4-4
Duke
8-1
Bulls Fall At Defending National Champion Duke, 82-59
12/5/2015 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BUFFALO, NY – The University at Buffalo, The State University of New York men's basketball team went into Cameron Indoor Stadium and hung with the defending national champion Duke Blue Devils before falling, 82-59, in front of a sold out crowd of 9,314. It was the 122nd straight win for Duke at home against non-conference opponents. UB was led by 17 points from freshman CJ Massinburg.
The biggest difference in the game was at the free throw line where Duke went 29-of-36 and the Bulls were 10-of-16. Despite that, Duke hit just two more shots from the field and recorded just one more rebound.
The Blue Devils led the game wire-to-wire as they scored the first five points of the contest. Four straight points from senior Rodell Wigginton had the Bulls within one early and UB remained within five with 9:20 left when Duke scored six straight points to take a 25-14 lead. The Blue Devils led by as many as 14 points in the opening half, but a three from freshman Nick Perkins and a jumper by Blake Hamilton pulled UB back within nine with 43 seconds left. Duke took a 34-24 lead into the half. The 34 points scored by Duke was its second fewest total in an opening half this year.
UB pulled within single digits five minutes into the second half following a three pointer from Jarryn Skeete, but Duke answered by going on an 11-0 run over the next two and a half minutes to go up 52-32. Back-to-back baskets from Massinburg brought the Bulls within 59-47 with 7:33 left, but Duke answered with another 10-2 run. The Blue Devils took their largest lead of the game at 23 with 1:40 left and that was the final difference on the night.
"I think we learned some things today and I think we did get better as a team tonight," said head coach Nate Oats. "We knew this was going to be a difficult game and that it was going to be hard to win here, but we came here for the environment, the competition, and to see if we could get better and it was a big confidence booster for some of our kids, like CJ Massinburg."
Massinburg led the Bulls with 17 points, 13 of those coming in the second half. He went 8-of-12 from the floor, while adding four rebounds. Sophomore Lamonte Bearden added 10 points and three assists, while Skeete, Perkins and Ikenna Smart each had six points. Smart added a team-high nine rebounds.
For the eighth straight game, the UB bench outscored its opponent, this time, 27-15.
Duke got 23 points and eight rebounds from Brandon Ingram and 22 points and 11 rebounds from Grayson Allen.
The road trip for the Bulls now moves on to another top 10 opponent as UB will face #5 Iowa State on Monday night at 9:00pm EST. That game will air nationally on ESPNU.
