University at Buffalo
14-9, 7-5MAC
Kent State
18-8, 9-3MAC
Bulls Get Defensive in Win Over Kent State
2/13/2010 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo men's basketball team took down conference-leading Kent State, 70-55, in front of a national television audience on Saturday afternoon at Alumni Arena. The Bulls held the Golden Flashes to 34 percent shooting from the field and forced 19 turnovers to snap their eight-game winning streak.
Buffalo (14-9, 7-5 MAC) jumped out to a 14-3 lead and held Kent
State to only three field goals over the first nine minutes of the
game. Calvin Betts paced the Bulls early as he scored 13 of his
team-high 17 points in the first half. His third three-pointer of
the half gave the Bulls a 22-11 lead with 8:21 left. The Bulls
would keep their lead in double digits for the remainder of the
half and hold a 33-19 advantage at the break.
With the Bulls leading 37-23, John Boyer scored 10 of UB's next 12
points and his jumper with 12:52 remaining gave the Bulls their
biggest lead of the game at 49-29.
Kent State (18-8, 9-3 MAC) managed to cut the lead to 12 with 3:35
left, but the Bulls were able to put the win away at the free throw
line as they hit 11-of-12 free throws down the stretch. For the
game, Buffalo made 18 of its 20 free throw attempts.
Boyer finished with 16 points, eight rebounds and six assists.
Betts also grabbed eight rebounds to go along with 17 points.
Rodney Pierce had 14 points, eight rebounds and three assists. Max Boudreau added eight points for the Bulls.
Mitchell Watt had four of the Bulls' six blocked shots and two of
their nine steals.
Kent State was led by Chris Singletary who had 18 points and eight
rebounds.
"I thought it was an opportunity for us to come in and play against
a team that's been running through the conference pretty good,"
head coach Reggie Witherspoon said. "There have been a number of
things we've been trying to work on and get better at and this was
an opportunity for us to test some of those things and I think we
responded well."
The win was the 140th of Witherspoon's UB career and moved him into
a tie for third place in school history with Malcolm S. Eiken.
Buffalo will close out its three-game homestand on Wednesday night
when it hosts Bowling Green at 7:00 pm.
