3-1
Canisius
1-3
Bulls Cruise Past Canisius, 94-59
11/22/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo men's basketball team shot a season-high 53 percent from the field en route to a 94-59 win over Canisius at Alumni Arena on Tuesday night. The 35-point victory was the Bulls' largest ever win over their cross-town rival.
Five Bulls scored in double-figures led by Zach Filzen who tallied a season-high 19 points, including four three-pointers.
Canisius (1-3) jumped out to a 15-10 lead and knocked down three of their first four three-point shots. However, the Bulls responded with an 11-0 scoring run to take a 21-15 lead and never looked back. The Bulls held a 39-29 advantage at the break.
The Bulls (3-1) shot 63 percent from the field and completely dominated the second half. UB led 55-46 with 12:27 remaining before mounting an 18-2 scoring run to extend the lead to 73-48 with 6:53 left.
Mitchell Watt stuffed the stat sheet with 16 points, six rebounds, three assists, three steals and four blocked shots. He helped UB dominate the paint. The Bulls outscored the Golden Griffins, 40-24, in the paint and outrebounded Canisius, 43-25. Dave Barnett had a game-high eight rebounds to go along with seven points.
Titus Robinson had 13 points and seven rebounds – both season highs. Javon McCrea finished with 11 points and five rebounds in 20 minutes.
Tony Watson provided a nice spark off the bench with a career-best 13 points and four assists.
Defensively, the Bulls forced 21 turnovers and had a season-high 14 steals. Jarod Oldham had two of those steals to go along with five points, six rebounds and eight assists.
"I thought we bounced back well from the Princeton game," head coach Reggie Witherspoon said. "[Canisius] hit some shots and we had to stick to it and our adrenaline was going and running away from us for a little while. I commend our guys for sticking to it. They were a difficult team to prepare for."
Gaby Belardo led Canisius with 16 points.
The 94 points scored by the Bulls were the most by a UB squad since defeating Northern Illinois, 95-83, on Jan. 30, 2010.
Buffalo will next play at Dayton on Nov. 30.
