14-11, 7-5MAC
Ohio
16-8, 7-5MAC
Bulls Fall To Hot-Shooting Bobcats, 94-75
2/12/2016 12:00:00 AM | Men's Basketball
BUFFALO, NY – Freshman CJ Massinburg scored a career-high 36 points on Friday night, but it wasn't enough as the University at Buffalo, The State University of New York men's basketball team fell to Ohio, 94-75. The visiting Bobcats got off to a quick start and shot 56.0% from three for the game. The loss was UB's second straight as it fell to 14-11 and 7-5 in conference play.
Ohio opened the game on a 15-5 run and the Bulls would never get any closer than within five. Leading just 20-14, Ohio went on a 13-2 run to take a 33-16 lead. The Bobcats led by as many as 21 points in the first half following a layup from Antonio Campbell with 4:38 left and Ohio led UB, 44-28 at the break.
Massinburg had just eight points at the half, but exploded for 28 second half points, which kept the Bulls in contention as they were outscored by just three in the final 20 minutes of action. The Bulls cut it to 13 early in the second half, but a 15-2 run put Ohio up 63-37. The Bobcats took their largest lead of the night with 9:20 left when they went up 82-52, but UB answered with an 11-4 run to cut it to 23. Six of the points in the run came on a pair of threes from Massinburg.
The Bulls were able to get it to a 19-point deficit with 2:34 left on a layup by Massinburg and that turned out to be the final margin of the game.
"That was embarrassing, we didn't come out ready to play. We are down some numbers and a couple of guys are kind of banged up, but tonight was a character game and we had some guys that didn't show up," said head coach Nate Oats. "We had a few bright spots, one of those being CJ, but unfortunately we had too many guys that showed the other way."
Massinburg finished with a game-high 36 points, the most by a UB player this season and tied for the 10th most in school history. The 36 points were also the most by a UB player since Will Regan finished with 36 points against Ball State on March 13, 2013 and the most ever by a UB freshman. Massinburg went 11-of-18 from the floor, including 4-of-6 from three-point range and he also went 10-of-13 from the free throw line. Massinburg added five rebounds, three assists, two blocks and four steals.
Junior Willie Conner finished with 10 points, while David Kadiri added nine points and four rebounds. Blake Hamilton added seven points, six rebounds and four assists.
For the second straight game, the Bulls had a big deficit on the boards as Ohio outrebounded UB, 41-31. The Bobcats shot 52.7% from the field, 14-of-25 from three-point range, and recorded 22 assists on 36 made baskets.
Due to Massinburg's big night, the Bulls did have a huge advantage in bench points, 51-15.
UB is back in action on Tuesday night when the Bulls head to Akron. Tipoff is set for 7:00 pm.
