4-2
St. Bonaventure
3-3
Buffalo Squares off Against St. Bonaventure in Big Four Slugfest
12/3/2011 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BUFFALO, NY - Coming off two straight impressive wins, the Buffalo men's basketball team will look to keep its unbeaten home record intact Saturday night as it takes on the St. Bonaventure Bonnies. The Bulls (4-1) have won two straight games by an average of 32 points per games and recently earned its first road win of the season against Dayton.
In the last game out, UB earned a plus-21 rebounding margin and suffocated the Dayton offense en route to an 84-55 win at Dayton. The Buffalo defense held the Flyers to just 28 percent shooting from the field and pulled down a season-best 51 rebounds. The Bulls built off a 16-point halftime lead to give the Flyers its worst home loss since 1995 and UB's largest road victory in the Division I era in an 84-55 victory. Zach Filzen led all scorers with 24 points while Mitchell Watt and Javon McCrea each tallied a double-double.
The key to the recent offensive outburst has been the Bulls' balanced offense. After making just 11 three pointers in the first three games, the team has made 17 in the past two thanks in part to Filzen's improved shooting stroke (10-21 from three in past two games). Buffalo now presents three players averaging over 14 points per game, as Watt and McCrea join Filzen as the top scoring threats.
St. Bonaventure (2-3) is coming off a disappointing loss Thursday evening to Arkansas State. The Bonnies were held without a field goal for the final 10:51 of the game to allow ASU to come back from a 32-19 halftime deficit to beat Bonas 58-52. Da'Quan Cook led the team with 14 points as the Bonnies shot 30.4 percent in the second half while allowing its opponent to his 61 percent in the second half to make the comeback for the upset. The Red Wolves scored 25 of the game's final 30 points to steal the win.
Coming into the season predicted to finish fourth in the highly competitive Atlantic 10 conference, St. Bonaventure has losses to Virginia Tech and Cleveland State along with Arkansas State and now has lost two straight games. The Bonnies present a tough test inside with senior forward Andrew Nicholson, who leads the team in points (14.4) and rebounds (7.8). Junior Demetrius Conger is the only other player who averages in double figures, posting 12.2 points through the first five games.
Tipoff for tomorrow's game is set for 7 pm. Tickets for the game are still available. Click here for more information. The game will be broadcast on Time Warner Cable SportsNet. Fans can also tune into 1230 AM the Breeze, with Josh Whetzel and Pete Lonergan on the call.
