Bulls Host Cornell in Mid-Week Matchup
11/16/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BUFFALO, NY - Looking to move to 2-0 to start the season for the second time in the past five seasons, the Buffalo Bulls will take on Cornell Big Red. The team is coming off a well-rounded effort in a 72-65 win over St. Peter's last Friday and, on Wednesday, hopes to build off a win last season on the road against the Ivy League school.
In the last game out, UB had eight different players score at least one basket, led by sophomore Javon McCrea's 18 points on 7-10 shooting from the floor and 4-4 from the charity stripe. After creating a buzz with his stellar freshman campaign, McCrea made his first career start and responded well. Dave Barnett (13), Mitchell Watt (12), and Zach Filzen (11) also reached double digits in scoring. Directing the offense was another first-time starter, Jarod Oldham. Taking the baton from Byron Mulkey, the sophomore had eight points, six assists (with no turnovers), five rebounds, and two steals.
In this lengthy series between the two schools, Cornell holds a 27-14 lead. The series left off in 1977-78 but resumed in the 90s and since then it has trended more in favor of UB, who leads 4-2 in the last six games. Last season, Buffalo rang in the New Year with a 78-66 win on the road, taking advantage of Cornell inside with 32 points in the paint and shooting over 53 percent from the field. Filzen led UB with 17 points but 32 points from the bench proved to be too much for the opposition. Tony Watson had a hot hand and hit three three pointers in a span of 3:09 to help the team pull away from a 17-all tie mid-way through the first half and form a lead it would not relinquish for the rest of the game.
This season, Cornell has been on both sides of a blowout through the first two games, losing to St. Bonaventure 79-58 before beating Binghamton in its home opener, 76-61. True freshman Shonn Miller has been dominant off the bench through the two games and leads the team in points (13 pg) and rebounds (6.0 pg). Senior Drew Ferry is the other Cornell player averaging double figures, averaging 12 points. Standout sharpshooter Chris Wroblewski has started the season slowly but is a dead-eye who the Bulls will need to account for throughout the game.
Tip-off is set for 7 pm tonight. Fans can tune into the game in 1230AM "The Breeze", with Josh Whetzel and Pete Lonergan on the call.
