin Betts and Rodney Pierce each added 10.
Ball State dominated the glass, outrebounding Buffalo, 44-30.
Jauwan Scaife led the Cardinals with 16 points.
"I don't know that I've ever seen a stat sheet that looked like
this after a game," head coach Reggie Witherspoon said. "We get 79
field goal attempts and our opponent gets 40. We have six turnovers
the whole game. They turn it over 25 times. And the game ends the
way it did."
It's a quick turnaround for the Bulls who will play at Northern
Illinois on Saturday at noon (CST).
